<p>I'm currently a student at Duquesne (2012), IR major. If anyone has any general questions about Duquesne I can try to answer them to the best of my abilities. Either reply to this or send me a message if you have any questions :)</p>
<p>Yay, thanks jamesc90! What is IR major? Do you find the campus to feel small or confining? Is there an overwhelmingly “religious” feel to it? Do most students socialize on or off campus? How is the safety/security?</p>
<p>IR is international relations. I have several friends in a wide range of majors if you are looking for a particular one to ask about. I’ve visited Pitt(University of Pittsburgh) several times so I have something to compare it to (which is a very easy 8 minute bus ride away). </p>
<p>I hope this is what you meant by confining, but I’ll try to answer it better if this wasn’t what you were looking for. I don’t feel that the campus is small and confining, but I think that would be more of a personal preference. It is a 10 minute walk from any point to any other point on campus. Southside Works (shopping/movies/etc) is a 30 minute walk (down a bunch of stairs, but you get used to it), Downtown it depends on where you’re going, 5-30 minutes, Station Square is 20-25, and Point State Park is 30 minutes walking. Some of these also have buses for them, but its easier to just walk. They run buses in the evenings to go to the Waterfront (upscale shopping/movies) so if you don’t want to stay on campus you don’t have to. I’m very impressed with their landscapers- they make it feel much less in-the-city. </p>
<p>This is what I tell everyone: Duquesne is as religious as you want it to be. I’m not particularly religious, nor is my roommate, and neither of us go to church and it’s not a big deal at all. My other three best friends, however, go weekly. There are many times for service on Sundays, and the buildings are named Assumption, St. Anne’s, etc., but no one is pushing Catholicism there. There are religious classes offered and non-religious classes offered for like one or two core credits.</p>
<p>On the weekends the campus pretty much dies (people go home/visit friends at other universities), and this is one of the biggest problems I have with Duquesne. There are outdoor excursions (water rafting, etc), plays a short bus ride away, and other things to do on the weekends, you just have to find them (they send you little e-mail notices about some of these). People tend to stay mostly on campus during the week (we have an AWESOME pizza place nearby, and I don’t even like pizza!). Friday nights they show movies that aren’t released on DVD but out of theaters which are always fun. I’ve found the friends you make tend to follow the same patterns as you: if you leave on the weekends, so do your friends, and vice versa.</p>
<p>The security can be almost annoying at times. We have card swipe-ins/desk aides at all times with security camers for every time you enter your dorm. Do NOT lose your card! It is your meals and entry into your dorm. There are security officers on bike patrol almost constantly, and in the event of a campus emergency they ring a (very annoying) bell that you can’t miss. They tested it the second half of last year twice a day. Every day. When this happens (a real emergency) the whole campus locks down and you have to swipe your card (sometimes twice) to enter ANY building. You get either a phone call or text, sometimes both, and an e-mail of what’s going on. Overall, I feel very secure at Duquesne.</p>
<p>A couple of pros/cons I thought you might be interested in.</p>
<p>Pros: Class sizes are typically very small, except for your science/large lecture ones. I knew all of my professors personally, including my biggest class (150 kids). I’ve found an average of 25 to be about right. Duquesne’s brunch on the weekends is AWESOME. Don’t miss it! TONS of places to study! Lawn, quiet places around campus you can find, and the library (3 silent floors) are all great. Honors dorm has pretty good quiet hours too. The new gym (2008) is AMAZING and offers a ton of activities (mostly during the week). The landscaping is beautiful (you always see the landscaping crew every couple of weeks improving this or that). Free laundry too, some have sign-ups though.</p>
<p>Cons: Strict vegetarians/vegans may have a hard time on campus. I don’t eat much meat because it isn’t the best quality, and I make it through ok. The President of the University has made several questionable gestures (like firing the Law School Dean). I’m not too involved in this particular matter, but it’s not a reason to not come to Duquesne. Dinner stops serving at 7pm on weeknights (one place stays open with pizza and stuff), but there is late-night order (from 9ish-12) you can pick up Mon-Thurs. </p>
<p>Sorry this was a very lengthy response. If you have any more questions I am more than happy to answer :)</p>
<p>Great review, James. As far as the weekend atmosphere goes, what percentage of people go home? What do the people who stay on campus do?</p>
