Duke ED interview

[Anonymous]

Senior was just contacted by a Duke alum about scheduling a virtual interview next month. Any idea if this is a good or a bad sign? How should she prepare? This will be her first interview. She's friendly but on the reserved side and very humble.

[Anonymous]

All ED applicants get an interview, which is nice. We've heard Duke has moved them all to Zoom, and they tend to be relaxed and conversational. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Friendly shy and humble is fine but she should smile a lot and be engaged! Prepare with questions about your interviewer’s experience (the person may be middle age) and career path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Friendly shy and humble is fine but she should smile a lot and be engaged! Prepare with questions about your interviewer’s experience (the person may be middle age) and career path.

DP - Any suggestions for questions to ask the alumni interviewer? It seems unlikely that they'll know about the specific major or ECs or activities that interest DC.

What kind of questions would be more appropriate?

Is it cliche to talk about Duke basketball and K-ville, even if it's a genuine interest of DC and they can speak knowledgeably about the current team etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friendly shy and humble is fine but she should smile a lot and be engaged! Prepare with questions about your interviewer’s experience (the person may be middle age) and career path.

DP - Any suggestions for questions to ask the alumni interviewer? It seems unlikely that they'll know about the specific major or ECs or activities that interest DC.

What kind of questions would be more appropriate?

Is it cliche to talk about Duke basketball and K-ville, even if it's a genuine interest of DC and they can speak knowledgeably about the current team etc.

TBF if your kid cannot figure this out on their own they are not the type to succeed there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friendly shy and humble is fine but she should smile a lot and be engaged! Prepare with questions about your interviewer’s experience (the person may be middle age) and career path.

DP - Any suggestions for questions to ask the alumni interviewer? It seems unlikely that they'll know about the specific major or ECs or activities that interest DC.

What kind of questions would be more appropriate?

Is it cliche to talk about Duke basketball and K-ville, even if it's a genuine interest of DC and they can speak knowledgeably about the current team etc.

TBF if your kid cannot figure this out on their own they are not the type to succeed there.

lol. Good point. I'll own it - this is coming from me, the parent, being anxious. Not my kid. I'll leave them to figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Former Duke alumni interviewer here. Interviews are offered to all applicants. Read nothing into it.

I would not necessarily spend a lot of time on basketball, even if it is a true love and passion. Fine to mention, but I wouldn't dwell on it.

Questions I often ask that provoke the most interesting responses:

What are you most interested in about Duke in particular? Where and what do you see yourself doing there?

How did you spend your last summer?

What book (outside of school) have you read recently that interested you? why or how?

How would your friends describe you?

What does your typical weekend look like?

Outside of school and family, tell me about someone who has had a signficant impact on your life. How so?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for this thread. DD was contacted too. She submitted a Glimpse video so she's surprised to also have an interview. Honestly, I don't know how they process 6,000+ applications in 6 weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this thread. DD was contacted too. She submitted a Glimpse video so she's surprised to also have an interview. Honestly, I don't know how they process 6,000+ applications in 6 weeks.

See above. Pretty much all ED get interviews. I know a kid who already did theirs. Rumor has it that it is an alumni engagement exercise and means very little except to flag sociopaths.

I'm an interviewer and can draw no trends as to who has gotten in and who hasn't, but I am not privy to what their grades, test scores, etc. are so my response to their interview is a tiny portion of the overall package. I have been pleasantly surprised that a few very down-to-earth, kind, normal kids who didn't seem super packaged got in in recent years. I am so tired of interviewing kids whose whole life has been curated, and I tend to root against them.

I also don't know how they do it while having qualified admissions officers giving applications a full read in the very limited time available

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Former Duke alumni interviewer here. Interviews are offered to all applicants. Read nothing into it.

I would not necessarily spend a lot of time on basketball, even if it is a true love and passion. Fine to mention, but I wouldn't dwell on it.

Questions I often ask that provoke the most interesting responses:

What are you most interested in about Duke in particular? Where and what do you see yourself doing there?

How did you spend your last summer?

What book (outside of school) have you read recently that interested you? why or how?

How would your friends describe you?

What does your typical weekend look like?

Outside of school and family, tell me about someone who has had a signficant impact on your life. How so?

Plus, don’t forget to mention legacy (if you have it). This is crucial to do now, since trump & company are trying to to get rid of it entirely !

[Anonymous]

DC had ED interview last year. It was very relaxed. Interview was really nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former Duke alumni interviewer here. Interviews are offered to all applicants. Read nothing into it.

I would not necessarily spend a lot of time on basketball, even if it is a true love and passion. Fine to mention, but I wouldn't dwell on it.

Questions I often ask that provoke the most interesting responses:

What are you most interested in about Duke in particular? Where and what do you see yourself doing there?

How did you spend your last summer?

What book (outside of school) have you read recently that interested you? why or how?

How would your friends describe you?

What does your typical weekend look like?

Outside of school and family, tell me about someone who has had a signficant impact on your life. How so?

Plus, don’t forget to mention legacy (if you have it). This is crucial to do now, since trump & company are trying to to get rid of it entirely !

Are you joking? Trump got into his schools because of legacy and his kids also got in because of legacy. It is well known that Jared Kushner is dumb as a rock and got into Harvard because of the Kushner's multi-million donation. I think Trump is pro-legacy.

[Anonymous]

As opposed to the offspring of the dems kids LOL.

[Anonymous]

Not Duke.

But one of my DS friend had an Alumni interview yesterday with someone who completed his graduation in the 80s.

Shouldn’t the college think tank revisit these scenario and perhaps consider Alumni who would add relevance than some one who graduated 45 years ago?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not Duke.

But one of my DS friend had an Alumni interview yesterday with someone who completed his graduation in the 80s.

Shouldn’t the college think tank revisit these scenario and perhaps consider Alumni who would add relevance than some one who graduated 45 years ago?

My DS has one coming up. Based on a quick google search, on paper the interviewer and interviewee could not be more different. DC seemed a little intimated, as it’s not the type of person with whom he typically interacts. I explained that’s what you get when you don’t want to go to your state flagship - the opportunity to get out of your little world and cross paths with people who have completely different interests. Making a connection will definitely be yet another challenge in this whole process.