Duke Med Interview

<p>So on 10/12 i was offered an interview for duke med school (yay!!!)</p>

<p>It is scheduled for 10/26 (this coming friday :0 )</p>

<p>I already have 3 interview under my belt. i have a feeling that duke is going to be more intense (photo IDs and 8 am start time) and i would love to hear INSIGHT and/or experienced advice.</p>

<p>Also i have searched but been unable to find what % of interviewees are accepted to duke post-interview.</p>

<p>Thanks so much. CC is a wonderful resource, it's crazy from undergrad to med. school!</p>

<p>Do you read Student Doctor Network, uvajoe? Here is the link to the interview feedback section for Duke:</p>

<p><a href="http://share.studentdoctor.net/interview/process_read.asp?school=6%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://share.studentdoctor.net/interview/process_read.asp?school=6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>or you could sign on there and ask for more input.</p>

<p>Here is the data from US News (it's 2 years old so slightly outdated):</p>

<p>Instate: 227 interviewed, 24 accepted (no that's not a typo. ouch)</p>

<p>Out of state: 565 interviewed, 182 accepted</p>

<p>
[quote]
Here is the data from US News (it's 2 years old so slightly outdated):</p>

<p>Instate: 227 interviewed, 24 accepted (no that's not a typo. ouch)</p>

<p>Out of state: 565 interviewed, 182 accepted

[/quote]
</p>

<p>:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:</p>

<p>That's just too harsh and competitive. Are all or most top med schools like that?</p>

<p>Most med schools accept 25-50% of everyone they interview so the Duke out of state acceptance rate is in line with that.</p>

<p>BTW: Even though I have a US News subscription, I don't look at that sort of data for the schools I'm interviewing at. It creates unnecessary stress. Whether a school accepts 25% or 50% shouldn't change the way you prepare. Do your best and hope for the best.</p>

<p>That's a very reasonable ratio. Don't forget that most kids who get waitlisted won't bother staying on the waitlist, and so they'll appear as rejections even though some of them might have gotten in.</p>

<hr>

<p>Duke has two types of interviews, formerly referred to as "alpha" and "beta" but now unlabelled. One type is much more personal, one is more professional. In my experience, professional interviews are much easier, since the topics they discuss are much more limited and the answers are not free-form quite the same way. One is conducted by a faculty member, one by a medical student, but either type of interview could be given by either type of interviewer.</p>

<p>Overall Duke Med's interview doesn't particularly stand out the way, for example, Northwestern's (3x3) would. It's a pretty straightforward event.</p>

<p>Congrats on the interview by the way. As I always say, "an interview is better than no interview."</p>

<p>thanks for all of the responses.</p>

<p>the msar states that in 2006 69 applicants from NC were interviewed and 19 matriculated. so duke must have scaled down there quantity of instate interviews since 2004. i would assume that most that are accepted to duke attend (maybe im wrong). regardless i would assume a 20% acceptance rate post-interview for instate but i was hoping someone would have the stats.</p>

<p>regardless, thanks norcalguy for the congrats, i am very excited yet also, as should be obvious, very anxious.</p>

<p>how is the application process going for you?</p>

<p>in many cases, most people accepted to any given med school do NOT attend, this applies even for the top programs. Med schools in general accept about 2.5 times the number of students they would like to actually enroll, and most schools also use the waitlist significantly.</p>

<p>the MSAR only gives data for those who marticulate, usnews gives the number of applicants that are accepted, and then the number of those that matriculate</p>

<p>I'd be surprised if Duke Med demonstrated an in-state preference at any stage during the game, so it's most likely just year-to-year variation.</p>

<p>US News has Duke interviewing 2/3 of all in-state applicants two years ago so I guess Duke has become more stringent with that in the past year. They also had 19 in-state matriculants (out of 24 acceptees) in 2005. Pretty good yield. Almost all private med schools display in-state preference to some extent.</p>

<p>MSAR for 2004 cycle indicates that Duke interviewed 22% of in-state applicants compared to 16% of OOS.</p>

<p>Acceptance rate for Duke is roughly 7% in-state vs. 3%+ out of state. This ratio is seen for many other top med schools (Yale, WashU, etc.). Nothing extraordinary.</p>

<p>yea, i guess it is becoming obvious that i shouldn't have high hopes. i'm sure the interview itself will be an experience regardless of the outcome. i have been reading about the duke medical school and it seems amazing.</p>

<p>and there are so many schools from which i have heard nothing. i have 5 interviews 2 rejections and 8 silent ones. is it wise to ever call?</p>

<p>Yes! By all means. Contact them every six weeks or so. Don't harass them about when they'll tell you or what the process is like. Just call them to "Reiterate my interest in your program."</p>

<hr>

<p>Actually Duke Med's curriculum seems excessively compressed, to me. But maybe a better student would be up to the task.</p>

<p>"yea, i guess it is becoming obvious that i shouldn't have high hopes. i'm sure the interview itself will be an experience regardless of the outcome. i have been reading about the duke medical school and it seems amazing."</p>

<p>If Duke interviews around 60 in-state students and accepts around 24, that's a very typical ratio for any med school. Nothing to be discouraged about.</p>

<p>"and there are so many schools from which i have heard nothing. i have 5 interviews 2 rejections and 8 silent ones. is it wise to ever call?"</p>

<p>I've heard back from exactly 50% of my schools so your situation here is very typical as well. There's no harm in calling (unless you call excessively) but if you're complete at every school, just sit tight and wait.</p>

<p>And, yes, Duke's curriculum is very unique and is not for everyone.</p>

<p>i was rejected from Wake Forest on Monday: POST INTERVIEW. Wake accepts over half the students whom they interview, i feel terrible.</p>

<p>
[quote]
i was rejected from Wake Forest on Monday: POST INTERVIEW. Wake accepts over half the students whom they interview, i feel terrible.

[/quote]

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you get accepted to remaining schools.</p>

<p>Wake's actually a tough place to get an interview at in the first place. Their overall acceptance rate is surprisingly low. Congrats on making it this far, and take it as a sign that you're a very well-qualified applicant.</p>

<p>The process is very random. They might well have rejected you because you're too qualified! (Although this is rare post-interview.) You might have caught the adcom on a bad day. Who knows.</p>

<p>Anything you think you might want to do better next time?</p>