<p>I am really considering going to Duke next year, but I'm worried that I may not fit in. I have heard and read that Duke is very big on sports (it is #20 on princeton review's countdown of big jock schools) and there is a decent amount of partying that goes on campus. unfortunately i'm neither a big sports fan or a partier so would i be in the minority of the student body at duke? i'm worried that i would not fit in as well because of these reasons, are my concerns valid?</p>
<p>i'm trying to decide btw duke and wash u in st.louis right now so any input would really help. Thank you!</p>
<p>I'm pretty much like you in this regard. And I don't think we'll have problems fitting in. But I guess a current student would be better at answering this one.</p>
<p>I was kinda like you when I heard about Duke and partying... and then I came to Duke.</p>
<p>Admittedly, yes it takes time to find the right kind of friends, but I think that goes for any college you would go to. Friendship takes time to form. </p>
<p>Dont worry too much about the social scene, Duke is about as wild/tame as you want it to be. East campus is usually quiet on crazy days.</p>
<p>And uh, about sports. Well, for me at least, I went from not really knowing what a point guard was to tenting for the UNC game. And I still dont knw what a point guard does. My point being, Duke sports will add to your college experience.</p>
<p>I definitely agree with bellhyena. The social scene at Duke...really what you make of it. There are people who party 4 nights a week, but there are also people who study in the library friday and saturday nights. Then there are those who exercise both in moderation. You find your niche...and the cool thing about Duke is you can pretty much go out one night and stay in and study the next night and no one cares...your friends don't give you a hard time because they understand and have done it before. I promise you that you can really find what you want here.</p>
<p>Sports...bellhyena was right on the money as well. You get sucked into it pretty much, esp freshman year. Of course, once again, if you're not into it no one cares. I didn't go to a single basketball game, or watch one this year. Honestly, I'm a bad Duke student because I probably couldn't tell you the name of all our freshman players this year. But that was ok...no one cared:)</p>
<p>Well some of my favorite things to do when I'm not going out are to rent movies from Lilly (they have a ginormous collection of DVDs...GOOD movies) or go see a movie in Griffith, or if there are student performances (Hoof N' Horn, any of the dance groups) I'm always there, or just a quality night of sitting doing a whole lot of nothing. My roommate and I sometimes like to sit around and bake in the common room, and then go around and deliver baked good to our friends...it's really fun I swear:) Going off campus to the mall/UNC/anywhere out to dinner is a good choice too...as long as you have a car or friends with a car (or take the Robertson bus to UNC). You find things to do...and once you have a solid group of friends it becomes incredibly easy to have a fun night without partying!</p>
<p>Heya, do students show up in good numbers for student performances? That sort of thing (seeing shows/musicals/dance/art stuffs) sounds really appealing to me... Hahaa more and more since I decided to give up alcohol too!</p>
<p>How's the mall? Which one? I love people watching!</p>
<p>Yeah students really turn out for these kind of things. The last performance I went to, Sabrosura (the latin dance group) was packed on a Wednesday night. Hoof N' Horn shows are always packed as well. DUI (the improv group), Inside Joke, and Acapella groups are SO popular as well. Pretty much if students know about it they're there.</p>
<p>The mall everyone goes to is called Southpoint Mall. It's about a 15 minute drive, and it's pretty amazing. Movie theater and a TON of restaurants (Cheesecake Factory, Firebirds, Rockfish Grill, Maggianos to name a few), plus pretty much any kind of store you'd be looking for (Nordstrorm, Urban Outfitters, Charlotte Russe, JCrew...yeah pretty much everything), plus there are plaza's nearby with Starbucks, Cold Stone, Best Buy, Target, Chilis, Melting Pot...it's just an awesome area. The Barnes and Noble at Southpoint...the Starbucks there...one of my FAVORITE people watching places:)</p>
<p>Yeah - NC law basically prohibits games of chance where anything of value is bet and University policy naturally supports that; a club would mainly have to be educational in nature and based on some valueless measure of success, if that makes any sense. There are some areas yet to be explored - such as what it means for a Duke student using Duke bandwidth to play online - that kind of thing.</p>
<p>if you're really looking for something to do Duke has a program called Devils after Dark which hosts miscellaneous activities on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights</p>
<p>even if you don't like sports/party, there's plenty to do at Duke to keep yourself busy</p>
<p>Oh the infamous Rolling Stone article. I know it's been talked about here before, but the first time I read it I was like "wait, this is my school?" For the most part this article is grossly over exaggerated, and the term "Duke 500" has become kind of a running joke. Trust me, if you don't care for that type of social life you won't be even remotely exposed to it. Like other people have said on this site, there are a lot of other things to do.</p>