<p>Thank you bluedevil and p<em>hp</em>fan for your answers! </p>
<p>Another quick question: Can you buy Microsoft Office through the Duke Bookstore at a discounted price? Or is it better to get hold of the software before coming to Duke?
Because I know Microsoft lets you buy the software for $60 as long as you have a college email address.</p>
<p>what would you say are Duke’s strongest programs?</p>
<p>mermaid, no need to buy microsoft office. Duke has an agreement with microsoft so you can download it for free from oit if you just log with your net id. see site below (you can also get some other stuff free.)</p>
<p>[OIT</a> at Duke University: OIT Site-Licensed Software](<a href=“http://www.oit.duke.edu/comp-print/software/]OIT”>http://www.oit.duke.edu/comp-print/software/)</p>
<p>Mermaid: Duke has an agreement with Microsoft (that should be renewed next year if nothing unexpected happens) that gives you microsoft windows and office free to download and install on the OIT website:</p>
<p>[OIT</a> at Duke University: OIT Site-Licensed Software](<a href=“http://www.oit.duke.edu/comp-print/software/index.php]OIT”>http://www.oit.duke.edu/comp-print/software/index.php)</p>
<p>Go to browse and order software, login with your netID and password and search for microsoft software. </p>
<p>Duke currently offers Office 2010 pro plus, 2007 enterprise, 2003 pro, Mac 2004, and mac 2008. </p>
<p>I would also highly recommend using Duke’s McAfee Virusscan (free perpetual license). </p>
<p>Also note, with Microsoft’s increasingly draconian corporate/volume activation schemes, it is very possible (read: almost assured) that you’ll need to be on the Duke network to activate Office. The alternative if you are currently off campus but will return (or arrive) in the near future is to VPN before activating. relevant software and instructions on OIT website (personally, I’d wait until you get there to worry about it).</p>
<p>Quick questioon regarding a schedule I made with the Schedulator: would it be possible to travel from the Art Building on East Campus to the Physics Building on West Campus in under 20 minutes on a Tuesday afternoon? Both buidings look to be pretty far from their respective bus stops.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Another chem question - can you take Chem 32L without having taken 31L or 43L (i.e. if you place directly into orgo first semester freshman year)?</p>
<p>Also, as a pre-med, if you do opt to take freshman orgo, how do you ensure that you’re sufficiently prepared for the questions related to inorganic chemistry on the MCAT? Would it be beneficial to take another inorganic chemistry class, and if so, which one(s)?</p>
<p>According to ACES, you can’t. Chem 32 has 31 or 43 as prerequisites and apparently it is enforced during registration. </p>
<p>As for MCAT, your only option would probably be to either study it yourself or take a prep course.</p>
<p>^ Thanks SBR!</p>
<p>I’m not quite sure I understand 100% how housing works with regards to focus. If you’re in a focus (and I assume, from what I’ve heard, that if you’ve applied, chances are you’ll be in one), do you still have to state a preference for a living community? Also, if you decide to choose a roommate ahead of time who is not doing focus, is this roommate essentially restricted to living wherever your focus group lives?</p>
<p>@Biner: Art Building to Physics in 20 minutes would be difficult. You could probably do it although getting on a bus at 4:05 is sometimes a bit of a challenge. I’d avoid it if you can. 20 minutes is enough time but you’re going to be very rushed and odds are you’re going to show up late to your class on West a considerable portion of the time - probably not a big deal if it’s a lecture, but if it’s a seminar or a lab it’d be tough. Most professors though are fairly accommodating if you tell them you might be late every now and again.</p>
<p>Thanks for the insight!</p>
<p>A few questions here again:)
<ol>
<li><p>Is there a kitchen on every floor? And are the bathrooms shared? </p></li>
<li><p>How much extra money do you spend per month? I know that food and almost everything else is covered in the school bill, but what extra things do you guys buy?
