Durham, NC
Allopathic Medical Schools | Private Non-Profit
Overall, applicants ranked the school in the top 11% of interviews, indicating it is highly regarded. They found the interview mixed with a moderate stress level, and felt they did okay.
⭐ Overall Impressions ▼
How did the interview impress you?
Most respondents felt positively about their interview.
What was the stress level of the interview?
Most respondents rated their interview as average stress.
How you think you did?
Most respondents thought they performed well at the interview.
How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?
Most respondents rank this school above all other schools.
How do you rank this school among other schools to which you've applied?
Most respondents rank this school above other schools they applied to.
0 = Below, 10 = Above
💬 Interview Questions ▼
What is one of the specific questions they asked you?
The most commonly asked interview questions at medical schools include inquiries about research experiences, strengths and weaknesses of the healthcare system, future plans for third year, ethical scenarios, personal characteristics of a good doctor, and motivations for pursuing medicine. Some respondents mentioned being asked questions specific to their essays, about their ethical dilemmas, and what they would do if unable to pursue a career in medicine, suggesting a variety of challenging scenarios in the MMI format where respondents may have been subject to a nondisclosure agreement.
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Talk to me about your research
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What is the purpose of your research
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Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
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mmi
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What are you doing this year?
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What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of our healthcare system?
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Other MMI scenarios - ethical, problem-solving
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What questions do you have for me?
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Multiple mini interview
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Secret MMI
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MMI ESSAY WRITING TASK
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MMI MORAL DILEMMA
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MMI PROBLEM SOLVING TASK
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What are the three most important characteristics that a good doctor should have?
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What is the biggest challenge facing the US healthcare system in the next decade?
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Which of your research experiences was the most meaningful to you?
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How would you want me to describe you to the admissions committee?
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What do you regret most in life?
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Why medicine?
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If you had one year off where money was not an issue, what would you do?
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What will your legacy be?
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Who is one of your role models (you can't know them)
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Tell me about a teacher who has had a significant impact on you.
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What do you like to do for fun?
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What would your friends say is your greatest weakness?
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Application specific based on activities/honors/essays. The interviewers do not have access to GPAs, course lists, or MCAT scores.
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Assume that the 80 year old kidney failure patient still refused treatment and is now on terminal life support in the ICU. There is no chance for recovery. How do you tell the husband?
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Pretend I am an 80 year old woman with CHF and kidney failure who is refusing dialysis. What would you do?
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Define Humanism
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Very specific questions about my essays
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How would your friends describe you?
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very application specific
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what do you want to do during your 3rd year
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Very detailed questions about my secondary essays.
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What do you want to do with your MD degree?
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Which of your college activities are you most passionate about?
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What did you learn from X experience?
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Would you rather ABC or XYZ. Why?
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Are you a risk taker?
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Define humanism.
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What is your leadership style?
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If you could change one thing about America to make it a better place, what would it be?
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What characteristics does a good leader need?
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What is one aspect of your personality that you think needs improvement?
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Define curiosity.
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What do you plan to do during your third year?
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What is the most creative thing you've ever done?
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Specific questions related to my secondary application.
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Tell me about your research.
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Why Duke?
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What do you want to do during your third year?
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What type of medicine do you want to pursue?
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What are you passionate about?
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What do you do for fun?
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What would you do if being a doctor was not an option?
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Do you agree with the sentiment among many student organizations that pharamaceutical companies ought to stay off campus, and away from med students? Why?
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If you were Obama's Health Advisor, what would you suggest to fix our health care system?
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Why medicine, if you can't be a doctor, what then? What was your MCAT score?
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Standards: Why do you want to be a physician? Where do you see yourself in 10 years after your residency? What unique qualities will you contribute to our med school?
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What do you do for fun? Tell me more about your extra curricular activities and what they meant to you. Interviewer asked lots of specific questions about my responses from the secondary app.
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Why Duke? What do you want to do with your third year?
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Tell me about yourself. Why duke? Do you have any concerns about Duke? Do you have any concerns about pursuing medicine/surgery? What do you do for fun? Describe your perfect classmate. Any questions for me?
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Why medicine? What type of books do you read? What do you want to do during your 3rd year? Questions about my parents influence on my career decisions. Anything else you want to tell me? Any questions for me?
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Have you read any good Books lately?
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What do you think the purpose of a service organization is, and is that what they do?
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What was one instance where you told a lie, and what was your reasoning for it?
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Besides Duke's reputation, innovative curriculum, and 3rd year research opportunities, what made you come down here to interview?
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How do you want me to represent you to the admissions committee? What will make them say "we need to accept this applicant"?
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I see you are from (insert big city here). What do you think about spending the next few years in Durham?
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Faculty Interviewer: What do you envision yourself doing after residency? What do you want to do during your third year at Duke? Are you interested in any specialties? Do you have any questions for me?
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Student Interviewer: Tell me about yourself. Why do you want to go into medicine? Why Duke? What do you do for fun? Do you have any questions for me?
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I see you wrote about ________ in your ethics essay and I was glad to read about your decision in that scenario. Can you tell me more about it?
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Why medicine? Where do you see the future of healthcare?
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"You seem to have a very high set of moral standards. What would you do if a patient came to you and asked you to perform a procedure that you absolutely refuse to do?"
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If a patient refuses to take your advice or your medicine, but continues to schedule appointments complaining about the same symptoms, how would you treat him?
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Books read?
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Free time?
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If you are surgeon in a group practice, and you're on call, you get a page from a resident about a belligerent patient at 2 am. You can either treat the patient yourself or have the patient sent to a nearby teaching hospital. Choose one, and why?
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What were your favourite and least favourite course in college?
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Why med?
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How are you going to handle the stress of being a doctor?
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Tell me about yourself?
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Why not the MD/PhD program?
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talk about my research
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why duke
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why medicine
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3 things you would see on BBC?
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given the current problems with the health care system, what would you do in your community?
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what do you want to do for your 3rd year?
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''I read [such and such story] in your secondary. Tell me more about it, with some emotion behind it.''
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What do you want to do your third year?
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Why Duke? (Both interviews)
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what are you thinking of doing with your 3rd year?
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what made you go into medicine? (and what's your family background with medicine).
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Why Duke?
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If you could go back and do things differently, what would you change about your college experience?
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What do you do to relax?
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What would you do if you had an hour to do anything?
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In 10 yrs, if you can't be a doctor, what would you be?
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Name 3 people, dead or alive, you would want to have dinner with.
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What do you think about med students being tested for drugs?
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There are many questions asked about your essays from the secondary. Be prepared to discuss each in detail.
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What is something new and exciting that you've done recently?
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Where does morality come from and is it universal or does it change over time?
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Describe ECs.
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What was an ethical dilemma someone you know had?
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Where do you see yourself in ten years?
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Which is your favorite book?
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What kind of music do you like?
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What did I think I would do with my 3rd year at Duke?
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We started to talk about food sometime during the interview, so he asked, do you cook?
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What is your opinion about cloning?
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What is your opinion about ethics of stem cell research?
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Discuss research.
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Discuss the ethical dilemma I wrote about in my secondary application
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What do I do for fun?
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Faculty interviewer - The standards: Tell me about yourself, What research (and community service) have you done? Why Duke? What initially drew you to medicine? Where do you see yourself in 15 years?
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Student interviewer - basically, she had read my app and had prepared a few questions on things that stood out to her. Not challenging, probing questions, but rather, ''I read you did [insert activity], tell me about it'' or ''I thought your essay on [blank] was interesting, could you tell me more about your experience.
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Standard Questions: Do you have any weaknesses? Tell me about them. What do you do for fun? What do you fear about medicine?
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What do you teach to a classroom full of kindergarteners?
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What do you think will be the hardest thing about becoming a physician?
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Tell me why you chose your undergrad major.
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What would you like to research during your third year?
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Would you like to do research or work in academia later on in your career (as opposed to seeing patients)?
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What do you think is the most important characteristic for a doctor to have?
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What medical experience do you have?
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Ethical debate question listed earlier
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Tell me 2-3 things that worry you about a career in medicine. Why are you still pursuing this path?
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Tell me about this research project listed (my least involved :-/), and why it interested you. Then, why I didn't stay too long (8 months), if I had genuine interest.
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questions related to my life experience
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why do you want to become a doctor?
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Anything you would like to highlight about yourself not covered in your application?
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What should I go back and tell the admissions committee is so unique about you that we just have to accept you?
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What would you do with your third year here? (Everyone wants to know)
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Explain your ugrad research.
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Tell me about yourself as if I was a stranger walking down a street and bumped into you.
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Was your ugrad's premeds competitive? How did you feel about them as your peers?
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See most difficult...
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What is the biggest challenge you believe you would face here?
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What is the last book you read outside of academic life? Did you identify with any characters in the book?
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Why did you apply to Duke?
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Would you like a York peppermint patty? (yes i was really asked this, and i did not decline his offer.)
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Explain your ''C'' in this class.
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How do you feel about the war in Iraq?
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just putting this out there: duke says they don't give interviewers your scores, but they do. my faculty interviewer specifically commented on my mcat score. i got the feeling that they have just recently instated the no-scores interviewing policy and haven't gotten around to telling the interviewers about it, lol.
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student interview was pretty standard, and she was so nice! why medicine? tell me abt your research. why your college? what would be your biggest fear abt coming to duke? (kinda random) etc. be sure to get everything you want out in this one...the faculty one could be just about ethics like mine was.
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what would your friends say about you? what would your enemies say about you?
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Do you have any questions for me?
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What do you think you might do during your 3rd year here?
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Have you ever had to give someone bad news? How did you do it?
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I loved your essay on ____ (moral/ethical dilemma). Can you describe in more detail how you dealt with the situation?
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What sort of research would you be interested in during your 3rd year at Duke?
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How do you like to relieve stress?
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Tell me something you did for someone recently that was nice.
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Where do you see yourself 10 years out of medical school?
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how can you improve access to health care using your experiences in community service
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what kind of resarch would you want to do here?
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why hasn't your research been published yet? (after talking about what my research was about)
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How would Duke's curriculum help you achieve your goals as a physician?
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In one or two statements, who are you? (tough one to answer)
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What have you learned from doing research? (not specifically, but about research in general)
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Tell me about your international hospital experiences you listed here.
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Tell me about your research at ____.
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What school would you want to study bioengineering and medicine at? (Duke obviously).
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Why graduate school and then medical school? (I am finishing a masters before medical school)
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explain research. if you were a dean of a medical school what would you want your students to leave knowing non-science and how would you ensure that they knew what you wanted them to?
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what was your most memorable service experience and what did you learn about yourself? what are you looking foward to in medical school?
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why duke? how did you like {insert a course in undergrad)? what do you know about health care? how can we change it?
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Do you have any questions for me about Duke or Durham (Both left quite a bit of time for this and seemed to enjoy talking about Duke. They had very long answers to my questions)
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Tell me more about so and so activity on AMCAS.
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Abuse of narcotics and alcohol is a big problem in medicine, why do you think doctors abuse these things?
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How will you make sure not to get overwhelmed at Duke?
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Tell me about your research (can be dangerous because it is so open-ended)?
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If you could talk to anyone living or dead, who would it be and what would you talk about?
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What do you like to do for fun? Tell me about your hobbies.
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What do you think the role of religion is in medicine?
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Who has had a strong influence in your life?
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Why Duke? What do you do in your free time?
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Why medicine? Questions about my healthcare experiences and research. What courses stand out?
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aids question
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How did you like your college
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question about organ replacement and the rising cost of health care
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What 2 words would your best friend use to describe you?
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What research/clinical experiences do you have?
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Question about my answer to one of the secondary questions.
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Where are you from?
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how did you end up at your undergrad location and what have you thought about your experience there?
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what did you do with your summers during your undergraduate years? (the interview is open file and your interviewer has gone through it pretty extensively before they meet you, so they know what you've done and usually have specific things they want to ask you about)
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what interests you about duke?
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Questions about my Jazz band
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What is a distinguising or unique characteristic of you?
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Where is your school?
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How do you reconcile poverty and healthcare?
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What would you want to do in the third year? What area of medicine are you interested in?
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Since Duke has a very unique curriculum, do you think you can handle the first year?
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Why do you want to be a doctor?
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How's your dad? (relevant to my personal essay, which means they did at least read it.)
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Tell me about your work at the soup kitchen.
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Why did you decide to pursue medicine at your age?
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dinner with anyone in history
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help an AIDS patient who was bleeding in a car crash
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something negative someone would say about you
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Are you a leader or a follower?
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ethical questions. (can't remember them specifically but other people's sdn interview feedback covers them well)
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Explain your research to me.
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Tell me about (insert AMCAS activity). (This was repeated frequently)
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What do you know about stem-cell research?
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"Do the chickens have large talons?" (heh, just kidding)
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Why dyou want to be a doctor, etc.
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just the normal questions about my application
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Do you have what it takes to get through medical school?
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How would you choose whether or not to give a drug to a patient that asked for it by name, but where there wasn't a solid evidence base for its use?
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What would you do if you found out a colleague was going on an overseas trip paid for by a pharmaceutical company whose products he or she prescribed rather than the generic?
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How did you become interested in medicine?
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What distinguishes you from other candidates? Weaknesses?
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What will you be doing in 15yrs? Why MD and not public health, nurse, etc.
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Tell me about your work in <specific to my background>.
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You've come to medicine a little later. Tell me about that.
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Do you have any questions for me? (repeatedly)
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What draws you the most to this institution (e.g., the curriculum, 3rd year experience, prestige of school, the people, etc.)?
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What would you do third year?
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Tell me about yourself...
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What distinguishes you from the other candidates that you think makes you right for admission to Duke?
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Why did you choose to go to UCSD (my undergrad school)?
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Do you think you can handle the curriculum?
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Have you been close with someone who was terminally ill?
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Tell me about your experience tutoring?
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What books have you read recently?
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What would you do with your life if medicine stops being an option?
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How do you deal with a non-cooperative patient?
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What can I tell the admissions committee about you that I may not have discovered during this interview?
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Why are you interested in Duke Med school in particular?
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How would you handle a situation where a colleague was treating a patient appropriately? How would you handle a patient who is requesting medication that is not for their condition?
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Why Duke? Why medicine?
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tell me about X on your AMCAS
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what can the duke curriculum do for you?
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How would you treat a patient who came in demanding certain prescription drugs?
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Med school is a challenging time personally....What is your support system like at school right now?
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Which member of your family has had the most influence on you???
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What do you think the third year is like? What's the purpose of it?
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What makes you different from someone coming straight from college?
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Why Duke? Why med?
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what will you do w/ Third year?
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what's religion's role in medicine
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(Naturally) Why Duke?
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(Of course) Why medicine?
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Basically all stuff stemming from my application.
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I got a lot of "tell me more about x" from my applications from the student. The faculty interview was more conversational, but they were both conversational.
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Student: How do you think your interest in philosophy is relevant to medicine?
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Student: Tell me about your best friend (I didn't expect this one either but it wasn't hard).
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If you were a pediatrician, how would you tell a 12 year-old boy that he has a fatal disease?
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Talk about the moral dilemma you faced (one of the questions from the secondary app).
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Tell me about the research you've done.
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Be ready to discuss ethical situations. Not in the form of "are you pro-choice?", but speak about resource allocation, and what you would do to fix the healthcare system, etc.
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Know about their 3rd year structure and what aspects of this design will facilitate your success. You will have to discuss this at some point.
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Know your motivations for medicine, what specialty you would choose if you had to that today.
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Do you think you can handle the first year of an intensive science curriculum as a non-science student?
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What are your ideas for what you might want to do in your third year?
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Why medicine? Why Duke?
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Oh here on your application I see Y...tell me more about that...
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Oh I see X on your application--tell me about that.
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Alpha interview was by a student and was much better experience... I could relate with her.....she asked mostly about my life experience what I did and why i did it... based on my answers on AMCAS and their secondary ....any questions for me...
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Beta Interviewer asked: why medicine.... what is the biggest challenge facing healthcare....what do you suggest as solution .. tell me about family, siblings etc .. any questions for me
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"If you've been given a magic wand to fix any problem in the world, what would you do?"
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"If, in fifteen years, you have a car accident with a driver who is HIV-positive, and he is beaten up but you're conscious and able to help him, would you?"
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The always dreaded "So, tell me about yourself" - how do you answer this?!
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Why Duke Med?
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describe the role of the catalytic triad in serine proteases... just kidding... why medicine?
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other stuff off my amcas and 2ndary apps
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a really patronizing one about the diversity of the student body
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questions specific to my research
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what one class did you take that you didn't think you'd like that you actually ended up liking
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What are you looking forward to least in medical school
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What are you looking forward to most in medical school
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What is your greatest strength? ( and followed up with greatest weakness question)
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Just specifics about my app.
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[question specific to my file]
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What research would you pursue here at Duke?
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Why are prescription drugs so expensive in the US? Propose a solution.
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The two questions mentioned above under the difficult and interesting prompts.
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You are a pediatric intern and because of the repor you have built with a thirteen year old child, you have been chosen to inform him that he has a terminal illness and will not live for much longer. How do you inform the child of this information?
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You have a frequent patient who is a 20 year old mother of three children and two birth terminations (abortions). She has come to you to have another abortion. What do you say to the patient?
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what do i do on my free time
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biggest weakness?
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did u like your college?
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so ask me a question?
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Describe an ethical dilemma and how you resolved it.
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What has been your least fulfilling class?
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Where do you think you will be in 25 years?
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"How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" (seriously)
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"What would you do to redo your college experience?"
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"Why did you go to U.Va.?"
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General Interview Questions: If you could have dinner with anyone...? What do you do in your free time? What do you think will be important issues in the upcoming presidential election?
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Medicine/Duke Specific: Why Duke? Why medicine? What do you plan to do in the third year? What do you think is the most difficult thing about being a doctor?
