@ackack: Yeah, that 150 word constraint is knowingly difficult. If you are not contacted for an interview, I suggest you submit the additional letter of recommendation (it could be one that focuses on your enthusiasm for Duke, your aspirations and how they tie to Duke, and so forth). You’ll probably want to get that letter (should you opt to have an additional one written on your behalf) to Undergraduate Admissions by late-February.
Great to know, and I appreciate it.
@TopTier If your student does not get an interview and decides to submit another recommendation, is that done via the Common Application or does the recommender snail mail or email it to Duke admissions? Is the “type” of recommended specified (e.g. teacher, coach, community member, etc)?
@CoMoMom:
Copied from Duke Undergraduate Admissions’ website re interviews:(http://admissions.duke.edu/application/instructions#interviews)
***If You Don’t Receive an Interview
Unfortunately, we don’t have alumni volunteers everywhere. Candidates who do not hear from an interviewer by the second week of November (Early Decision) or the second week of February (Regular Decision) are welcome to submit an additional recommendation in place of the interview. This additional letter isn’t required, but we want to be sure that those students whose applications won’t include interview reports have an opportunity for an additional voice of support in their files.
Your chances of admission won’t be affected adversely if we are unable to offer you an interview, nor will they be affected if you choose not to send an extra recommendation.***
Copied from Duke Undergraduate Admissions’ website re Optional Recommendations:
(http://admissions.duke.edu/application/instructions#recommendations-optional-recommendation)
***Additionally, applicants may submit one Personal Recommendation. This recommendation is optional, and can come from a peer, a coach, a director, a teacher from an elective course, a family member, or anyone else who knows you well and will give us a better idea of who you are. This optional information will be considered in our understanding of you as a person, but will not be formally evaluated as part of your application. If you do not submit the information, your chance of admission will not be affected.
There is no required form for this recommendation. Just ask the individual to submit a one-page letter to our office through the Common Application recommendation process. We will also accept letters by fax, email or postal mail.
Fax: (919) 668-1661
Email: undergrad-admissions@duke.edu
Postal mail:
Duke University
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
2138 Campus Drive
Box 90586
Durham, North Carolina 27708***
These instructions are also applicable for the second optional essay, which may be submitted if an applicant is not contacted for an interview.
The foregoing information is readily available from the Duke Undergraduate Admissions’ website.
@TopTier Thanks so much for this useful information. I am still hopeful that D will get an email about an alumni interview, but not sure if any alumni are in our small city.
@CoMoMom: There may not be, in which case I urge your daughter to have the second optional letter of recommendation submitted (the requirements for which are outlined in post #23). It would be ideal if that letter was e-mailed to Undergraduate Admissions by late-February. Wishing your daughter good luck . . .
So I submitted my entire Duke application by the priority interview deadline (Dec 20th), but I still haven’t heard back from an interviewer regarding an interview. I’m really worried right now especially because I am aware of several Duke alum in my area- noone I know personally, but rather parents of people I heard got into Duke. Is this normal, will I hear back soon, shouldn’t I??? b-(
So I submitted my entire Duke application by the priority interview deadline (Dec 20th), but I still haven’t heard back from an interviewer regarding an interview. I’m really worried right now especially because I am aware of several Duke alum in my area- noone I know personally, but rather parents of people I heard got into Duke. Is this normal, will I hear back soon, shouldn’t I??? b-(
@menongirl (re #26 and #27, redundant): Yes, this is not too unusual. You should read several recent posts in CC’s Duke forum that explain – in detail – our interviewing process. Briefly:
- No one is guaranteed an interview, regardless of application submission date.
- Your name (and very abbreviated contact information, but NO application data) was provided to a geographic alumni volunteer interview coordinator, who then assigned your interview to an individual, authorized alumni volunteer. The fact that your area has many Duke alums (or parents) does NOT mean that it has any – or enough – approved volunteers; not every alumni can conduct an interview or report results, and in MANY regions we are annually overwhelmed with the number of applications.
- That individual interviewer may have encountered emergent, higher-priority professional/personal requirements (a sick child, an unexpected overseas business trip, a rescheduled trial, a medical partner’s unanticipated absence, an urgent, extended new business proposal, the list is endless) that makes your interview a practical impossibility. We understand that this interview is very important to you, but you need to appreciate that, pragmatically, Duke alums – very accomplished and busy people – often cannot control unanticipated demands. No AAAC (Alumni Admissions Advisory Committee) volunteer wants this outcome – these alumni work VERY diligently, for you and for the University, to ensure it occurs only minimally – however these sort of unexpected matters are a fact of life.
- Presuming you are not contacted by 15 February, you are then authorized to submit an additional (second) optional letter of recommendation (utilizing the procedures outlined in Undergraduate Admissions’ website) in lieu of the interview report. This non-mandatory alternative exists precisely to address situations such as yours and to ensure fairness (you, too, will have another advocacy document for evaluation).
Please take the time to review the detailed posts in Duke’s CC forum, which offer greater background and information (as you might have done before posting your questions); there are several on this page alone.