[Anyone heard from Duke Sanford Public Policy PhD?]

Also I was wonder if you had contacted any of the professors earlier in the application process? Did you initiate any type of interview/conversation earlier on?

JohnnyQuest (one of my favorite cartoon characters, btw), Duke emailed me at the account I indicated when applying online. As for initiating contact, I didn't do that earlier on. In fact, I've always been skeptical of doing that because it can backfire spectacularly. I guess I'd rather be judged on the application itself rather than any previous contact. Unless of course, that contact was made organically (at a conference/through another Professor/etc)

[Anyone heard from Duke Sanford Public Policy PhD?]

Yes, I'm planning to concentrate in Econ. They have a few people I''m really interested in working with.

Looking forward to hear what their reply to your email is. Good luck!

[Anyone heard from Duke Sanford Public Policy PhD?]

Guys, Duke did conduct phone interviews. I know because they called me a couple of weeks back. But as they pointed out in their mail, "many decisions are yet to be made and not every top applicant will be immediately contacted to schedule an interview".

As for timeline, going by last year's notifications (Feb 19), I'm expecting us to know by end of next week.