<p>Yep, what the title says. Anything that you might be confused about, ranging from where to live next year to how much is a burger in The Loop. Post your questions here and I (or someone else) will try to answer them!</p>
<p>I’m just wondering…are there kitchens in the dorms? I might want to cook something simple once in a while :)</p>
<p>Thanks very much!!</p>
<p>Yes, there are small kitchens in every (I think) dorm on East. More obviously, but just for clarification, though, there are no apartment style rooms with kitchens in the actual room like at some other universities.</p>
<p>So, what are the different dorms like? Are there pictures on the net? How do we get to choose dorms?</p>
<p>Hi, a mom here…my D was accepted ED to Duke. She’s thrilled. Anyway, I know this may seem far off but we are booking her flight home for Thanksgiving. The website says classes end 10:30pm the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. What’s a safe time to book a flight not knowing what classes she will be registering for next year? Do they have bus service to the airport? Thanks!</p>
<p>How is it being on the Freshman campus and being so separated? That was one thing that really concerned me about Duke. Also, what do you do about going into the town or into Chapel Hill? It seems like the relationship with Durham isn’t that great.</p>
<p>Thanks for starting this thread! I’d really love to get an insider’s perspective.</p>
<p>Thanks for answering my question!</p>
<p>ceinwynofavalon: East and West campus aren’t that far apart. It takes about 5-10 minutes (car/bus) to get from one to another. I know East campus has a lot of facilities (gym, dinning hall, library, music buildings, etc.) so it shouldn’t be very inconvenient.</p>
<p>Since I live in NC and have visited the triangle region, I’ll be able to give you an “insider’s perspective”. While Duke and UNC are rivals when it comes to sports, the relationship isn’t that bad. Both universities value high-quality education, and that’s why they have the Robertson scholars program. Chapel Hill is only 20-30 minutes away from Durham. There are lot of cafes, restaurants, and art places in downtown. It feels much more like a college town than Durham.</p>
<p>What do you think of the Blue Devils day? Does this possibly introduce you to some councelors or other important information? Or is it more about making everything seem amazing?</p>
<p>So many questions! haha, that’s good, though.</p>
<p>@adrivit: The dorms are pretty standard in general. They are mostly all hall style and about one third I would say are air conditioned. For more information on dorms see the following link. However, note that you do not get to choose your dorm freshman year. You can choose to be in the wellness community which is in Brown or the arts community which is in Pegram, but other than that you can’t really choose. What you can choose is your preference on having a single or double (but most people will get doubles). Finally, you are able to choose a roommate if you can find or know who you want to room with.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/duke-2013/631613-dorms.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/duke-2013/631613-dorms.html</a></p>
<p>@TrilliumCB: as you’ve realized, it’s impossible to know the best possible time this far in advance. It could end up that your D doesn’t have any classes on Tuesday (somewhat unlikely) and only a couple that she would be able to miss on Monday, and therefore she could have left late the Friday before. My best advice is to just wait to see what her schedule is like before you book the flights. They’re not going to go up that far in price unless you get within 2-3 weeks.</p>
<p>That said, if you wanted to be cautious, I would say anytime after 4pm on Tuesday would be reasonable. While some classes go until 10, most classes should be over and professors will understand if your D leaves a little early. Two of my classes actually took a poll to see who was going to be there on Tuesday and only about half the class raised their hands, so class was just canceled.</p>
<p>As for buses, you can see the schedule they ran for us this year at the following link. I would assume it will be fairly similar next year. It looks like for Thanksgiving they ran the shuttle from the East Campus (freshman) bus stop at 12:20pm, 2:20pm, 4:20pm, and 6:20pm on that Tuesday.</p>
<p>This schedule didn’t work for me so it’s easy to get a taxi ($25 one-way) or find a friend to take you.</p>
<p>[RDU</a> Shuttle](<a href=“http://siren.auxserv.duke.edu/parking/busschedules/RDU_shuttle.htm]RDU”>http://siren.auxserv.duke.edu/parking/busschedules/RDU_shuttle.htm)</p>
<p>@ceinwynofavalon: these are all really good questions.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>On being separated: This is my favorite one of your questions to answer because I feel like I can debunk most of your concern. For me and most others I know, being on East is one of the main benefits of coming to Duke. I love living with the rest of the freshmen on East, it’s great. You get the opportunity to be placed in proximity to 1600 first-years in your exact same position. Also, it doesn’t prevent you from meeting upperclassmen, it just gives you a bit of a comfort zone, which is actually a great thing. One of my friends actually refuses to take classes on East because she feels like it’s her home and doesn’t want to mix that with class. Also, transportation is not a big issue. You obviously do have to take into consideration that it’s going to take you max 5 minutes during the day to catch a bus and then another 10 to get to West. However, this is not a big problem, and the benefits far outweigh the costs. Personally, I think the split campuses is one of Duke’s main selling points over other top universities. It’s great. (the only bad part is that your board plan strongly encourages you eating at the Marketplace on East, which is pretty nasty and gets old).</p></li>
<li><p>On going out: I am currently a first-year, and I have only been to Chapel Hill once. I don’t think this is that rare. I’d say on average my friends have gone there just 2-3 times. However, if you want to go more, you will definitely have the opportunity. The Robertson bus runs between Duke and UNC every hour, so it’s not a problem. It’s true that Chapel Hill is a much better traditional college town than Durham, so take that for what it’s worth. The main party place off campus is Shooters bar which is within walking distance from East. I have never been but I have heard it’s trashy but can be fun–usually dancing. Other than that, people don’t usually go off campus that much. There is a great mall, Southpoint, just a few miles away which makes for a good visit every once in a while. There’s also Brightleaf Square and Ninth Street which have nice little locally-owned restaurants and interesting shops. On the whole, though, most people don’t go off campus that often.</p></li>