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Specific to my application: What policy related issues are most important in healthcare? You've already switched from business to medicine... What might you tell someone who thinks you will at some point switch from medicine to another career?
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Are you ready for the curriculum we have?
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How would you manage the weather down here relative to LA.
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What kind of research?
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Tell me about yourself.
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What are some of the most pressing healthcare issues we face today? What can we do about them?
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What are some of your most positive and negative characteristics/personality traits? Explain.
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Tell me about the greating challenge that a leader faces.
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We have a distinctive third-year program. If you were at Duke, what would you do during that time? Is that why you are interested in Duke?
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What fields of medicine are you interested in? (2x)
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If you had to do something over again, what would you do differently and why?
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What are your future career plans, where do you see yourself in 10 years?
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How do you plan on telling young kids that they have a terminal illness?
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What do you plan on doing during the fourth year?
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Why pediatric hematology/oncology especially considering how stressful it is?
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What are your strengths/weaknesses?
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What did you like/dislike in your undergrad school? How did you choose that particular school? What was your major? Why did you pick that major?
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What do you think about the current Iraqi situation?
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What do you think about government-sponsored medical education and subsequent service given back to them as a way to solve the healthcare crisis in America?
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What would you do with the third year?
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What's your biggest regret about college?
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Tell me about Dr. X and your research with him?
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What made you choose your research topic?
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What are the most pressing public issues of health care today?
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What field of medicine are you interested in?
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What motivates you to become a doctor?
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how do you deal with stress?
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how would you deal with a bleeding HIV + person whom you were trying to help in a car wreck once you realize you cut your hand also
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what book are you currently reading?
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above
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What was i thinking of specializing in?
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Tell me about your research
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What was your favorite class
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How did you prepare yourself for a career as a physician?
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Tell me about your family. (Although not a question, but the best thing to talk about.)
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What do you plan on doing after medical school?
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Besides a medical education, what do I want Duke to do for me?
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What is the one thing I would change if I could go back and do it all over again?
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What would I want to do during the third year.
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explain your research
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what was your favorite class?
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all questions were straight from my app -- so i don' think they will be helpful to others who are preparing.
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Tell me about something you are proud of and something you have failed in.
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What was your favorite non-science class?
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How does your friend describe you?
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What do you think about the international terrorism etc?
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What do you want to do MD/PhD
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Just the usual about me, my application, and my research.
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do you like music?
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i really liked your ethical dilemma essay ... are you proud of the way you handled the situation?
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read any good books lately?
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I am designing a volunteer program for the other students at Duke Med. Tell me how I can get people involved.
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The token "Why Duke?" and "What would you do at Duke during your third year?"
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Why would you want to learn two years of science curriculum in one year?
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How much do you think doctors should make a year? Do you think doctors make too much?
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What do you want to do with the third year at Duke? MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SOME IDEA - everyone in my group was asked this
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Which of your extracurricular activities will directly make you a better physician?
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Expand on the ethical situation you wrote about in the secondary application?
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How do you spend your free time?
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What was your favorite or most interesting course outside of your major?
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Do you have anything to add to your application?
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Don't worry about the alpha -beta distinction - I couldn't tell which interview was which.
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I was asked pretty much about everyting in my supplemental application.
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Are you taking biochem?
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How do you think you'll handle the demands of medical school?
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If you didn't get into medical school what would you do?
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Stress level was 6 not because of the interview questions, but because it was my number 1 choice and because my fellow interviewees were uptight.
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Lots of trivia questions. :(
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Where do you see yourself in 10 years? (despite the fact that I'd written an essay on that for AMCAS...)
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Who are some of your role models, and how have they influenced your decision to go into medicine?
What was the most interesting question?
Students said the most interesting question asked at Duke University School of Medicine discussed a wide range of topics, from ethical dilemmas to personal attributes, such as what character they would like to spend a weekend with or how they plan to integrate being a woman and a physician. The interviews included situational questions, ethical scenarios, and even a role-playing exercise, with some respondents mentioning a Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format and possible nondisclosure agreements related to the process.
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Why not study medicine where you are from?
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What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of our healthcare system?
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mmi
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Multiple mini interview
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Secret MMI
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MAKE THAT OUT OF THIS
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Describe your friends for me
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The situational questions about hypothetical patients
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Define humanism
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have you ever been a patient yourself
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What character in a book would you like to spend the weekend with?
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If you had your ethical dilemma to do over again, what would you do differently?
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Which character in a book most represents you?
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Very conversational interview
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Describe a time when you have stood up for yourself, and faced consequences for doing so.
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Tell me about yourself...led to a lot of interesting sub-questions.
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What about you would make your patients want to see you and no one else?
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Are you an ethical person? How, why?
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Looking ahead at your retirement dinner party, what would others say on your behalf?
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How do you feel you will integrate being a woman and being a physician?
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Did you like "Complications" or "Better" better, and why? (after the book question)
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What have you done that you are most proud of, and why are you so proud of that?
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How did you know you were a compassionate human being? Who fostered those traits in you? What experiences have you had that show your humanism?
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Another interviewee was asked this: Imagine that you have not seen a close friend for a while, and when you actually did, the person told you that he/she is HIV Positive. What would you say?
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If you had all of the time and money required to solve one global issue, only one, which would it be, why did you choose that one, and how would you do it?
-
None
-
with all the insurance company controlling you, why you still want to go into medical schools?
-
what do you keep on your bedside table?
-
Ethical question about how I would react to another student who refused to plug an artery without gloves for an HIV+ patient.
-
When was a time you really could not be of help to a person? Desribe that experience.
-
Tell me about your friends. If you could be more like any one of them, which would you choose?
-
If your sick grandfather (no else can be done medically) wants to help him die, what would you do?
-
If you could have dinner with any three people in history, whom would you pick and where would you go to eat?
-
A situational question about breaking cultural barriers in health to allow males or females (who would otherwise be forbidden to treat them) to give healthcare.
-
Are you a risk taker? If so, describe a time you took a risk and what was the outcome?
-
If you had one hour to do anything you wanted to do, what would you choose to do?
-
How do you plan to spend your third year?
-
If I were to eliminate one negative aspect of American society (e.g. any -isms) what would it be and why.
-
The most difficult question was also the most interesting.
-
Do I read nonfiction novels and how many I have read?
-
If you could eliminate one thing in this country, what would it be? Put yourself in the shoes of the admissions committee... how would you construct a med school class?
-
Nothing out of the ordinary. I liked the fact that my student interviewer had actually read my secondary essays and asked me to talk about the experiences that I discussed.
-
Imagine that you're a board certified physician and you've been asked to make a presentation about medicine to a kindergarten class. What do you teach/present to them?
-
Do you want to do research during your career or work in academia (as opposed to practicing clinically)?
-
What do you think will be your biggest challenge in med school and in your medical career?
-
The debates on stem cell research and euthanasia have been going on for some time, which do you think is more relevant to medicine? Why? What is your stance, and why?
-
questions related to my life experience, asked by the faculty member
-
What would you change about yourself if you could?
-
As a non-traditional student with a family, what mechanisms would you use to help make the adjustment go smoothly?
-
What fictional character has inspired you most?
-
suppose you are a 3rd/4th year med student and the resident on call or attending is WAY stressed out. a patient's just died and the resident/attending is just too uptight and stressed to handle delivering the news to the family and begs you to do it for him/her. (Recall that it's technically unethical for you to deliver the news to the family.) What do you tell your resident/attending?
-
What do you think about the war in Iraq?
-
some scary stuff with the faculty interview: pretend we're best friends and you just really hurt me. what would you do to apologize?
-
Do you think the British or American medical system is better?
-
Describe the ''good'' premed. Describe the ''bad'' premed.
-
Your patient has extremely high blood pressure, but he refuses to take his medication because of its side effects (sexual dysfunction). What do you do?
-
Who are you?
-
How would you respond if you were a residency director and one of the applicants to your program stated that she was planning to become pregnant and start a family soon?
-
Not really a question, a "role-playing". My interviewer was the vice dean of admin. He pretended to be my uncle who thinks women should stay home and pop out babies, and asked me what I would do in that situation.
-
If you could sit down and have a conversation with anyone in the world, who would you choose and why?
-
What is the most important trait in a doctor?
-
What is the one characteristic that you is most important for a physician to have?
-
what is a nice thing you've done for someone recently?
-
Nothing extremely interesting.
-
What was my most significant relationship, both non-academic and academically.
-
You're in a group project and you hadn't lived up to your responsibilities (be it because of personal problems or the like), and the group has decided to let you go. They have announced to you their decision to let go. What do you say to them?
-
How has your family influenced you in a way that will make you a good doctor?
-
friend says they have aids, what do you say back
-
A man comes in with a sprained ankle, but you find a life-threatening blood clot. He doesnt believe you, and won't accept your suggested treatment. What do you do?
-
Where are you from?
-
suppose as an attending physician, you get a call from a resident late at night about a difficult case where the patient is uncooperative and combative? what course of action would you take and why?
-
Who is the most influencial person in you decision to get into medicine?
-
How would you handle working for an incompetent boss?
-
Since Duke has a very unique curriculum, do you think you can handle the first year?
-
Pretend like you are a doctor and you go into your patient's room and see that they are morbidly obese. What would you do?
-
Have any stories been written about you in the school newspaper?
-
dinner with anyone in history...who?
-
Do you tend to play a leadership role or a follower role?
-
What do you know about stem cell research?
-
Not very many questions, more conversational
-
Nothing in particular. She just wanted to know about my activities and why I was interested in medicine.
-
just the normal questions about my app
-
What qualities does a physician need that can't be taught?
-
If I were President Bush for a day, what law would I pass?
-
If you were the Dean of the med school, what one thing would you ensure the students knew when they graduated from DukeMed?
-
If you were interviewing me (the interviewer), what would you ask?
-
Nothing too interesting
-
Do you know what it is like to be sick?
-
If you were made the dean of the school, what would you change/have the students know?
-
Two questions stand out: what was the latest book that you've read and if you can't become a physician what would you choose as an alternative career?
-
How would you handle breaking patient confidentiality?
-
nothing too interesting . . .
-
If I were a genie and gave you one wish, what is the one thing you would change about the world?
-
What do your friends say about you going into medicine?
-
Nothing really
-
If you speak to anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?
-
what is the role of religion in medicine (religion was all over my appliction)
-
How do you feel about embryonic stem cell research?
-
How do you think your interest in philosophy is relevant to medicine? This totally caught me off gaurd. I got through it ok but nowhere near as well as I would have had I thought about it ahead of time. I have so many ideas its hard to organize them into a concise answer of the top of my head. It made for great conversation though.
-
Imagine you and I are writing a play about a doctor who comes to a town. Who is the doctor, what is the plot, and who is the audience?
-
I can't think of anything here that I wouldn't have expected.
-
I see you have a background that is non-science. Those we accept at Duke are to be leaders in their field or on the cutting edge of research - have you considered that?
-
Not a single interesting question.
-
None ... all standard questions ....
-
"If, in fifteen years, you have a car accident with a driver who is HIV-positive, and he is beaten up but you're conscious and able to help him, would you?"
-
What does the term "cultural competency" mean to you? (related to info on my amcas app)
-
how to cope with a confidentiality issue if/when i thought i needed to spill the beans to someone
-
If you had to break confidentiality, how would you do it
-
The beta interview: How do your strong interests in music play relate - if at all - to your desire to be a physician?
-
Was never really asked a discrete question... more just asked to talk about myself, etc.
-
nothing was interesting
-
Both interviewers asked questions related to my application and my personality. Format was more conversational than other schools.
-
i don't like to reveal specific ques. just be prepared to answer some ethical q's. be honest.
-
Why are prescription drugs so expensive in the US? Propose a solution.
-
You are writing a play called "The Best Physician." The cast includes the patient and the physician. Describe the play and the audience's reaction.
-
nothing much
-
None really
-
When you have spare time, what kinds of books do you like to read?
-
What is a wahoo? (my school is UVA)
-
So, estrogen is made in males or not?
-
If you had a chance to interview any one person, living or dead, who would it be? What would you ask them?
-
Tell me about a classmate you admire and why.
-
What are some difficulties facing physicians today? When you read the newspaper, what section do you read first and why?
-
How do you plan on telling young kids that they have a terminal illness?
-
How do doctors deal with malpractice?
-
If you were a health care personnel would you want to be vaccinized against smallpox?
-
What would you have done if you were the surgeon involved in the botched transplant incident that occurred here last week?
-
Can you show me what Hanmi is? (It's a position in a martial art I study, so I stood up and demonstrated it in my suit..hehe)
-
If an 8 year old boy came into the hospital and needed medical attention immediately and the mother of the 8 year boy only spoke Spanish and she was frightened once you came out with a big needle, what would you do?
-
Regarding the current Bush/War on Iraq situation, do you think Med professionals (AMA, AAMC) + Physicians should take a stand on the issue - what kind of stand would that be?
-
not really any. I got zero ethic questions.
-
I had to make up a play called "The Perfect Doctor" I had to decide who would be the main character, what the plot would be, and whether the audience would be applaud or boo at the end.
-
If I were faced with a situation where there was a cultural barrier between me and my patient, how would I try to overcome that barrier?
-
What would I do if I came upon a car accident and the bleeding victim told me that he was HIV positive and when I went to my trunk to look for my first aid kit (which wasn't there) I cut my hand and had an open wound.
-
he showed me a picture of the past class, and asked me what did i notice about the picture that is different from say a med school class from 1970
-
none of them were particularly interesting.
-
What makes a school good?
-
What is the biggest challenge for physician today?
-
If we made international medicine a requirement, where would you go to study?
-
the whole interview process was very conversational. mostly "tell me about yourself and how you got here." and "why duke?"
-
What skills from teaching difficult to reach children will be helpful to you as a physician?
-
Define "diversity" - why is diversity important in medicine?
-
What do you think is the worst part of being a physician?
-
What would you do during your third year of medical school here?
-
what's the best non-science class you've taken?
-
my student interviewer asked me questions about my job teaching that I had for the past couple of years
-
I was mostly asked about my research experience
-
What was the best non-science class you took?
-
Well, I had a string of questions about the geography of Southeast Asia/Africa, but I gather that's not normal. Like, what's the capital of Australia, and who's the President of South Africa?
What was the most difficult question?
Students said most difficult question asked at Duke University School of Medicine discussed various topics such as personal regrets, ethical dilemmas, and self-reflection. Many responses mentioned an MMI format, indicating a structured interview with questions on humanism, coping with patient loss, and scenarios with ethical considerations, potentially under a nondisclosure agreement.
-
Why not study medicine where you are from?
-
None
-
mmi
-
Multiple mini interview
-
Secret MMI
-
GIVE ME FEEDBACK
-
What do you regret most in life?
-
Describe yourself in one word
-
nothing too difficult
-
Have you had any experiences in your life that you just totally failed at?
-
Define humanism
-
how would you cope with losing a patient
-
How are you different from your grandmother (who was a physician and source of my initial inspiration).
-
All questions were reasonable and on topic.
-
What book most closely reflects your values?
-
What if a patient refused your services because you are a minority woman? How would you react?
-
Is it ever ok to lie?
-
They were pretty straightforward.
-
Three different possible future scenarios as a doctor. Each had their own ethical issue attached.
-
Are you comfortable with jumping into an accelerated year of medicine right out of college?
-
None, really...
-
One interviewer would just glance at my AMCAS app, pick one of my listed extra extracurriculars and ask a question about it (ie, I was pres. or the Riding club for 4 years, and he asked why I thought my college no-longer required horseback riding as a class)
-
If you had unlimited money, and resources, what world problem would you work to solve and how would you do it?
-
I didn't have any. I'm not sure how it went for the other interviewees.
-
Nothing. I kept anticipating really hard ethics questions or something, but all my questions were very standard (e.g., why medicine, tell me about your research, tell me about your experience living abroad, etc etc).
-
Why are the students in your class going to value you as a classmate?
-
why duke?
-
Do you have any questions for me? (I was way overprepared)
-
probably the above.
-
If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?
-
If your sick grandfather (no else can be done medically) wants to help him die, what would you do?
-
There was a series of questions asked about the physician's role in execution and how I thought I'd deal with those issues.
-
What was your best failure and worst success?
-
Do you think morality is genetic?
-
How did you feel about [tragic] event?
-
What one thing would I tell the board of trustees at my undergraduate university to change in order to improve my college experience.
-
Gave recap about a story in New Orleans Katrina about doctors/nurses possibly committing crimes by letting the patients die, intentionally cutting them from life support---asked what I thought about the whole situation
-
What do you value most in your friends? Who is your most significant hero?
-
What is one of the advantages of being a physician? One disadvantage? I supposed that this was a question to discuss what draws me to medicine and what downsides I've considered, but for some reason, how the question was delivered threw me off.
-
Tell me about your interactions with the employees at your work (I work in management at a union organized manufacturing plant). The interviewer specifically wanted to know how I dealt with older and sometimes obstinate employees in both positive and negative situations.
-
What topic would you like to do your third year research on?
-
How do you think your relationship with your parents will influence your bedside manner?
-
You listed a lot of activities on your application. Is there a reason you decided to put {these activities} on your application even though they seem irrelevant to a medical school application?
-
why do you want to be a doctor?
-
None.
-
Why did you decide to become a doctor? It's the eaiest and the most difficult question to answer. Other than that it was mostly conversational.
-
Nothing hard
-
i was really confused cause i had read all these SDN interview things and everyone says they ask really hard, socially significant questions at duke, but i got really standard ones. no curveballs or anything.
-
Explain why you didn't do well on ''X'' (a course).
-
if you're having dinner with your best friend and he/she tells you that he/she just got diagnosed w/ hiv, what would you do?
-
nothing really
-
Describe some (college) friends of yours, as well as what you have learned from them that has prepared you for a career in medicine.
