<p>If anyone has any questions about Duke (dorms, classes, environment, social life, clubs, basketball, how cool beating Clemson was this Saturday, anything) I'll be happy to answer them. I'm a freshman here and it's been great my first few months. I'm sure ay_caramba and a few other people who go here would like to answer any questions.</p>
<p>Hi! I'm planning on applying to Duke this year (I'm a senior). Anyway, when you entered Duke, did you know what you wanted to major in and has your first few months at Duke changed that? Also, how difficult is it to take classes from different programs (school of engineering vs. business, for instance)? Finally, how is the neighborhood there? I hear that it's in the middle of nowhere :</p>
<p>Ok well here's my experience.
I went into Duke knowing that I'm premed and that hasn't changed. But yes, my major choice changed dramatically. At first I wanted to do something in the sciences, but now I'm almost positive I'm doing something in history. It's come from the realization that there are so many cool things to learn about, and if I'm going to be in med school and studying the body for virually the rest of my life, I want to learn about some other stuff.</p>
<p>Taking classes from different programs... I'm not really sure. I know that there is no official undergrad business program here (Duke, like Yale for example, does not offer any preprofessional programs (except engineering perhaps) because it believes that a well rounded liberal arts background is optimal in preparation for any field, or something like that). We do have a Markets and Management certificate program that offers a whole bunch of classes in enterpreneurship, marketing, etc. (I was considering doing that certificate actually...) but anyways I'm not sure.</p>
<p>The neighborhood seems like it's in the middle of nowhere sometimes, but Durham is actually really close to campus (though it's not exactly the best part of Durham...) I mean, Durham is a sizeable city, 200,000, but Duke definitely does not have an urban feel. You can walk to some places from East, and there's a couple malls within walking distance. Personally, I like it, but if you're a city person, it may not suit you.</p>
<p>Hey kinetic...I came in here wanting to be a chem major and I still think that I'm on that path but who knows what will happen. You really can't go wrong with what you choose, and most people rethink their majors or haven't even given it serious thought yet. Freshmen year is the best time to take as many classes in as many different areas as you can. Besides, unless you're an engineer, Cirriculum 2000 "forces" you to take classes in a bunch of different areas. It's really easy for people in the Arts and Sciences undergrad part of Duke to take classes in other areas. I don't know about the Engineering students. They take a certain amount of electives, but I'm not positive how many and what their requirements are.
Regarding the neighborhood. Ninth Street has all the stores that I need for stuff that isn't on campus. That's right off of East Campus. I never felt unsafe off campus, but there have been reports of crimes these past few months. I hope this adds to whatever ay_caramba said. Have fun with the application!</p>
<p>does duke do interviews for applicants?</p>
<p>Yeah, I think if you send it Part 1 of your application before a certain day you'll most likely get a call for one. I think Oct. 1 for ED and Dec. 1 for Regular but don't hold me to that. Even if you send it in later than whatever that day is they'll probably still try to get you an interview. Interviews are not that important. Mine was very lax, and they should not be something to worry about. They're not mandatory at all, but if someone calls asking to interview you, I'd take the opportunity.</p>
<p>Hows Electrical Engineering at Duke?? Any robotics and AI labs??</p>
<p>I would suggest you go here: <a href="http://www.ee.duke.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.ee.duke.edu/</a> and click on "Research". It will tell you the research centers. Look especially at Fitzpatric Center, it's the newest.</p>
<p>For robotics labs, go here: <a href="http://ramalab.pratt.duke.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://ramalab.pratt.duke.edu/</a> and here for intelligent systems: <a href="http://fred.mems.duke.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://fred.mems.duke.edu/</a></p>
<p>thanx, but i've seen that. I'm sorry i didnt phrase my question properly.</p>
<p>I just wanted a students perspective of the facilities</p>
<p>are there a lot of racial tensions on campus? I've heard lots of rumors about it, so I thought I would go to the source</p>
<p>how would you compare duke to other schools you visited before deciding? how big is the entire student population (including grad students), and how would you describe the setting, in terms of rural, suburban, or urban? i'm thinking about premed also...how has the advising been at duke?</p>
