Duke Questions About Everything

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1

<p>Hi!</p>

<p>I’m seriously considering Duke for early decision, but I do have a couple reservations and questions. If anyone has any insight, that would be greatly appreciated!!!</p>

<li><p>Has anyone participated in the film certificate program? How is it? Was it worthwhile?</p></li>
<li><p>Has anyone participated in the Duke in LA program? Was that worhtwhile? Any comments on it???</p></li>
<li><p>Is the Greek scene overwhelming? I’m not really into partying and probably won’t go greek…would I have a hard time finding people to hang out with or stuff to do? (I’m a girl by the way if that matters)</p></li>
<li><p>Is Durham a college town/city?? I did visit Duke but I didn’t have much time and didn’t get to see much of Durham.</p></li>
<li><p>Is it difficult to get between East and West Campus? Do people hang out on East campus or do most people head to west campus?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Anything is helpful!! Thank you!</p>

2

<ol>
<li><p>Don't know anything about it myself, sorry.</p></li>
<li><p>Again don't know anyone who has done that specific program.</p></li>
<li><p>It's not that overwhelming, especially if you are not the "partying" type. If you are a "partier" you will probably associate the greek system quite a bit but if you aren't into the large scale party scene it isn't that difficult to find stuff to do. Just be open to new stuff. (and initiate stuff with your friends)</p></li>
<li><p>Not really. Durham is a city and Duke is a large part of it but it isn't like Chapel Hill or college station or something. That isn't to say the Durham is bad, it just doesn't revolve around the university.</p></li>
<li><p>It is not difficult at all. People hang out on both East and West. (but East is dry so there are no parties on East)</p></li>
</ol>

3

<ol>
<li>Has anyone participated in the film certificate program? How is it? Was it worthwhile?
No idea</li>
<li>Has anyone participated in the Duke in LA program? Was that worhtwhile? Any comments on it???
No idea</li>
<li>Is the Greek scene overwhelming? I'm not really into partying and probably won't go greek...would I have a hard time finding people to hang out with or stuff to do? (I'm a girl by the way if that matters)
No, can be, but probably more overwhelming than most of its peer schools</li>
<li>Is Durham a college town/city?? I did visit Duke but I didn't have much time and didn't get to see much of Durham.
Def no</li>
<li>Is it difficult to get between East and West Campus? Do people hang out on East campus or do most people head to west campus?
No, depends</li>
</ol>

4

<ol>
<li>dunno</li>
<li>dunno</li>
<li>I'm not sure about the exact numbers, but I think almost 40% of people are Greek, which is quite a bit. There's definitely things to keep non-Greeks busy though.</li>
<li>Nah, not really.</li>
<li>It's usually not a problem. Freshmen will hang out on both East and West, but I don't think many upperclassmen go to East that often (unless they have a specific purpose or want to go into Durham).</li>
</ol>

5

<ol>
<li>Has anyone participated in the film certificate program? How is it? Was it worthwhile?</li>
</ol>

<p>I know a few people who have, and in general they have enjoyed it. I don't know many specifics because I'm not involved, but it seems as though no one really has any input so I'll give my 2c. The classes seem to be pretty cool...basic film/tv production classes to experimental/avant-garde filmmaking to costume/scene design, animation, etc etc. Classes will be small, and the department is small, and there's plenty of opportunities to get involved with things like Cable 13, Movie Making Marathon, yada yada. I've also gotten many emails through the Art History department about documentary filmmaking opportunities within the city of Durham. Duke has also brought a few notable filmmakers here to campus to speak, screen films, and speak to students. I'm on the career center listserv for art/media jobs and get emails all the time about jobs in film, filmmmakers/other people in the industry coming to campus to speak one-on-one or in small groups of students. Although it's not a talked about program here on campus really, you'll be able to find guidance, I believe.</p>

<ol>
<li>Has anyone participated in the Duke in LA program? Was that worhtwhile? Any comments on it???</li>
</ol>

<p>Once again, I just know a few people who did it, and they have had nothing bad to say about it. If you're serious about film, I'd say it something you NEED to be doing, just because LA is obviously the place to get experience, and if you can't GO to USC for ugrad, you might as well spend a semester there, IMHO.</p>

<ol>
<li>Is the Greek scene overwhelming? I'm not really into partying and probably won't go greek...would I have a hard time finding people to hang out with or stuff to do? (I'm a girl by the way if that matters)</li>
</ol>

<p>20% of men, 40% of women. As a girl who is not Greek and who was not involved in the party scene at all freshman year, I will say it was HARDER to find a solid group of friends, but definitely not impossible. It just took a bit longer than most people. You're going to have to be open, basically. I thought I'd never go out to parties and stuff, but at the end of the day I have a great group of friends I LOVE...some of whom are Greek, some aren't...and we'll all go out and have a great time. Of course, for as many nights as we go out, we sit around and eat gallons of ice cream together and watch the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants or High School Musical. Get involved in campus, talk to people, and you'll find your niche regardless of whether you're Greek or not. </p>

<ol>
<li>Is Durham a college town/city?? I did visit Duke but I didn't have much time and didn't get to see much of Durham.</li>
</ol>

<p>There are some interesting places to see, but not really. If you want the college town experience, head over to Chapel Hill, 15 minutes away. It's a fun place to visit, with Franklin Street and stuff. The Robertson Bus will even get you there for free.</p>

<ol>
<li>Is it difficult to get between East and West Campus? Do people hang out on East campus or do most people head to west campus?</li>
</ol>