-
What was the last nice thing you did for someone?
-
Imagine you're the dean of a school, and you have to tell someone they're expelled.
-
Do you think women have equality in the medical field? (prompted by the fact that I was president of a women's group in my undergrad...but how am I supposed to know about women in medicine...I'm still in college...)?
-
what do you think about the current political situation? (just because it kind of took me off guard)
-
"Who are you?" He wanted a short answer. Like a few sentences. I thought this was quite ridiculous.
-
Say you're in a group of 15 people who have to give a presentation to the chancellor of the med school. You, because of personal difficulties, have not pulled your weight, but everyone else has. They call you into a meeting and ask you to step down. The presentation is in two weeks. What do you do?
-
What is the most important trait in a doctor?
-
with the war in Iraq, many organizations give their opinion on whether we should be there or not. Do you think the AMA, and other medical organizations have a right to also give their opinion about the war?
-
I haven't read your application because I don't want to have any preconceptions, so tell me about yourself with this in mind.
-
Same as above, simply because I wasn't expecting it.
-
Same as above.
-
Tell me why we should accept you to Duke over others.
-
same thing
-
What are two successes and failures that you have faced in your life?
-
see above.
-
What has been a struggle in your life?
-
What is the hardest thing about being a physician?
-
No difficult questions
-
Tell me about a time you failed at something.
-
what bad thing would someone say about you
-
see above
-
If you were engaged in stem-cell reasearch and the government banned such research, would you move to England, where it is legal?
-
Nothing tough
-
What will it be like do be a physician in 10 years?
-
If you have an unconscious patient who has refused blood but needs it now to survive, what would you do? What if it was a friend?
-
What other medical schools did you apply to (I couldn't remember!) but seriously, the questions weren't all that difficult. Somewhat open ended maybe (like "tell me about yourself...")
-
Nothing very difficult
-
Do you know what it is like to be sick? (I didn't know if a simple yes would be enough)
-
If you were made the dean of the school, what would you change/have the students know?
-
Name three weaknesses that you have that cannot be turned into strengths.
-
What is the biggest problem in healtcare? How would you fix it?
-
or too difficult . . .
-
What would I do if a patient did NOT want me to treat them?
-
a question about a reserach project i did for like 3 months a loooong time ago... and I wasn't asked about the research I've done for a long period of time (and which is way more interesting)
-
Do you have any questions for me and I hope you do. (I'm a student at Duke and I have lots of friends from undergrad that now go here, so this was hard for me.)
-
If you could wave a magic wand and change anything about the world, what would you change?
-
above
-
None really difficult.
-
If you were advising an insurance company board, how would you tell them to handle X situation? This question was difficult in part because the interviewer was vague about the situation.
-
Toss-up..."If you had your undergrad to do over again what would you do different?" or "How would you allocate resources between X and Y diseases?" or "Is there anything you would like to add?"
-
as above
-
none...all standard
-
"If you've been given a magic wand to fix any problem in the world, what would you do?"
-
Why medicine, as opposed to nursing, public health, or another allied health field?
-
what will your role be in the class of 2005?
-
Where do you think you would fit in socially in the class?
-
All the "canned" questions asked of me in the alpha interview by a student were difficult to answer. What are you looking forward to most about medical school? What are you looking forward to least? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?
-
I got asked such a no brainer I thought the guy was joking. He asked me if I would treat a drunk with a broken leg even though I might not get paid. WTF?
-
Nothing Difficult
-
What are the two areas in which you are the strongest, weakest?
-
You are the only physician on the board of an insurance company. You have 100 policy holders and one of holders who is 20 years old has been hospitalized for a motorcycle accident. He is severly wounded and comatosed, but his family wants his life maintained (DNR is not an option). How will you allocate the funds of the insurance company? (This question stumped me a few times due to the number of factors that it entailed, but I was able to get through it)
-
they asked about my perspective on an ethical situation written on the secondary application
-
Why do u want 2 be a doc
-
In your personal statement, you mention having to defend Christianity in a class on Genesis. How will being a Christian affect you as a doctor when your patients may have different beliefs?
-
What are some of the disadvantages to being in a fraternity?
-
Names several books you've read recently?
-
Possibly the same...nothing was really too difficult though.
-
I did a Ph.D with Evans <a super-famous organic chemist>. I know you majored in chemistry. Tell me about your research.
-
How do you plan on telling young kids that they have a terminal illness?
-
What would you ask me if you were interviewing?
-
What actions outside of community service and anything listed on your application show your altruistic nature?
-
How a certain travel experience changed my life (because it didn't relate to medicine and he wanted it to).
-
You are a pediatric oncologist. How would you tell a ten year old child that they have a terminal illness?
-
What would my worst enemy say are the reasons why she doesn't like me.
-
the interview was not too difficult. Both interviewers were extremely nice, and I had a great time talking and joking with both of them. The people here are GREAT.
-
ethical dilemma about an HIV patient, but really not very difficult or involved. seemed like asing ethical questions were just obligatory.
-
What are your weaknesses?
-
Can't remember any particular difficult questions. I had one about how to record population of neurons using microelectrodes, and because I actually didn't know much about it, I sorta b.s.ed. That was NOT good thinking back.
-
How can we tell a student who truely wanted to do and got alot out of their volunteer work, from someone who just did it to get into medical school?
-
none were difficult - this was open file and conversational.
-
I am George Bush. You are my health advisor. Tell me what I can do about cloning and genetic engineering in the next few MONTHS?
-
What is the capital of Mongolia? What do you suppose a rheumatologist does? Do you know which chromosome is trisomic in Down Syndrome?
-
Who was the reigning British monarch when India gained its independence, or what was the 48th state to join the United States, take your pick.
-
none!
-
tell me about this research project (and pointed on my application to a project that I had done 8 years ago in college)
-
See above. I wasn't ready for questions like that, and they threw me for a loop...
🤝 Interview Format and Logistics ▼
How long was the interview?
Most respondents had an interview of 20 - 30 minutes.
How many people interviewed you?
Most respondents were interviewed by 2 people.
What was the style of the interview?
Most respondents had a one-on-one interview.
What type of interview was it?
Most respondents had an open file interview.
Was this interview in-person or virtual?
Most respondents had a virtual interview.
Data includes both pre- and post-COVID interviews.
Where did the interview take place?
Most respondents were interviewed at the school.
📍 On-Site Experience ▼
Who was the tour given by?
Tours were most commonly given by a Student
How did the tour guide seem?
Most tour guides were enthusiastic about the school.
How do you rank the facilities?
Most respondents rank the facilities as above average.
What is your in-state status?
Most respondents rank the facilities as below average.
What were your total hours spent traveling?
Most respondents spent 4-6 hours traveling to the interview.
What was your primary mode of travel?
Most respondents traveled by airplane to the interview.
About how much did you spend on room, food, and travel?
Most respondents spent between $201 and $300.
What airport did you fly into?
Respondents who flew to the interview generally used Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU)
-
US Air
-
Raliegh/durham
-
Raleigh/Durham
-
Raleigh-Durham International Airport
-
Raleigh-Durham
-
Raleigh
-
Raleig-Durham
-
RDU
-
RDA
-
Durham International
Where did you stay?
Most respondents stayed either at a hotel or with students at the school.
What is the name of the hotel you stayed in?
-
n/a
-
Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club
-
Washington Duke Inn
-
University Inn
-
Millennium Hotel Durham
-
Millenium
-
Homestead Inn
-
Hilton Gardens Inn Durham/University Medical Center
-
Hilton Durham
-
Hilton
-
Double Tree
-
Courtyard Marriot
-
Comfort Inn
-
Cambria Suites
-
Brookwood Inn
-
Brookwood
-
Brookinn
How would you rate the hotel?
Most respondents rated their hotel as good.
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
Would you recommend the hotel?
Most respondents would recommend their hotel.
What is your ranking of this school's location?
Most respondents rate the school location as good.
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
What is your ranking of this area's cultural life?
Most respondents rate the area’s cultural life as good.
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
What are your comments on where you stayed?
No responses
✅ Interview Preparation and Impressions ▼
How is the friendliness of the admissions office?
Most respondents said the admissions office was friendly.
How is the responsiveness of the admissions office?
Most respondents said the admissions office was responsive.
How did you prepare for the interview?
Most applicants prepared for the interview by reviewing their application materials, practicing interview questions, reading SDN feedback, and researching the school and current healthcare issues. Many also emphasized the importance of re-reading their secondary essays and staying informed about ethical scenarios and healthcare topics.
-
read over my application and looked at sdn.
-
Practiced MMI with someone else and re-read my application
-
Just practiced boosting my confidence
-
practiced answering MMI questions beforehand
-
read Canadian MMI practice questions
-
Studied a few ethical scenarios, practiced making short, succinct arguments (<8 minutes)
-
nothing
-
sdn
-
didn't do dick
-
MSAR, SDN, re-read my app.
-
SDN feedback
-
review website, SDN, mock interview, thought about commonly asked questions
-
SDN of course... Although they didn't ask any of the questions that I was expecting from what I read
-
re-read my secondary essays, very important to do as most questions are derived from them
-
practice interview, SDN
-
Mock interview, gather thoughts on general topics that are frequently asked.
-
Secondary, Primary Apps
-
Reviewed interview questions from my undergraduate institution. Read SDN posts. Reviewed my AMCAS and secondary application.
-
I didn't really prepare.
-
Stayed with student host, talked to friend who is currently at Duke Med, website, SDN, reviewed secondary (DO IT, most questions come from your secondary essays!)
-
SDN, looked at website, talked to students
-
SDN Interview Feedback, Primary and Secondary Applications, Duke Website (1st and 3rd years in particular).
-
AMCAS, definitely READ YOUR SECONDARIES. They're super into those essays.
-
Primary, secondary, SDN feedback
-
SDN, read my AMCAS and 5 essays
-
SDN, read up on Duke, read my secondaries, reviewed AMCAS, mock interviews
-
SDN, mock interviews, Duke website, secondary apps, research about third year program, sleep.
-
SDN interview feedback, school website, current students
-
Re-read all essays, and review AMCAS and secondary apps. Read up on the school's curriculum, any clubs or other activities they offer that I was interested in, generally familiarize yourself with Duke.
-
SDN, re-read secondary essays (I would definitely recommend this), lots of research on Duke
-
Read over my primary and secondary applications, SDN, MSAR, Talked to students, and Checked out Duke's website.
-
SDN, sleep?
-
SDN, reading the Duke website, re-reading my application essays
-
looked over AMCAS app, this website, Duke's website
-
Read up on the Duke curriculum. Talked to my student host the night before about the school. Read up my AMCAS application, secondary application, etc.
-
sdn, essays (all of them), university of washington ethics site, newspapers, current events
-
Gosh...Read over application, printed out and vocalized answers to questions on this site, Duke site, researched current healthcare issues, etc. Like I said, way overprepared.
-
SDN, duke website, researched some ethical questions.
-
School's website is very helpful!
-
SDN, AMCAS, supplemental app.
-
Reviewed AMCAS, reviewed secondary, read Duke website, talked to students, reviewed this site, etc.
-
SDN interview feedback, AMCAS, and secondary
-
SDN+website+students
-
SDN, Duke website, read on medical ethics, read over my Duke secondary and primary applications
-
website, AMCAS, secondary essays, SDN
-
sdn, duke website, reviewed application, spoke to current duke med students
-
Looked up various issues, such as right to die, stem cells, cloning; read my application, read about Duke
-
Looked over AMCAS application; Duke secondary application; Dukemed's website; thought about possible interview questions; asked students questions about the school;
-
SDN, read secondary essays, stayed with a student the night before, went to a class
-
read about duke online
-
Read this site and found most of the feedback accurate. Reread my essays. Reviewed life experiences that come in handy for interviews. Read up on hot medicine topics in the media.
-
Went over possible ethical questions, read SDN interview feedback.
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SDN, my secondary appl
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SDN, read AMCAS, the million Duke essays I wrote
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mock interview, SDN
-
Read SDN feedback, reviewed AMCAS & secondary, skimmed ethics website.
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dukemed.duke.edu, read over research, read over amcas, read over secondary, read interview feedback (just like you!)
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School's website, SDN reviews, regular review of medical news.
-
i read SDN duke interviews and psyched myself up by repeating motivational phrases in front of the mirror.
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The usual.
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had some before, but nothing could prepare me for faculty interview questions, lol.
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SND, MSAR, mock questions, read Duke website
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SDN, MSAR, reread primary & secondary apps, rounded w/ the transplant surgery team on Sat and Sun, talked to many 2nd & 4th yr students, read up on bioethics (Univ of Washington website, 'Social Medicine Reader'), read parts of 1993 Health Care Finance Book (put out by the NY Times)
-
Read Duke website, re-read secondary application, read some healthcare articles
-
Reviewed my Duke secondary, looked at Duke's website, read SDN reviews
-
amcas, secondary, sdn, read up on current health issues
-
Read school website, look over application.
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Reading this website and the DukeMed website, reading the newspaper, talking to my student host
-
SDN, review apps, review Duke website, mock interview w/ dad on the phone, interview prep pamphlets, medscape.com
-
Reread my applications, reviewed school website, mock interview, SDN
-
SDN, read over my AMCAS app and secondary, read up on news and healthcare, made sure I knew my research
-
SDN, reviewed AMCAS and secondary
-
Reviewed my application, went through example interview questions, read Duke website (very nice and comprehensive), talked with mentors and advisors, read up on current events (especially those in healthcare).
-
SDN, reread AMCAS, read ethics/heath care policy primer
-
SDN, mock interviews, read over application, read up on ethical/healthcare issues
-
reread app
-
SDN, secondary app
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SDN, CNN.com, read over my secondary
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student doctor, read through school's website and talked with student host the night before.
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studentdoctor.net, practice interviews, talked to people from Duke
-
Read AMCAS, Duke Secondary, and SDN. Looked over Duke Website.
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Ethics, sdn, other med applicants
-
Mock interview
-
SDN, Website, reviewed AMCAS/apps/essays.
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websites
-
read amcas looked on sdn feedback (ethical questions)
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AMCAS, secondary, admissions books, mock interview feedback
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I already had tons of interviews before Duke, so I was pretty comfortable going in. Still, I looked over my 2ndary and SDN of course!
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The standard: read my file, essays, etc...Also, Duke Med has an awesome website. I watched the mini movie clips, and I took the virtual-tour because this was a regional interview in California.
-
SDN, read app
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sdn, reread my app, duke website
-
Studentdoctor.com, Duke website, review my application, practiced answering questions (yes, to myself).
-
SDN, went over my notes on possible interview questions, AMCAS, school website
-
SDN, Duke website, read about current healthcare issues
-
Dukemed website, read my secondary, SDN
-
Read my file, SDN, and school website
-
SDN, Duke's website, review application
-
Consulted this site, reviewed my AMCAS and secondary applications, and perused Duke's website.
-
I went to the Duke Med website and printed a lot of info about the school. I also reviewed my AMCAS application.
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SDN, read secondary and AMCAS, review current news
-
website, SND
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Read over my application, Duke website.
-
read duke website, sdn, my application
-
See above
-
Relaxed.
-
researched Duke's website, researched Duke through proquest. Asked Dr.s that went there.
-
Re-read my secondary and AMCAS apps. Looked over reviews from this website. Researched the school. Prayed!
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Read over my essays, read over input on SDN, and researched the school.
-
Read over my AMCAS and secondary apps, did a mock interview, looked over Duke's website.
-
SDN postings, re-read application.
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SDN, app, website
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Well, I forgot to reread my secondary--don't forget to do this! They will probably ask you about it! Anyway, luckily the interviewer that asked me about it phrased it so as to remind me what I had written--turns out I remembered most of it anyway--I was just nervous when in the morning I realized that I hadn't reread it.
-
visited Duke website, this website
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SDN, Duke's extensive website, read over my secondary essays
-
looked over duke med website, reread secondary and amcas apps, reviewed postings on sdn
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read over app, 2ndary. duke has a lot of mtl on their web site, which i read over
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Read stuff here, talked with other duke students and friends beforehand about possible questions
-
Read SDN. Perused the website and got to know the curriculum.
-
Reviewed the website, my application, etc.
-
read my stuff
-
I watched 45 minutes of videos from dukemed.duke.edu - the staff, med students and perspectives didn't even know that they existed.
-
The best prep was staying with a medical student the night before. She answered all my questions about the school and I went to class with her the next day. I also read this site.
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i reviewed by duke essays, and gave some thought to what i'd like to do in my 3rd year.
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Read the Duke: About the Interview pages.
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Read information regarding Duke from MSAR, Duke's website, research articles published by the school on site, and the Student Doctor Network
-
read over amcas and secondary application
-
this website, their website, read my apps
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Read my secondary application, looked at Duke's website, thought about my strengths, weaknesses, etc. Also made sure that I truly understood what sets Duke apart from other med schools.
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SDN, prospectus, read my essays (all 50) for the school, read research I had done, read everything in the history of human kind. Practiced interviews, etc
-
Looked at Duke website, read interview feedback
-
Go to their website, read med school prep books by princeton/kaplan, SDN, read over primary and secondary apps.
-
SDN, read this site
-
Read over my secondary and my AMCAS application
-
I read up on Duke in order to answer the "why duke" question, studentdoctor net, re-read my secondary, made sure I could articulate my motivations for wanting to study medicine.
-
read application/secondary, interview feedback
-
This website, Duke's website, and reading about health care issues, etc.
-
Read interview questions on this website, AMCAS, Duke secondary, secondaries from other schools, current events health news from cnn.com
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read my secondary, checked out the website, talked to students while i was there and went to a lecture with 1st years
-
Read about Duke's medical program, Interview Feedback, and a good night's sleep
-
Read Duke's website, study interview questions from school, and relaxed
-
sdn, read over my app + secondary essays
-
AMCAS, looked over Duke app.