<p>thanks for the offer of your help-i'm sure i'm not the only one who really appreciates it...</p>
<p>celebrian-I have not seen any racial tension at all. I heard about that before I got here as well, but I personally haven't seen any tension at all. If anything just the opposite. Many of my friends I made here, in my dorm, in classes, and in clubs, are of different races than me. Just if you come here bring an open mind and don't let stereotypes and rumors of a college determine the way you look at it first hand.</p>
<p>california- I got to be honest. Duke was the only school I visited outside of my state and I got in ED so I didn't check out a lot of other schools. There are around 6400 undergrads and I think 5000 grad students. It's a good size campus. Building are not on top of each other and they're not more than 3 stories for the most part. You see a lot of familiar faces wherever you go, which is nice. The setting is definitely not rural. I'd say more suberbs than citylike, especially off of East Campus. When you walk off East into the suberb area you would never guess that there's a major university a block away. But Duke does dominate a lot of the area off of West Campus that I've seen. A lot of this area is hospital and research related buildings. Remember, premed is not a major here. I'm not thinking about premed but there is good advisement here and it is very popular among science students here. It's competative though. I think I'm helping out a lot of premed's grades in orgo by bringing down the average. Just trying to do my part.</p>
<p>I wouldn't say there are "racial tensions" on campus. Races tend not to interact a ton, but personally I have asian, black, and white friends. It's no worse than any other campus I've ever been to and it's really not an issue, in my eyes at least.</p>
<p>Duke was definitely one of the nicest campuses I visited; visit if you can! It's very natural, many trees and gardens. We're a mid-sized school for a research university: ~6000 undergrad (though they are increasing it to 6800 over the next 4 years due to Pratt expansion) + 5000-6000 grad/professional (they're expanding that too over the next few years). It doesn't seem that big. When I'm walking across campus I always see people I know. It's not overwhelming or anything.
The setting varies. On west, you're actually pretty close to the city but you can't tell when you're on campus. The campus is bordered by Duke Forest too...like 8500 acres of trees... The "city" is more accessible by East, but Duke is not in the center of the city or anything and the real downtown is not really within walking distance (I don't think).
The premed advising is quite good. The advisors are very accessible and knowledgeable. Just tonight actually there was a premed presentation thing that answered questions and stuff. An admissions officer from Duke School of Medicine was there, and some advisors were there, and also some premed upperclassmen to answer questions. It was pretty interesting. Plus we have a ton of research/internship opportunities here.</p>
<p>thank you both so much! i'm still debating about whether or not i should visit duke next summer when we make the east coast trip to the usual new england colleges in like standing as duke...my parents are against it (because of the drive), so i'm just figuring out whether i feel its really worth it or not. thanks again!</p>
<p>are people at duke very helpful/supportive of each other, especially when it comes to academics? Is it pretty competitive, especially for bio?</p>
<p>Thx in advance!</p>
<p>I'd say wait until you get in and visit during blue devil days - if you're looking to narrow your list of where you would like to go, then you may want to visit. That's how I spent the summer before my senior year, visiting all the east coast colleges (except duke). It enabled me to cross a lot of places of the list.</p>
<p>And lots of people study together here, and I have yet to get a feeling of over-competitiveness. The fact that A- are 3.7 really helps, i think, to eliminate the perfectionist attitude that permeates a high school campus (at least mine). Everyone wants to do well here, but not at the expense of others.</p>
<p>thanks for the comments! It just seems it is the one keyed on when it comes to race issues, so I just wondered if they were about the same as at most colleges</p>
<p>yeah a lot of people have a lot of strange ideas about duke because it's in the south. coming from the northeast, i can tell you it's really not that different.</p>
<p>Hey guys!!</p>
<p>Thanks for offering to answer questions about Duke!! My question is, can you guys elaborate on the research opportunities you talk about?? Are there a lot of labs/hospitals/etc?? If you have any experiences in them could you elaborate?? I'd love the specifics.</p>
<p>Thanks soooo much!! :)</p>
<p>personally, i'm more worried about the weather than anything else. I'm a snow and ice kind of girl</p>