<p>Can anyone please tell us their experiences/knowledge about these two amazing programs at Duke?</p>
<p>but you want to go to brown...</p>
<p>^LOL I was going to say the same thing :p</p>
<p>My D did not do Focus, but she did participate in DukeEngage. DukeEngage is an amazing program. DukeEngage is a new program so expect changes after the evaluations from the first year. My understanding is that students are limited to two choices - one program in the US and one program abroad. </p>
<p>Read some of the blogs from students:</p>
<p>Duke</a> Engage Blogs</p>
<p>Click on the projects or names of students on the right hand side of the page to find out more.</p>
<p>That's kind of an inaccurate picture. You could only do DukeEngage ONCE. In addition, you could only APPLY to one domestic program and to one abroad. And it's in the summer.</p>
<p>Im currently in Focus, the one on Across Europe and Asia. The topics are wide-ranging, im taking a class in neuroscience & language and one on law and globilization. aside from the two classes theres a dinner once a week where all the focus students in the cluster about 30 get together eat and usually theres either a speaker or a group presentation. its nice cuz you make some good friends in the program, and the professors not only care about your academics but your freshman living experience. they are very comforting professors and help you throughout the first semester as you immerse yourself at duke. excellent opportunity, there really is nothing to lose with any of the clusters, only somethign to gain through better friendships and a better way to start your career off at duke.
often dukeengage is seen as an opportunity right after focus (depending on the cluster you choose) i know that duke engage is pretty competitive but after participating in a cluster that has somethign to do with what you might do with duke engage it raises your chances.
overall, i know a lot about focus, not as much about duke engage, all in all the program is getting a lot of attention and theres no reason not to apply</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>and please ignore my username..just bcos iwannagotobrown doesn't mean im not interested in learning about other schools :P</p>
<p>I'm a freshman in the Exploring the Mind focus, and I would highly recommend it. All of the focus clusters give you two small classes first semester, which has with several benefits. First of all, you will get to know all of your classmates in these sections well-- many first year classes are big lectures (many of which do not involve much student participation) so it's nice to have classes with more potential for building friendships. Another advantage of smaller classes is the relationships you build with your professors. My intro to neurobiology professor was recently the chair of the Neurobiology Department, and it turns out that he only teaches one undergraduate course (his other teaching commitments are with the Medical School). The professor of my other class (philosophy of mind) is a scholar of comparable prestige, yet both do their best to help out freshmen.</p>
<p>I suppose the bottom line with focus is interest. I plan to major in psychology/neuroscience, so this program fits my interests nicely. If one of the clusters matches your long term plans/general interests, you should definitely apply.</p>
<p>Thanks Lavaplatos!</p>