-
Read over my application.
-
Read up about Duke:its history, and its curriculum. I also read up on current events, used student doctor network, and read over my essays.
-
SDN, read up on current events, went through my secondaries
-
read sdn, read up about health care
-
read over long secondary essays.
-
Duke online site
-
Reading articles, reading my own research stuff. Relaxation
-
Read up on the feedback and the Duke website (including that awesome cirriculum)
-
read thoroughly over the website (they have a VERY unique curriculum that you should understand before going to your interview)
-
Read studentdoctor and my secondary application to Duke. (I am glad that I re-read my secondary as some of my questions were direct quotes from my essays...)
-
Reviewed AMCAS, looked at stuff on website, talked to student host
-
Read over my secondary and looked at DukeMed's very extensive website.
-
AMCAS, Read the website thoroughly (it's great), my extensive secondary (which they asked A LOT about)
-
read info. about the school on duke's website, read about ethical issues, read over my application
-
looked over Duke website, read my AMCAS application, reviewed some of my research
-
I looked over the Duke website and a book with potential interview questions and preparation advice.
-
Read interviewfeedback.com
-
Read interview feedback (sadly, no reports on Duke here :( ), read over my application multiple times, asked some friends who interviewed at Duke about their experiences, and went over some medical ethics sites on the internet.
What impressed you positively?
Applicants were overwhelmingly impressed by the enthusiastic and friendly students, the innovative and unique curriculum, the state-of-the-art facilities, and the supportive and welcoming faculty and staff at Duke University School of Medicine. Many highlighted the emphasis on humility, community service, and the opportunities for research and flexibility in the third year. Suggestions included providing more information about the city of Durham and enhancing communication about the curriculum and financial aid packages.
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Enthusiasm of students and amazing curriculum
-
My MMI raters were extremely friendly and made the whole process enjoyable.
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EVERYTHING
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Facilities and general environment
-
The facilities, the curriculum, Durham
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Amazing facilities, and the student and faculty both seemed incredibly happy. Also the curriculum is impressive.
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Office's care for making good physicians
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Beautiful hospital/clinic aesthetics.
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reputation, beautiful campus, one of a kind faculty, money money money all around, friendly southern hospitality, warmth
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Facilities, top-notch faculty, research year
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Awesome program, unlimited oppurtunities ect, world class fac. ect
-
Great atmosphere--from the students to the faculty to the admissions committee members that spoke to us, I really got a sense of how close the community is. I was overall very impressed with the admissions committee: very organized, very nice, on top of their game.
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Beautiful hospital, very laid back staff
-
both interviewers had obviously read all my essays, which was great. lecture hall seemed very nice. the Duke campus is beautiful. my faculty interviewer was the nicest guy ever.
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the students are very happy, the unique curriculum, the school, ...everything!
-
How nice everyone is, the curriculum..really everything.
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Unique curriculum. Early patient exposure/rotations (2nd year). 3rd year completely devoted to research.
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I was impressed by the associate medical dean. She was very down to earth and shed light onto how Duke molds physicians. I appreciated Duke's emphasis on humility and serving the community. The medical students seemed very happy and stopped by the admission's office often for coffee. One student I saw on the street went out of his way to draw me a map of the admission's office. All medical school lectures are posted online about 1 hour after class.
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I really like the Duke curriculum.
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emphasis on getting to know the whole person, wonderful facilities, RIDICULOUSLY intelligent students who are also very friendly, beautiful campus
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Amazing curriculum, beautiful campus, really involved faculty, other applicants were really fun!
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The strong research, the cooperative student body, the curriculum, the friendly faculty and staff.
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diverse and friendly student body, Dr. Armstrong is super inspiring, favorite curriculum of all the schools I applied to -- it was clear to me why this is such a highly-ranked med school.
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Just about everything, but mostly the students. Really down to earth, really seem to like each other.
-
The speech by Dr. Armstrong (Director of Admissions) in the morning. The amount of students we saw during the tour and during lunch.
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The admissions staff!!! The nicest people I have ever met. They really created a comfortable atmosphere and even took the role of parents to the current students. Also, great facilities, awesome lecture hall, and Durham is a wonderful city.
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Everything! All of the faculty and students were so nice and eager to tell us about how truly amazing Duke is and how happy they are there. Around 15 or so students popped into the admissions office at various times throughout the day to talk to us even though they were in the middle of final exam week. All the students insisted that the first year is completely manageable. I was impressed by how much freedom you are given during your third year as well. The Dean of Admissions was so inspiring, I don't know how anyone could leave Duke without a strong desire to attend!
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Enthusiasm of students, tight knit class
-
Assc. Director of Admissions (Richard Wallace's) talk about the Duke Community.
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Everything. Seriously. This school is stellar. Great research opportunities, the innovative curriculum seems very effective, friendly and happy students, small class size, clean/updated facilities, awesome residency matching, financial aid is generous, cost of living, the campus looks like Hogwarts.
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The campus is absolutely gorgeous. The students are incredibly nice. Many stepped in the office throughout the day for drinks or to just talk to the interviewees. They all seemed very happy with the curriculum and educational environment, although many confirmed that the two years' worth of material crammed into the first year was quite challenging. Their financial aid package is definitely better than most schools that I've seen, and there seems to be many opportunities for growth during their distinctive third year. The cost of living in Durham is very low, but the trade-off is that there is not be as many things going on as other "college towns".
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The bright and enthusiastic students. They went out of their way to make us feel welcome. The lecture hall was gorgeous. Each seat is equipped with its own microphone. I also liked the gothic architecture on campus.
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Everyone was so friendly. During the down time in between interviews, medical students from all years were constantly streaming in and out of the office to talk to the interviewees. It created a really laid back atmosphere that made me feel more comfortable going into the interview.
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happy students, nice facilities, good weather, low stress
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My student host and other MS1's were a very warm and friendly bunch. Cost of living in Durham is dirt cheap.
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The interviewer was friendly
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that alot of people are married
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great facilities
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Humility of the students and faculty there. Also, the ''our students are expected to change the world'' attitude of the faculty. They seem to feel that their med students are capable adults, and depend on them as such.
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the faculty!!! they were all so enthusiastic, adorable, and funny!! you could tell that they really cared about the students and that if accepted, one on one interaction with them would be often.
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Everything. The student body is very close and enthusiastic, the administration is very supportive, the curriculum is amazing and really prepares students for great careers.
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The freedom of the 3rd year.
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This may sound trite...but everything positively impressed me. Duke has amazing people, great facilities, wonderful curriculum, and a fantastic campus. I cannot say enough good things.
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The philosophy of the school, how friendly everyone was, the proximity to the undergrad campus and the curriculum.
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Flexibility of the curriculum, research powerhouse, second highest board averages, past residency matches
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The students were very nice and tons of them would walk into the admissions office and talk with us for a long time and answer any questions we had. They seemed to be overall happy and laid back.
-
The admissions and financial aid presentations, the campus and facilities, as well as the friendliness of the people of Durham and their open gratitude for Duke Medical Center.
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Duke's focus on giving their students the support and guidance they need to be leaders in their respective fields.
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I had a regional alumni interview. The interviewer was amazing and the most enthusiastic of any.
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The classroom; the fact that the faculty, administrators, and students were so nice; and Durham.
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The students were friendly and committed to their academic pursuits. The campus is gorgeous. The weather is good. Even in the first year, the students do all kinds of activities and find time to go out for beers. The curriculum rocks. The school has the second highest mean score on Step 1.
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the admissions guy talked about how humble of an environment duke is, and how faculty are expected to be great teachers. Also, I was already drawn to Duke because of the curriculum, but their discussion of its philosophy impressed me even further.
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The positive attitude (laid-back, yet focused) of all of the students. The amount of hands-on and one-on-one training incorporated into the curriculum. The massive expansion of the medical center campus over the past 10 years.
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The schools the other interviewees had attended/are attending.
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The admissions staff was very friendly and helpful. There were med school students coming in and out of the office all day (to get free drinks and to talk to us). The associate dean gave us a very thorough explanation of the unique curriculum and the history and reasoning behind it. She was very well spoken, and I like their curriculum better now that I understand more about it. Our tour guide was very bubbly and fun, and she was very honest and open.
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Nothing really, I went in with higher expectations
-
the faculty interview
-
How enthusiastic and open all the students were. A fridge full of free soda keeps a constant parade of medical students passing through the admissions lobby.
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Revolutionary compared to other medical schools. I think they are dead on with their philosophy (1 preclinical year)
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The enthusiasm of the students for the program, the faculty, and the opportunities.
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Everything was amazing except for Durham. Its not that its bad, its just that there's nothing there.
-
really sweet books in the interview waiting room - i esp love liberal propaganda, and that room is full of it! there was even this one admissions book on the table which had a chapter slamming duke's elitist admissions policies.
-
The curriculum and the large number of African American students.
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two things majorly impressed me: curriculum (my favorite of any school's) and students (some of the best kids i've met anywhere, and i really felt like i could be friends w/ them...they were some of the only ones who were really genuinely nice)
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the students were smart and enthusiastic, the main lecture room was nice, the curriculum is great
-
the students are normal folks w/ great senses of humor; relatively new Global Health dept; proximity of the hospitals and research buildings to the remainder of the Duke community; financial aid
-
I actually went into my interview day biased against Duke, and left loving it. Curriculum is extremely well thought out and organized. They don't cram 2 years of material into 1 year; instead they distill them into the most important concepts, which are taught in the 1st year, then continue to teach the other topics during 2nd year rotations (so that you "learn by doing"). Students are given an inordinate amount of responsibility and are allowed to try many procedures in rotations. Tons of research opportunities in the 3rd year, and many scholarships are offered so that overall the cost of 4 years of medical school is much less. You can also leave in the 3rd year to complete a 2nd graduate degree. And, it was WARM and I didn't need a jacket in early February. Flowers were blooming all over the gorgeous campus.
-
facilities, interviewees, general friendliness of the people at duke
-
Duke students were the happiest, most cohesive group I've met. The facilities are top-notch, the 3rd year research opportunity is amazing, and finishing the basic sciences all in the first year sounds very appealing to me.
-
facilites, very high-tech, streaming videos for classes, 3rd year for research, living cost is cheap
-
The beautiful campus
-
The facilities are beautiful, and Duke seems like a fabulous place to be. The dean who came in and spoke to us in a group made me so excited to be a physician. Financial aid seems really above and beyond any other institution I've seen so far.
-
Quality of the institution, quality of the people, the value they place on the people of the University
-
The students I talked to appeared to all be happy with the learning environment and were enjoying their time at Duke. They were all down to earth and friendly with us and each other. The undergrad campus is very nice, definitely has an Ivy League look to it, and has a great gym. Hospital is huge, and has a lot of opportunities to work in any area you want. Research is worked into the curriculum, which is a plus.
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Duke is Duke. Its amazing like everyone says, when you're considering the facilities. loved the fact that all the lectures were on video so you could chose to go to class everyday if you wanted.
-
The students all seem happy, love the curriculum, and say they are not stressed and don't work any harder than students at other med schools. Everyone was friendly. The opportunities for research or second degrees durring the third year are amazing. The clinical education also seems to be one of the best.
-
The campus is absolutely beautiful. People were very friendly. Students were very approachable and willing to answer questions. Everyone seems very laid-back and relaxed, but they work very hard and it shows. Duke Hospital and the Children's Hospital are both very impressive facilities. Great student interviewer! Both knew my application and asked questions that prompted meaningful responses. Not a lot of ego, which was nice. Faculty and administration very down to earth and courteous. The ampitheater where you have most of your first year classes was AMAZING (like the UN, only better, you'll get what I mean when you see it). I'm very happy that I traveled to the campus.
-
The facilities are impressive
-
Everything. This is a wonderful school. None of the students had anything bad to say about the school. Innovative curriculum. Generous financial aid packages.
-
curriculum, the fact that the students were soo enthusiastic and visible.
-
The facilities are absolutely the best. There is no beating them. Also, getting into the clinical setting in the second year is great.
-
All of the students seemed so happy to be there
-
caliber of students, beautiful campus, top-notch facilities, innovative curriculum, financial aid program, friendly atmosphere
-
The interviewer was super nice and very positive.
-
Facilities, co-location with Undergrad Campus, National Reputation, Research, Unique Curriculum, Students, Housing Market (cheap and close to campus), Parking near Medical Center
-
The facilities are impressive and high tech. There are many hospitals and research facilities right next to campus and the Duke undergrad is also within walking distance. Everything you need is at your finger tips! The people are very friendly and all the medical students that were there are amazing people!
-
The people there were incredibly friendly, welcoming, and accomodating.
-
Campus and facilities are magnificent. First class all the way. Also, the 60% grant taking care of part of the bill is great.
-
other candidates
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Hospital is beautiful. School is connected to undergrad campus. The third year is a research year which can be used for just about anything you can convince people to sponsor you for.
-
The alumni was a part of a seemingly very impressive practice and had some good information about Duke.
-
My interviewer! She was awesome!
-
Interviewer was incredibly nice and an amazing person.
-
i did a regional interview. my interviewer seemed like a true professional and he was very nice. he was impressive.
-
i didn't visit, but i liked not having to fly and spend $$ and time
-
Everything. Duke has a great curriculum, supportive staff and student body, and great research opportunities.
-
Number of Howard Hughes students they had each year and Duke's great reputation in medical research.
-
The friendliness of the students and staff and how much the students enjoy going to school at DukeMed (one student commented that he didn't even feel like he was going to med school because he was enjoying it so much-maybe a little far-fetched but encouraging none-the-less)
-
The doctor who interviewed me was very friendly. We had more of a conversation than an interview. At first I was disappointed when all the on-site interviews were booked and I had to do a regional. In the end, it saved time and money, and I felt it went well.
-
The Duke campus is gorgeous. Also their schedule for the fours years of medical school is very innovative
-
the students and the organization of the whole day; financial aid; cost of living
-
Awesome facilities, the general happiness of the students, the friendliness and helpfulness of everyone helped ease the stress levels.
-
Every single person I met was in love with the school and throughly enjoying med school at Duke (yes, apparently that is possible). There was so much energy among both the students and the faculty.
-
The campus is beautiful and the students seem happy. Also, the staff works hard to make the whole process as stress-free as possible.
-
The student body seems fabulous. They are so friendly and outgoing. The stopped by where we were waiting throughout the day to get drinks and candy and stuff. And all of them were so positive and made you feel so comfortable. Duke's campus is gorgeous, even if they say Durham is not too exciting. The students also assured me that the first year is not as horendous as it sounds like it would be : )
-
The school is beautiful and very well-advanced in terms of technology....even the admissions office waiting area had a computer for us to use and also a flat screen monitor on a wall that had all this stuff about the admissions process! Students seemed to be really happy, and the cost of living is extremely low compared to other cities in the South. It was also kind of relieving to know that the 1st year spans 11 months so it's not like they're cramming all the material they give first-years into the more traditional 9 or 10 months. And of course, the third year option is awesome and the finaid presentation was the most informative of any school.
-
The first year lecture hall is amazing! It's so comfy and even has little speakers at every desk. The lectures are videotapes and available online. The students were pretty nice. I remember some SDNers saying the students seemed elitest... I didn't get this feeling.
-
The medical education facilities are nice--the amphitheater, CLT(?) rooms, etc.
-
Duke University is an amazing school.
-
Everything about Duke was wonderful! The financial aid package is great. The students are friendly The faculty is cool. The 3rd year is a great idea and seems really flexible. Also, the support system for all students, especially minorities, is amazing. Basically, I was positively impressed by everything!
-
The 3rd year (when you do your own project) is very flexible. You can do research or get another degree (MPH, JD, MPH, etc.) and do so at just about any other school (I was told that people have gone to Oxford and Africa). The first year doesn't seem that it would be as hard as you would think, but still harder obviously.
-
Happy, laid-back students who seemed much less competitive than I expected. Also, top-notch facilities.
-
School's resources, 3rd year set-up, current students, admissions staff, future opportunities.
-
Amazing facilities.
-
The admissions office woman is very very nice--I also liked that they took our pictures for our ID cards--it made everything more personal. The first year lecture hall is beautiful. One of my favorite things about the "medical school building" itself.
-
lots of unique cases, patient lab has an artificail human to practice skills on rather than poking each other....and financial aid is awesome for a private school if you can show need....
-
the students were really into their class... the 100-person class size really helps the comaraderie... and the curriculum
-
the facilities, student interactions, overall atmosphere, hosting experience
-
students seemed very happy. interesting cirriculum. pass w/honors/pass/fail grading system. research opportunites
-
The happiness and friendliness of the student body, the curriculm and how responsive the administration is to the student's feedack, the cheap real estate
-
The facilities and many of the students that I met. The lecture I attended on cardiology exams and a visit to the optometry clinic were all very interesting/fun.
-
The facilities are incredible, and the students seemed laid back.
-
The school and the students.
-
The place is incredible
-
So much! Duke has great facilities for students and the undergrad campus is gorgeous. Everything is high tech. The students seem very happy and get along well. The atmosphere wasn't competetive. They really know their stuff, so that condensed 1st year might just work for me too.
-
everything, i really thought it was awesome.
-
The campus is beautiful, the students sharp yet not cutthroat, and the curriculum different and intriguing. Also Duke grads have lower debt, on average, than grads from even state med schools.
-
That you have the opportunity to obtain an MD/MPH in four years. Duke is the only school in the country that provides this opportunity. Students complete all of their basic sciences in the first year, start and complete their clinical clerkships during the second year, has the entire third year devoted to research (where you can pursue a second degree instead), and the fourth year is used to round everything up. Also, Duke students score at or above the 90th percentile on the boards. I was also very impressed with the interview questions that were posed to me during the beta interview. That is the time when they can see who you really are because it's difficult to give a sugar coated answer (something they want to hear). With these questions you truly have to use your personal medical experiences and values to answer them.
