<p>ok, so I've recently driven through duke. I know I should've walked around to get the full feel, but we didn't have much time since it was a small stop on a road trip. One thing I did notice though about the campus was that there seemed to be a significant distance between the east and west campuses. As far as I know most freshman start on east and move to west over the next years. But do any current or former duke students have any opinions on the distance, like whether it's a huge problem or not such a big deal?</p>
<p>Duke West campus and East campus are 1.2 miles apart bus stop to bus stop.</p>
<p>Buses run ALL the time during the year. These are Duke buses, not public transportation. It takes you 10 minutes at most to get from one campus to the other (maybe 15 during very busy times). You can also ride a bike if you want, again it is very close.</p>
<p>And yes all freshman live on east campus, you have to live on campus for 3 years before you are allowed to live off.</p>
<p>It’s not really a problem or inconvenience… &actually, I feel that having a campus just to build a class community is a huge plus. </p>
<p>As atl_living said, buses run between East and West constantly.</p>
<p>as a visiting parent, I was sort of cranky about the East West thing on Blue Devil days but later discovered that I was wrong–my son didn’t expect to be admitted to Duke so he had not really researched life there very deeply and we were sort of out of touch with what to expect…my son and his friends LOVED their year on East so much…it is so cozy, and you get a chance to bond as a class and to get your bearings plus the amenities (except for the lack of AC in most rooms which means that everyone has their windows open with fans for a few weeks fall and spring) are super. Each East building has some history and has Espirit de corps…my son was on some silly coed team that year for his building…
Also some majors continue to take courses on East…music, history come to mind. So there are some upperclassmen on East in classrooms daily. </p>
<p>I think the Human Scale of the East campus adds to the sense of community. No very tall concrete towers at Duke with elevators like most universities must build. One of the great things about Duke is the campus…yeah…there is a bit of a stampede for getting on the East buses at certain class time hours of each day…so it can be annoying…but the buses are plentiful at peak hours and run on time…Emory also has a split residential campus and it is not so uncommon in a school that teaches 12 thousand grads and undergrads. Considering it is a major research institution, Duke’s East Campus feels like a year at Amherst or some cozy LAC…we are also big fans of the FOCUS program which also gives you a semester that feels like a liberal arts college. Yet you can get involved with research if you are interested in doing so.</p>
<p>Each dorm on East sports a big comic sized bench and they paint them regularly. Weather at Duke is wonderful and you will see people on East enjoying the outdoors and the grounds late in the evenings in good weather.</p>
<p>If you came by Duke recently, then you may not have gotten a complete impression of the bus situation here during the academic school year. While the bus only runs between East and West every 15 minutes during the summer weekdays (30 on summer weekends), the schedule picks up during the school year when they run every 5 minutes. Basically there will be a bus waiting at each stop everytime a bus leaves.</p>
<p>You’re also right in that it may be a bit of an inconvenience to take a 10 minute bus ride while upper classmen walk to their dorms on West by the time you get to the bus stop. However I think that being collected with the other freshmen on campus for a whole year is a big plus.</p>
<p>Lastly you’ll find that going to parties on West if you live on East is sort of a hassle as well, but people usually work that out fairly quickly.</p>
<p>My daughter has walked between East and West as well.</p>
<p>To put things in perspective, the freshmen actually have it very very good at Duke with regards to transportation. The only thing better would be to live on West main quad or be someone important and park in the lots around Allen. </p>
<p>Anyone else at Duke that you talk to, I can almost guarantee you that they’ll tell you that their situation is probably no better. I routinely hear of professors who has to park in the middle of nowhere and grad students who can’t even get a parking spot on the other side of campus nevermind close to their workplace. In fact, the other day, my friend told me about a new postdoc in his lab who has to park on Broad Street (near whole foods) and take a shuttle (that runs from 8:30 to 5) to get to work. </p>
<p>So really, the freshmen aren’t the only ones who have to do something like this.</p>
<p>Biking from East to West campus is a good idea too. There is a Bus periodically. It should really take no more than 20 minutes for bike or bus (10-15 is the usual). Walking is going to take a while. It’s not really a problem.</p>
<p>so do freshman have to go over to west campus very often?</p>
<p>As a freshman you will go to west campus all the time. Most, if not all of your classes will be on west campus.</p>
<p>East campus has your dorm as well as the freshman dining hall, gym, and library.There are a few classes over there but the classes aren’t strictly for freshmen, they are just general classes for upperclassmen as well.</p>
<p>Most classes are held at west campus and if you are a engineering major, you will go to the engineering part of west campus (which is like one of the furthest buildings from east campus). Labs are also on west campus. Only a few classes are held in east campus.</p>
<p>The departments that hold classes on east are usually Music, History, ROTC, and freshmen seminars like psych or sociology or writing 20. </p>
<p>All science and engineering classes are on West. And the engineering quad isn’t the furthest from East, Sanford, Gross (when it was open), and all of science dr. are further away.</p>
<p>Speaking of Science Drive, I hope all those who are new to Duke next year will take full advantage of the C-3 bus as soon and as often as possible. It only comes every 15 minutes, but its direct route straight from East campus to Wilson/Cameron, Sanford, and Science Drive (Bio Sci, French Sci, CIEMAS) makes it very valuable. It only saves about 2-3 minutes for CIEMAS compared to using the C-1 and walking, but when its raining or really hot it will come in handy. There’s no reason you should take the C-1 for a class in Sanford unless you enjoy the walk.</p>
<p>Long story short: Learn the bus schedules and you’ll be ahead of most of your fellow freshmen (and a few sophomores and juniors, sadly).</p>
<p>^^^
Good to know. If I can get a parking permit (and that’s a BIG if…don’t get me started on parking) it will most likely be for an East lot. Since my department is on science drive this C-3 bus sounds convenient.</p>
<p>:08, :23, :38; :53</p>
<p>Know the times for C3 at east campus.</p>