I'm crying for help and I hope I didn't choose Duke...

Colleges & Universities A-Z Duke University
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<p>I thought life would be easy and perfect in Duke but after reading so many posts here, I found that most well-prepared guys just earned a bunch of C's after studying their butts off. </p>

<p>I think I might be better off should I have enrolled in Penn or Brown or any other schools that admitted me.</p>

<p>To make things worse, I have already enrolled in the FOCUS program and the following is my schedule:</p>

<p>Course 1.
FOCUS 99FCS - SPECIAL TOPICS IN FOCUS
Topic: VISIONS OF FREEDOM (Prof. De Marchi,Scott)</p>

<p>Course 2:
POLSCI 85FFCS - NATURE OF FREEDOM
De Marchi,Scott</p>

<p>Course 3:
SOCIOL 99GFCS - FREEDOM/US CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
Tobin,William A</p>

<p>The instructor for SOCIOL 99GFCS is William A Tobin and the other two courses will be taught by Prof. Scott De Marchi.</p>

<p>Anyone in Duke can shed some light on the difficulty of the three courses I listed above? </p>

<p>And what about these two professors ( De Marchi,Scott & Tobin,William A)?
I heard some really negative reviews about Scott De Marchi? Are they true?</p>

<p>Finally, I am considering to withdraw from the FOCUS program and enroll some really "easy A's" courses.</p>

<p>My real interests are econ and chemistry. But the Econ intro course, (Econ 51, Econ 55) are ridiculous and Lori Lenchman was considered some sort of as a devil by her former students. I love math but I have seen people who worked their butts off and just get a C in Math? I heard people complaining that the Chem labs are useless, boring and the tests are bitter?</p>

<p>I am a pre-med or potential econ major but seems econ, math and sciences courses in Duke are ridiculous. I cannot afford the chance to hurt my GPA. My current plan is to stay safe during my first year by enrolling in effortless A's courses (like ocean or earth or psy) and seek transfer in the second year. Is it gonna work? I mean staying safe during first year by choosing easy courses and transfer later?</p>

<p>Any advices and opinions are appreciated and your thoughts really matter!</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>you want to transfer because you think that duke is going to be too tough? for christ’s sake, you are PREMED!!! let’s hope your life is going to be tough</p>

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<p>I’m surprised you were admitted to Duke with the level of immaturity and superficiality that is evident in your thread.</p>

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<p>1) lori leachman is awesome.
2) prof tobin was the focus director (he ran the thurs night dinners/discussions) of my cluster back in the day and he is honestly like the sweetest, nicest man ever. so we didn’t have real work and therefore i don’t know what he’s like in terms of the amount and difficulty of work assigned, but knowing him well, i can safely say that he’s very supportive and i doubt it’s going to be particularly back breaking (and in any case, he’s super interesting and found fun activities for us). i think he’d be a great first semester of college prof.
3) as a duke alum i am absolutely disgusted you are already seeking to transfer before setting foot on campus. you don’t know what i’d give to go back to duke. you’re going to have the best time. and it’s not the easiest walk in the park, but it’s CERTAINLY not where fun goes to die. dukies work hard and play just as hard (and in many cases – they play harder). relax. have fun. you’ll do well. honestly, focus is a great way to get good grades. i wouldn’t drop it… i think your reasoning is (like in SOOOO many other places in this post) entirely unfounded.</p>

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<p>Taking the path of least resistance to become a rich doctor or investment banker much?</p>

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<p>I wonder if it would help to not reasearch so much? I share some of your concerns, but my D ( who NEVER comes to CC, nor does CC-type things) seems unperturbed…</p>

7

<p>Many kids would gladly trade spots with you. You need to realize how lucky you are</p>

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<p>Shrinkrap: while there are some negative threads, CCers don’t universally bash Duke and Duke professors. </p>

<p>Sure, if you ask about Econ 51, math 103, Orgo, or Pre-med classes, we usually say it’s hard. But then again, these aren’t easy classes begin with and we are just telling the truth. No need to be scared witless. </p>

<p>If you need to take the class, especially with a hard professor, then just bite the bullet and do so. There are plenty of helpful resources. Study hard, do your best, and know that countless Duke students have taken them and came out the other end, many with decent grades. </p>