-
the students were the best part, very friendly. faculty was funny and hospitable. facilities are very cool.
-
the people, the classroom, the students, the area, the curriculum, hospital, faculty
-
I was blown away by the prestige of this school and the unique flavor of its curriculum. I also felt that I would fit in--the students were very friendly and social, which is a big draw.
-
Curriculum. Fast. Rigorous. Open. Early patient contact (second year clerkships). Great reputation. Great student aid. THE SOUTH! This was a major one. This was the only school I applied to in the South. Little does Duke know what a major draw that is to us southerners.
-
Unique Curriculum. Only one year of basic science (very streamlined), the rotations in the second year, an entire year free for research or pursuing a joint degree in the third, elective in the last.
-
They were very welcoming and students kept on comnig into intriduce themselves. Despite how how tech the place is, it seemed very homely.
-
Everything. I loved Duke, the facilities and the students. Everyone was so laid back, the faculty we met were amazing, the campus is beyond gorgeous. trhe 3rd year is also awesome and i'm excited about the extra-early clinical exposure
-
The hospitality of the visit. Everybody was so nice, the campus was beautiful, and people really had a lot of pride in their school.
-
Duke med students were very happy, neat people. Campus and facilities are state-of-the-art. In general, people were very friendly and made an effort to put the interviewing students at ease.
-
The third year is the BEST feature and I think it makes Duke superior to almost every other medical school in the country. The opportunities it opens up seem incredible. I can definitely see why its one of the top schools in the country.
-
Nothing impressed me about this interview.
-
I was interviewed at a regional location, so I only got to meet a Duke alumni who practices in California. He was really, really nice and took the interviewing very seriously.
-
quality of education, opportunities available
-
How happy the students were and how outgoing and friendly the faculty at Duke Med was.
-
I did not find one student that was unhappy. That impressed me. Also, Duke appreciates diversity in its student body which is a plus.
-
awesome financial aid!!
-
3rd year flexibility with the curriculum
-
Contrary to what many people think, the students and faculty are not snobs and did not seem cut-throat.
-
Everything. The interviewers were great, the students were great, and the resources available to everyone were incredible.
-
The students seemed to be happy and had many good things to say about Duke.
-
the people are amazing; the students were all very friendly and very happy
-
that the average debt load of students is so low.
-
The student facilites and smoothness of the day.
-
The school was really great. I had a great first impression. The research facility was huge and new. Very nice students.
-
Everything. I always come out of interviews with something negative to say about the school. But, not this time.
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the facilities were BEAUTIFUL. the curriculum is really innovative and non-traditional
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The facilities, cheap cost of living, and the overall caliber of the students.
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caliber of facilities, obvious talent/intelligence of students
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The amphitheater lecture hall was pretty amazing, and both the office staff and students were very nice. My tour guide and student interviewer were very upfront about the pros and cons of attending Duke.
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The campus is great, the hospital is nice, students are friendly, the curriculum is so unique (I'm interested in getting an MPH, which can be done DURING the third year).
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the students were REALLY happy and friendly
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my student interviewer was very fun to talk to
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The size of the campus and medical facilities
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Everything (esp. financial aid)
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The students were really friendly. The facilities were amazing - especially the classroom! Other teaching facilities were decent - nothing too spectacular. And the med school is on the undergrad campus, so you get those benefits.
What impressed you negatively?
Applicants were commonly unimpressed by the lack of diversity in the student body and interviewers, feeling overwhelmed and stressed by the intensity of the program. They also noted a lack of enthusiasm and organization during tours and interviews, with some concerns about the facilities and location of the school. Suggestions included improving diversity, reducing stress levels, enhancing organization of tours and interviews, and providing more information on curriculum changes and facilities.
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Not enough diversity, only two minority students being interviewed.
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The M1s I met seemed a little more overwhelmed than the ones I met at other schools.
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Wish they did the traditional interview style
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Tour was 2 hours while the other MMI group did their interview
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How early the day started lol
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The tour could have been better organized.
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...
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Students seems stressed.
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nothing
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Current student told me after the interview day that curriculum was being retooled to be team-based learning for current MSIs. Did not hear a peep out of the admissions office about this.
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The lab facilities we saw seemed very minimalistic, although the student tour guide said the gross anatomy lab was new and beautiful, but he couldn't let us in...
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tour guides seemed tired.. i guess it is med school!?
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3 week summer break after first year
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I liked Durham, but students who are looking for a big city may not be happy there. Not all major cities have direct flights to Durham making travel more difficult.
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More things than I expected. My interviewers were overall nice, though my student interviewer had the flattest aspect I've ever seen in a person. She literally gave me a half-smile once and otherwise listened to my answers with no nodding or "Mmhmm's. It was somewhat disconcerting. Second, neither interviewer really seemed to respond to any of my thoughts on wanted to stay rounded in med school. I've got a family, so I mentioned wanting to spend time with them, and it didn't really seem to resonate with either person. Third, the doctor giving the Duke curriculum overview rubbed me the wrong way. He was a super name-dropper, and he was constantly saying stuff like, "My uncle, who was the governor of New York, and my dad, who was the founding chair of the department of pediatrics at Case Western, blah, blah, blah" and "My preceptor at Harvard, who later went on to found the department of medicine for such and such," He just constantly referenced all the amazing people he had worked with even when it was very tangential to whatever we were discussing. Then, he also kept mentioning how at Duke we would have this research year (which I think is cool), and we should do research at the NIH or the CDC or Yale or Harvard and how we'd get to know lots of people there and build relationships so we could all go work at awesome schools when we graduated because we'd know all these super famous, influential people.
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how some students described first year as brutal and miserable.
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I didn't love Durham.
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The medical school does not have its own building, the cost.
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basement location of admissions office (j/k, it wasn't so bad)
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No after hours anatomy lab access
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Since my interview was during the holidays, and since the M-1s were taking their finals that day, we really didn't get to see much. Our tour was only 35 minutes.
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Nothing.
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Durham
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Nothing. Really, I thought the basic science all being in the first year was going to be a negative, but I talked to several (close to 20) students, and they all said it was manageable.
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Only Durham. I am from a larger, metropolitan area. If I were lucky enough to go here, it'd be a big adjustment.
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The tour was not very comprehensive. We did not get a chance to see much of their vast hospital system nor the anatomy lab, although we did get a whiff of the overwhelming smell of formaldehyde that came out from a slightly opened door of the anatomy lab.
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Nothing, really. despite 2 years' worth of curriculum being condensed into one, the students found it manageable.
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Nothing. I was very impressed.
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I just left with a less-than-optimal vibe. The faculty and upper-year students I met struck me as being rather elitist. The whole ''this is Duke so once you're in and one of us we'd take care of ya'' was a turn-off. There didn't seem to be much to do in the community.
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too many trees
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I had to email and chase after my regional interviewer before I got the interview
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there are no people there, the hospital is not alive
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No signs helping us get to the admissions office. Also, interviews seemed very brief, especially considering the very involved secondary app.
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the facilities seemed small, but that is probably because my tour guide only showed us 2 rooms (i don't know why). she also wasn't as enthusiastic as i would have hoped. but it was probably just a bad day for students, as i heard that they all had exams this week, so didn't see a lot of them.
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no student housing.
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Nothing new.
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Durham is not the most exciting but Chapel Hill is really close and that is where everything goes down.
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Durham is not the most exciting place, the facilities are not the best looking, the morning talk is completely disorganized and I got nothing out of it, the student tour guide was very indifferent, did not seem excited to be here and showed us the undergraduate campus...hello? I'd like to see the hospital and where I'll be for the next 4 years. He was reserved, quiet and aloof. The lunch could be better. Too many abstract questions were asked...I wonder what they got out of the interviews. I thought I would have liked Duke, but I felt completely out of place and uncomfortable.
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The area looked dead! I got there on a Sunday and walked around the medical school area and barely saw any people! It was actually depressing. I went to all of the ''hot spots'' of Durham, but they were either closed on Sunday or just not really ''hot spots.'' If you are a city person, adjusting here would be tough.
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Not that many students ate lunch with us, and the student that I sat closest too seemed a little stand-offish.
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Some of the classrooms and/or labs need renovation.
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nothing really
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Nothing of importance. The students who were supposed to eat lunch with us were busy.
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Faculty interviewer seemed flat, a little disinterested.
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Not much really.
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The whole school seemed a little snobby.
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Some of the facilities - like the CLF or something like that - weren't impressive. The hospital itself is very nice, but the CLF's are small rooms in the older part of the clinic where they do small group work and look at microscope slides and such.
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I was struggling the whole day to understand why the school is ranked so well. Nothing jumped out at me as impressive, and their name, while great, is no Harvard or Yale. I left feeling very disappointed.
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the student interview
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Durham was pretty dull, but the cost of living was pretty cheap.
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Student interviewer was bizarre (not very personable).
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I've already been to Durham and I don't really care if it's dead. It's not like I'll have that much time anyway. Nothing impressed me negatively.
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durham sucks A LOT.
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Most of the students are straight out of college and seem to keep to themselves. There appears to be low levels of interaction between the students--everyone seems to study on their own.
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facilities are pretty old...this really threw me off-guard after just having gone to some other places w/ spectacular facilities, durham is kind of shitty (reminds me of the town where i grew up)
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there is no med school specific building, all the facilities are embedded in the hospital.
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students pretty much left alone to take the USMLE Step 1 during the beginning of the 3rd yr...even that was a stretch for me to call it a ''negative'' - solid Duke students rock out on boards anyway
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Nothing really. The interviews started running late, but that probably can't be avoided.
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Student interviewer seemed very uninterested.
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I liked Durham a lot, but it's a small city and might not be what some people are looking for.
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not much to do around the area, some of the people's attitudes, it was hard to understand my interviewer, and he kept looking at the clock
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My interviewer (not the student interviewer) struck me as a little bit stuck up. I'm sure he's a nice person, but I couldn't help forming that impression.
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Getting around Durham was tough--I spent a lot getting to/from the airport. That's about the only thing, though
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interviewers could have asked better questions to get to know me better. My second interviewer asked me if I had any questions after only about 10 minutes of real interview. They were also running "behind schedule," so I felt rushed.
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Everyone drives into the school, which isn't that bad, but there are few place to live that you can walk to the campus from.
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I know I come from a small unknown school and I am not the smartest in the pack of applicants, but the interviewers made me feel like I wasn't even supposed to be there. Duke just wasn't as inviting as the other schools I have been at. It made me re-evaluate whether Duke would be on the top of my list or not.
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It's really hot and muggy in North Carolina during the summer. Parking is expensive and about .75 miles from the hospital.
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Not a lot. The laboratory classrooms were a bit sparse. There wasn't a big student presence on campus because of the time of year (four days before Christmas).
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It wasn't very negative, but I had the sense that some of the med students were a bit arrogant.
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My interviewer was bad
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Nothing big, but there was more than an hour between each of my interviews where there was nothing else going on. Just a bunch of waiting.
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The faculty interviewer seemd distracted and did not know my application very well
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some of the other applicants had a little bit of an intellectual arrogance to them.
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I felt like he was a bit rushed.
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Durham is limited, some of my fellow interviewees were brown nosers - I hope that doesn't represent the student body, few nontraditionals
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The area doesn't have any real public transportation and you need to buy a car or drive if you get in. There is also lack of sidewalks or biking routes which leaves you with no other options but to drive. Durham is not as pretty as I wish it would be.
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It was a little bit difficult to navigate the school. The students said it took them about a week to figure things out.
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Student interviewer seemed bored, faculty interviewer had a medically-important call during our meeting that shortened and disjointed it.
-
raleigh-durham
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Students seemed a little worn out. Durham is the middle of nowhere...I don't think that there's much to do there besides study or do something at the university.
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The interviewer didn't have any information about me, yet he was supposed to have received info from Duke. I had to provide the paperwork such as AMCAS, secondary, transcript for him to review.
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That is wasn't at Duke. I got a really great impression but I know next to nothing about Durham.
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nothing (hard to negatively impress on a regional interview)
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obviously, i didn't get a chance to really get a feel for the school
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Well it is in the South..I've lived in CA all my life, how can you compare?
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very little (if anything)
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Nothing really. I just hope that regional interviews are given equal consideration as on-site.
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they take paper tests
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There is absolutely nothing to do in Durham - even the students admitted you need a car to do anything fun.
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Nothing- the interviews were very casual, everyone I interacted with was incredibly friendly and approachable, and the school itself was great. The only negative thing was that some of my fellow interviewees were pretty cocky.
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Durham! There is nothing there.
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I am still not sure if their curriculum is right for me. They seem to be so geared towards producing physician scientists, and I am not sure that that is the direction I want to go. there are other things that you can do with that year off, like get an MPH etc. Many other schools give you some flexibility with electives and such the first two years, but Duke has taken all the flexibility there and put it into the third year.
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Durham is not exactly a great city...I would be willing to overlook it to come to Duke but it would be an adjustment.
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When they told us the avg MCAT was 36 and avg gpa was 3.8, I was tempted to walk out :) I have no idea how I got an interview at Duke...
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The tour was so short! I really really love Duke and have worked in its hospitals and clinics for years. There is a lot of great stuff here that they didn't choose to show the applicants. I found that weird.
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Nothing, except that the student tour could have been more organized.
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I am a city boy, and Durham is really small. It's nearby stuff to do but you have to have a car if you want to go there (or else you are dependent on others for a social life). There are a lot of things to do if you to get away from the hustle and bustle of a city, which is good, but I like being within minutes of doing anything you want.
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Limited opportunity to talk with students other than first-years who had been there only a couple of months and could speak to very little about the school. The students I did talk to seemed to think it was cool to tell the interviewees how seldom they attended class.
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Students seemed a little bit stressed. Most said that they didn't work as hard as they did in undergrad, but I find it hard to believe.
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Some condescending attitudes. One interviewer was late, and then cut the talk short.
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I dislike long interview days that involve downtime and this day did. Some of us had to sit for an hour or more in the admissions room (well we could have left I suppose) while we waited between interviews. It just seems wasteful of our time to me?
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the interview is only 30 min...and by the time you think you are getting started, it is already over
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durham is a small southern town.
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not too much, really. my student interviewer was intense and made me a little nervous, but nothing too bad.
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nothing negative stood out.
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eh, durham is not the most exciting city in the world.
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My student interviewer was piss-poor at conducting an interview. She lacked the ability to steer a conversation and was resistant to gentle pushes. She had a list of 8 questions that were on her agenda for the allotted .5 hour and none of them were specific to my application.
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The interviews were not held when scheduled. My second interviewer kept me waiting for over an hour. The meal requests (vegetarian, kosher) were not honored.
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My interveiw. It was just the luck of the draw. I got an uninterested interviewer.
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I don't think that the interviewers really tried to get to know me beyond my application.
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Durham isn't a great city, but Chapel Hill is just down the street.
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not much.
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Hotel access in the area is spotty. Reserve early.
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Classes are basically 9-5 and the first year is 11 months rather than eight. However, this is medical school and you're learning a great deal in one year so you need as much time as you can get.
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things aren't very close together, need a car
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nothing really...maybe that there is no on campus housing
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I wasn't too thrilled with the quality of the interviewers. At Duke, you have an "Alpha" and a "Beta" interviewer (2 interviews), and I didn't think either of mine were great. Both had no flexibility in terms of asking follow-up questions, and with their lack of social skills, it is a wonder they could interact well with patients at all. Luckily, the other students there thought so too!
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Stress level of the school. There is an AOA here; and I would have to study my tush off indefinitely.
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Though the students seemed happy to be at Duke, they did not seemed thrilled to be giving tours, fielding questions, etc. Perhaps it was the time of year.
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well, coming from LA, Durham is a bit sleepy
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Finaid presentation was a little bit cut-and-dry (kind of corny, but very informative...except the lady didn't really seem to want to help out too much.) Also, confusing to get around. I spent ~ 20 minutes just trying to locate the admissions office.
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the lunch...not very good.
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Nothing really, its expensive like most other private schools, but if I had to choose between this expensive set of schools, I would definitely choose Duke over some of its peers and "higher ranked" institutions just because of its third year.
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I had a horrible regional interview that I am incredibly upset about. My interviewer asked no questions about my background, and when I volunteered personal info, she changed the subject. She cut me off when I answered her questions about ethics. After about thirty minutes, her friend came over and sat behind us. She then claimed she had errands to do and that we had to end the interview (while I was in mid sentence.) After I got up to leave, she sat with her friend, as if they had a planned meeting. The worst part was when the interviewer stated that she thought my college only focused on writing and not on research. I had to remind her about my research background and what a science major was like at my school. She didn't seem to change her opinion after my explanation. This interviewer obviously came to the table with preconceived notions about what I was like and obviously did not read my application before asking questions.
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I wish my interview was open-file so that the interviewer would have had some backgbround. What I didn't like is that he forgot to tell me that it was closed-file (he later apologized), so that during the first part of the interview I omitted a few things which I figured would have been repetitions from my application. Later, as I realized he didn't get my references to the application, I backtracked. If you are not sure if it is open/closed file-AKS.
-
seemed like a lot of students were gunners open 3rd year could be an opportunity to slack if you let it
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None.
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I attended a first year lecture where everyone in the classroom was on the computer chatting on Instant Messenger and playing poker.
-
prospect of spending another 4 yrs in Durham...
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financial aid
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no on-campus housing
-
Only 8% of the class are non-traditional students
-
nothing, duke was grea
-
lots -- the students didn't seem that happy and a little snotty. the curriculum seemed a little too intense (i heard the word rigorous more than I would have liked). the students and faculty kept talking about how they were better than other top schools, which was annoying and unnecessary (just made duke look paranoid).
-
The lunch.
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Some people complained about NC
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durham, nc. yick. i hear chapel hill is cool, though.