<p>It’s hard to say what percentage of students go home because you see graduate students, upperclassmen, and underclassmen daily. Plus, there is a considerable chunk of students that commute (I don’t know the figure for this but I’d guess around max 10%). It seems like a lot more go home, I think, because the graduate students have their own places, the upperclassmen (seniors and some juniors) live on one end of the campus away from the underclassmen in Brottier Hall (apartment style housing) and since most of them use their kitchens, you don’t see them at meal times. Also, since they’re 21+ they go out to bars/parties and such on the weekends which contributes to why it seems like there are so little people left. So that leaves on-campus freshmen, sophomores, and some juniors, minus the commuters. It’s hard to say what people do on the weekend because people are diverse in their tastes. The music students might go to a Music Performance on a Friday or Saturday, some students might be meeting up for a group project for a day, there are the excursions (horseback riding, rock climbing, water rafting, etc) to do on Saturdays (some are with other Pittsburgh colleges), comedians come every so often, some people go to the football or basketball games (although I haven’t gone to any yet), sometimes you’re so exhausted from a difficult week that you might head on over to Jamba Juice (smoothies) and take a towel out onto the lawn with your friends and just relax, people get together for Steelers games and Pens games in their dorms, Duquesne sometimes sets up an inflatable screen with snacks for students to watch the Steelers or Penguins on the lawn, the unreleased movies on Friday, shopping or going out to see a movie, go to the science center (free with Duquesne ID, new as of Spring 09), watch the Tamburitzans (cultural dance group of Duquesne students the travel the world), Ice skating at the PPG arena (20-30 minute walk) in the winter, arts and crafts almost weekly, take the shuttle (runs 7/8pm-am hours) for free to water front/Pitt/Southside, go to Pitt if you like partying, and a lot more. There are TONS of options readily available depending on what you like to do. Usually after balancing work/gym/classes I find my friends and I tend to order out on Saturday nights and all get together and watch movies/TV shows for a relaxing evening. Pitt also has many events to choose from that students will sometimes go over there for. I hope this helped :)</p>
<p>We went to the Duquesnefest last weekend. They did a great job on this event and the weather was beautiful. We were impressed by the people we met and by the individual school presentation. Some worries though:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>No tour was available, therefore no idea whatsoever of the living, dining and academic facilites.</p></li>
<li><p>Campus may be empty on weekends.</p></li>
<li><p>Campus seemed sort of small so it might be easily outgrown.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Any thoughts on these concerns?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>No tour? That seems very surprising to me. We have them walking through (particularly around sping finals time) campus almost daily. My only reasoning for that would be either they have them only on specific days for the time, or they didn’t get enough recruits for the summer to do them (what with students having jobs, etc). There were flyers all around campus even when I was there two weeks ago that said they still needed help, so my guess (and that’s what it is) is that they just couldn’t get enough people there. Another thing is they are repainting many, if not all of the dorms, so that may be a factor. I can discuss the living, dining, and classes if you want, but unfortunately I understand this is not substitute for a tour. </p></li>
<li><p>I think I’ve already discussed this topic in my last post. Security is still present on the weekends, it’s just students aren’t really around campus. I’ve thought a little bit more of this, and people just generally don’t stay on campus because there are events elsewhere, places to go. Also, many of the students here come from wealthier families and have the ability to go out for the weekends to do stuff around Pittsburgh.</p></li>
<li><p>This is a fairly easy question to answer. If you look around Barnes and Noble, several of the buildings that look like houses are actually administrative offices for Duquesne (some are unlabeled). Duquesne is currently buying/has bought some property along that area to remodel and add to the university. Parking is HORRIBLE at Duquesne (but not many places in Pittsburgh have great parking), despite the fact that they added to one of the garages in the past couple of years. Rumor has it that the language building is going to be built up/remodeled into a new dorm in the future too.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I thought they did an excellent job with the big open house event. The presentations were in the student union and the mellon hall of science, both new-ish and very nice facilities. The folks who manned the informational tables were cordial and helpful. We left with a very positive impression overall! I suppose we will return for a tour and some more personal meetings.</p>
<p>Ikf725,</p>
<p>We also visited during an open house and then returned for a tour, meeting with department heads and my D sat in on a class.</p>
<p>Propsmom, did your return visits to Duquesne and Pitt help you daughter to decide? (Mine is also interested in both of these.) What is her area of study? Which school did she choose and why?</p>
<p>hey man, i was wondering what i need to pack… what did you pack that you really didn’t need and what did you not bring that you wish you had? also, how do people dress? i hear that the freshman always stand out b/c the upperclassmen don’t give a crap about dressing up wheras the freshman come in all decked out.</p>
