<p>Does anyone know much about the Focus Program at Duke? I'm thinking about signing up for it, but it sounds like a lot of commitment. And it says only 1/5 of the freshmen do it so I'm wondering if it's that great why don't more students sign up for it? Anyways let me know some pros and cons! Thanks!</p>
<p>Well, I’m planning on signing up for it. For me, I think it’s great because you live with the people in your Focus cluster and form close friendships with not only the other students, but also the professors early in your college career. And the classes are small. I think one con is that you take two classes for your Focus first semester, so if it’s not about something you are passionate about, then you may not enjoy it. Maybe a student who has done it may be able to provide more insight. =D</p>
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Duke requires a freshman seminar and Writing 20 of all Trinity freshmen. FOCUS adds one seminar on top of that. Not exactly a huge amount of commitment.</p>
<p>I was in a FOCUS that sadly hasn’t been offered since my freshman year. It was really great and eventually made me switch fields from my original major. The major upside to FOCUS is that you’re working closely with some of the very best professors at Duke; the downside is that you have less flexibility in course selection.</p>
<p>when i was at Duke for BDD, i thought someone mentioned that, if you participate in the FOCUS program, then the freshman seminar you would normally be required to take is covered (you are still required to take a writing 20 course though). can someone tell me whether or not this is true please?</p>
<p>When I was at BDD I seem to remember that members of each Focus group live in a dorm together and cannot be room mates. Therefore, it seems that two people who both want to be in Focus groups cannot be room mates. Is this correct? Is each Focus group put in a separate dorm? Please advise.
Thanks.</p>
<p>Yup, that was the vibe I got at BDD. Live on same floor in same hall, but not with a FOCUS roommate. In a way, I think you get the best of both worlds…tight friendships with FOCUS peers, yet you still get to meet new people on your floor (starting with your roomie).</p>
<p>Can you request a single and still be in focus?</p>
<p>Is each Focus group put in separate dorms?</p>
<p>Each Focus cluster has a separate dorm. You can be in a single and still be in Focus. Your roommate will likely not be in Focus but if you were to request a specific roommate I don’t see why RLHS wouldn’t honor that if you were in the same Focus.
Honestly, the Focus program plays up the residential aspect but I didn’t think it made that much of a difference… you’ll make friends on your hall no matter what. Focus can definitely help you make friends but don’t join the program just because you want to have friends. Focus is OK if you are interested in the topics, but the Focus program knows that p-frosh are worried about making friends and tries to play on this insecurity. Focus isn’t worth it just so you can make friends; trust me, you’ll make friends no matter what.</p>
<p>Would it be best to choose a focus that is unrelated to your prospective major? For example, the modeling in the social science cluster seems interesting to me, but would it be pointless if I wanted to major in econ because I would already be exposed to these topics just by going through the major? How have previous students picked the cluster best for them?</p>
<p>The one thing Focuses are good at is knocking off a ton of T-reqs. If you don’t know already you have to fulfill MOI (modes of inquiry) and AOKs (areas of knowledge). Any Focus you do is going to do a good job of getting these graduation requirements out of the way, so if you take one outside your major it might be helpful at getting rid of grad requirements early. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if the classes sound really interesting to you, consider doing Focus. Don’t convince yourself you’re interested in something just for the sake of doing Focus, it simply isn’t that amazing a program. It’s OK, but not worth doing it just for the sake of doing it.</p>
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<p>That doesn’t seem to be true. There are several people (including me) in my hall who were in FOCUS and had FOCUS classmates as roommates.</p>
<p>do we need to pay extra for doing one of the focus programs ?</p>