^ Go for the Washington Duke Inn. It is basically right on campus and the food is great.
Hotel choice really depends up what you are looking for and your price point. There are any number of Holiday Inn Express, Marriott, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn type of properties within 10-15 minutes. The Washington Duke is convenient for West Campus and a beautiful property, but not as cheap as some other choices, and you will still probably want a car to get around. We have stayed at the Holiday Inn Express on Guess Road and the Durham/Chapel Hill Staybridge Suites, which are both typical corporate properties, but a good deal. Closer to campus, I havenât stayed there, but the Durham Marriott is not too far from East Campus and within walking distance to some great restaurants in Durham. There is a Hilton Garden Inn even closer to East Campus.
There is a Residence Inn right next door to east campus. Prices will range based on whatâs happening on campus.
My son is struggling with his decision as to where he will transfer. He has it narrowed down to Duke and a couple of other schools. He is very interested in Duke, but he knows no one going in and he has heard that as a social guy, joining a frat is important. He has also heard that it is very difficult to get a bid as a sophomore if you donât have decent connections. Does anyone have any thoughts on this or, even better, have a child who transferred in and successfully rushed a frat?
My son is transferring to Duke as a sophomore next year too. He is also nervous but loves everything about the school. Luckily there are 50 transfer students - so he is not alone
@mabissok Let your son know there is a facebook group for 2017 transfers. I spoke to someone in admissions and she said they are hoping for around 35 transfers this year, an increase over previous years. If my son decides to go, Iâm sure he will be meeting your son soon.
He has not been able to find the group. He is however planning on joining the marching band so hopes to make some connections that way. He did find that Facebook group. Good luck making a decision-
I am sure the Marching Band has some social life bonding going onâthey had their own parties and things to do and leadership positions (including acclimating freshmen) each August to do at Vanderbilt.
Vandy son lived with a couple/three of them at different times and was sometimes swept up in their weekend get togethers. Also regardless of Greek life at Duke, Duke also has several non Greek groups that choose to live in the same area. Duke sends a lot of teams on Alternative Spring breaksâŠmy non Greek son at Vandy always enjoyed those weeks. My Duke son went Greek but had many friends who were not affiliated. Keep in mind that you can arrange a foreign study junior year where you often make even more friends. He went to Berlin and is still friendly with those students as an alum.
Thanks for the informative response. I think my son is more nervous about transferring than he was about going to school in the first place.
Hi all! Iâm currently a rising senior at Duke - itâs been a wonderful 3 years, and I canât believe I am almost done. If any of yâall have any questions, feel free to ask them!
Advice for a sophomore transfer hoping to get involved in Greek life?
Hi @mabissok! It is entirely possible to enter rush for fraternities as a sophomore, although significantly less common. Typically it helps if that person had already made a significant number of friends from those fraternities in their freshman year. In this regard, to but it bluntly - your son is at a disadvantage in this respect. That being said, it isnât impossible by any means, and those who truly seek it can probably get it. Selective living groups on the other hand, tend to me more receptive to taking in relatively substantial numbers of sophomores, and even some juniors. So there are options. If your sonâs main goals are in general, to join in a group to have a sense of close friends and community, then he should be ok in that respect! Specifically greek life - that might be difficult, not but not impossible.
Any thoughts on which dorms would be best for a sophomore transfer? Would west campus or central campus be more conducive to meeting people? Seems like most of the frats are on central. Would that be a better location for someone interested in rushing or doesnât it matter?
@mbarri Living in Central Campus as an unaffiliated person without any prior friends (Iâm assuming this is the case because this is a transfer student) is a bad idea, if the ultimate goal is to make new friends. Apartment living by nature is isolated relative to living on West Campus, where dorm rooms are close together and line the entire hall, and where everyone uses the same showers/restrooms/common rooms. You are much closer to events on campus as well, further making it easier to make friends.
Yes, a ton of frats are in Central now. But the nature of the social life in central doesnât mean that you can casually walk in the apartment area of the frats and start socializing. Itâs not quite so simple like that - youâd have to already know friends living there. Paradoxically, you canât - if you havenât had the chance to even meet them. The best way to meet such people is by simply being active in on campus events, making friends with great, interesting, down to earth, people, and being involved with your classmates actively in class. Basically, just being a normal college student, involved with campus life! Through this, if things line up well, you will naturally have friends who are in frats - and that will give you a better chance at rushing and eventually pledging and getting in.
And the beauty of this approach is - if you donât get in a fraternity, your life isnât âoverâ - you will have a sizable amount of wonderful friends on campus who will make your college years fly by too quickly (as it did for me!).
@terminatorp Sounds like good advice. Thanks!
@mabissok My daughter is a rising junior at Duke and a member of DUMB (Duke University Marching Band). She loves DUMB! It will be a fantastic avenue for your son to make new friends before classes start. DUMB is a fun group, not as serious as some large state university bands, although they do put on a good show. He will really relish the basketball games in Cameron.
Thoughts on Keohane 4A. The Shire House? Dorm assigned for this fall.
Advice for few things, daughter is interested in majoring in computer science, she is a pretty good student. But we are Indian and looking for a need based/merit based aid. My questions are as follows:
- How is the computer science placement?
- Does Duke stack merit aid on top of need based aid for top female students with great achievements in math and science?
can someone tell me if i have a good chance of getting in after getting deferred
@terminatorp My daughter is officially a Duke A. B. Scholar and need to make decision really quick. I have read your posts in various threads. I am interested to know more about this program: how does this program help students? I know all the description from Dukeâs website. Is there any more details that you can fill? like how close is this group? I am a newbie here so I cannot PM you, even though I would like to.