ABSN Duke Fall 2010

twois · Jan 15, 2010

Yeah, that's the number I was trying to find. Painful!

sarabear44 · Jan 16, 2010

Just to weigh in on the interview. I went to my campus career services office a few weeks ago and scheduled a mock interview. I learned that blind interviews are quite common with grad programs. The way they interview can tell you a lot about the objective of the interview. I don't think Duke wants to know more information about you. They want to make person-to-person contact and see how well you can articulate something you are passionate about. If this matches with the impression given in your initial application, they can be certain about your genuine interest and ability to succeed in their program.

There will be plenty of time to get to know faculty if you get in, and I'm sure they are caring. At least we get to actually interview with faculty. Johns Hopkins interviewed me, but it was just an admissions counselor. I mean, these faculty are probably giving up at least 7..8 whole days collectively plus probably a training meeting to do our interviews. That's a lot of time for professors who are teaching & leading research. I'm really grateful they're doing that.

It's not about what you say, rather how you say it. Show that you are positive, a leader, and sincere. Also, show that you can explain things to people concisely. Don't worry, guys. Also, maybe this makes you feel better for flying out there: I'm doing a phone interview and I only get 25 minutes... So, +5 minutes to make an impression if you go in person :-)

Abbie Grace · Jan 16, 2010

I, too, am a little nervous about going into a blind interview. I hate talking about myself or being the center of attention (part of the reason why I've made a career out of serving others...) and I'd much rather have a conversation about my application than answer the dreaded "So, tell us about yourself!"

I walked into an interview last week not realizing that it would be blind and I definitely would have prepared differently, had I known.

I think that the good thing about blind interviews is you don't have to come up with anything new! You can repeat what was in your application file without worrying about boring people to death! You already figured out how to articulately and concisely express your reasons for going into this field when you wrote your essay. No need to re-invent the wheel! Just use your personal statement as a guide. In 30 minutes, there's not enough time to tell them everything you want to say, so think about what the main points are that you want the panel to remember about you.

kebunt · Jan 16, 2010

Sarabear - I think your assessment is dead-on. Thanks for the perspective! :)

brinkallz · Jan 16, 2010

kebunt, I'm really glad you told us this. It does totally change my preparation for this interview. I still wish it wasn't blind, but you guys have given us great advice. I'm still trying to hold on to my positive energy and ignore all of my nervous energy. I'm also interviewing on the 22nd. I wonder if this means our notification date will be pushed back even further since they have to go through applications after the interviews...

JasonB · Jan 17, 2010

quick survey: who's interviewing on the 5th? Looking forward to it!

kebunt · Jan 17, 2010

Hey Guys, Just sittin' around on an action-packed Saturday night preparing for my interview...

Abbie Grace - Thanks for sharing your experience! I've been preparing and I've already put your 3-by-3 rule to good use. :)

Brinkallz - Glad it helps! As far as notifications go, she told me that since they are reviewing all files after the interviews that it could push things back a bit, possibly into early march, but they are still hoping to get them out the second half of February. She said they might even have some decisions as early as the first week after interviews. A fourth Duke Day definitely would have pushed things back, so at least we avoided that!

Abbie Grace · Jan 17, 2010

Early March?? You're killing me.

twois · Jan 17, 2010

I almost don't mind early March (you can all throw things at me for saying it)... as much as the wait will kill me, if I can get decisions from both schools I'm applying to within the "this is how long you have to accept" period of the first school, that would be nice. :) It's not a huge issue, since Duke should be the first decision and they're my top choice, but I'd love to know both schools' decisions before making my final choice, ya know?

lola789 · Jan 18, 2010

Hi momofthreeboys! Have you decided for sure to attend UNC? Do you know what their requirements are for volunteer work? I am applying for the spring of 2011 and am waiting to start volunteering at the local hospital. I am also applying to Duke, so I took the GRE and was definitely above their minimum/average. My undergrad GPA is good as well as my prereq GPA. If I have only done volunteer work for a few months before applying, will that definitely work against me even though the rest of my application rocks? Thanks to anyone who has applied to both schools and gotten in (or not) for some insight.

kspills10 · Jan 18, 2010

As far as notifications go, she told me that since they are reviewing all files after the interviews that it could push things back a bit, possibly into early march, but they are still hoping to get them out the second half of February. She said they might even have some decisions as early as the first week after interviews.

I'm just wondering how they decided which applicants to invite to interview if they haven't reviewed our files yet. Or were they reviewed by people who won't be conducting interviews? I was also thinking that maybe the interviewers reviewed our files without knowing the identity of the applicant. Then maybe they could just match up our answers with our applications after the interview to save the time of starting from scratch. I don't know, just my thought, who knows what their process actually is.

tazluff · Jan 18, 2010

I'm just wondering how they decided which applicants to invite to interview if they haven't reviewed our files yet. Or were they reviewed by people who won't be conducting interviews? I was also thinking that maybe the interviewers reviewed our files without knowing the identity of the applicant. Then maybe they could just match up our answers with our applications after the interview to save the time of starting from scratch. I don't know, just my thought, who knows what their process actually is.

The ones that looked at our files to determine if we were invited for interviews were done by the admissions staff, not the faculty members doing the interviews.

All the admissions staff looked at initially was to make sure we meet the minimum requirements. Those that automatically met those minimum reqs, were invited to the interviews.

Those that were borderline, they looked at the overall file (including volunteering, what your previous degrees were in, what have you been doing since you got out of school, etc).

Hope this helps!