-
I know I shouldn't complain about this but their breaks are really short...the first summer is only one month long!
-
Durham - seems like it has the disadvantages of a city (traffic congestion, crime) without the advantages
-
The dreary weather today and some of my second interviewer's questions.
-
Durham (my bus drivers both told me the crime rate was high for such a small city) and how the campus seemed a bit isolated from the city. Also, for med school it really seems like a commuter campus (you need a car - they said this in the financial aid presentation).
-
the very low age of most Duke Med students, lack of age diversity and nontrad students
-
The interview process
-
Fellow interviewees
-
I wasn't too happy with the questions I got asked by the one interviewer.
What did you wish you had known ahead of time?
Applicants commonly wished they had known ahead of time to wear comfortable walking shoes, stay hydrated during interviews, and be prepared for a relaxed MMI process. Suggestions included reviewing secondary application materials, practicing more, and being aware of the emphasis on research at Duke University School of Medicine.
-
That interviewers will try to test your patience.
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It's important to stay hydrated during the MMI process. My worst station(s) was when I was thirsty lol
-
NA
-
Don't be afraid to bring truly comfortable walking shoes - you will need them.
-
The MMI questions lol but the Best advice I got was to just be myself and answer the questions.
-
That the MMI was more relaxed than I thought--I would have spent less time freaking out.
-
mmi
-
Durham is very segregated and can be quite dangerous.
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How awesome Duke was and special this place was
-
I needed more practice.
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Not to be so nervous about the interview
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how much effort my interviewers were going to put into reading my essays.
-
Do not find out if accepted until March.
-
The interview group was smaller than I expected--only 10 interviewees.
-
The Ivy-aspirations of the school.
-
they will ask questions from your secondary so DEFINITELY REVIEW IT!!!
-
The curriculum has existed in this format since 1965.
-
How beautiful the campus was!
-
The interviewers don't know your GPA or MCAT score during the interview. But, apparently they are allowed to just come out and ask.
-
Definitely heed the warning about bringing comfortable shoes!!
-
That my student host was going to cook me dinner, and make me breakfast in the morning.
-
All of the applicants on my day got out by 2 PM so I should have booked an earlier flight.
-
That outside of the few restaurants located on the campus, one would have to drive or walk for a bit to find other places to eat.
-
The interview times are random, so you can't predict what time you're going to be finished. My interview was done a few hours before I could check into my hotel for the night and I had nothing to do.
-
The poor interviewers also had to run through 6 students in one sitting (3 hours). I felt very, very bad for them, but could not help wonder how well they really got to know me, being as fatigued as they clearly were.
-
there are not too much diversity, mostly white people
-
Brief interviews sort of threw me. I had a lot of things that I didn't get to say, but the interviewers said they got a good picture, so whatever.
-
no on campus housing and this is just personal, because i'm from the northeast, but it was a really southern atmosphere...
-
Interviewers did not have MCAT or GPA. Student interviewer had nothing on me, just name and major.
-
I knew that I would be impressed, but I never thought I would be that impressed.
-
The school is not competitive and the students and really like a family.
-
WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES & be prepared for weird personalities!!!
-
That the interviewers (especially the faculty one)would ask me questions that were far and beyond my application and questions that I wouldn't even expect! This interview was pretty stressful! The student one not so much but still a little stressful.
-
nothing
-
How great the school is and how interested they are in training academic physicians
-
zip
-
That Duke doesn't have rolling admissions: obviously one of those things I should have known but didn't. I'm really happy about this because I applied relatively late.
-
Though I used to live there, I had forgotten that Durham is a much smaller city and things are much closer. I didn't really need to rent a car.
-
They're so focused on research and apparently on their graduates doing research later on. I wish I had known that you do an entire year-long research project (and thesis) but you don't get a dual degree for it.
-
My first interviewer was more interested in recruiting me than hearing what I had to say - he even drew me a little map of the campus and insisted I go look around and check out the basketball arena! The second interviewer was a 3rd year med school student who had all his questions prepared (typed out on his computer) before I got there. He made sure he asked me all his questions before I was able to ask him questions and make it more conversational.
-
It's colder than I thought it would be.
-
All the merit aid is reserved for URMs.
-
Nothing.
-
some popscicle place down some windy roads and in a shack! it was delicious!
-
That although they say it's a semi-closed file interview (they don't look at your GPA or MCAT scores) that's not always true! You should prepare for having to deffend a bad grade in your record (a ''C'') and if need by your MCAT scores.
-
they give you a frisbee that says: I interviewed at Duke Med. cab to/from airport is expensive!
-
nothing, I went there for undergrad
-
that i wasn't gonna be asked any ethics questions (i was super-prepared for all sorts of nightmarish scenarios)
-
The interviews are SEMI-CLOSED. They have access to all your essays and AMCAS, but NOT your GPA or MCAT score. The Admissions Director said, "We are looking for two qualities in our candidates: a capacity for academic brilliance as well as [something like 'humaneness' or 'human understanding']. We assume that if you are invited for an interview, you are academically prepared to study at Duke. So, in your interviews, we do not disclose GPA or MCAT so that your interviews can gauge your [humaneness]." Sorry, I can't remember what the term she used for "humaneness" was. It was something nice... Also, Chapel Hill and Raleigh are only 15 miles or so from Durham. For some reason I thought they were much further away.
-
They have great financial aid
-
After visiting, Duke is my first choice school for sure.
-
it's not as high stress as i expected
-
Nothing really.
-
That the shuttle from the airport doesn't run after 11pm
-
That the interviews would be so conversational.
-
that I would have been asked a question on Iraq.
-
I didn't expect Durham to be so Southern, but almost all of the locals have strong Southern accents, and there is country music playing everywhere. Duke has really good financial aid, and the average student debt is approx 25k lower than the average debt at PUBLIC med schools. Duke also gives some full merit scholarships. Another thing- they black out your GPA and MCAT so that your interviewers don't have access to this info.
-
The alpha and beta interview classifications don't always apply. Don't be too geared towards classifying your interviews. Also make sure to know your research and explain why it's important. Research is a big priority at Duke. Be sure to buffer in time to get around and find locations. Be careful during lunch with the students, apparently they report back to the SOM office.
-
This interview day was not stressful at all!
-
How much my research would be a part of my interview.
-
I was put at ease about the condensed first year curriculum.
-
The school does not have rolling admissions and they compare all applicants before making a decision, which I guess makes everything more fair. If you are from the westcoast, you should be sure to get some sleep the night before of the time difference. You need to be there by 8:00am and it is like five in the morning for us. I had to have 2 cups of coffee by nine.
-
That I would be asked about something at which I had failed. My response now would be "answering this question."
-
no one was there..it was just after new years and none of the students were there.
-
How isolated and rural the Durham area is.
-
That much of the interview was going to be the interviewer reading my credentials.
-
How wonderful regional interviews are! Also, they have your file but they do not know you're MCAT score. Put your heart into the 2ndary, I think it really helped me out.
-
Duke is a "number whore" school (avg. GPA around 3.8, MCAT around 35). Yikes!
-
Did not have complete access to my file. Only AMCAS and some of my secondary answers. Did not know MCAT scores.
-
How friendly the students are; it causes the day to be much more enjoyable.
-
I think this site and my other preparation left me without any real surprises
-
How out of my league the school is :P
-
I wish this hadn't been my first interview because now I'm going to compare all schools to Duke and I have a feeling they will all look bad
-
Call the shuttle company first thing when you arrive at RDU, or even before....I ended up shelling out 40$ for a cab ride :P
-
Well, I didn't know I was supposed to pre-arrange a shuttle pick up from the airport. So I spent a while looking for a bus to take me to Duke. The shuttle is $25. Otherwise you have to take a cab and that is $31 or $35 or something. Luckily my host came and picked me up after I had been wandering outside the airport for a while :)
-
For all they talk about the alpha/beta thing, I got NO ethical questions.
-
That Duke was such a wonderful school and the interview was so not stressful. Oh, and ladies, PLEASE wear shoes that are comfortable. You're gonna be walking alot! (Wish I'd listened!)
-
You really should have a car if you want to go there. I guess that's true of a lot of schools but definitely Duke and since I live in a city I've never bothered to buy one. I guess I should buy one now.
-
That the focus on research would come out in the interviews. I was asked to talk about research papers I wrote in grad school five years ago and had trouble remembering specifics.
-
Interviews are not as difficult as I thought they would be!
-
Most people were done by 4 as opposed to by 5 so they could have made flights home.
-
the directions are so confusing to the admissions office...... the whole building is a mess so give yourself little extra time to reach there
-
how small durham is...
-
that the single year of basic sciences courses is actually "do-able!"
-
students are heavily involved. there are students on the admissions committee and on the curriculum committee. not so much "wish" i knew, but didn't know until i got there
-
that the city is really not walkable, you definitely need a car to go anywhere
-
I wish I had known that visiting Duke didn't really change my opinion of the school all that much. It's a wonderful place, but all the same, it would've been better to save my money and have a regional interview.
-
Many students do an MPH during their third year.
-
not a thing
-
40% of Duke Med students use the 3rd year to work on another degree - but you don't need to apply or proclaim interest until your 2nd year. Some students are interviewed by Dr. Armstrong.
-
How relaxed everything would be. Also the average debt for Duke was lower than my state school.
-
That the 3rd year can be, and often is, used for pursuing a second degree: JD, MPH, MA, MBA etc.
-
That it snowed last Friday. I would have scheduled my interview then so that I would have been able to see it.
-
very relaxed interview
-
that the people are mad cool
-
Just how much I'd love it here! When I don't get in, I'll be very sad...
-
Rapid interviews mean you can't get any sense for the faculty whatsoever.
-
There was a lot of downtime during the day. We arrrived at 10, my first interview wasn't until 3.
-
not much
-
Duke's 60% grant to cover student's financial need...
-
That it wasn't stressful
-
This was parents weekend. This made it difficult to find a hotel room close to campus. I suggest that you plan your interview data around hotel availability.
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Nothing really. The Admissions office is one floor BELOW the ground level in the basement of the purple zone.
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How "down to earth" my interviewer was even though he went to Duke Med School.
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admissions office is impossible to find, students don't want to house you so get ready to pay. getting an interview date is tough toward the end, so be ready to alter your schedule for them.
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Duke's interview process is not a "hardcore stressed" out session that many believe it to be. It was probably one of the most laid back interviews I've had.
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The interviews are scheduled in the afternoon after all the days activities. It was a long day.
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how bored I would be - I'm a duke undergrad and as of recent have been spending more time on the med campus than undergrad campus
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The tour IS really long...and there are soft drinks and juices in that little refrigerator by the coffee pots.
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that the interview were such a small part of the day and they are very laid back.
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the financial aid is really good too
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that duke is not so flexible about what you can do during the third year.
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Nothing in particular. I was very impressed by the school. It's one of my top choices. I didn't know about the school at all and considered it substandard for reserach. But I now know that I was wrong and it's really an awesome school
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That Duke was so awesome! I would have gone in with it being my number one choice like I did when I came out.
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how young everyone was. average age was like 22? being a little on the non-trad side, this is a sketch too young for me, i think
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Nothing - their website is extremely informative.
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that there is such an emphasis on RESEARCH; that the interviews were standardized
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That the interviews are laid-back.
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That the airport shuttle is not in operation - the Millenium Hotel is about the only shuttle besides the expensive taxis, but you have to stay there.
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that i wasn't going to be asked any ethical questions
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that I wouldn't be happy here, but it is a great school for some...
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That the 2 interviewers were interviewing everyone (6 of us total) that day. So you would come out of the room after interviewing with one guy and another student would go into see him. I thought
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I wish I had stayed with a student host, or even closer to campus. It's hard to get around Durham without a car - I waited about a half hour for a cab everytime I had to go somewhere.
What are your general comments?
Applicants generally expressed positive sentiments about Duke, citing the school's impressive curriculum, beautiful campus, and friendly staff and students. Many found the interviews to be relaxed and conversational, with an emphasis on research and ethical questions. Some applicants noted concerns about elitism, heavy focus on research, and the location of the school, but overall, Duke was considered a top choice for many.
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Great school, unique and amazing curriculum, beautiful school.
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The MMI here is not so bad - just try to relax and express ideas that are consistent with your values in a somewhat logical way (I know it can feel hard to do so under stress). The rest of the day is pretty enjoyable. Try to socialize with your fellow interviewees and keep an eye out for the things that matter to you for deciding on which school to attend.
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What an amazing school
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I hope they show me love.
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I loved this place. They had me at "hello".
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good
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Good school, but they seemed a little too proud of themselves.
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prestige all around
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Awesome school and happy students. Would love to go here.
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One piece of advice: They emphasize research since they are so into it. Try to play up your interest in it.
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I was very impressed by this school an I can't wait for march to find out if I got in!
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Definitely my most challenging interviews of the cycle.. that being said, Duke is the bomb! Some places I went my interviewers made me feel unimportant or obviously had not read any aspect of my application. This place wants to get to know you through the essays, and they are dead serious about it. Just to dispel something brought up on here, merit scholarships are NOT by any means reserved for minority students
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Love this place. Definite #1.
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Because 2nd years were in the hospital, 3rd years doing research, 4th years doing own thing, only got to meet first years. Would have been nice to meet more students from different classes.
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Duke has a wonderful curriculum, especially if you have particular interests that you want to pursue. It is probably worth finding the medical school admissions office the night before the interview.
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I think Duke rubbed me the wrong way because I've never really had much experience with wannabe-Ivy/Ivy schools before. At Duke, it was all about how going there could get you connections to other amazing schools and give you tons of research opportunities to give you a great career at some awesome medical school. And, not that this is bad, but it seemed like there were a lot of richer kids there too. The financial aid guy seemed quite surprised that 5/10 of us said we already had student loans. He said, "Wow, usually it's a lot fewer of you." And he also in his 9 years there had *never* had a med student apply for the NHSC. Really? No one in 9 years? Of course, the 3 3rd and 4th years I did meet all were going into radiology for whatever that's worth...
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It's such a relaxed day, they really do a nice job making you feel welcome. And obviously, it's Duke, so everything about it is just awesome.
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Duke was really fun to interview at. It was purely conversational and laid back. They do a really good job of telling you about the school and all the medical students seemed genuinely happy with their Duke experience. Although I am a Duke undergrad, I still learned a lot about the program. Biggest thing is don't stress as the interviews fly by.
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Bring comfortable shoes for the tour!
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This is a great school. I was really impressed, although it is difficult to envision living in Durham for 4+ years. Most of my interviews focused on what I had written for my secondary application.
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It was awesome, not at all stressful, and I really really hope I get in. As far as I can tell, the interviews are open-file but blinded to MCAT & GPA.
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There are two interviews. The alpha interview (open file, but no MCAT and GPA) consisted of a series of questions about myself. The beta interview (closed file) is supposed to push you past your limits, and to determine if you are a compassionate human being. My beta interview involved three ethical scenarios. I heard from other students that they had no ethical questions in their beta interview.
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Be prepared for Mr. Wallace's pre-interview pep talk. It was the greatest, most heartfelt 10 minutes of my life. He is so awesome.
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The day started at 8:30 with a brief orientation, then a talk about Duke's curriculum and screening process from the Dean of Admissions. She spoke very highly of all the students at Duke and wanted all of the interviewees to know that the most rigorous part of the application process was already over and that we should relax. Next, we spoke with someone from the financial aid department. I must admit, I was impressed by the lack of debt Duke students leave with. We then went on a tour of the facilities, classrooms, labs, and the hospital, all of which were quite nice. The campus is gorgeous! Our tour guide was a fourth year student who was great about answering all of our questions and making sure that each interviewee got to see every part of campus they were interested in. Lunch was great because even more students stopped by to chat and tell us how great the school is. The interviews were last in the day, which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be because I was so relaxed by that time. I was interviewed by a fourth year student first and it seemed as if she had a list of questions that she had to get through, so I tried to be somewhat brief. The second interview was given by a faculty member who was extremely laid back, friendly, a seemed genuinely interested in me as an individual and my life experiences. The interviews were so relaxed and conversational that I actually ran over my allotted 30 minutes on both. Overall, it was a great day.
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The staff and students were all extremely nice, very accommodating, and the whole experience gave me a very positive impression of the school.
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I expected the interviews to be considerably harder than what I actually experienced. The questions that I got were very standard, and the interviews were relaxed and conversational. In fact, my interviewers probably spoke more than I did and were very into selling the school. I don't think that the other interviewers for the day took this approach, but you must be prepared for either case. The interviews were open file in the sense that they had my primary and secondary applications, but knew nothing about my grades or MCAT score. I felt very welcomed in Durham and on-campus. Duke is a phenomenal school and you get that sense throughout the day.
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Read all your secondary essays again. They will ask about them!
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Duke was a great place to interview. I was really nervous after reading all of the interview questions on the SDN website, but it isn't as intense as it seems. The questions are difficult, but the interviewers are very receptive and bring you along with them in a conversation to get to know you better. The medical student does have a certain amount of questions to get through, so its best to keep your answers short, sweet, and to the point.
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Duke is still a great school. It just may not work for everyone. People are very friendly overall, but the environment is too insulated for my liking.
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First interview, impressed with students and laid-back atmosphere, they seem to really take care of the students, laptops included MS1, PDA included MS2, free printing, wished they notified us sooner. Only downside is the location, I'd rather a more metropolitan area, but at least the weather isn't as extreme compared to the north.
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One of my interviewers left for thanksgiving and forgot that he had to interview me so they hurriedly find a substitue that didnt read over my file. A very nice old guy though and very positive attitude but mostly talk about case western medical school becasue he went there for medical schools
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interesting conversations; unfortunately, student interviewer has set questions she must cover--we were running out of time, so had to answer five of them in 3 minutes, which made for less thoughtful, comprehensive responses
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Like I said, brief. The questions were personal and conversational. Very laid back.
