<p>We (son, jr) are doing the spring break mad dash to NC next week to tour Duke and Wake Forest. Any good advice in general to make a campus visit, any campus visit more productive?</p>
<p>Hi Lukester:</p>
<p>I would recommend that when you visit Duke, that you tour both the East and West campuses. All freshmen live on the East campus. The campuses are very different, and both have unique features. I would suggest actually taking the shuttle bus from one campus to the other if you can. We did that, and it gave us a feel for the students at Duke as well. We actually met several students that answered a lot of questions on the bus. It really gave us the friendly feel for the campus without the formal tour and canned answers from a tour guide.
In addition, I would highly recommend taking the time to walk through Duke gardens (off West Campus). I can not imagine visiting the campus without doing this. This is one of the most beautiful gardens in the world, and this is probably a good time of year to see a variety of plants blooming. (Hard to imagine - since we still have a couple of feet of snow on the ground here up north.)
I would also suggest that you eat lunch on campus, and walk through the chapel. We visited the fitness facilities and the theater facilities on our own, as these were both important to my son. I would spend time visiting things that will be important to your son, and talking to students involved with activities that he may be interested in. We also found some good restaurants off East campus (on Ninth street).</p>
<p>Thank you. All great pointers and good advice. I've heard the gardens are beautiful and this time of year should be superb!</p>