<p>I was just curious since I've heard some say that one of the distinguishing aspects of Duke is its 'southern' vibe, while others have said that it's more of a 'northeastern' school transplanted into the South. What do you think? I'd like to hear comments on both the positives (hospitality, etc) and the negatives (lack of diversity, etc) often associated with the South- to what extent have you found these traits to be characteristic of Duke?</p>
<p>I'm from CA, btw, so phrases like 'typically southern' or 'very northeastern' are a bit mysterious to me :)</p>
<p>That said, Duke is "northern" in its student body composition and diversity--second most represented state is New York, third is Florida. My class is 8% international, 11% African American, 18% Asian, 7% Latino--more minorities than practically all of the Ivies. Despite what some erroneous review books say, I have found that races and classes interact a whole lot here. (Sometimes I feel like there is so little wrong with this place review books have to make things up.) I have friends of so many different ethnicities, races, socioeconomic backgrounds, sexual preferences...and everyone gets along great. I can tell you that coming from a private school in Massachusetts, Duke is a whole lot more integrated in comparison. </p>
<p>Thus Duke combines the best of both worlds. Though people here get dressed up to go out, they wear sweats to class and are very chill in general. I hesitate to apply any stereotype to Duke students because there are so many types of people here--in fact the only thing they all have in common is that they're really interesting and awesome and fun when you get to know them.
<p>As for the "lack of diversity" in the South, I suggest you consult the ranking done by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, which ranks "relative success in attracting, enrolling, and graduating African-American students as well as their progress in bringing black professors to their campuses." Of the top 10 universities, 5 were in the South (6 if you include Georgetown). Duke was ranked #1.</p>
<p>We are also from California and we spent two weeks at Duke this summer (my daughter was doing a Duke summer camp). We felt very comfortable and welcomed. The weather was more humid that it would be at home, but you're not going to be there in July as a college student. We were somewhat mystified by the passion for basketball (the basketball summer camps were at the same time...hundreds of really tall kids). We also visited UNC Chapel Hill, since we were nearby and we really liked that, too.
I felt like there was a warmth and friendliness in the overall atmosphere that reminded me of California. (Not something we have experienced in visits to some northern schools).
My daughters thought the most noticable difference was how polite people were...opening the door for the person after you, saying please and thank you...much more obvious in North Carolina than California.</p>
<p>I grew up in the SF Bay Area, so that's my bias.</p>
<p>1.) Duke is not very Southern compared to its surroundings. Most students move at a very fast pace; Southern accents are very few; Southern food is very rare; etc.</p>
<p>2.) Duke is very Southern compared to San Francisco. </p>
<p>3.) As for diversity, I'll say this. My time in Durham had much more multiracial interaction than I ever got in the Bay Area. Vastly more. Add to that the socioeconomic diversity that California is so badly lacking, the political diversity which is anathema to Californians, and religious diversity (religion? you mean people still believe in God?), and actually Duke was a vastly richer experience for me than Berkeley (the city, not the school) was.</p>
<p>Duke students are, as a whole, very secular -- but there are vibrant, growing religious groups from all spectra.
Duke students are generally very wealthy -- but many aren't, and the divide is less severe than one might expect.
Duke students are, as a whole, very liberal -- but being conservative doens't make you a novelty.</p>
<p>Compared to California, coming to Duke meant I got to see all these things which I'd heard of but never before seen. Vastly richer and more diverse than anything I ever experienced back home.</p>
<p>The one Southern aspect I noticed is the omnipresence of courtesy. And people make eye contact and actually smile. Imagine! Now maybe this isn't "Southeren," exactly; perhaps Duke has some means of deducing "niceness" in the admissions process.</p>
<p>I'm from CA too and here's what I've noticed</p>
<p>there are southern people. there are people who say "y'all". there are people who say "no ma'am, yes sir". but these are people. the majority don't.</p>
<p>otherwise, i don't think you can classify duke as "southern" or "northern" or whatever. it's just duke.</p>
<p>generally you'll find that b/c there are more students from south at duk than ivies, it will be a lot nicer. if u walk down the street and make eye contact with a random person and smile or say hello they will acknowledge u back. few people did this when i went to boston and did the same thing, people are more uptight in NE, however midwesterners are usually friendly. it's all about the nice sunny weather in the south. coming from dallas i'm expected to use please and thank yous and hold open doors for the ladies, this attitude is much more prevalent(on average) than in yankee land</p>
<p>I agree with elpope. I also agree with the fact that people in the south smile, appear corteous and are very polite in general. The problem is that i found a tremendous amount of hypocrisy there as well. Smiling, indicates their politeness, but you do not want to know what they are saying behind your back when you are not looking. I lived there......so I know it well. The smaller the town, the worse it gets....I think the phrase is like "Peyton's Place".</p>
