Duke ABSN Spring 2019

[DanielleTam]

Hello everyone!

I thought I would start a thread for prospective Blue Devils. I would love to hear about each of your backgrounds, professional experience and/or where else you may have applied. Have any of you applied to Duke's ABSN before? This might be a great place to ask questions, share insights and tips for submitting a strong application!

Me: I live in Portland, Oregon. I graduated with a BA in Psychology in 2010. Since then I have worked in domestic violence shelters, mental health crisis centers and in outpatient addiction treatment. I quit my mental health case manager job to pursue nursing almost 2 years ago now! I have been volunteering at a Burn ICU in town. I applied to USFCA in Orange County (safety!) and Johns Hopkins for Fall '18, in which I have been waitlisted. I have an underwhelming undergraduate GPA and a 4.0 in prerequisites. In my applications I've done my best to highlight my professional experience and dedication to under served and under resourced populations. I also submitted a supplemental essay explaining poor undergraduate academic performance. I did notice however that Duke's application portal doesn't have a place to upload supplemental materials. I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions about how I could get this essay in front of the admissions committee?

I can't wait to hear about you all! :)

[bayarea123]

@ochem. I don't think you're at a disadvantage with your graduation timeline for admissions. If you show experiences that demonstrate your commitment in nursing through extracurriculars, good grades and etc. You should be fine

[dubfan]

does anyone else's ssis portal say "application incomplete" with a green square but you have turned in everything and your transcripts have been received?

[shelbystrockbine]

did you call to make sure your transcripts have been received? I emailed mine a few days ago so I am wondering if that is the best option.

[OChem]

They never returned any of my calls so I highly discourage this method. They do however respond to emails but it still takes them a few days to do so. This would be your best bet. Luckily they got the transcripts that I had mailed in.

[dubfan]

All my transcripts (according to the siss portal) have been received. I was just wondering if anyone had the same issue where all the materials have been submitted and received but it still says application incomplete. Maybe it takes a few days to update.

[OChem]

Where does it show your transcripts on the siss portal, I have been looking for this..? That is likely the case I would imagine.

[dubfan]

There will be a tab with a green square that says "application incomplete" or complete and you'll want to hit that tab and then just scroll to the bottom and it updates you on whether or not your transcripts have been received

[OChem]

I see. I am assuming this is the case once all of my materials are in. I am still waiting on a LoR. :/

[mleibo4]

I am applying as well for the spring 2019 cohort! Currently editing my essays now. Does anyone have any tips/ideas for essay #3? I am honestly struggling trying to write this :/

A little bit about me:

-Graduating in May from Emory University with a degree in Neuroscience

-Have a 3.6 GPA and a 3.9 GPA in pre-recs

-Have done medical mission work in Africa, on the exec. board of multiple clubs, and a supervisor at my current job

[mleibo4]

Just to give some people some hope, in the webinar I attended a few weeks ago they said there average GPA ranges. SO in the last fall cohort it was an average of 3.4-3.5 but in the last cohort it was an average of 3.5-3.6!

[OChem]

@dubfan Does your application say complete now since it has been a few days giving it time to update?

[shelbystrockbine]

They have responded to all of my calls and I have never had to leave a voicemail! What number are you calling?