CLASS OF 2013!!! Taking any questions from freshmen next year!

<p>I was just wondering what it is like for fun on campus during the day (when partying is obviously less popular). At Yale they have indoor basketball courts, pool tables, ping pong tables, tvs, couches, etc in each dorm complex. Is Duke similar in any way to this?</p>

<p>@cuddikitti: I am in the EXACT same position, with the addition of Northwestern, and Imperial College. I plan to major in Engineering and Finance/Economics. What made you pick Duke over JHU?</p>

<p>@ AKDigger: well, for me, i plan to major in biomedical engineering, so I had the choice of choosing between a school that is ranked 1st (JHU) and a school that is ranked 2nd (Duke). I chose Dulke primarily because I feel like if ever I decided to change majors in the future, I have other choices to choose from. Duke is a overall well-rounded school. Most of its majors are very well oriented and pretty reputable. If you want to major in engineering/econ, you should definitely come to Duke because these two majors are the most popular majors in Pratt and Trinity respectively. However, I have to warn you that double majoring in this two topics are going to be very hard on you; they are in fact the two toughest majors in the school (esp econ). JHU on the other hand, I felt, is only good for its BME program. If I ever decide to transfer majors in the future, I would have no where to go. Also, the social life at Duke is SO much better than JHU. Hope that helps:)</p>

<p>@ Indecision1707, in almost all of the freshmen dorms, there are pool tables, ping pong tables, tvs, couches, etc. There are indoor basketball courts in the both gyms, the one on east and the one on west. in addition to that, some dorms have wii systems and computer clusters, and you can definitely borrow movies from the library to watch on the big screen:)</p>

<p>@ constantly: There is no rule saying that you can't have your parents sleeping over at your dorm, but you have to talk to your roommate about this and make sure that he/she is ok with it.</p>

<p>thanks cuddlikitti appreciate the info</p>

<p>O and I had one other question: I was looking to AP credit info, but jw do u kno if students can place out or do they get legit credit (thereby lowering cost <em>fingers crossed</em>??)</p>

<p>The credit policy is different for trinity and pratt. </p>

<p>For trinity, I think you can place out of as many courses as your APs allow you to, but if you don't plan to graduate early, only 2 AP credits can count toward the total number required for graduation. </p>

<p>For pratt, you can have as many AP credits as you want with a few exceptions (no stats credit, only 2 humanities APs).</p>

<p>@cudd: Thanks that was very helpful! Do you know how hard it is to graduate Magnum Cum Laude, or Summa Cum Laude at Duke. And is it hard to get a high GPA?</p>

<p>Short answer is yes, but difficulty varies depending on your major and the courses you take. But latin honors do denote a high level of achievement and excellence</p>

<p>Are there buses or any public transportation that can take you back and forth to Washington D.C. with a reasonable price? Thanks.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot, cuddlikitty. Do you know if the same rule applies to friends?</p>

<p>My d took the train back and forth a couple of times this past year to DC and found it timely and cheap.</p>

<p>@ constantly: yep, duke doesn't have any rule about stay overs, just talk to your roommate about it.
@ Galaxy_Buttercup: The train is a good idea, but there is also the greyhound bus that takes you to dc too. The train station and the bus station are literally next to each other in Durham, and it is like a 1 mile walk from campus. I personally live in the dc area and i find it more cheaper and more convenient to take the train than taking a flight, cause the flight tickets usually costs around 200 while train tickets are like 60. Hope that helps:)</p>

<p>How big of a deal is Greek life? I love Duke, but I just can't see myself in a sorority of chicks who go shopping every weekend and hook up with the same guys from the same frat. Can you have a good social life and go to parties if you don't rush?</p>

<p>p.s. Thanks, this is a very informative thread</p>

<p>TheFutureIsHere: i have a freshman at Duke and a daughter who is deciding whether to attend there next year as well. My freshman is in a sorority and loves it. She and all her friends are in different sororites and none of them go shopping every weekend. As a matter of fact, most of the girls at Duke have too much work to do that. While there are some girls who hook up all the time, the vast majority of them do not. Only 50% of the girls are in a sorority and most of them are just regular kids. You can definitely have a great social life, with or without the greek life.</p>

<p>How often do you use cash on campus? What is the ATM situation like? </p>

<p>Which phone carrier do most people use and why?</p>

<p>My S wants to have a car on campus freshman year. What are the pros and cons of having a car? How is parking on campus? Thank you.</p>

<p>You generally don't use cash that much because there is a thing called a flex account which basically acts as a debit card. You can set up one when they send the info package to you in the mail later on. There are three atms on west campus, and they are Bank of America, Wachovia and Suntrust. You can set up an account with them on move in day I believe if you don't have one with them already.</p>

<p>On having a car, the pros are you can go off campus since there's not much to do on campus unless you're in a frat. Parking is pretty good on East, but is a little more inconvenient on West. Thus, taking the bus is probably the best mode of transportation getting to class on West from East.</p>

<p>Question:</p>

<p>I'm going to ship some of my personal belongings via FedEx in August.</p>

<p>What is the policy on deliveries for Duke? Are they delivered to your dorm room door? Etc.</p>