<p>There is so much shopping in Durham and the surrounding towns that you can find anything you need in stores that a familiar to you - all major chain stores are within a few miles of the campus. Move in day(s) are 2 days for the parents, so there is plenty of time to make many store runs.</p>
<p>Iām with ladyofthehouse on breaks. I would imagine the kids will have made good friends by then and that if they didnāt want to (or couldnāt) go home for those breaks that the friends would be happy to have them come home. Weāre not that close to NC, but close enough that I imagine it could happen, though we may be more of a spring break target ;)</p>
<p>We will be winter break target as olympic downhill venue is 20 min. from the house :)</p>
<p>Sent from my SGH-T999 using CC</p>
<p>Can someone tell me how many days do parents stay after orientation? We are international and need to book tickets with return dates in advance.
Do parents stay till after orientation week when classes start?</p>
<p>My understanding is that parents are expected to leave on day 2 after commencement.</p>
<p>Sent from my SGH-T999 using CC</p>
<p>The parent program ends mid-afternoon on August 21st, after which, as one of the Duke administrators said while quoting the band Semisonic, āYou donāt have to go home, but you canāt stay here.ā Basically, once the convocation is over and we get a couple of last-minute parent sessions, they will have our kids too busy to spend any more time with us, and it will be time to move on.</p>
<p>Hahaā¦One of the few things I remember from President Brodheadās speech, at my Dās convocation, was him kindly telling parents that it was time for us to go! </p>
<p>What Iāve learned, after taking/sending two children to college, is that itās harder on us than on them. So parents, please donāt let your children see you cry and they will be fine.</p>
<p>I am reading about the freshman move in week (or whatever it is called) and about the summer reading for the class of 2017. I love the fact that Duke will mail each freshman a book and that they get to meet and talk with the author . This whole freshman orientation week just sounds awesome!
This yearās book is āLet the Great World Spinā by Colum McCann. I know nothing about it but looks interesting.
Last year they met Ann Patchett and read her āState of Wonderā - I LOVE this book and recommend it to anyone. I think if Ann Patchett would have been this yearās invited author I would have sneeked in somehow to the auditorium to listen to her ;)</p>
<p>ETA - Just read my previous post and it looks like I am 4 years ahead already ;)</p>
<p>I was just browsing throught the meal plans and it looks like if you do not eat the meal on any given day it is lost, correct?</p>
<p>IDK Kelowna. Youāre way ahead of me on that one.</p>
<p>OK, I found the answer, I think 
If you do not eat the meal you have $4 you can spend that day (till midnight) at any associated dining place. Not much, but something ;)</p>
<p>Greetings Duke Parents!!!</p>
<p>I am primarily just a lurker on CC, but I wanted to congratulate all parents of the Duke class of 2017. My D is a 2016er from SoCal just finishing up her first year. Duke is truly a special place!!! Itās been an unbelievable first year experience for her and I have no doubt will be the same for all your kids!!</p>
<p>There are so many opportunities and what I am impressed with most is how involved Duke kids are with all things DUKE!! </p>
<p>Go Duke!!!</p>
<p>Hi Cal8876, thanks for stopping by !
As a parent of an older kid, can you give us some tips on what is needed for the dorm rooms? Has your daughter done Focus program maybe?</p>
<p>I think the unused meals are lost at the end of the week but you only get 12 (5 breakfast, 7 dinner or brunch-on weekends). If you skip breakfast on East you can eat breakfast or lunch on West campus that day with the breakfast swipe. Most kids eat breakfast and dinner on east and use food points at West for lunch if they have classes there. They can even use food points for the food trucks or to get food delivered to their dorms from some local restaurants. It does allow for eating off campus now and again. You can always add more food points at any time if they are running low. The students seem to like the flexibility.</p>
<p>Us newbies could use all the advice available - thanks for dropping Cal8876.</p>
<p>So, the talk of meal plans made me feel like I should know something. Sā13 will be on Plan H. Looks like it should be enough, but a little confusing with the mix between meals on East campus and flex point options for West campus meals. But heāll be a Duke student. Heāll figure it out. Also, looks like if it isnāt enough we can always add flex points if he wants them.</p>
<p>How does it works when someone is on a full scholarship, do kids still pick up their meal plans or is one assigned to a scholarship?
I know that they will figure it out, plus the freshman plans really only differ by the amounts of points added to them. I just like to know :)</p>
<p>Congrats students and parents! </p>
<p>Used to be into it, not really into it now, but my D grew up in N Cal, did BSAI in 2008, and graduated Duke in 2012. Post or PM with questions.</p>
<p>Thanks Shrinkrap!