<li><p>On the Duke-Durham relationship: This is a big issue on campus and in the community. I am actually taking a whole class on the relationship and the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership this semester. While the town-gown relations are traditionally rough, things are improving and a lot of resources are being put into mending them. While somewhat tense, it’s not a “problem” that a student has to face, unless he or she decides to become a part of the solution.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Such thoughtful responses! Thank you both, madrigal and hp_fan.</p>
<p>Hey, do any of you know someone who appealed their rejection and was admitted/waitlisted? Additionally,do you know any students who were accepted off the waitlist? Duke is like my dream school. I was completely devastated when they rejected me. To make things worse, I was rejected at JH and waitlisted at Wash U, my top choices. Now, I am just waiting on Harvard. If I do not get into Harvard…(let me rephrase that)… When I do not get into Harvard, I will have to attend my saftey school. Sorry I stole this thread (in a way) from the accepted students wondering where to go, but I really need advice with this dilemma from students who actually go to Duke.</p>
<p>My stats are that the beginning of this thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/678064-wow-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/johns-hopkins-university/678064-wow-2.html</a></p>
<p>I really want to join you guys and become a Crazy.</p>
<p>@iwishiwereblack: Blue Devil Days are just opportunities for prospective students to learn more about Duke and get the feel for the place so they can make a more informed decision on where they want to go. You’re not going to do anything that’s going to be critical to your career at Duke at BDD because that is not its focus. You are welcome to meet with your financial aid counselor or other Duke representatives, but just remember that the focus is deciding where you want to go, not diving into to all the opportunities that Duke affords its students. You’ll have plenty of time to get to that later.</p>
<p>Also, it’s not about making everything seem amazing. It’s true that universities like to highlight their good points and neglect to mention some of the shortfalls, but this is 1) not always the case and 2) your job to see around. The best way to get a real feel for what the campus is like is not to get too absorbed in the BDD sanctioned events, but to just ask a student waiting on the bus what he or she is majoring in, what activities they participate in, and how they like living and studying at Duke.</p>
<p>@waitn184: you can’t appeal a rejection unless you have some kind of breakthrough event happen since you sent in the application, like you cured cancer or something. You cannot just resubmit the same application, or even a slightly improved application for reconsideration. The best thing to do now is just wait on Harvard and WashU’s waitlist and then go from there. If you do end up at your safety school and don’t like it after your first year, you can apply to transfer.</p>
<p>Well, I meant appeal as in contact the adcom by email/mail concerning my decision. Of course, you cannot just resubmit an application and ask them to reevaluate it.</p>
<p>Well the alternative is trying to talk them into it, and that’s not going to work either. As I said, the only reason you can ask for reconsideration is if you’ve just won some kind of prestigious international award or something like that. If you’re still determined, though, you can contact the admissions office and ask them for further information.</p>
<p>I realize they will not accept me just on the spot, but I might be able to persuade them into placing me on the waitlist. My goal is to get them to provide specifics as to why I as rejected and counter their assumptions. </p>
<p>I will express how I have been rejected/waitlisted at all my colleges of interest, and how desperate my situation has become. I can disprove any arguments they have regarding my academic qualifications (CR score), fit, interest, essays, recs (if they were bad) with satistical data, recent awards, challeneges (to redo my SAT or get a rec from my AP teacher explaining how my CR score does not represent my comprehension/writing/speech capabilities), description of experiences which make me a significant diversity factor (moreso than most URMs).</p>
<p>I will also explain how I was disadvantaged in the admissions process due to a very brief interview, in which I never had the opportunity to prove myself, hence the reason why I had to prove myself in the appeal.</p>
<p>In no way do I feel entitled to a Duke spot. There are several rejected applicants (some of which have Duke as their top choices) who are more qualified than myself. But if I can persuade/make them pity my situation/pester them into placing me on the waitlist, I may have another shot.</p>
<p>@waitn184: I truly, truly understand your feelings but you must realize that things don’t just work that way. I so wish they could, but life’s not always that easy, right? There’s no point trying to contact an adcom because neither is he/she going to give you a reason as to why you were not accepted nor consider you for waitlist. Why? Because, 1. That is not possible, neither technically nor humanly and 2. There are so many, SO MANY others who feel just like you, they just can’t prefer you right?</p>
<p>That said, I would advise you in moving on. Life moves on, you should move on too. Look at other schools, wait for Harvard! Who knows, we may just end up working under you in a big-shot MNC four years from now, eh? </p>
<p>So, just relax and look forward. There’s no point trying to put band-aid on a wound that’s already bled dry.</p>
<p>My D doesn’t want to join a sorority and I’m wondering how big a part Greek life plays on campus. Are most freshman going through the pledge process? Thanks for your help.</p>