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overall, it was a great experience and i came out of it with a much better impression than going into it. 1st, after going there and Dr. Armstrong speaking to us about the curriculum, i realized how amazingly innovative this program is and not at all restrictive and intense as many people preconceive it to be. 2nd, their mantra is humility and compassion! and they were completely genuine about that. 3rd, what more can you ask for, it's top then school. would definitely be beyond lucky to get accepted.
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arrived, orientation speech, fin. aid speech, tour, lunch, two interviews. Very relaxed and interesting.
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Pretty early start, 8:15 am. Finding the admission office is difficult, so try being a bit early. Again, no GPA or MCAT. Student had nothing, though may be case specific. Freedom of 3rd year is great. Average debt is much lower than most private school, probably from the 3rd year.
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Wow! I was absolutely blown away by Duke. I knew it was going to be great, but I had no idea just how amazing this place is. The first thing that should strike you is how unbelievable the people are. The administration will tell you that the students are the stars, and they aren't kidding. All the people I met (students, faculty, administration) are incredibly passionate about Duke. I stayed with students and they couldn't say enough good about their school. The day starts with a talk with Dr. Armstrong - which is amazingly motivational. Then, there is a financial aid talk. Duke has great packages. A tour was given by a first year student who was not only informative, but very funny and personable. We had lunch with a few students and also students would randomly pop into the office where we were all day to talk to us. As I said, they were all so positive about Duke. Just before the interview, the associate dean gave us a pep talk that really fired me up. He, just like Dr. Armstrong, was a phenominal speaker. The interviews started at noon. There were two of them and each lasted one half hour. I hung around after my last interview to talk to more students, faculty, and administration before my host generously drove me to RDU. It was an amazing day and Duke is incomparable to the other schools where I have interviewed. It has launched to the top of my list and I absolutely will go there if offered a slot.
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Overall the interviews were very relaxed and they seemed to want to get to know who I was. No screwball questions at all.
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I am really disappointed in my day, I expected so much more. I don't know if I'll attend Duke even if I get in.
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Not too great overall. The area was disappointing and a bit depressing. Supposedly, Chapel Hill is 20 mins away or something and it's supposed to be a very exciting city..Duke Undergrad is a couple of mins from the MEd School so at least you get some liveliness in the area from those students, but still...i wasn't very impressed overall. The medical school library was not impressive at all, and actually made me think I would never want to study in there (even some first years told us that the library was the worst thing about Duke). The campus has pretty old buildings but the medical clinics and hospital do not look that amazing. Duke has an amazing reputation because of its amazing students (they are very awesome, friendly, bright people) and its highly achieved faculty. However, the location and the social life made Duke not be my first choice...If you are into research you can take advantage of the third year research year at Duke, which is awesome because you can actually save a whole year's worth of money. Also, you can postpone your Boards until the end of third year, which gives you a whole year of no-academics to study for them and do really well. Basically, Duke's program is awesome but its location is not.
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Duke was amazing. I came out of the place blown away by their program. The morning info sessions were the most comprehensive of any school that I had been too, and the tour, though pretty standard, was a lot of fun. I felt like I was in Disneyland. The interviews took place in the afternoon and were laid back, and I had zero ethics questions.
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I came away with a great impression of Duke. It certainly appears to deserve its reputation as one of the nation's leading medical schools.
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Asked me traditional questions and also, as Duke likes to do, asked ethical/moral questions. Told me stories about his family, really nice guy.
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Awesome.
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Overall good experience
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Overall, This was a great interview experience. Several other people have commented on this website that Duke goes through a rigorous selection process just to pick who they invite to interview. By the time you've made it to the interview, you've made the academic cut. The 2 interviews seemed to focus on me as a self-aware and self-guided person in an attempt to identify whether or not I would fit well into the team oriented healthcare environment that Duke wants to build. I've also heard that Duke runs an alpha and a beta interview. I didn't personnally feel like I was in that sort of situation, but nearly half of the other interviewees complained that their faculty interviews were only 10 minutes long. My faculty interviewer indicated that she was complete about 10 minutes into the interview, so I started asking open ended questions and using her response as a cue to talk more about myself. I ended up dragging the interview out to about 35 minutes. I think cutting the interview short may have been a scripted attempt to see how the interviewee reacts. My thoughts were that I didn't fly all the way across the country to talk for 10 minutes. I was going to give her a chance to get to know me whether she wanted to talk or not.
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The whole experience was not exactly what I was expecting. There was that one guy in the group of applicants who had to stand up, introduce himself to, and shake hands with each applicant as everyone arrived that morning. I was impressed by all the undergrad schools represented - Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, etc - but the other applicants didn't seem as friendly overall as most of the other schools I interviewed at. (Maybe that's not of prime important when judging the school, but they're my prospective classmates...) My first interviewer was older (he's famous partly for a surgery he worked on in the 40's), and I felt like I wasn't talking loud enough for him. One of the first questions out of his mouth was ''What would you like to research during your third year?'' I came up with something, but I don't think it was convincing. I honestly haven't thought that far ahead. He also asked if I wanted to work in academia or do research later on as opposed to seeing patients full time. After those questions, I felt like the rest of the interview was cut a little short. He shook my hand and said, ''Good luck. I'm sure you'll find the right med school for you, whether that be Duke or somewhere else.'' Probably not a good sign. He was really very nice, I just don't think I told him what he wanted to hear. My student interviewer was very nice and we had a pretty relaxed interview. I didn't think the facilities were amazing, but they were nicer than I expected after reading some of the other more negative feedback. Overall, I'm sure Duke has earned it's reputation as an outstanding research school.
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Length of day was good. I had an hour and a half b/t my interviews; there are magazines/TV in the waiting room. Take a tour of your own to see the undergrad campus a little more if you have time. Overall, it was a positive experience - I left liking Duke more than I did when I came, mostly b/c of the people I talked to today.
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Overall interviews went well, some difficult questions.
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The faculty interview was an amazing experience. We talked about my life experience and I was allowed to express myself as freely and naturally as possible without the fear of being judged based on my answers. But the student interview was rather unpleasant and intimidating. He did not like some of my answers and he made it very clear to me. I felt like I was expected to say something he liked in order to become qualified to study medicine. The whole interview had no depth and I am pretty sure that he had no idea of my true personality after the interview.
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Curriculum overview with dean, followed by a financial aid session in the morning (no breakfast). Tour, lunch, then an afternoon with two half hour interviews. In theory, your interviewers have read your entire file, but not seen your scores or GPA. Mine, however, had read nothing past the name, school, and hometown.
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I left Duke with a positive/neutral impression. I really dig their philosophy, I really dig the 3rd year idea, and their students are the most approachable I've seen anywhere (besides my bizarre student interviewer). I really hope I get in, but at the same time, I don't want to be in Durham for 4 years. That wouldn't stop me from going to this great school though. Insane residency matches. 2nd best in the nation on USMLEs step 1 (after UPenn, which coincidentally has a similar shortened preclinical). Cheaper than other Privates in the same league.
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Overall great day! The student giving the tour was informative and quite open. The students we had lunch with were great resources for all kinds of program and lifestyle questions. The interviews were more of ''get to know you'' and ''understand what you're about'' conversations than anything. I went to Duke expecting great things and came away impressed.
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I was impressed enough that I'd certainly attend if accepted.
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basically i chilled with my really goood HS friend (undergrad at duke) for a weekend, and then had this interview which i was terrified about but turned out to be no big deal. then i chilled with my HS friend some more. it was like a vacation from my real life.
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Overall the interview was…okay. The student was a bit too stand-offish; I felt like I had to prove myself to her. The faculty interviewer, however, was fair. I was really thrown for a loop when I was asked to explain a grade for an intro class I took three years ago; everyone at Duke tells you that, “you’ve made it this far (to an interview) now you don’t have to worry about your grades or MCAT scores.†That wasn’t the case for me! I did appreciate how both interviewers had spent time reviewing my application and asked me direct questions about my activities.
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scary questions, nice people, need to build new student areas, great curriculum, duke is in the middle of nowhere. info session in the am, financial aid, tour, lunch, interviews
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overall, very positive. The admissions office makes you feel very at home, students are outgoing and always stopping by, and the coffee is pretty good
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there were 7 of us interviewing. if you make it this far, grades/MCAT are no longer an issue (they block out those elements of your application for the interviewers). 8:30 - 9:15 meeting w/ associate dean; 9:15 - 9:45 meeting w/ financial aid; 10 - 11 medical center tour; 11 - 12 lunch w/ students; 12 interview #1 (student); 12:30 interview #2 (faculty); 1 p.m. DONE!
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My interview day totally turned my opinion of Duke around. It's an amazing school.
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Facilities were amazing. Interviews were pretty laid back, and although some of the ethical questions were kind of tricky, they weren't too bad. I had a wonderful time, and Duke has become one of my top choices.
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The interviews weren't stressful, though they did go by very quickly...I ranked my performance a 6 b/c my 2nd interviewer asked me a question regarding one of my AMCAS activities that I wasn't expecting, and I fumbled the answer, which left me kind of flustered for the rest of the interview. It wasn't her fault...I just got rattled.
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pretty good... stay with a host... they are very good to you, and they walk you to your interview so you don't get lost. the facilities are pretty impressive, as is their program.
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Overall, very good.
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The whole experience was amazing, from meeting the other interviewees (daunting, because the group I interviewed with was primarily male) to touring (facilities were amazing) to the curriculum to the students. It all made Duke my top choice by far.
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First half involved the intro from Dean of Admissions, Financial aid and student-led tour. Students were very enthusiastic and friendly--we also had lunch with a few (should have been more). Two 30-minute interviews. One was with an MD and one was with a 4th-year med student. The interviews were so conversational that I felt I had to really make an effort to "toot my own horn" so to speak, since the questions did not elicit the most colorful answers as to be expected from my experiences.
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Laid back and conversational. Lots of waiting time for the interviews. My interviewers were great and took a lot of time to answer my questions.
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I arrived early and gave myself a tour while waiting for my host to get out of class. Go look at the gardens on campus, they were beautiful! My host was great. She took me out to a bar they always go to (just to get dinner not drink of course) and I got to meet many of the first year med students, which was fun. my interview day started out very early. the dean of admissions is so awesome, lunch was great. I wasn't as impressed by the tour. We did not see much of Duke.The interview process was stressful because my interviewer was stuck up in OR, so they had to quickly find someone else to interview me who had never seen my file. and her questions were difficult. my second interview was fine, just seemed rushed. there was a lot of waiting between interviews.
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Arrive around 8am and take a picture for a name tag. There is no breakfast, so eat before you come. 8:30-9:15 is a welcome from the dean, then a financial aid presentation, then a tour. After the tour you have an early lunch (11am-12pm) followed by two interviews during the 12-3:30 time period. The interviews were very relaxed, and I wasn't asked any ethical questions during my beta interview.
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Arrived at SOM Admissions @ 8:00. Met in group with the Associate Dean (great guy!). He mainly went over curriculum, the curriculum at Duke is unlike other schools in that all the basic sciences are crammed into the first year and the third year is open (usually used for research). Then we had a brief meeting with Financial Aid. Shown a video on Duke's financial aid package (not that interesting a video, but lots of money is available). Then we went on a tour given by a student, it was somewhat unstructured but the student was very cool. After the tour we had lunch with medical students in a conference room nearby the admissions office, nice way to unwind. Then interviews were given from 12-3:00. Most of the interviews in our group ended well before 3. They aren't back to back which is nice, the wait varied person to person. My faculty interviewer was very nice, little intimidating though. My student interviewer was fantastic. The interview became more like a conversation. Everyone at Duke is very welcoming. I'll feel extremely blessed if I get in. This experience definitely moved Duke up my med school list.
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We checked in around 8 AM and then we had the admissions director talk about the history of Duke's curriculum. They're very proud of their curriculum, so this was a long talk. Then we watched a short video on financial aid. Afterwards, we had a tour of the hospital, then we had lunch with a few med students who were pretty friendly and open to questions.
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Wonderful. Interviewers were incredibly friendly. Low stress interview.
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The school is fantastic. Curriculum is great, I loved the way the students came in and out of the admissions office. My student interview was good, he asked good and relevant questions etc. My adult interview was bad. He asked a couple of ethical/theoretical questions which was fine and he prefaced it with "there are no wrong answers". Which, of course, was bs. Everytime I answered a question he would nod, jot something down and then proceed to tell me what I should have said. Or what the best answer he ever received for that question was (meaning my answer was total crap). Overall, the interview style negatively impressed me a lot.
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There at 8:00. Orientation, financial aid video. Tour, lunch, 2 interviews.
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The interviews were basically just conversations...there were no tough questions at all. I could not distinguish between the alpha and beta interview.
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the day starts pretty early. the group interviewing that day meets with an administrator who generally discusses the school and the curriculum. then, a person from financial aid goes over the schools program and answers questions. a student takes the group on a pretty comprehensive tour of the lecture facilities, teaching hospital, and general area while talking about their experience with duke. then its a lunch with a few students and interviews to follow. one interview is supposed to have a ethics theme and the other is supposed to have more of an experiences theme, but they are virtually the same. the student interview is with a third year and the student interviewer seems to have a lot of clout. i loved duke. the facilities and campus are unmatched at any place i have been. the schools reputation speaks for itself, and the innovative curriculum suits my learning style.
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I interviewed regionally at Waconia, MN. I enjoyed my interview, but since I was not at Duke I didn't have a tour or anything.
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The day starts pretty early. You come in around 8:15 and make up your own little name tag. At 8:30 you get a thorough curriculum presentation followed by a Financial Aid Brief. Both were well done and informative. Around 10:00 you start the tour, which is one of the better ones I've seen. They actually take you into the wards as well as locations around the undergrad campus. The tour is lead by a 3rd year, which is nice becuase they've been there long enough to have some real opinions about the school. After the tour, it's a lunch with a group of students from across the student body. I enjoyed this and took alot away from the different perspectives. Most of the interviews start around 12-12:30. It's a little strange because all of the interviews take place in these central interview rooms. It's kind of like being in a doctor's office waiting to be called. At least you don't have to be led all over campus for your interviews. There's supposed to be an Alpha (experiences) and Beta (ethics) interview, but I really couldn't tell the two apart. My first interview was with a 4th Year Student who asked some of the best questions to date regarding my application. My second interview was with a faculty member who was very open and nonconfrontational despite trying to get a few ethics questions across. I wouldn't sweat the different interviews so much. Just prepare as you might for any other interview. Overall, I thought Duke was a pretty amazing school in all areas. While Durham is not NYC or Boston, housing is extremely affordable and convenient to campus, which is an important consideration to someone a little older like me. I also thought that I felt much better about the first year curriculum after speaking with faculty and students. I think the sacrifices you make in the first year are well worth the advantages of the third year. Duke is one of my top choices.
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Duke is a wonderful place to be and study medicine. The campus is amazing and you have so much flexibility in your third year. They are very high tech and there is even wireless outside on the lawn. The interviews are conversational and if you start talking about a particular issue you just might run out of time. So make sure that you don't get carried away in one subject. Obviously, it is a number one choice and the resendency matchups are outstanding. I just wish I get in!
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It was the best interview experience I have had!
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Maybe it's just me, but this place was the Taj Mahal. Impromptu morning tour with an elderly faculty member and self-proclaimed school historian. Typical Financial Aid meeting, then lunch with 1st and 2nd years who gave lots of insight, then the individual interviews. Student interview with a 4th year who personally seemed to dislike me. Faculty interview went well but was cut short. Then a full tour afterward. Despite the shaky interviews, I thought the place was great.
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it was o.k. it's a prestigious school and a has a great faculty. you should be seriously interested in research to even consider going here since it is a big part and mandatory in their program.
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The interviewers definitely asked questions meant to challenge your thinking. There is one interview for more "personal" side of your application and another for the "ethical/thinking questions" side. Some people may find it stressful but I thought that the interviewers were very nice.
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By the time I heard back from Duke about an interview, all of the spots in Durham were filled so I had to attend a regional interview. It was definitely an advantage as far as travel was concerned since I live in Florida, but I didn't get any information about the campus or facilities. Duke was supposed to send information about me to the alumni interviewer but had not, so I had to provide documentation. The interview wasn't so much of an interview for most of the time. The format was basically the interviewer reading the materials I provided on-site (AMCAS, secondary, transcript) and occasionally asking me about certain activities. There was a lot of dead silence time. I was thankful that he was able to provide me with some good information about Duke's research year.
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First of all, I was really suprized to hear from Duke ( I applied *last minute*). So, when I got the interview, I was elated! At the time however, all the local interview post. were filled - so only regional interviews were offered. This kind of bummed me out bc I thought it would hurt my chances of getting in. But after my interview and looking on Duke's website, I discovered that regional interviews have a higher acceptance rate vs. the ones in Durham! The interview itself: I really liked it. Instead of a faculty member/staff, you're interviewed by an alumni. So you can ask them a lot more personal questions about their experience at Duke and really figure out if it's right for you. My interviewer was awesome. She *just* graduated in May, so it felt more like a peer-to-peer conversation. Also, a friend of hers (A MS4 at Duke) accompanied us. So, I really benefitted from two opinions. I was particularly struck by their outgoing and friendly personalities (not Bookish, etc), and they laughed and joked a lot about their experiences as Medical Students. In short, these were people that I really identified with and that was the strongest selling point that Duke could ever offer. From reading other people's expereinces, I think my interview was a lot easier and less stressful. It really opened the door to just be myself and learn more about the kind of students Duke is looking for.
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Due to financial and time constraints, I opted to do a regional interview. It was totally non-stress and I am glad that I did it this way. If I am fortunate to receive admissions, I would definitely visit in the spring.