Any advice for new Duke parents?
If you can remember all the way to freshman year, how was life on East Campus?</p>
<p>Sent from my SGH-T999 using CC</p>
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<p>HI everyone!!! Iām so excited to have this site to share with other Duke alum parents and Duke newbies!! My son was accepted to Pratt ED and I havenāt been able to share much since way back in December! We went to the most recent Blue Devil Days and I got a lot out of it. His best experience there this weekend was the pre-law session with Dean Wilson. Talk about engaging and entertaining! Some great info, too. We then decided to sit in on his class American Dreams, American Realities because Iād heard good things about it. Not as good as the pre-law session, but at least now I know! We had come from the Engineering session, and I have to say, the āclienteleā was quite different! 
But thatās whatās great about Duke, all the different types of people and students. I left BDD feeling so totally confident with our/my sonās decision to apply early and to not get overly invested in another school. The decisions kids have to make at this time of year are so hard!! </p>
<p>I actually came on CC right now to ask Splashdown94 a question about meal plans, and then I saw this thread! Splashdown started a āask a Duke student questionsā thread a ways back and is very thoughtful and answers every question she can. </p>
<p>So did Brodhead make the same comments at each BDD? Like his closing line of āDonāt be a dope. Choose Dukeā ? Who went to the āParenting from Afarā session with Dr. Gary Glass, the school psychologist? It was really good and I like him a lot. </p>
<p>What are all your kids doing for roommates? Random? Have they met someone from facebook? Dadotwoboys, my son was excited to hear about another boy interested in club tennis! My son did not have a host for these few days and that was a bit of a drag, but he hung around with his host from last time and those kids. I almost donāt want him to get an airconditioned dorm because the lack of AC causes kids to congregate in the common rooms. Someone mentioned a small room. The one my son stayed in had to have the beds lofted and then the space between them was just enough for him to sleep on the floor. Thatās about all the space there was. He doesnāt seem to care at all. Boys are easy in that way. And did someone mention bringing an iron?? What on earth for? Iām not sure my son even knows what an iron isā¦ ;)</p>
<p>Dadotwo - how do you know about meal plans? Plan H? Is this something I should be looking up? I was expecting all that info to come in the Blue Book in early May. </p>
<p>Focus - There is also a 1/2 credit weekly discussion group at dinnertime with the professor. Focus is supposedly a GREAT way to start to know the faculty. Iāve also heard there can be LOTS of reading and the workload is tough. But it can depend on who teaches which classes. Some clusters are more popular than others, like the Genome one and Exploring the Mind. With the engineering and hopes of dual majoring, I donāt think he has room for Focus. I sort of wish he was interested, but Iād actually prefer his freshman first semester to be on the easier side. A lot of reading would be killer for him. He is NOT a reader. How he did so well on the CR portion of the SAT Iāll never knowā¦ (actually, heās good at logic, memorizing, and test taking and used a CC thread to bring up his CR score 60 points on his second try!) </p>
<p>I know this is sooo longā¦ one more question. Whose kids are interested in the pre-orientation programs, like P-WAVES, P-WILD, or P-BUILD? Is there a cost associated with them? Iām hearing not, but there is not much info on the web about them. </p>
<p>Kelowna - the campus is beautiful!! Even the frat houses are beautiful (on the outside at least!)</p>
<p>OKAYā¦ one more thingā¦ what do you all/your kids think about the freshman housing? I mean the being on their own campus? I love it! I thought it was a great plus, and I also learned from 2 freshman who talked about dorms in a housing session, that parties do not happen over there. Iām sure there are some, but they are really strict about it. Oh, there is no $ to be saved in a triple. And no extra $ to be paid for a single. </p>
<p>I will force myself to be done for now! Keep talking!!!</p>
<p>Dadotwoboys - how did your son sign up for āa Focus clusterā? I read you have to choose 4 clusters and write 4 essays and then the school chooses. Hopefully you will get your first choice, but it is not a given. And then it is not a given which 2 courses you might get, again, hopefully the first two. I read somewhere (on CC, but donāt know if its true, that recently 120 kids applied to the genome group, and there is only room for 30. They didnāt give me a straight answer on the āfirst come first servedā thing. ED students were allowed to apply as early as Feb 1. Iām guessing that gives them an advantage.</p>
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