<p>Just curious. In the one page handout they gave to those accepted early decsion, it basically says that in the program there will have an emphasis on reading, writing, and discussion, but those in FOCUS will have a tougher first semester than those not. Current Duke students, how true is this and could you comment on what you think about FOCUS.</p>
<p>my focus (modern america) was nicknamed the "slacker focus." yes- a lot of focus programs will require 20 page papers within a month that school begins, but mine definitely didn't. if you pick a focus you like and classes you like within the focus, it won't be a huge problem. yes- it can sometimes be a lot of work, but it's managable. discussion is HEAVILY emphasized, as you won't be in a class larger than 15 students. this means that you need to be prepared to discuss whatever you read for that class, so there isn't too much room to not do all your readings/be prepared. lots of papers... most weren't too long/bad in my experience, though. granted, in focus, you're taking your writing class which provides a lot of students with a lot of work-- focus or not. i definitely had a really chill semester and my roommate who took a killer seminar + chemistry certainly had more stressful work than i did. granted, i figure that based on my interests, my schedule will always be writing and reading intensive. it is this semester, too... and i guess maybe focus did on some levels prepare me for that. finals time was a little on the rough side, i won't lie... i had a killer exam for my non-focus class, but all my focus classes required final PROJECTS which were big term papers that required a lot of additional reading and were around 15 pgs long. one class even had an exam on top of that.</p>
<p>if you're interested in modern america, just let me know.. i can go into depth with my feelings on that program.</p>
<p>My son is an ED admit interested in Focus .. interested in journalism, economics, and chemistry/biology for now. Probably pre-med as well. Right now is thinking about FOCUS and specifically Power of the Mind or Genome Program but wants a 'smooth' (translatation .. wants to make sure he has time to enjoy as well as work) introduction to Duke his freshman year .. concerned about a killer schedule when coupled with freshman pre-med requirements .. he has 5s in Calc AB and BC, a 4 in Chem AP, taking Bio AP and Physics AP now ... any insights regarding these programs or what would be a recommended science/math schedule freshman year ?? .. specific course numbers and rationale would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>i'm a little more unsure about pre-med requirements w/ the AP test score of a 4. most freshmen who are pre-med take Chem 21 their first semester. my roommate took it after having taken AP Chem (but not the exam) so she did really well and just studied about a week in advance for the test. I don't think a 4 would place you into orgo right away-- it might allow you to wait until spring semester to take Chem 22... anyway- quite a few kids in my focus are pre-med and they all took Chem 21 and it was completely managable for them. i think two ultimately decided to drop pre-med, but that's an entirely different story. i can double check with one of those pre-med & focus people about the placements into various levels of chem as a freshman if you'd like. if your son places into orgo... i mean, one girl in my focus (and maybe one boy who never went out and just studied all the time, but that's the type of person he is-- it's not because he was overwhelmed with work or anything) did it, but it will probably be the most difficult of the options. i personally wouldn't couple organic chemistry with a focus. </p>
<p>i don't know too many specifics about the genome revolution focus. i've heard that it is one of the more demanding programs, if that means anything. also, they did get to go on a trip to washington dc. i also think that power of the mind or whatever it's officially called is quite writing intensive.</p>
<p>if you have any other questions, let me know! i can ask my pre-med friend a few questions if you're interested.</p>
<p>writing 20 is a lot of work? i dont like the sound of that :(</p>
<p>it's not that writing 20 is a heavy workload, because some weeks (at least in my class) you'll do pretty much nothing other than minor reading or very short assignments. my first few assignments were a 3 sentence paper, a paragraph paper, and so on. it's just that once you get further along in the semester and you begin to work on your big paper that may involve varying levels of research, you have to do a lot. and it's a little rough (in my opinion) that it's not like writing a term paper for an international relations class where yes, your grammar does get considered in your grade, but the main component of your grade are the theories and facts you describe. that's not the case so much in writing 20: you need to be able to support whatever you write, but there's so much fine tuning that's involved that it's just a little ridiculous at points. they're very into the entire writing process, so you're going to write many drafts and peer edit and write responses on your peer's paper and have private meetings with the professor.</p>
<p>other than that, it's actually a fairly joke-ish class and for most people is a complete waste of time and a really good opportunity to get a high grade.</p>
<p>cool, that makes my first year sound a TAD easier...</p>
<p>I'm going to give the other side of the story - while I do know a lot of people who loved their FOCUS programs, I was perfectly content not taking it. I was able to take an Intensive Turkish class (for 2 credits), a physics seminar, intro to public policy, and a couple of required navy classes (for nrotc), not to mention trumpet lessons and orchestra (for some partial credit). I couldn't see any focus that really interested me - had there been a middle eastern focus (as I believe is in the works), I may have taken that. But don't feel obligated to take FOCUS unless you truly find something that interests you. And I'm in Bassett, the dorm with Genome FOCUS - all I can say is that a lot of people had all-nighters in that program - but they really did enjoy it.</p>
<p>and the writing 20's vary a lot - I'm in Ethical Dilemmas in conservation where I've written a 5-7 page essay, a case study, and I'm working on an op-ed. really not much work. additionally i'm in intro to art history, intensive turkish again, and more navy classes and such. so if you have any questions about those subject matters, let me know.</p>
<p>FOCUS varies in difficulty - and you'll find people who love it, people who hate it, people who wished they'd done it, and people who are glad they didn't. I did Changing Faces of Russia, and there were plenty of nights when I had far less homework than my non-FOCUS friends, and my classes were certainly less intense - except for writing 20, which, while not necessarily a lot of work, was intellectually one of the most intense classes I've ever taken. I only wrote one significant essay for the class, though. </p>
<p>Some of the harder FOCUS programs are: Humanitarian Challenges, Genome, Exploring the Mind, and Power of Ideas, probably. Russia, Modern America, and the Renaissance or something like it were some of the more laid back ones. Russia was generally not that much work on a regular basis - just some readings and some questions to answer - but we did tend to have papers that were somewhat difficult. </p>
<p>The good thing about FOCUS is that you get to know the group pretty well, that it's somewhat closer to a high school environment, and you get to study in depth something that you may not have otherwise looked at. I know some people who have decided their majors based on what they did on FOCUS. The other side of it is that if you do something you find interesting but not related to what you do, that will be all it is - some interesting discussions and information - and it won't really help you complete your major or with what you want to do. That's how it turned out for me - a good set of interesting classes that don't help me at all. That said, I don't regret having taken it.</p>
<p>Anyone interested in the Russia Focus, if you have any specific questions, I can try to answer them =)</p>