<p>Not a problem. Parties and things like that happen on West, but yeah the only times as an upperclassman I'm ever on east is for class. Of course, as a freshman alot of programming happens there and you'll spend a lot of time there.</p>

6

<p>Thanks everyone!</p>

<p>Has anyone participated in the Duke Engage program? It sounds like a really cool idea!</p>

7

<p>One other question</p>

<p>Is there anything you (duke students) think is really unique to duke? </p>

<p>If there's already another thread for this just let me know! Thanks!</p>

8

<p>The Duke Engage program is pretty new, but I do know a guy who did it this summer, and he loved it.</p>

<p>I think the most unique part of Duke is the school spirit, especially with regards to sports. Most schools of this academic caliber (except Stanford) don't have teams like our basketball program that the student body can really get behind.</p>

9

<p>Along those same lines I think Duke is unique because it's a place where you receive a world class education with amazing professors, work your butt off, etc etc, BUT you also have this great athletic/social atmosphere as well. You can be a cameron crazy, go to tailgate in a ridiculous costume on saturday mornings, and just have a great time. For me, I chose Duke because it was just the perfect combination of academic/social. I didn't want to be overwhelmed with work and I didn't want to go to a 100% party school, so Duke really just had it all.</p>

10

<p>anyone go out into durham or does most of the social activities happen on campus?</p>

11

<p>it is true that duke has more and better parties than its peer schools. it is also true that atheletics plays a big role in the culture and can be fun. however, i dont know about anyone else, but it seems like every other person i meet is an athelete. duke recruits heavily for many sports. i think it does decrease the intellectual environment at duke.</p>

12

<p>imathriver are you a student at duke?</p>

13

<p>^never mind I guess you are from the message...sorry stupid question</p>

14

<p>But I do have a real question now...
I'm not an athlete by any means, but I really do appreciate sports and I love the school spirit that Duke has. However, I also love being able to debate philosophical topics with my peers...do you think people do this at Duke? Or is the conversation mainly about sports....is that what you meant by "decrease the intellectual environment"?</p>

15

<p>It depends on who your friends are. Most people don't just talk about sports. You'll find that people also don't just talk about their major. We engineers would probably go insane if we did!</p>

<p>We do enjoy talking about Duke sports though. As long as you don't actively avoid it you will become fairly well versed at basketball by the end of your four years here. (I came in with only enough understanding of the game to play "marine corps" basketball with JROTC high school, only rule we followed was get the ball in the basket)</p>

16

<p>Is the competition at Duke really so fierce? I know the students who attend are the top of the top, but I don't want to stay up till 3AM every night (like I do now) and feel intense pressure. </p>

<p>In all other ways I absolutely love this school.</p>

17

<p>isabellaaa: I'd say do what works for you in terms of studying.
Some majors are easier than others too in terms of workload, ;).
It's good that you're working hard now.
I didn't work hard at all in high school (easy public) and I suffered freshman year as a result because I put social life over academics- with a Math 103/Chem151/Econ51 schedule too... </p>

<p>Math 103 wasn't too bad though. I recently declared a Math minor, haha. </p>

<p>Pre-med is mighty competitive for sure! </p>

<p>Everyone I know at Duke seems to have a fairly healthy social life- overloaded or not. So I wouldn't worry about that, if you don't care for the mainstream Greek scene, you don't have to join it. If you want to join, it's really easy to do so, haha!</p>

18

<p>Mondo, I was reading another thread about a roommate problem and you said "Your roommate sounds like a lot of the people I know at Duke (where I attend): very spoiled and self-centered: both traits are brought on by wealth and innate personality." This makes me really nervous. I'm planning on applying to Duke ED and academically it has everything I'm looking for, but I am worried about how I'll fit in socially. I'm a rather outgoing and open person, but if I'm surrounded by selfish and spoiled I don't know if I'd be able to take it!! Do you still think this statement applies or was this just a quick judgement? Are there a lot of down to earth people at Duke??</p>

19

<p>My son is attending and I also met kids in his dorm. While I am sure there are some people there as described, most of the students I met were very nice nd my son says the same thing. I think there are individuals at a lot of schools who are self centered, spoiled etc. I also think that sometimes you can be interpreted to be that waty if you are very focused and a dedicated student. As a parent i would not let a few kids alter your decision on which school is best for you and at the end of the Day that is waht is important. My son loves Duke so far, and is having incredible experiences, great professors and fellow students that are an incredible mix of individuals. As far as difficulty of classes...to get into at top ranked school you have to be competitive, show academic curiosity and appreciate challenges. This is true at all the top ranked schools- but to soem extent I have heard from others there that difficulty can be managed depending on the classes you take.</p>

20

<p>born2write: There are plenty of cool, awesome, down-to-earth people at Duke. I have a great group of friends at Duke who I'm living with and many acquaintances. None of them are spoiled types. The group I was describing consists of only about 5% of the whole student body. If you think Duke is your #1 choice, I would say apply Early Decision. I trust you have researched Duke enough to know that it is a solid fit and that you have visited the campus.
As long as you are outgoing (which you say you are), you will find a group of friends that you get along with, :)
A guarantee! </p>

<p>The people I was talking about are the rich legacies, development admits, and cocky personalities of our school. All private universities have these types of people, since almost all of them come from extremely wealthy families (who can easily afford the 45K a year) and have never developed nice personalities since they always depended on their parents for way too many aspects of their lives.</p>