Duke ABSN Fall 2011

NormaP · Feb 3, 2011

In my search for information on Financial Aid, I discovered this informative series on a New York Times educational blog site. http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/author/mark-kantrowitz/

Published in January of this year, the series has seven parts which address various reader questions concerning the FAFSA and various financial aid qualifications. While not every answer will be applicable to every individual, I found quite a bit of useful information concerning the nitty gritty details of financial aid.

ocennia · Feb 5, 2011

Hope all the interviews went well!

Now we all just sit and wait!!

AnginaAngelaRN · Feb 5, 2011

Just finished interviews and I think they went pretty well. Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) was super nice. Too bad that our Duke Day had to be the day with the crappiest weather. So excited for this wait coming up!

Just wanted to say HEY to Norma. It was nice meeting you! (I'm the girl who wore the blue dress :)

How did everyone's interview go?

Hollynski · Feb 6, 2011

Hey everyone!

I'm new here but I also had my interview this past Friday at Duke and it was so great to meet everyone. Truly a very talented and intelligent group- I'm sure it will make for some very tough decisions on behalf of the admissions committee.

My interviews were OK. I went first (at 10am) in the morning and unfortunately the "Welcome" and program overview ran so late that I found myself in a panic to get to my first interview on the third floor in time. By the time I found the room at 10:02 my heart was racing and I could not relax enough to answer the questions as well as I would have liked. Second interview was great- finally calmed down and was cool as a cucumber. I just hope the first one doesn't really hurt my chances!

How did everyone else's go?

Only eight days to go! Best of luck to everyone!!

Holly

NormaP · Feb 7, 2011

AngielaJolieFSU,

It was great meeting you also. I don't think of you as the girl with the blue dress, but as the one with the red coat of perfect color and cut. It was a whirlwind of a day, and I fell asleep as soon as I got back home.

I'm looking forward to the week going by quickly. I'm glad we were in the last group because we don't have to wait long for the news.

Norma

NormaP · Feb 7, 2011

Hollynski,

Great to have you on board. :nurse: I had the same experience with my first interview being more difficult than my second. I suppose that some people had two really great interviews, but most of the people I talked to said their first one was not as good as their second.

Regarding my interviews: During the first, I couldn't seem to articulate my points very well and kept stumbling over the words. My hands seemed to be trying to make up for my lack of words, and they seemed to be moving about much more than they should have been. Nonetheless, I comfort myself by saying that it was not terrible, and it was probably more than adequate. Maybe it was even good--hard to tell.

My second interview went well from an internal standpoint. Like you, I was relaxed by then and felt the words flowed more easily. Additionally, I was interviewed by someone whose work interested me greatly.

The interviews are averaged, and don't count for a huge percentage of the available points, so I am not going to worry about it. No need to worry anyway because there is nothing we can do at this point, and we will soon know the results. Financing the ABSN program, on the other hand, is something that will require tremendous consideration.....

Wishing you the best,

Norma

Evita · Feb 7, 2011

Norma - I am glad to hear you say that the interviews do not count for that large of a percentage of points because I walked away feeling pretty badly about mine.

Like many of you are saying, my second one was decent, but my first one was all over the place. I felt like I just kept talking without saying anything of substance. I had practiced a lot too, but when push came to shove, I just started jabbering. :eek:

Does anyone happen to know the breakdown for how many points are given for each aspect of the application? GPA, experience, etc?

Hollynski · Feb 7, 2011

From what I understand (and if my notes are accurate), it is broken down as follows:

40% GPA / GRE (if applicable)

40% - Combo of:

Personal statement (scored)

Letters of recommendation (scored)

Interview (also scored)

20% Miscellaneous

Could include anything such as notable strengths in personal statement, leadership potential or experience, volunteer work, being an underrepresented minority, etc.

They literally took a "whole person" approach and scored each step of the way so they come up with a rank. Top 80 rank gets the offer and any that are wait-listed know exactly where they stand and how many need to "opt out" for them to get in. Hope that helps.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement- I agree. I just keep hoping the interview wasn't as bad as I thought it was. One week to go!!

nikki164 · Feb 8, 2011

is it really only one more week?! does anyone know if we hear via email or snail-mail>

Hollynski · Feb 8, 2011

Notifications are sent by email.... log in to the Duke site and double check your email address in the profile to make sure it's the one you want.

Per Melissa with admissions, if all goes as planned they should be sending email notifications on Feb. 14th :redbeathe

Six days to go!!! (I'm not anxious or anything.)

AnginaAngelaRN · Feb 8, 2011

I REALLY hope that our emails don't go out on Valentine's Day... That's my favourite holiday and depending on that notification I'll either really hate or really love V-day for a whole new reason. Last year I think they found out on the 15th so hopefully that'll be our notification date too.

too excited/nervous so I think I'll just concentrate on graduating for the next week, lol.

Evita · Feb 8, 2011

I wouldn't mind finding out on valentines day. Flowers and chocolates work just as well to celebrate as they do to comfort. I say the sooner the better.