We just got back from a great visit of Duquesne. My daughter, a hs junior, loved most everything about it - the campus, the location, etc. We met with someone from admissions as well as someone from the PA program, both great meetings. Now, I’d love to hear any feedback from someone who is in or is familiar with the program. How is the workload? What do you think of the program, overall? Are you enjoying Duquesne? Also, if you received a merit scholarship for the undergraduate portion of the program, did you also receive some for the graduate portion cost? We are hoping to get the Tuition Exchange scholarship to help pay for the undergraduate portion but not sure how we/she would pay for the graduate/fifth year. Any help or words of wisdom would be appreciated. Thanks!
Daughter 1 is an honors in the Sophomore year of the PA program, and so far the work is not much more than she had in high school. I don’t know whether her high school prepared her well or if Duquesne has been easy. I have daughter #2 who will be starting in fall for the PA program. We’ve looked at Gannon, St. Francis, Seton Hill (all have a good programs), but Duquesne had the best all round program.
Because the school is smaller than what my girls were looking for, the campus allowing quick access to whatever Pittsburgh has to offer is important. Dislikes include expensive housing, poor merit scholarships, and meal program (example - you can’t share swipes you’ve paid for, you can’t use a swipe more than once every 2 hours, according to D1 the food is bad, and there are very few on campus places to use the meal program). Most students move off campus after sophomore year. That said, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
D1 hasn’t got into the professional phase yet, but we’ve had a niece that graduated in 2014 that got a job at Johns Hopkins neurosurgery department right out of school, so I guess Duquesne has a fairly decent reputation.
I believe a merit scholarship is only good for 4 years, I’m not even sure if it covers the 4th year professional program. Best to contact the health sciences department about their official position.
Thanks so much @jjw6455 for all the info! I read somewhere in here of another student complaining about the abudance of rules at Duquesne - sounds like they are talking about things like the meal plan situation you described.
I emailed someone in financial aid today and they did say that there are no merit scholarships available for the 5th year or any summer sessions, unfortunately. But she said that tuition exchange, if we were lucky enough to get it, would cover the first four years (no summers). That makes me think they might do the same with any merit scholarship…?
Does your daughter go off campus and into Pittsburgh often? I’ve read that the weekends are pretty quiet and boring for freshmen. I was hoping to hear that the students got out and took advantage of being in the center of a cool city.
She goes off campus a couple times a week, usually to South Side Flats which as it sounds is the area to the South of Duquesne with most of the night life. The bars are 21 and over, but there are also restaurants and stores to go to. There is a bus that circles through a number of the off campus areas (including university of Pitt I believe) and runs 'till around 3AM on weekends. D1 will be living off campus next year near South Side, and there is a shuttle bus that goes to Duquesne school days until 10PM. There is a reasonable Greek life on campus and the involvement in that keeps students busy as well. Like any area you need to be somewhat careful off campus, but my son goes to Ohio State and I think Pittsburgh is safer than Columbus.
The school is very conservative and there are a number of rules with respect to visitors in the dorm (male or female) that don’t meet with many students idea of college life. There is a new president starting in June and time will tell if he is as conservative as the previous president (google libertine duquesne). Note also that the health sciences college dean Frazer is leaving this year and a the search for a new dean hasn’t found one yet. Hopefully the new dean will be as successful and well liked as Frazer.
I read the article on the outgoing president’s remarks and wow, that’s conservative. I don’t know why I am surprised, it is a Catholic university… it’s just so different from my college experience at a public university. The administration was much less interested in our personal lives. I’ll keep my eye on the Duquesne news this summer to see any updates on the new president and the health dean. Thanks again for the helpful info.
I heard the President Elect speak recently and he is very well liked and respected. He was the former Duquesne Law School Dean. I think he will be as progressive as one can be at a Catholic institution. For all the the “rules” at DU, I can assure you, there is a huge party life, on and off campus and if you are a serious student and like quiet, you will want to move off campus so that you can study and focus! My D’s friend is in the PA program and the first two years are fairly easy. It is years 3-5 when it really ramps up, that will be challenging. Keep your study and academic skills sharp! The campus is safe and is close to everything downtown has to offer and you can walk to the T to go to a Pirates game or to Heinz Field or to the theater district. Uber is super accessible and easy to use as well. The shuttle works too. Duquesne is well respected in Pittsburgh and while it may not be as well known nationally, has good health science and business programs and caring faculty. The food is fine. What can you expect from a college dining hall?
Thanks @marybee333! My D is much more on the quiet side than partier, but I don’t feel like she’d be happy at a place that is really restrictive and heavy with the rules. Overall, Duquesne sounds like an awesome place to me - I just loved the location when we visited, and the people and program were great. I have to try and damper my enthusiasm a little bit, though, or I’m afraid I’ll scare my D off 
It was love at first sight for her too, but she isn’t 100% positive that a PA degree is what she’d like to pursue and that’s really the only major we investigated while there. She’s also interested in engineering and computer science. Any insight on either of those?
Son attends as F and only rules he complains about is restricting opposite sex in dorms. He goes off campus for social life, Ubers around city and loves it there. I am also happy with the school, you do very much get the “family” feel to the school, they do care about the students. Can’t speak to CS and Engineering programs.
Health Sciences, Business, Music and Education are terrific at Duquesne University. I am not sure DU is the best for CS and Engineering. CMU and Pitt might be better “fits” in PItsburgh, dependig on concentraion within those fields. If CS and Engineering are what he wants, there are many schools in country with great programs. It all depends on the student’s academic performance and program preferences as well as location and tuition/scholarship.
Hi i’m currently a senior in high school. I will be starting college in the summer of 2017. I have received acceptance into several direct entry/accelerated PA programs (where you have your graduate seat in the program is reserved for you after completing undergraduate). Right now i’m stuck between Duquesne Universtiy’s program, and Wagner College’s program. Duquesne’s program has a better reputation and ranking than Wagner’s, however Wagner’s program would be more convenient for me, in the sense that it is close to home so I will be able to do my clinical rotations and build connections with hospitals where I may want to work at someday. Do you think it is better to go to a University whose program has a better reputation or one that will give you the opportunity to do rotations in the hospitals/clinics you want to work at?
Thank you.