Durham, NC
Allopathic Medical Schools | Private Non-Profit
Application Cycle: 2009-10
⭐ Overall Impressions
How did the interview impress you?
No change 😐
What was the stress level of the interview?
2 out of 10
0 = Low Stress, 10 = High Stress
How you think you did?
7 out of 10
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
What are your general comments?
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.
💬 Interview Process
What is one of the specific questions they asked you?
Tell me about the research you've done.
What was the most interesting question?
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?
How did you prepare for the interview?
Read over my AMCAS and secondary apps, did a mock interview, looked over Duke's website.
What was the most difficult question?
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.
What impressed you positively?
Happy, laid-back students who seemed much less competitive than I expected. Also, top-notch facilities.
What impressed you negatively?
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.
What did you wish you had known ahead of time?
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.
📍 Travel and Logistics
Who was the tour given by?
Student
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