<p>I visited Duke last spring and fell in love with the campus, the school pride, the academic opportunities and social life. It seemed like the perfect balance of fun/good education and it has been my number 1 along with Stanford since. </p>
<p>However, recently as I've been researching a lot about Duke I've found that a lot of students are discontent with the "campus culture"...saying that Duke has a really cliquey/social climbing atmosphere that is degrading to women. </p>
<p>How true is this culture? If you aren't in a "top tier" greek house will your social life go to die? I want to be around smart, fun students but not be apart of a culture where I'm insecure about my social status all the time. </p>
<p>Please help, I'm trying to figure out whether I should go ED or not!</p>
<p>I love the academics and school spirit at Duke.. and was excited for the social scene but now I'm a little nervous...</p>
<p>Also Students are complaining all the time about the President trying to change the university-to what extent is this true and what exactly is he doing? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>The simple answer is “no,” your social life won’t die of you don’t go greek. Greek life doesn’t dominate Duke and many students on campus don’t even consider them. Duke has too many opportunities for students not interested in greek life to feel included and be able to make friends outside of class. Off the top of my head the many organizations, which I’ve been a member of or have great respect for are:</p>
<p>DUU (Duke University Union)
Sabrosura
Duke University Improv
Pitchforks
Duke Student Government
Duke Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Club</p>
<p>Also, have you heard of select living groups? In addition to the above groups, I strongly urge you to look into them if you’re considering Duke. I’ve also never heard of the campus culture being degrading to women. The women on campus that I know attend Duke all love it and have found it to be a welcoming experience. Obviously you will have your fair share of people who will find Duke to be a less than enjoyable experience but you’ll find that everywhere. Another aspect about Duke is that administration has become much stricter about issues such as sexual assault in light of the recent scandals that have been occurring at other Universities. </p>
<p>Thanks so much for your response! I’m just getting mixed reviews because lots of people claim to love it, yet then there are the outliners like the Rolling stones article a few years back that paint the social scene in a really negative, social-climbing light.</p>
<p>I will definitely look into the organizations you listed. I am actually interested in joining a sorority, I just to understand the social scene and ease some of my concerns before doing ED. Anyways, thanks for the imput</p>
<p>You could always try doing an overnight if you have the time and money to be sure you want to do ED. That’s what I am doing and am greatly looking forward to it. I am also from the west coast.</p>
<p>Hi, I’m a current freshman at Duke and I had the same reservations about applying ED last year. I can certainly say you do not need to be involved with Greek life to have a great social life here. Most parties are open and only about a 1/3rd of the student body is Greek. Definitely apply ED, it is the single best advantage to you.</p>
<p>Hey, I’m a freshman at duke and I had the same fears. But coming here I felt a lot better because as people say, college is what you make of it. I don’t drink or party much at all cause I’m kind of a more quiet person, and I don’t feel left out at all. I have a bunch of good friends who just go to cool places and it’s really fun. Exploring duke chapel, walking around the duke gardens (SOOO PRETTY), exploring old buildings and duke hospital, starbucks, food dates, etc etc. It’s pretty great.</p>
<p>Greek life isn’t the biggest deal for women. You’ll have your friends and if you know guys you’ll be invited to frat and athlete parties, even if you aren’t in a “top tier” sorority but you’re still a fun person.</p>