<p>In the northeast, you are not fooled by the smiles. You get the rude treatment right away and you know where you stand with people. No smiles needed nor required....</p>
<p>1.) It's not so much that Duke students are any nicer. Small wonder -- most of us are from non-Southern states! It's that the people around tend to be. Many Duke students end up living in a bubble, and that's a shame, because the surrounding area's really great. At least, I thought so. Just interacting with people -- getting lunch off campus and talking to the people around the bar about football, or chatting up the waitress about where she grew up. Going to a church and meeting people.</p>
<p>2.) It's true that people care more about your life, both the positive and negative aspects. And I think some people may have an adjustment period to this heightened interest, not least because the increased politeness comes with increased expectations for your own behavior as well. People who have more "set" ways of behaving will have higher expectations for you, too.</p>
<p>3.) I never fit in in my hometown, so that's the angle I'm coming from. I grew up there for almost my entire life and left as soon as I could and don't miss it in the slightest, although I do wish my parents would move somewhere else because I miss them. People like me feel very at home in Southern areas like the Triangle and in the Midwest. It's nice to have people smile at you when you come into a restaurant, and if it means they expect you to smile back, tip well, dress nicely, and be social -- well, that's okay with me.</p>
<p>I live in Virginia (Not Northern VA which is very metropolitan/DC suburbs/diverse)
I think is it funny that anyone would worry about Duke being "too southern." Duke is much more mannerly, "greet others courteously in passing" than many northern schools, but it is not the most touchy feely "speaking tradition" school in the south by a long shot...plenty of Duke students can be brusque and be citified-urban-in-a-hurry in manner. There are more Carolinians at Duke by charter quota rules..but there aren't exactly tons of North and South Carolinians. The student body at Duke does NOT represent the local/state culture and is very hard to describe or sum up. And we have an excellent state school just down the road with only 18% out of staters by their NC state charter...so Duke is very very different. Duke is very misunderstood by the public closest to it. It's high ratings in the Journal for Blacks in Higher Education are not well known to the locals. Yes, there will be a significant sector of very smart people with southern accents and real southern roots but the student body is decidedly national and even international in representation. If you come to Duke, prepare to stretch to get to know students from every corner of the USA.
The faculty is also from all over the world.
I am constantly assaulted in my part of the "real south" with the anti-northern sentiments associated with Duke...ie "how does your son like "The University of New Jersey?" and my favorite.."I wouldn't want my son to go to Duke..he might marry a Yankee!" Also misunderstood is the level of affluence...a huge number of worthy people at Duke receive financial aide.<br>
Bluedevilmike, I think you would likely take an interest in the local culture no matter where you went to college! But he is right...local people like "stop and chats." if you want to get to know North Carolina culture, go off campus and strike up conversations with anyone...the pace of life is pretty slow and people love to chat.<br>
Honestly...my son has met simply fantastic kids at Duke, regardless of their economic status before arriving. Most of his classmates are simply very talented at something and he learns a lot from his peers. Last time he called home, he said "70% of what he has learned in college is from his peers," actually.
I'm gonna say that one way Duke is southern..is the number of weeks you can wear shorts and sandals.</p>
<p>He really did say this about 70% of what he learns he picks up from his friends, who all seem to be excessively good at one thing or another...he is abroad but still talking to Dukies on his Mac with video..and he adores his overseas teachers and all new classmates, too.
But Prof. G... for that little 30% of what he has learned from Duke faculty members...his writing teacher was "brilliant, intimidatingly so, demanding, amazing, his FOCUS team faculty was breathtakingly interesting and made Duke feel like family early on, he takes music lessons from a fantastic man who doesn't seem to mind that our son is not exactly on his way to Julliard, the orchestra director is awesome and generally adored by the players, let's see, his Chemistry teacher had lunch with him and is a legend in his department..but they talk classical together, his economic teachers are brilliant (He is not on first name basis with them--those first econ classes are large in size but he takes his hat off to them nevertheless), He had a teacher who is blind last year...and said he was incredibly inspiring and also effective as a teacher, he has taken courses about two Asian cultures and thought his teachers were off the charts interesting, Calculus..well, lets just say thank god for a certain member of his class on a scholarship who is a stone cold mathematical and a kindly tutor respected by all, his foreign language teachers create a sort of second home community for him...my point is I suppose that his Duke teachers are awesome, but even so, he has to sit back and pay his respects to classmates who set the pace and the bar for everyone else.<br>
Look to the peer group for your fit. Embrace the community where your college resides when you get there by all means.</p>