Duke Parents Thread

<p>@greekmana First year seminars are mandatory only for trinity… Pratt students can take them as long as that seminar has attributes that satisfy the SSH elective requirement for Pratt.
@ mom22girls Yes freshmen can register for at most 4.5 credits… I am not sure about the placement exam classes.</p>

<p>For the kids who register last this semester, they will get to register first in spring. The middle window ones will register last and the first window ones will register in the middle window in spring. It is a rotating system.</p>

<p>Greek - only Trinity students take the freshman seminar class, so you’re good! </p>

<p>My son is also in the last window and is pretty disappointed in his Multivariable options. If you look on “RateMyProfessor” some profs have extremely high scores, others not so much. And who knows when he will end up with writing and with whom. Apparently the teacher can make that class vary greatly, even in the number of papers written. DS is bothered that the school does not standardize the curriculum among professors. It feels like high school all over again. </p>

<p>I too, was disappointed and had this nagging feeling that for a top school like Duke, the teachers should ALL be great. I knew that wouldn’t be the case, but this registration thing has made that seem more real. At least in high school you were randomly assigned to “the great math teacher” or “the horrible history teacher”. It seems worse to know that all the good time slots, profs, and courses, were picked over already. I know that they move up in time slots, but starting off freshman year for the second and third slot kids just kinda stinks. :(</p>

<p>Mom22girls - Did your DD ever hear about P-waves?? I didn’t bother to research it more to really find out because DS decided not to go… but it is just another disappointment, not that he didn’t get in (most likely - even though we registered 4 hours after registration went live) but the disorganization… another :(</p>

<p>So if my son REALLY wanted a great prof for multivariable, should he wait til spring and take it then, or do what has been mentioned here and ask the prof for special compensation?</p>

<p>“Each sub-divided group is advanced from one semester to the next, moving up to the first of the three positions, then back to the last, to start forward again.”</p>

<p>This sentence seems to indicate to me that students in the third group this semester will be in the second group in the spring. What does everyone think?</p>

<p>My DD told me that a certain number of seats and sections were reserved in the first two windows to allow the third window kids a chance at preferred classes/professors.</p>

<p>my3gr8boyz - YES – my dd did try to get in but was also disappointed not to be selected.</p>

<p>Mom22 - but how did she hear she was not selected? We have not heard anything…</p>

<p>DS is trying to enroll right now and it is not going well… long waits to get to server, classes closing, and he was not ready with everything right at 12:00…</p>

<p>I believe she only heard that she was waitlisted for her second choice… so she just assumed she was out for Pwaves. No official notification though</p>

<p>S’13 did register for 2 classes (fortunately he was already registered for the other 2.5 through his FOCUS cluster), just not his first choices. I agree with SOG that there’s probably not a more fair way to handle registration, but the third day kids really are fighting for scraps at noon.</p>

<p>I assume there will be the ability to make some changes once our kids speak with their advisors… I imagine there might be a very slight possibility of opening up more sections in the classes with high waitlist numbers… we can hope!</p>

<p>Done. I can’t believe he actually has 4 classes, two with labs, that fit into the schedule. For writing, he was the 12th of the 12 to get in, and for Matlab lecture, he was the 120th of 120… talk about cutting it close! </p>

<p>DS was having trouble getting on waitlists… he ended up with multivariable on W/F from 4 something till 5:55. His final schedule shows waitlists as having 0 kids on them. Is that right? So the suggestion of trying to be the extra kid in a full class would have to be attempted after all classes are full to capacity, even after waitlisted kids are added?</p>

<p>If my kids are the norm my S, class of 2016 and my D, a rising senior at Pomona, change their classes multiple times after the initial registration. In fact, my S changed 2 of his classes last semester two weeks into the semester. He has been going into his portal and changing his class selection this summer also. So spots do open and professors do take requests from students. It really does work out. There are also so many class requirements that need to be filled that first year students have many options, just stay flexible.</p>

<p>Re: Changing Schedules: Drop/add extends two weeks into the semester, so students will be able to switch into and out of courses both once they get to campus and speak with their advisor as well as once they’ve actually seen the level and pace of their courses. Students can freely add classes in the first week, and can only add with a permission number int he second week (by talking to the professor and probably talking about how to make up work).</p>

<p>Re: Reg Windows Additionally, just to clarify, those with third registration window rotate to second window next semester. Third window kids will be first to register in the fall of their sophomore year. Windows rotate ‘forward.’</p>

<p>The good thing about registration right now is that nothing is the end of the world. We haven’t picked our majors yet, the first year is supposed to be a year of exploration, and it’s all (mostly) going to be okay. (I am a FOCUS student with a second window, and the two classes I registered for had spots open still at the start of third window. I must be doing something wrong?)</p>

<p>Re: Waitlists As first-year students, we are not allowed to be placed on waitlists. Your son will be able to get on a waitlist after he speaks to the dean on campus at O-week. The math department suggests looking for the earliest appointment with the dean, if that’s the case, to be able to get on the waitlist earlier. I was ‘#0’ in my bookbag for a couple of full classes on waitlists, but I’m not actually on any waitlists. I believe waitlisted classes would appear under ‘my class schedule’ in ‘my academics,’ but again, we’re not supposed to be allowed on waitlists.</p>

<p>yes they should because people realize they took the wrong level, don’t like the professor, etc.</p>

<p>Hi! Dorm question here - We have a tiny loveseat - 4 feet long by 3 feet deep - and I’m wondering if it would make sense to put it under a lofted bed? Or would that be a waste of precious space? My son is in Blackwell, where the rooms are relatively small. Ceilings are tall, though, so the full height loft sounds like a good idea. </p>

<p>Also, for any previous Randolph/Blackwellers out there, did you put some sort of container in the closet, since there is only one shelf in there? It seems like a small dresser would work well.</p>

<p>My S was in a small room in Brown. The bookshelf and dresser really needed to go under the lofted bed to give them any sort of floor space. Therefore a love seat would not fit. BB and Beyond sells plastic drawers which are very deep and wide and can be stacked. We purchased a few of these for under that one shelf.</p>

<p>So I have a question about Wilson if anyone has any experience with it. From what I understand, the rooms are set up in a suite-like arrangement around a shared bathroom. But I am told that the kids are responsible for cleaning their own bathroom. I know my S is pretty neat with his own stuff, but he doesn’t usually worry about “clean”. His room can often smell like a locker room when his door is closed. I can only imagine what that bathroom will look/smell like in May when 18 year old boys are responsible for cleaning it. Does the maintenance crew ever come in and disinfect?</p>

<p>So my dd has now shared with me that she’s been receiving quite a few text messages concerning armed robberies in and around duke gardens – obviously I am greatly concerned! But unlike my other dd’s school, Duke doesn’t seem to be set up to send these messages to parents – the only notification I see is an e-mail which will send ‘some’ notices to parents.
Does anyone know if there is a way parents can get on the text message alerts?</p>

<p>Armed robberies in Duke Gardens!?! Yikes!</p>

<p>I’m not worried about being notified, but I am worried about what is being done to stop it. Back when I was in school in the 80’s, there were a couple incidents of crime on the fringe of East Campus, which was closest to downtown Durham, and only late at night when students were not being safety-conscious. But the Gardens is in the middle of the “Duke bubble” and I assumed would be safe under any conditions.</p>

<p>Are there details about the robberies available - time of day, victim walking alone, how many occurrences, suspect arrests, etc.?</p>