<p>also, what is the spiritan division? a way of ensuring you meet your core requirements on time? thanks for the help man</p>
<p>-I am not familiar with the spiritan division, but found this website if you’re interested in more information about it. [Gussin</a> Spiritan Division - Home](<a href=“http://www.spiritandivision.duq.edu/index.html]Gussin”>http://www.spiritandivision.duq.edu/index.html)</p>
<p>-<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/82285-z-what-bring-college.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/82285-z-what-bring-college.html</a> Great board that has everything you could ever think of bringing.</p>
<p>-On the dressing issue, I find that everyone dresses mostly the same. Most people don’t wear sweatpants to class, but it happens on occasion. If anything, I would think the upperclassmen would dress nicer than the freshmen, particularly because we have graduate students floating around. No suits or dressing up, just normal stuff, I guess. Most girls have a north face jacket and vera bradley purse/bag. Most people don’t dress sloppy or dress up, just jeans and a shirt or sometimes a nicer shirt. The girls tend to dress a little nicer than the guys, however.</p>
<p>-On the issue of what I wish I had brought and what I wish I had left at home… I wish I had brought less snack foods, less reading materials, and less beauty products. I wish I had brought more bottled water, more movies, and more popcorn bowls/bigger bowls. I use at least three a week.</p>
<p>ok haha, that actually helps a lot. do people wear like polo’s or actual long sleeved collared shirts? or just t shirts? b/c im trying to figure out what to get rid of that i have already, and what to exactly to buy so i dont waste money on **** im not comfortable wearing.</p>
<p>thats interesting about the sweats, i heard duquesne is a place where people definitely dress up.</p>
<p>do you think you can give me a list of the things a freshman needs to bring? i know its kindof much, but just in terms of things that are essential: like a microwave, a fridge, and toiletries. thanks a lot man, i really appreciate it if you could find the time to answer, i need some guidance.</p>
<p>sincerely,</p>
<p>Mike</p>
<p>It really varies I think. Some wear polos, some wear t-shirts, some wear collared shirts, some wear sweater-vests, some wear sports themed apparel 24/7. Wear something you’re comfortable wearing because everyone dresses a little different. No one really wears anything ripped or stained or anything, but I’ve seen people wear everything across the board. It evens out to about the same amount of each item I would think. Just be yourself :P</p>
<p>I’ve worn sweats to class twice and that’s because I was going to the gym after. Usually that’s the reason why people wear sweats to class. People walk around in fitness stuff all of the time, because our gym is new and tons of people use it. </p>
<p>Things you will need… let me try to remember what my dorm looked like… keep in mind this is MY list of what I like, not what you like, so you’ll have to decide what to bring. Also, your dorm building affects how much you can bring (ie: Assumption is bigger than towers/st. anne’s/st. martin’s)</p>
<p>-Microwave (1 per room), Fridge (my roommate and I each had one, but you can rent them there or share one), carpet (they sell them to fit your room there, sometimes the room comes with one, sometimes not, check before you buy), TV, PS2, alarm clock, pencils/pens, clothes, dress shoes/athletic shoes/regular comfy shoes/sandals, lamp, posters, bed sheets (2 sets, one comforter), extra blanket, school books, one or two reading books, a couple snacks (you can always get more, don’t bring too many! my biggest mistake), 24 pack of bottled water, toiletries, a couple bath towels, a couple energy drinks, 1 package of cleaning wipes for spills and such, paper towels, laundry detergent/sheets, dry erase board for door, calculator, popcorn bowls, disposable forks/knives/spoons/plates/bowels, frisbee/soccer ball/etc, notebooks and sticky notes, hangers… that’s pretty much all I can think of right now (went through my room in my head). There is campus ministry which has a kitchen, and you can rent an ironing board and vacuum from the front desk. If I think of anything more I’ll edit this post/post more.</p>
<p>haha ok cool thanks so much man. that is realllyy going to help me. id really like to fly in as well, im from philly. i found a fridge and a microwave for 80 dollars total, but if someone else can bring them then i wont bring one… i really wld like my own fridge tohugh as i can see the amount of space being an issue. I got St. anns btw. is that the one with the speperate wings? i think it is… damnit. thats so annoying.</p>
<p>It is, lol, but there are… ways of getting around it, I’ve heard. You share a common area or something like that. I’ve never been in there though, so I’ve only heard other people talking about it.</p>
<p>yeah, i sure hope so. are you allowed to stay out overnight or do you haveto check in to your dorm by a certain time? for instance if i wanted to stay at someones house off campus or just in another dorm, whether it be Martin’s, Anns, or any of the others (towers, vickory, etc)</p>
<p>Do you get to request a particular dorm or living community?</p>
<p>you dont really get to request a dorm, but if your in liberal arts youll be put in Annes… i think. at least thats what the website makes it out to be.</p>