homelife

Step outside of DUSON, as you'll regularly hear it referred to as, and you'll see the Duke Medical Pavilion, Duke Clinic, and the Cancer Center. The Children's hospital and other hospital wing are just a block away. The medical school is nestled right behind the Cancer Center and you'll sometimes visit it for their great study rooms and for simulation experiences. Wilson is the go-to campus gym and is located by the cathedral and basketball stadium, Kville. It's walkable but most students drive and park. If you purchase an on-campus parking permit you can park anywhere on campus with it beginning at 5pm, free of charge. There's a lot right in front of the gym. Someone previously asked about dorms... There are none available, as this is considered a graduate program. Dorms are for undergrad.

For first semester, we have been Monday 8-11:30, full 8-5 Tuesday, and Weds 8-11:30. Depending on which lab group you are, you'll be Weds and Thurs afternoon 1-4, or Thurs and Friday 8A-12P. Add in a clinical placement that could occur on Monday, Weds, Thurs, or Fri to take you til 5PM).

Hey all! When are Duke Days? I am a Spring 2015 cohort member and from my Duke Days experience and orientation, I disliked how they didn't allow us to ask current students questions about the program and life in Durham/DUSON. They only have alumni in the panel, those of which know nothing of the current restructured curriculum so it's only minimally helpful. Depending on when Duke Days are, I'd be happy to meet with any of you. ^_^

Congrats on getting on the waitlist! That alone is a huge accomplishment and I want to stress that. I think there are 3-4 individuals in my cohort who had been waitlisted. There were MANY in the previous cohort who made it in from the waitlist. Many turn down Duke primarily due to the financial burden. Good luck!

I suppose the change is due to the fact that interviews are no longer a part of the admissions process. Only those accepted will be invited to Duke Days, as started with my Spring 2015 cohort. Duke Days is a get-to-know-you type event. In my opinion, if you're on the fence in your decision - DO attend. I was worried about the financial aspects of Duke but left so humbled and compelled to figure it out. You'll get to meet the faculty you'll be taking classes from, you'll get to tour the building and offered facilities, you'll go on a campus bus tour to point out Cameron Stadium, the Veterans hospital, the Duke Children's hospital, the oncology center, the Gardens, and the Cathedral. Most importantly you'll get to meet the people who may be your peers. It's an invaluable experience in getting a taste of what all Duke has to offer. It's typically what convinces someone to choose Duke or not to. Most people who choose to forego their acceptances are due to finances. Duke isn't cheap and it being our second Bachelors degree, only loans are available at our disposable (if you meet the criteria). For out of staters, I recommend scheduling a second visit to Durham/Duke after Duke Days as I did, to get a feel for the area and to find housing.

Duke is not rolling. There are two deadlines a calendar year to make up a spring and a fall cohort.

Maybe I'm a broken record and have asked you specifically before, but can you give us insight into what the daily schedule is like, how similar it is to your classmates, and the changes in curriculum? I was one who was bummed about Duke taking away the graduate level course credits, but I realize WHY they did so and how we can still have opportunity to take classes at graduate level if we choose! I am so pumped for January.

Wow! I'm glad to hear you're doing much better. I think the info you provided, along with settling your anxiety, would be perfect in submitting to Duke. I forgot the actual email address, maybe [email protected]?, but call up DUSON and ask how you would go about submitting further information critical for admissions officers to know in making their decision on your behalf. I submitted something similar just to cover my tail and to settle my anxiety. Nora or Tia, whoever answers the phone when you call, will point you in the right direction as far as what email you can send this info to. Just make sure this is submitted before the full application deadline. I submitted the same thing to UNC and they claimed that they can only take what's submitted at time of deadline, NOT any updates or other info afterwards. It sounds like you have a compelling background and grades already, but this will help you even further! hope this helps.

Hey all! I am a Spring 2015 cohort and would like to offer some advice on the personal statements. They are what gave me the most anxiety in my application! Please note that in cohorts past Duke did interviews with candidates at Duke Days. Starting with my cohort and yours, and beyond, this is not the case. Therefore, it is imperative that you include all pertinent information concisely in your personal statements, as well as delineate other pertinent info in your resume. I highly recommend EVERYONE upload a resume attachment; this can be as many pages as you want. I included my professional and my job resumes to show to Duke what I have been doing since undergrad to fill in the holes. Some tips - Don't get ahead of yourself in your essays. Duke already knows why you're applying to Duke vs. a community college. They know you want to be a leader in the health field. There's no need to jump ahead and discuss how you want to become a NP. Talk first and foremost about your passion for NURSING. If you wish, vaguely, and I mean at most in a sentence, discuss how you are open to exploring furthering your nursing career. - DO add personality and flair. Since admissions officers don't do interviews anymore, this is important. Tap into your voice. Sound stoic and professional but also add in some solid word choices and/or narratives that illustrate who you are. Ex) "When my adorable morkie Teddy and I aren't being avid Netflix and Pinterest junkies, I concentrate my time on volunteering with the local boys & girls club." - Be concise. The character limit is very binding. I edited my essays 4-5 times, submitted them to all my friends who are pursuing Master's, and then edited them even further. In fact, upon getting friends' advice, I completely changed up two of my essays. I am so grateful for their guidance - Don't be cheesy. All admissions officers know that ABSN candidates had some kind of life changing moment where nursing was spelled out to them. Unless this story is very close to you (i.e. a family member's health has depreciated and you've been caring for them, a health issue of your own), avoid the dramatics and instead just state that you want to advance your biology degree by serving others. - Do stress patient contact. It's what nursing is all about! You may come from a research background but what about your background and personality would make you excel with patients? - GRE scores are not the end all, be all. GPA, work experience, volunteer and research experience are more credible. Having patient experience via research or CNA is invaluable in your chances of admissions!

