Hwy guys I was recently liklied by duke and it is one of my top choices but I have a few questions about duke. For me, academics is the most important part of the school I choose. I want to be an engineer- so how are the math and science departments? Are kids at duke (specifically engineering students) focused on collaborative and healthy competition or are they out to just be better than each other? Are friends easy to make? I hear that duke is a very “douchey” college but Is that like the norm or only a select group of ppl? I want to make good friends. Are tests mc?
People call Duke “douchey” because it is a school that dares to be an elite academic institution while A) not being part of the ivy league and B ) being a fun place. People call Stanford douchey for the same reasons.
I am a Duke student. Although I am not an engineer, I have witnessed engineering study sessions. They are certainly willing to collaborate and study together and I have seen many engineers help those who don’t understand the material quite as well. Duke has a very collaborative learning environment in both Pratt and Trinity.
The math and science departments are top notch. Math pre-requisites at Duke are notoriously difficult, but at the same time, they prepare you for upper level classes really well. The science and math departments churn out world-renowned research every year.
Tests are not exclusively multiple choice.
@jacobson123: Other Dukies should probably provided detailed responses (as @StanManYeah has done in his excellent post). I’ll only state this: your questions are fine ones, but I can assure your that these concerns are completely inapplicable at Duke/Pratt. More specifically, you will find Duke students and faculty to be unbelievably cooperative, collaborative, and happy to assist – we want each other to succeed (and this continues for many decades after the four undergraduate, residential years).
For engineering do you recomend retaking calc 1? Considering ive only gotten up to AP calc AB this year.So are exams mostly mc or like free response? Like are the academics more focused on memorization or actual understanding?
^The general advice I’m hearing from current Dukies is to never take more math courses than you need to at Duke. They’re GPA killers.
The academics are focused on actual understanding, not on memorization. I’m sure there are multiple choice questions on some exams and I know for sure that exams vary by professor, but you should certainly expect many free response questions on math exams (note that this is not limited to the math department.)
Do not retake Calc I. It would either be a waste of time or a GPA killer. Go straight into Math 122.
But I thought calc 2 is alot harder than calc 1. so wont it kill my gpa freshman yr?
How is writing 101?
Most introductory courses at Duke are designed to be ridiculously hard (though no one is going to admit it officially). Avoid Calc-1, Calc-2, Chem 101, Organic 1 and 2, Econ 101 and 201, Physics 141&142 / 151&152 / 161&162 if possible. I would even go on to suggest avoiding Multi and Linear if you’re in a position to do so. Writing 101 is generally easy and fun but there have been some professors who demand a lot of work. Seek advise from current freshmen (on the Facebook group) on the professor you intend to take Writing 101 with before enrolling.
@erudition: is CS 101 a weed-out course?
@MBVLoveless CS101 is not a weed-out. It’s generally considered the exact opposite, something to get people interested in compsci 
@MBVLoveless : just like StanMan said, CS101 is not known for being a weed-out course, but CS201 is among the most notoriously difficult ones (I wouldn’t call it weed-out though). However, if you intend to be a compsci, ECE, or BME major, I don’t think there’s any way to avoid taking CS201.
Thanks! If I come in with AP credits for Econ 101, how crazy is it to wait until sophomore year to take Econ 201 considering how hard it’s supposed to be (I’m considering an Econ minor…)?
Not crazy at all, you can absolutely do that if you’d like @MBVLoveless
But im a BME major so what courses should I take first year?
There are no “weed out” courses at Duke, they would be inconstant with the University’s overriding educational philosophy. Moreover, with a four-year graduation rate approximating 90 percent, there’s obviously very little “weeding out.”
@jacobson123 : the only class that you’ll “need” to take EGR103 (a MATLAB class). Half of the Duke freshmen are randomly assigned to take Writing 101 during their first semester; the other half take it during their second semester; so right now you can’t really take whether you have to take Writing 101 your first semester or not.
The most suitable option would be to follow the following combination:
- EGR 103
- Writing 101, or a SocialScience/Humanities class
- A math class (most students begin with Calc 1 or 2, but I would suggest skipping these if possible)
- A chem class (some begin with Chem 101, while others with Organic. 101 is not hard, but Orgo is notoriously hard. Try to avoid both if possible (I’m not sure if Orgo can be avoided though))
whats an good/fun social science/humanity class to take fresh year? One that wont be too time consuming
I would say Psych101. Many of my friends are taking it, and they say it’s fun as well as (relatively) easy.
OKAY GUYS BIG DISCUSSION