Is laundry free or do we need to pay for it? </p></li>
<li><p>How does the FinAid work? Do we simply pay the extra amount they didn’t give us? And how does that figure into once the housing app and food app are all done since everyone has a different account balance? </p></li>
<li><p>I’ve heard you can rent bikes at Duke? Is there a form? Sorry, I can’t find it, and am wondering if it’s online of you need to do it at Duke. </p></li>
<li><p>Because I’ve read the MicroOffice info up there, out of curiousity, do they have software like Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, etc.? I’m assuming this is because Melinda Gates went to Duke? If so, that’s cool!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Rooms without AC get pretty hot and sticky the first couple of weeks in the fall and last few weeks of spring. But common rooms all have AC. </p></li>
<li><p>Not all floors have kitchens. The dorm I lived in (Aycock) only had kitchen on the first floor. All other floors just had a common study room. </p></li>
<li><p>Spending money requirements depend on whether you eat all your meals at the marketplace. If you run out of food points quickly then you’ll need to add more, I’d say conservatively, maybe $50-$100 a month in food points will be needed. Laundry is not free, it’s about $1.50 per load on the washing or drying machine (it may have increased since I was on campus). You use flex accounts (or in some cases quarters) for that. I’d say $50 should probably last you a long time depending on how often you do laundry. </p></li>
<li><p>Financial Aid is somewhat tricky to figure out. But in short, there are three major things you need to pay Duke for: tuition, room, food plan. There are a few other miscellaneous fees like student government fee, student activities fee, etc. But those will all be listed in your bursar’s statement (available on ACES and usually mailed to your house). So in short, subtract how much Duke is giving you from that statement and that’s the amount of money you need to pay. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Note: part of the “budget” that Duke provides include stuff like books, travel, spending money, etc. That stuff is purely discretionary spending on your part and completely up to you as to how you want to go about taking care of those needs. </p>
<ol>
<li>Yup, bikes are available through OSAF at the outpost:</li>
</ol>
<p>[DukeCard</a> Office - Community Bikes - Home](<a href=“http://dukecard.duke.edu/outpost/]DukeCard”>http://dukecard.duke.edu/outpost/)</p>
<ol>
<li>Sorry, Duke does not provide Adobe software free of charge from OIT. You can however, buy site license versions from the computer store for very low cost:</li>
</ol>
<p><a href=“http://www.dukestores.duke.edu/compstore/other_lic.pdf[/url]”>http://www.dukestores.duke.edu/compstore/other_lic.pdf</a></p>
<p>Photoshop Extended is about $160, Acrobat is about $50, Acrobat Extended is about $80.</p>
<p>And no, Duke doesn’t have MS software for cheap because of Melinda Gates. We have the French Family Science Center because of Melinda Gates. Duke has MS software for cheap because of agreement with MS.</p>
<p>I had a question about SBR’s number 4 response- I’m assuming that you mean that the bill that will be mailed to your house will be a lot less than their estimation of the cost of attendance since it only concerns tuition, room and board. Therefore, what do you roughly estimate that bill to be this year? Because the cost of attendance with personal expenses is estimated to be $55,900. So for example, would be the bill mailed to a student’s home be only $52,000? And with that same example, if someone had $50,000 financial aid offered, their bill would be only $2,000? And finally (sorry for all these questions!) is the bill for the year cut in half and billed per semester or only once in august?</p>
<p>BallerDuke14:</p>
<p>I haven’t looked at the budget this year but it’s the sum total of all the fees that you would expect to have to pay to Duke, whatever that is. </p>
<p>As for what your bill would be, FA money is disbursed at different times throughout the year (loans, grants, etc) and in the case of work study, the money isn’t actually given to the bursars. So what will happen is that come august, you’ll get a bill that might not have all your FA reflected. Just sit tight and pay what you expect to pay (accounting for FA). A new updated statement will be sent out every month and if you paid what you calculated you need to (and assuming your arithmetic is right), then it’ll work out by the end of the semester. </p>
<p>Note: when you calculate how much money you need to pay Duke, do not count work study towards the chunk of FA that you subtract out. Work study funds are paid directly to the student as part of his/her wages for a job. </p>
<p>Lastly, yes, Duke bills you by the semester.</p>
<p>I have a kind of basic question about premed.</p>
<p>So I was all set to take orgo next year, but I see that gen chem (31L or 43L) is required for premed. If I start out with orgo, I’d be skipping gen chem altogether. Will I never have to take general chemistry because my AP credit will fullfil my requirement, or do I still have to take gen chem for premed? I’m kind of confused because from what I understand, the AP credit only gives you credit in chem 19.</p>
<p>yup you need a whole year of inorganic chem with lab and biochem at Duke won’t count toward that. If you skip gen chem, then you can probably still come back and take chem 32, that course was designed to be taken after the orgo sequence anyway.</p>
<p>oh okay. So what do you recommend? I was going to study orgo all gungho this summer and take it next year. But I’m not planning on doing a chem major so I was hoping to do as little and as basic chemistry as possible. Would it be better to start with Chem 31 or 43 and then wait till spring to take Orgo? Or do you recommend starting with Orgo and taking chem 32 sophomore year? Is there an advantage to doing the 151-152-32 sequence over the 31/43-151-152 sequence? </p>
<p>Also, if you need a year of inorganic chem, how is it that you need to take one gen chem class (according to the blue book)? Is this because your AP credit gives you credit for one semester?</p>
<p>Either sequence is fine:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>If you are confident that you have the basic gen chem material down and don’t need a refresher course, then take the 151-152-32 sequence, you’ll get a better curve at least for 151. </p></li>
<li><p>If you aren’t sure and haven’t had gen chem for a few years and need a refresher so you aren’t totally lost later during MCAT studying then take the 31/43-151-152. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Lastly, yes AP Chem counts for 1 semester of that year long requirement.</p>
<p>What textbook is used for Calc I/II?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Calculus, Single Variable, 5th edition by Deborah Hughes-Hallett
Here’s the ISBN: 9780470131596</p>
<p>Just as a reference, all course textbooks can be found here: [Duke</a> University Bookstore - Textbooks](<a href=“http://dukebooks.collegestoreonline.com/ePOS?store=320&form=shared3%2Ftextbooks%2Ftext_browse.html&design=320&campus=MAIN]Duke”>http://dukebooks.collegestoreonline.com/ePOS?store=320&form=shared3%2Ftextbooks%2Ftext_browse.html&design=320&campus=MAIN)</p>