Thanks for the info, vbee! I'd be interested to hear more details of how your semester is progressing down the line, and of course, I'll be running into you in a not-so distant future on campus! myischmo, CONGRATULATIONS!!! I am so happy for you since you were so deadset on Duke. Are you positive you can't withdraw from your program and get a refund? I'm sure if you told the program coordinator the specifics about how you JUST heard back and how Duke was your #1 choice, they might be able to help you out there. It's worth a shot considering you have bigger fish to fry with moving costs, debating selling/renting your home, etc. running05, I'm still hoping for you!

vbee, I'm glad to hear you're liking it so far and I'm so happy that it all worked out for you to start in the fall cohort. That was a quick turnaround and I imagine many would be inclined to turn down the offer and wait to hear from the spring waitlist. Are you from out of state? And if I may ask, can you give us a general idea what your first semester schedule looks like?

Good question, running05, I was wondering the same thing! Wouldn't they have just used the Fall 2014 cohort waitlist to fill the vacant spots? Are so many people declining their offers (or at this late in the game, maybe chose another program/school) that they're offering vacant spots to waitlisted students of a different cohort?

Like, myischmo said, I'm sure the waitlist IS indeed "ranked", though not by GPA, test scores, etc so much as it is ranked as who would best fill a declined offer's spot, who has the most to their name/credit. Can you imagine the possible drama that could ensue from waitlisted students attending Duke Days, with some students claiming Person X promised/guaranteed them a spot in the cohort? This is why they don't invite the waitlisted students, and too - not to give them false hope and sell them on the idea of this incredibly amazing program and facilities as a kind of tease to those who weren't 100% accepted yet. Also, there is a reason why not my information can be given per the waitlist, in terms of number of people on it, how it's ranked, etc. It would leave students that much more heartbroken if they fell in love with Duke and the faculty, only to ultimately get a rejection letter from the waitlist. That said, however, materials ARE available to those who are waitlisted and by all means, you CAN seek answers to such vague questions as, "how many students of a cohort were on the waitlist?" Though, as other users have mentioned, with this year's approach to admissions, little can be taken from the many users on these boards who declined their admissions offers in semesters past due to finances. They encouraged us to look into private loans no later than mid-October. So say for instance a student who accepted their offer does wait until then and finds they cannot get the funding they need to pay for their Duke tuition, a spot in the cohort would be vacant. Many people accept their offers while they "shop" around, awaiting offers at other schools and programs and before they've 100% figured it out financially. Nora had sent us Duke Daysters the documents and links to the recorded video lectures from that day for second view, or for those who were unable to travel with such short notice. If you PM me, I would be more than happy to share these links with you. Or, you can e-mail her directly and ask her if you can be privy to that info. Either way, I've got you.

Nora said the cohort size is typically 70-76 students. Acceptance letters were sent to 99 people of the 400-500 applications received from this application period. Unfortunately I cannot speak on the waitlist, as nothing was stated. You might find it wise to shoot her an e-mail and ask her the statistics of waitlisted students becoming part of the cohort, ask how many (if she can reveal this) students are currently on this waitlist. It may give you some hope to cling to since she will be unable to tell you your exact position on the waitlist.

Fortunately I can have either of my parents or my sibling cosign for me to help me get a reduced rate. I realize, though, that there are many individuals for which this isn't an option, just like I realize many of those individuals, too, might decline their offers because they can't "selfishly" commit to all that debt when they have a family to care for. There are so many factors to consider in making a decision, but at least in my Duke Days groups, a large percent of the group had already accepted their offer and were buying Duke gear to celebrate their decision. That said, there is still hope for you folks on the waitlist! I have my highest hopes for you! The new curriculum has only minor alterations to what you see still online as the "old". The new curriculum will be in effect for Fall 2014 cohort and beyond. The Mental Health class in the second semester has been eliminated entirely; instead, mental health will be incorporated into classes through the span of the program. Faculty found it was just way too much plopped into one course, so they decided to pair mental health with what students are studying at the time to make it more relevant and balanced (much like Anatomy & Physiology classes being in tangent, not separate classes for either). Another change is the 15 masters credits an ABSN student would graduate with. Instead of the various tracks (genetics, language - Spanish, research, etc), they have dialed this back to allowing 6 elective credits (~2 classes). Within those electives, you can by all means take graduate level classes that may be used towards your follow-up degree. If you were excited about pursuing those tracks - no fear. You still can within those 6 elective credits (of which you'll be during taking your 3rd and 4th semester). Faculty found that, while a lot of students do choose to do the ABSN to MSN bridge right out of the program, many students were pursuing graduate work back in their home state and these 15 masters credits weren't transferring seamlessly.