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Individual Response

  • Duke University School of Medicine
  • Allopathic Medical School
  • Durham, NC
Overall Experience

How did the interview impress you?

Negatively

What was the stress level of the interview?

2 out of 10

How you think you did?

5 out of 10

How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?

5 out of 10

Questions

How long was the interview?

30 minutes

Where did the interview take place?

At the school

How many people interviewed you?

2

What was the style of the interview?

One-on-one

What type of interview was it?

Open file

What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 1)?

"If you could change one thing about America to make it a better place, what would it be?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 2)?

"What is one aspect of your personality that you think needs improvement?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 3)?

"What characteristics does a good leader need?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

What was the most interesting question?

"If you had your ethical dilemma to do over again, what would you do differently?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

What was the most difficult question?

"What book most closely reflects your values?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

How did you prepare for the interview?

"I didn't really prepare." Report Response

What impressed you positively?

"I really like the Duke curriculum." Report Response

What impressed you negatively?

"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." Report Response

What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

"The Ivy-aspirations of the school." Report Response

What are your general comments?

"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..." Report Response

Tour and Travel

Who was the tour given by?

Admissions staff

How did the tourguide seem?

Enthusiastic

How do you rank the facilities?

9 out of 10

What is your in-state status?

Out of state

What was your total time spent traveling?

4-6 hours

What was your primary mode of travel?

Automobile

About how much did you spend on room, food, and travel?

$101-$200

Where did you stay?

Hotel

How would you rate the hotel?

6 out of 10

Would you recommend the hotel?

yes

General Info

On what date did the interview take place?

10/15/2009

How do you rank this school among other schools to which you've applied?

2 out of 10

What is your ranking of this school's location?

7 out of 10

What is your ranking of this area's cultural life?

8 out of 10

How is the responsiveness of the admissions office?

9 out of 10

How is the friendliness of the admissions office?

9 out of 10

How eco-friendly are the school's application materials and interview process?

3 out of 10

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