<p>To the OP: I’m glad you are transferring, I think Duke is exciting enough without your histrionics and BS. Good luck with your GPA wherever you end up.</p>

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<p>"Shrinkrap: while there are some negative threads, CCers don’t universally bash Duke and Duke professors. "</p>

<p>That’s not what I meant. I just wonder if some folks tend to overthink it, overplan it, control it. I know I do.</p>

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<p>Shrinkrap: true, planning something isn’t the same as actually doing something.</p>

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<p>You haven’t even started your freshman year yet!
Give it some time.
Grades aren’t the most important things in the world.
If you study really hard, you will do well.
Most of the people I know (including myself) who got a C or two freshman year have spent a large percentage of time partying/pledging- not completely abandoning work but not embracing it.
Work hard and things won’t be a problem for you.</p>

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<p>Because Penn and Brown are some much easier than Duke . Actually, Brown has no requirements at all so it might be easier. :wink: If you are pre-med and can only survive the pre-med curriculum by taking easy As courses now, there’s no way you are going to survive med school and residency, so you might as well have the rude awakening before you get too deep into it. I’m thinking ■■■■■…but message was a bit too detailed. Just relax - classes are hard, you’ll be fine if you put the work into it. Interests change, s h * t happens, and life goes on. You should be ecstatic about beginning your college experience instead of worried if you can handle it. Going in with that attitude will lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy.</p>

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<p>

No offense to you or really to professor Leachman, because I don’t know her, but just to make it clear, I’ve heard very mixed things about her. People usually love her or hate her. To the OP, every path you take to the top will be hard; that’s why not everybody’s at the top. You should evaluate whether you want to settle for mediocrity or try your hand at doing your best and doing something special. And don’t listen to those people who called you names above, its your choice.</p>

<p>P.S. that is really big font.</p>

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<p>Lori Leachman is the best professor I’ve had at Duke, yet I got the lowest grade I have ever had (C+ if you really want to know). She’s very smart, articulate, knows her stuff front and back, and has aspired me to want to be an econ major. I have learned soooo much from that class… and just because I got a C+ (couple points away from B- but she shows no mercy) doesn’t mean that I’m ‘bad’ at econ… I think the average grade was a 73 or so on her exams? Am I unsatisfied with my grade? sure. I get scared thinking that when employers look at my transcript, they might scratch their heads about my C+ in econ. However, I take everything with a grain of salt and realize that I know so much about econ because of Leachman, who has taught me to really know material like the back of your hand… because she will take off major points for no reason (her tests are very arbitrary…even someone who has a pHD in econ may not get an A in her class because of the way they word things). But from leachman, i read the WSJ every day, am much more interested in business, and start analyzing how economic trends affet my everyday life (ie. oil prices)</p>

<p>first semester I got a 2.97. Not very good considering I was valdectorian of my high school class. However, I got a 3.3 this semester and i average about a 3.2 (rounding up). Is my GPA not that great? yup. But i can honestly tell you I deserve every single f-ing point on that GPA. You might get kids who go to brown and have 4.0s, but did they work their a** off for that? Duke will not let you cheat the system; duke will not let you breeze through their curriculum. duke will make you struggle, make you cry, make you find the most eccentric ways of studying and thinking about your education… but what is that cliche? no pain, no gain.</p>

<p>If you’re really worried about this, then I hope you transfer because if you’re aspiring ot be premed or major in one of the weeder majors here (cough, econ, cough, bme, cough, bio) then you’re not going to make it.</p>

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<p>Lol, please grow up. People are going to get bad grades in college- it’s just a fact. Some are smarter than others, while some work harder than their peers. The fact is, wherever you go, you’re going to be judged with some sort of standard in mind. There’s a reason that some Duke professors grade so harshly- just think about the types of students your competing with. Valedictorians, perfect SAT scorers, ISEF semifinalists can all be found at Duke, so if you think it’s going to be easy, then maybe you should’ve gone to a community college. Furthermore, Penn and Brown aren’t easier at all. From what I’ve heard, Duke is actually one of the select few T10 schools with Easy A courses, or “gut” courses. It’s certainly a very challenging school, but among the elite ones in America, I don’t think you can necessarily distinguish it from a penn or a brown in a difficulty perspective. </p>

<p>p.s. Uchicago is where fun goes to die.</p>