<p>I'm a current Duke freshman, going onto my sophomore year next semester. Even though finals are approaching, the May 1st deadline for high school seniors is coming up, and I remember the difficult decision of choosing schools and deciding where you want to go (I SIRed last minute as well). </p>
<p>To help your decision, I'd love to answer any questions that any of you guys have, and/or give advice. If any other current Duke students wanna help me in answering the questions, feel free.</p>
<p>still deciding whether or not to commit to duke… i know all the positives; please tell me what you haven’t liked about your experience so far. </p>
<p>and insight/recommendations about the focus program. not which one; just in general whether it’s a worthwhile program from a student’s perspective. </p>
<p>I think Duke definitely does have its negatives. But depending on the angle you look at it, some of the positives are negatives, and some of the negatives are positives. One of the common complaints is that Durham isn’t a very vibrant college town, and that it’s not near a big city like NYC, Philly, SF, etc. And for some people, that’s a negative. However, for other people like me, that can definitely be a positive, because I won’t be distracted by the nearby city, and I will be able to focus on my studies for 4 years and get my degree. At the same time, there is a nearby town of decent size, so I could go whenever I wanted to, and get the essentials that I need. See where I am going? So I think in this scenario, you could get all of the facts, and judge for yourself whether or not it is positive or negative. </p>
<p>Some of the students also complain about the required freshman year meal plan, and that the food isn’t that great. While this can be seen as a negative, this can also be a positive, because this forces the students to get to know each other by eating in the dining hall, the marketplace. Also, the food is really healthy, as they try to add as little salt/oils/fats as possible to keep the food with all of its nutrients. So there are definitely pros and cons.</p>
<p>Despite these pros/cons, for me, I’ve had a mostly positive experience.</p>
<p>As for the focus program, I haven’t done it, so I can’t give any personal experiences. However, the people who have done it say it is a great experience. I would say, if you’re truly interested in the focus subject, then go for it and do it. If not, I wouldn’t remember doing focus just so you can be in focus, and boost your resume? / other incentives.</p>
<p>My S has been admitted and plans to major in Math. To my knowledge, Duke Math appears to be on par with the Ivies, being third next to Harvard and MIT based on the Putnam Math Competition (for the stats: over past 21 yrs, Harvard was ranked No 1-13 times and in Top Five -20 times; MIT fetched No 1-3 times same as Duke but attained in Top Five -16 times, only 4 times more than Duke). However, Duke has been a bit less stellar over recent years but still managed to achieve honorable mention teamwise and indviduals consistently.
I guess the achievements are not borne out of luck (happened to have olympiad participants or very smart students for certain years) but more of other positive reasons. Could you elaborate or explain why?
My S’s choice is based primarily on the presumption that he would further his studies into the graduate level and math seems to be the most competitive in whatever discipline he would ultimately opt for.
Thanks.</p>
<p>How is Duke’s Undergraduate Neuroscience program? I know it’s probably pretty darn sweet, but any insights that a prospective freshman for this specific major needs to know beforehand? </p>
<p>Also, what’s the minimum GPA or academic standard/performance I need to maintain this semester to not be rescinded? I’ll probably do fine, but I have not received any information on this.</p>
<p>Regarding the Putnam competition, I know that Duke does very well in this area. I am by no means an expert on this, but I’ll try to give my two cents. I’m also sure that from year-to-year, the department tries to provide an environment, where students who are interested in the Putnam receive adequate training. One of the classes is Math 149S, which is a problem solving class for students interested in taking the Putnam. As for whether or not we do well some years or not, I would likely say this has to do more with the strength of the entering class. Some years, we have students who have taken the IMO, for example, and thus would have the motivation and talent to succeed, whereas other years, there’s probably <= 1 in each class, which would reduce our overall standing on the Putnam. So, to answer your question, I would say the main determinant is the strength of the entering class. Of course, not having done the IMO/USAMO, it is possible to do well on the Putnam, but it would require a lot of time and effort, due to a weaker background, and the time/effort might better be spent on one’s studies.</p>
<p>@djking99:</p>
<p>That’s wonderful, welcome to Duke! The things that I’ve heard about Neuroscience is that it’s really interesting, but that the intro classes can be really hard, since most of the pre-med students are in it, which makes it more difficult because they’re all trying to get into med school. As for recommendations, I would suggest just brushing up on your biology knowledge, to get ready for the class if you plan on taking it first semester.</p>
<p>As for the minimum GPA / academic standard, I would think that the bare minimum is usually 1.0 below your current GPA, for the last semester of senior year. For example, if you currently have a 3.9, then the minimum you should get is at least a 2.9. Of course, you should aim for as high as possible, but I would think that’s the minimum.</p>
