Let's turn the tables: Probable Duke ED Applicants, what would you like to be asked?

<p>The annual undergraduate admissions cycle is underway and I have a question for seniors (and parents) who will probably apply to Duke for '19 Early Decision. I am one of Duke's long-standing alumni Interviewers (there are several others who participate in this CC Forum), my interviews are bilateral conversations -- never inquisitions -- and I try to provide answers to candidates' questions while eliciting relevant information that generally will not appear in the formal application documentation.</p>

<p>Given these objectives, I'm sincerely interested in the questions -- hopefully, entirely open-ended -- you'd like to be asked. I can't promise that I'll use all of your recommendations, but I can assure you that I'll carefully consider your suggestions.</p>

<p>Thanks. </p>

<p>Hello Toptier. I am applying Early Decision this November and hope to get offered an alumni interview. First of all, I am wondering what you believe my chances of receiving an interview are (I live in a suburban area college town in Massachusetts)? </p>

<p>To answer your question, a question that I would like to be asked at an alumni interview is “What is something about Duke that might make you hesitant or something about it you wish that it offered?”</p>

<p>^ ^ ^ ^</p>

<p>Good questions; thank you.</p>

<p>Regarding interviews, and just to ensure you understand Duke’s procedures:

  • When your application is near-complete, an automated process provides your name and some VERY superficial contact information (never GPA, standardized test scores, curriculum, recommendations, ECs, etc.) to a regional Alumni Admissions Advisory Committee team.
  • A specific, local AAAC interviewer is then normally assigned, who will call/e-mail you and attempt to establish a mutually satisfactory schedule and venue for your CONVERSATION.
  • Crucially and almost assuredly, your interview will NOT be an inquisition or a series of intentionally difficult questions; rather, it is a forum to discuss – and resolve – your questions/concerns and to learn things about you that normally are not evident in your formal application materials.
  • AAAC interviewers are very accomplished and very busy (personally and professionally) Duke alumni, who voluntarily devote many hours annually to help Duke and to assist undergraduate applicants (just like you). They know a great deal about the University; however, they won’t ask you about the other institutions to which you’ve applied or about your GPA, ACTs, SATs, recommendations, etc. Therefore, they really cannot authoritatively project the likelihood of your admission.
  • Please understand that occasionally – dependent upon your location, the team’s immediate interview volume, and the currently available number of AAAC volunteers – you may not be contacted, in which case you have the option to submit an additional letter of recommendation. We try very hard to ensure that this is rare, but regrettably it sometimes occurs due to the interviews’ very extensive non-AAAC commitments and to unanticipated exigencies.
  • Finally – and this is important – your interview isn’t overly critical AND it should be enjoyable; you might do well to view it in the context of a bilateral discussion concerning Duke, with a relative who is an alumnus.</p>

<p>Thank you for answering my question and clearing up the interview process. Based on your response it seems relatively likely that I will get an interview (these are conducted after Nov. 1st right?) based on my state’s many AAAC contact’s for Duke and the limited competition from my region when considering interview requests.</p>

<p>Yes, AAAC interviewers normally receive their ED assignments by 10 November, and we must complete the interview and the resulting written evaluation by (if my memory is accurate) 1 December. Given how busy interviewers are and the long Thanksgiving weekend’s heavy travel demands, I urge you to establish an EARLY interview time with your assigned Duke alum. I have often been astonished by applicants who are “SO” busy that they create scheduling issues for the Duke AAAC interviewer (who, after all, is not a relatively time-unconstrained teenager, but rather an adult with truly extensive family, professional, and community service obligations). </p>

<p>As a Duke ED applicant, I would love to be asked, “If you could research anything, what would you research?” I think the answer tells a lot about someone’s personality, and I think most students would have an answer. I am currently in an independent research seminar at school, in which each student chooses a topic of interest to research. I’ve known my classmates since freshman year, but the topics they have chosen for research have both surprised me and allowed me to understand them better as people. For me, at least, this question would lead to a relaxed, genuine conversation about the research topic, why I’m interested in it, and what I already know.</p>

<p>Thanks, very good idea and appreciated. </p>

<p>I’m a Duke Alumni Interviewer and love this thread. I will definitely ask some of my students this year these questions. Please keep them coming</p>

<p>@sgopal2‌: I’m glad you do and I appreciate your note. My hope was it might assist many of us. </p>