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we sat down and chatted about my life for about 40 minutes. i asked him a bunch of questions and it was chill. i could tell that he had high expectations for duke students, and that you would be expected to step it up if admitted
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I was happy that I chose to do the regional interview. My interviewer was an interesting person, and I very much enjoyed our conversation. He asked challenging questions, but they were thought-provoking and he was very friendly & encouraging. We spent about 2 hours together, and I felt he was able to really get a feel for me as a person in a way that might have been harder at a school-based interview. And, most importantly, I saved money and vacation time... If I get in (please please please)--I will go to the 2nd look weekend and get a better feel for the school.
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Very relaxed and not formal. We met and discussed things in a cafe. She was very friendly and warm... Even with her support, it is ultimately up to the comittee (wish me luck).
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It was a regional interview so I didn't get to see the campus. However, the interviewer was very positive and candid with me, which I appreciated. She said that Duke's biggest negative was that Durham's really boring.
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Loved it. Would go there in a millisecond if I'm blessed with the opportunity. The people (students and staff) are impressive and very friendly. A note of warning: be prepared to ask questions, you could be asked several times, during and outside of the interviews, if you have any questions.
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I received notice that I got an interview with Duke, and that same day I attempted to schedule an interview on-site, but they were all booked. Fortunately Duke has a regional interviewing program, and I got in touch with an MD who works in my area. He was very flexible in his scheduling, and we just met at one of his offices between surgeries he was performing that day. The interview was low-stress, straightforward. At the end, he told me I did well and I'd get his recommendation to the committee... we'll see if it all pans out.
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Duke is a great school and the interview is very low stress and conversational. It was truly a pleasure to interview their because everyone was extremely nice and seemed like they were really enjoying their medical school experience. Hopefully I can go there as well because it seems like a great place to get a medical education.
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Great experience that placed Duke at the top of my list
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The interviews themselves were very laid back and very conversational. I interviewed with a student and then a member of the admissions committee. Both were very friendly, and we just chatted about things more than them grilling me. I was very relaxed - except possibly the dean question, which totally caught me off guard/stunned me. Otherwise, it was a great, very laid back interview. I just wish I had a realistic shot at getting in :P
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It was totally laid back. The interviews were in the afternoon. My first was with a student who was totally familar with my AMCAS app, my Duke supplemental, and my letters of recommendation. My second interview was with a physician on the faculty and he hadn't looked at anything. He didn't know what school I attended or what major I was or anything. In the morning we had the financial aid lecture and a meeting with the assistant dean and things and then a great lunch with a second year student. I would recommend staying with a student host. Stupid United airlines lost my luggage until 2:30 am the day of my interview and my sweet host offered me her suit to wear. She showed me around the town, told me all about how much she loved Duke, and was really friendly and informative. All in all, this seems like a med school which offers a fantastic education and where the students are respected and really enjoy their four years of study.
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The whole process was pretty laid back. The student interviewer is extremely nice. The faculty interviewer was a little rough. He seemed to attack everything I said. Overall, it was a good experience.
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Duke is a very impressive school. The students were fabulous and friendly. Their curriculum is very unique, and I am not sure if it is for me, but it gives you a ton of opportunities to explore aspects of medicine that you would not otherwise experience.
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VERY VERY well-organized day and pretty pleasant. I felt like both my interviews combined personal and ethical questions, but there were other applicants there who said they saw a distinction in their interviews, so I guess the alpha/beta thing is hit or miss depending on which interviewers you receive. But nevertheless awesome school....I hate being attached to schools that have like a 3 percent chance of taking me!!!!!!
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I was a little stressed out. Duke is an awesome school and I wasn't sure what to expect. The interview questions were't that hard... although it did take me a second to think of answers. They never asked me why my grades were so bad or about all those C's in Orgo. I guess they assume if you received an interivew, your smart and have decent volunteer activites. Overall, I really liked Duke. They really tried to make the day go as smoothly as possible. I would love to go there!
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Got there around 10 but the day didn't start until 10:30. They had drinks for us all day! :) Went to orientation session, financial aid session, lunch (:thumbs down:), quick tour, interviews and out of there by 4ish
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I learned from some doctors that I knew before that Duke wants hardcorps medical leaders. They're huge on research. KNOW what you'll do in your third year and be ready to talk about it. I knew exactly how I wanted to sell myself as a leader in medicine in the 21st century, and I had it all planned out beforehand. When I was given the opportunity to talk about it, I jumped in and never gave the interviewers a chance to hit the rough spots of my application.
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Absolutely WONDERFUL!
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Duke is a great school with a lot of resources and opportunities. The 3rd year is a very good thing and is very flexible. The people were all very nice. Both interviews were open file and relaxed. The only thing I didn't like is that it is in a small town, but I liked it so much I would be willing to go there anyway.
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I went to Duke feeling ambivalent and left more entrenched in my ambivalence! It's obviously a top-notch school with great facilities and financial aid. I was impressed that the people I met worked hard to sell the school. But there is definitely an elitist attitude and the focus on specialization and research is a drawback for me. Also, my student interviewer wasted time asking me to summarize my answers to the secondary app that he'd obviously read already and then cut the interview short to catch up on taking notes from previous interviews. With Duke's extensive secondary app, he should have had plenty of information to fill a 30-minute slot.
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This was my first interview experience so I wasn't sure what to expect. Duke conducted it's interviews in a very conversational manner. The alpha interview was done by a student and the beta by a faculty member. They were extremely professional and seemed well trained at interviewing and controlling the flow of questions. In my opinion, the alpha was easier as it focused on my academic interests and what direction I would take my education at Duke. The beta interview had a distinct flow...1)area of interest from my application, 2)simple related ethical question, 3)elaboration on ethical situation, 4)transition to area of interest from my application related to something I mentioned in my previous answer, 5)repeat. I felt the people at Duke honestly wanted to get to know me. If I get in, I would love to go.
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Overall Ok. Kind of disappointing with some elitisit type vibes from interviewers. I really like this school, but I think I left feeling a little disappointed. The med students were really nice, but looked more exhausted than other other school I'd seen so far.
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Eh. The school is great--trying not to let my feelings from one day influence my opinion. Lets see what happens.
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There were 12 of us and in the begining no one was talking and everyone was just sitting quitely with their heads in the handouts...so I thought this is gonna suck big time.. but then it got better by the end of the day .... we had some Dean give a talk about school...then financial aid .... followed by lunch... the med students were not talking in the begining and then we started opening up a bit....we took extra 15 min for lunch and everything was pushed back 15 minutes.....then some of us had interviews and rest went on a tour.... faculty interview was horrible (there were 2 of them but the one I got was not good...he would talk in half sentences and would want me to complete his sentence and answer as well?????) I heard the other one was more friendly...and 2nd interviewer is a studentt which was awesome..... then we ended our day with a tour ... it went ok but be prepared to give yourself little extra time for finding the admissions office.
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the student host was great; we went out to dinner w/ 20 of the first-year med students the night before the interview... the info sessions in the morning of the interview day were really helpful... 2 interviews, one of which is with a student... interesting experience.
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duke left and excellent and lasting impression on me - it went from low on my list to the absolute top. the student hosting experience was particularly helpful and enjoyable. as has been said often, too bad it is so hard to get in here!
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very positive. duke is probably my #1 choice, which is too bad b/c it's soo competitive. overall, they are looking to see who fits in and can gain the most in their system, so be yourself. if you get an interview, they know you can handle the work. fyi, interviews are open file except your gpa and mcat score to reduce bias.. a great idea
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really awesome, I hope i get in! definitely stay with a host if you get an interview; mine was fabulous and I really got to meet a lot of first-years through her.
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As always, the interviewer quality varies by school and day and individuals involved. However, my student interviewer seemed poorly prepared and under-trained. The accomodations are variable in quality depending if you choose a hotel or student host. There is no time to explore the campus on your own on the day of your interview. The financial aid info and lunch session with the dean are quite nice and fun. However, there were a number of interviewees so it was a bit unwieldy for our hosts at times.
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Overall had a good time. Particularly enjoyed my second interview. The doctor even went so far as to said he was recommending me for admission... and then, over a month later (it was supposed to have only been 2 weeks), I got flat-out rejected. I was really really disappointed. Why is it that people who think they had lousy interviews are the ones who get in?
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My student interviewer was more scared of the interview then I was.
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The interviews felt like a random requirement and that they were underused by the faculty.
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they like to ask ethical q's, be prepared. be sure to know and understand the durriculum (1 year basic sci., 1 year free for research). if you go in unfamiliar w/ this it will be obvious that you have not researched the school. this is not to say you need a plan for your 3rd year, just be aware how it works at Duke.
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A reasonably stress free interview day. I wish the interviews were in the morning.
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The day started with your picture being taken for a photo ID in the admissions office. You're given an orientation of the school, information from a financial aid officer, and lunch with first year students. Lunch is the followed by two thirty minute inteviews (an alpha and a beta, mine were semi-open) and then a tour of the campus.
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no clue, went alright but dont' know if it was good or bad.
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i absolutely loved the place. the people r prob their biggest asset. tons and tons of reasearch and famous docs. north carolina is great. awesome curriculum, obviously. great interviewers, staff ,etc.
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Duke puts together a great interview day, which is considerate of them since people come from all over (I came from Indiana, so they made it worth my while and I appreciate it). We started at about 10:30 am with a presentation by the associate dean of admission. She talked about what makes Duke different, and I wish we would have been able to ask her questions, but she spoke for 45 minutes and then headed out. After that, we had a long presentation on financial aid. Then we had a long lunch with several med students. This was really wonderful. There were more med students than interviewees, and they stayed around over an hour to talk about anything we wanted. In the afternoon, I had two interviewers and a GREAT tour--the most thorough of any I'd had. Everyone was hospitable and friendly in the office of admissions. This is a truly AMAZING school, and if I should be so lucky to get accepted, I'd go in a heartbeat!
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Great!
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The interviews were very casual. The only thing that made one of the interviews a little more stressful than expected was that one of the interviewers was so quiet and spoke so slowly.... it was really hard to get a conversation rolling and to sense what type of impression you were making. I talked to a handful of people that also felt this way.
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This was a great interview experience. They have a huge hospital, great facilities and are very welcoming-the office staff in particular. You might have trouble finding the admissions office, but just ask around. Interviews are relaxed, and there is a good chance one will be with a student. No need to be nervous here though, just be confident and know their special curriculum in and out.
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Amazing day. Nothing was very stressful. I feel really good about it just b/c i was really able to talk about healthcare and ethical issues that mattered to me. I also had an interview with the asst director for admissions, and that interview was definitely a bit more stressful. But he was really nice - just the questions were a bit more pointed. They really, really stress ethics and leadership at this school. I'd attend in a heartbeat if I got so lucky...
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This interview was very conversational. All of the questions asked were about stuff I had written in my personal statement or in my secondary. I think they were trying really hard to put the applicants at ease and relieve some of the pressures with interviewing. The day consisted of: orientation with the dean, financial aid, lunch with med. students, tour, and then 2 30 min. interviews.
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A relatively painless interview. People went out of their way to be friendly.
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Wow, Duke really sold me, and its definitely my top choice among schools of similar costs. Its a great campus with fantastic students and astounding facilities. Its not surprise so many people go there.
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Duke needs to re-evaluate how they perform regional interviews. I feel I was poorly represented by this interview, and it in no way improved my impression of Duke. I seriously am not exaggerating when I say that of the ten interviews I had, this was the worst and most puzzling.
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Very enjoyable conversation. I didn't feel that I was being questioned, but at the end I felt as if I got all of my points across. I was a little concerned if the fact that I had a regional interview would have a negative effect. But I was reassured by the admissions secretaries and the interviewer that it will not. We shall see. At least I didn't have to deal with all the other stressed out over-achivers (j/k).
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The school is awesome academically but lacked a community-feel. My interviewers seemed somewhat disinterested, and although they weren't really intimidating, I got the feeling they were trying to be negative in general and on purpose. I'd go to Duke if it's the best school I get into, but I'd rather be at a lower-tier school where students are interested in knowing each other, having fun, and learning, rather than just who gets the best residency at the end of it all.
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Duke Med is an excellent school. The opportunity to have a third elective year to pursue research or any other endeavor is an opportunity that most med schools won't offer. Starting clinical rotations a year early is also a big plus for Duke. Certainly one of my top choices.
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A learning experience
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I have lots of friends in the med school who answered every ? I could possibly ever have so I was extra bored. I felt the session was not as informative/engaging as it could have been for the other interviewees. Duke is such a beautiful/hi-tech/cutting edge/new/bold place and I felt they couped up us interviewees for most of the day in the dank purple zone of Hospital south w/out really showing off the best duke med has to offer.
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great. peaople were REALLY nice.
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Duke is an excellent school with a unique yet exceptional curriculum. I would LOVE to be able to attend.
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Each interviewer was very nice and great to talk to. I had a half an hour in between interviews to regroup. My fellow interviewees were good company. Overall, I had a great experience.
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duke is awesome, definitely my top choice. the interviews were really relaxed and the people were very friendly; the hospital is conected to the campus, which is beautiful. the interview questions seem to depend a lot on who you get.
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I really didn't leave Duke with a good feeling. I know it is a great school, and many people might be happy there, but I don't think it is for me.
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Its hard not to like Duke medical school. The interviews were very conversational and the information session on financial aid and curriculum were helpful. The students seem happy and it was nice to know that they were pretty close to each other.
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I was very impressed, but it is a very difficult school to get into. I'm not keeping my hopes too high.
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Day one: 2 MD interviews, 30 minutes each, one faculty and one student. Day two: 2 MD/PhD interviews, 30 minutes each, again one faculty and one student. The interviews were all low stress discussions, no real curve balls. There's so many things I liked about the interview. First, they put us up in a decent hotel, paid for airfare up to $300, paid for taxi service, took us out to a nice restaurant one night, etc... Beyond that, their cirriculum is totally cool. I like the idea of getting into the wards during second year. There is alot of misconceptions about the one year basic sciences program, but they've been put to rest in me. They have a real relaxed and down to earth attitude about alot of things, thanks to Sal, the coolest MSTP director on Earth (who is from South Philly, which probably explains it). There's alot of little things too. It's a good place to buy a house if you're into that sort of thing. Parking is not an issue like it is at so many other schools. You get $500/year from the program during the PhD phase to go to conferences. They have free drinks and candy for the students all the time. The lecture hall is sweet. Etc etc etc etc!
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it was an informative day, not too stressful. interviews were conversational. started w/"tell me about yourself" and went from there. they're really big on that 3rd year research year, so be prepared for that. do NOT apply if you're not interested in research. the students seemed alright, a little high-schooly, but i only met a couple of them. i think i met like 3 students over 24 the entire day, and only one M1 over 24.
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Overall, I had a wonderful experience at Duke. It is my top choice school... The technological advancements both in the hospital and in the classroom are significantly more outstanding than any other school that I have interviewed at. The campus is gorgeous and the hospital is amazing. The only reason that I put the stress level at 3 was because this is where I really want to go!
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Incredible facilities and talented people, but I also felt like everyone was a little bit arrogant. A great school, but not the best fit for me.
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The day was very enjoyable for the most part. The Dean's introduction at the beginning was very informative, as was the financial aid session. Having a small group of interviewees (6) made the process seem more informal. The only real negative was my second interviewer's propensity for asking wild questions based on what I discussed in the interview.
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I really felt that I should have been more impressed by Duke, because it truly was a great day. I love the curriculum, but somewhere in my gut just tells me it isn't a good fit for me. The financial aid is also generous, and the chapel and campus are beyond words.
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i was really impressed with the facilities. the whole day was extremely laid back and everyone was really nice. also, learn about the 3rd year experience before you go-they heavily emphasize it, and be prepared to ask your interviewers some questions
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I was accepted and went to the Accepted Student weekend, where I found that I was one of the few token nontrads that they had accepted that year
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My student interviewer was very nice and easy to talk to, but my faculty interviewer was 15 minutes late, so that interview was only 15 minutes instead of 30 (she was also late for one of the other interviewees). I was mostly asked about my research and my decision to go from graduate school to medical school. I don't really remember any specific questions that I was asked.
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I felt so-so about it. I received NO feedback. But I am headed there next fall, so I must have done something right!
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Student interviewer was very nice. No really hard questions from her... But the faculty interviewer asked a sring of trivia like questions, ranging from wanting me to describe a free radical mechanism to the geography questions. I was one of the only people on my interview day that got those questions, though, so I think that was more bad luck than anything.
What are your suggestions for the admissions office?
Applicants commonly suggest improvements such as scheduling Dr. Armstrong's speech later in the day to avoid makeup mishaps, providing a more spacious seating area, implementing rolling admissions, and having longer interview times. They also appreciate the friendliness and efficiency of the admissions staff.
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Dr. Armstrong's speech was so touching and inspiring! But I had a hard time holding my tears as she talked, which kind sucked because I really didn't want to ruin my makeup before the interviews. Perhaps switch it to later in the day if possible?
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none. Really appreciated the breakfast!!
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Nothing! The admissions staff were among the friendliest I've ever met.
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It would be nice to have a more spacious seating area to start the day. Some had to stand.
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keep being awesome
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It would be helpful to have a section of the secondary online to see whether an applicant's letters of recommendation have been received.
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Awesome job! I loved my interview day.
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Rolling admissions would be very nice...
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Everything was great.
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I would have preferred interviews longer than 30 minutes each. 45 minutes, minimum, is better.
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I guess they can get all they need from <30 minute interviews.
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None....keep up the good work!
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The bell that goes off every time the Admissions Office door opens can be distracting.
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Maybe mute the bell in the conference room? It went off every time someone walked into the office
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Signs directing students to admissions office.
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Keep up the good work!
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They did a great job and everything was smoothly run. Great job!
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Half of the interviewees were interviewed by the Dean who was very nice, sweet, and asked easier que
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