<p>I know that Duke is very big on greek life. Are the people who don’t decide to join a frat/sorority somewhat alienated in terms of social life? I know that people say that they find their own little niche but…</p>
<p>Also, I got admitted into Pratt for BME. However I’m not completely sure I want to pursue engineering. How easy is it to switch into Trinity?</p>
<p>I think the work-play balance is very stabilized at Duke. Outside of finals week, most people study throughout the week M-F, and then have fun and do whatever they want, including ECs, over the weekend. In that sense, it’s very possible to keep your GPA up and do a club sport/sorority, but definitely requires time management.</p>
<p>As for semester abroad, most students will work it out with their pre-med advisors, to make sure all the required classes are taken for the major and pre-med requirements. It usually ends up working.</p>
<p>@oncloud9:</p>
<p>There are lots of people who don’t participate in Greek life. As for the statistics, I believe it was 35-40% of women are in sororities, and roughly 30% of men are in frats. That being said, most people aren’t in one. </p>
<p>Switching to Trinity from Pratt is quite easy, you have to fill out a form that states you want to transfer, and declare your major. Switching from Trinity to Pratt is harder though, as they scrutinize your math and science grades to make sure you’re ready for the course workload, as Pratt tends to be much more work than Trinity is.</p>
<p>I definitely wouldn’t worry about being unaffiliated, although it has become somewhat of a cliche, you shouldn’t find it difficult to cultivate a social niche. I’m unaffiliated, and have found a bunch of like minded friends to hangout with. Keep in mind that i’m an international so it could potentially have been more difficult for me to find a social niche. However, I’m happy to report that that wasn’t the case. Also, the whole frat scene is definitely not as pervasive as its made out to be. It is prevalent, but I wouldn’t say that it dominates social interactions on campus.
Living on East campus ensures that freshman interact to a far greater degree than their counterparts at other schools. The experiment to facilitate ‘community building’ definitely paid off.</p>
<p>is there a lot of extra work involved with participating in the focus group? Is it worth it? I’m not afraid of extra work, I would just rather take more classes in my major/double major and not “waste” them in a focus group. however, i have heard that people love the focus groups and they offer a great way to make friends. any advice on participating in general? any advice on particular focus groups?</p>
<p>how much harder do the engineering students work? Do the engineering students still have the opportunity to maintain good grades and have the famous Duke social life?</p>
<p>Well, for me personally I think my SATs, ECs and recommendations worked heavily in my favor. Regarding merit aid, it is almost impossibly difficult to obtain. However, Duke is known to be generous with need based aid. If you don’t qualify for aid that probably means that your parents are able to afford to pay for your education, however, if they are unwilling to do so that is something that the financial aid office doesn’t take into consideration. To the best of my limited knowledge pertaining to this issue, I believe that the FA office makes a clear distinction between unwilling and unable, and this is something you will have to resolve with your parents.</p>
<p>Can you party with all of the frat guys and what not, but not be apart of the frat? Is it possible to be in with the frat parties without being in a fraternity (I dont want to join one)? I heard also from my friend who goes there, that though people dont say it, the school is kinda segrated amongst itself with the old money kids who are apart of the main frats, is this true?</p>
<p>^It’s possible if you’re friends with people in the frat. First semester freshman year, they’re more open to everybody, and then when rush starts and people actually join, it’s a bit of a shift in dynamics. While you can go to section parties and whatnot, they also have mixers with sororities and semis/formals etc. that are only open to the members of the chapter. I’ve heard of a few situations where non-members somehow go to semis, but it’s pretty rare and many members may find it odd. But you can certainly hang out with them as much as you’d like.</p>
<p>You’re asking if there’s segregation between the “old money kids” and the “the main frats”? Typically, people label fraternities as the richer demographic, so I wouldn’t say there’s a segregation at all. Both rich and not as wealthy have the opportunity to join the Greek system, but it certainly skews towards the higher end of the socioeconomic scale, although I know fraternities will work with you and often offer scholarships if you can’t afford the dues. Sororities aren’t as expensive as I understand it. </p>
<p>There may be some other types of segregation at Duke to a certain extent, but I think it’s overblown based on my experiences. I had rich friends and poor friends, Asian, black, and white friends. People are pretty open minded, although there certainly is a subset of individuals who form a tight group with other people like them either in socioeconomic status or race - I mean, if you’re really into yachting and join the sailing club and become close friends with everybody there, probably not going to be much economic diversity in that group…Although I didn’t join it so can’t say that for sure. ;)</p>