<p>is the way duke's social scene is described in this thread true or just totally biased?</p>
<p>Thanks for pointing that out renman. As a prospective student, I'm wondering the same thing you are.</p>
<p>What points in particular do you want us to address? Seems like a rather long thread. Can you post some quotes from it that you were interested in?</p>
<p>OSUforMe's response sums it up very well.</p>
<p>Didn't even see OSUforMe's response or the response after when i posted! Very helpful and makes me happy because up until that thread all I heard (which makes Duke my #1!) was great things about Duke.
Hopefully I'll be in that creative Duke atmosphere next year.</p>
<p>"I will add though, just to plug my own school, that Charlottesville is about 100 times nicer than Durham, the music scene is way better in Charlottesville, and that there are many more nightlife options here at UVA."
Cville probably is better than durham, but is durham that bad?</p>
<p>"Socially, UVA wins. Simply put, the student body gets out more on weekends and there are more social outlets....if you do want to go to parties, there are plenty on grounds and off grounds. There are all kinds of house parties and apartment parties, as well as frat parties and parties in upper class housing. There's also a fairly active bar scene. Duke has a much more restricted party scene, and from what I hear, it's not getting any better."
"dukes social scene is miserable. spend 1 weekend there and you'll realize how bad it is compared to uva's. if walking around outside and sitting on the big frat benches/playing beer pong in a tiny dorm rooms is your idea of fun--its sweet. if not, then thats the best it has to offer. however, unc's social scene is vastly superior, and is only a $10 cab ride away."
Is there any truth to this?</p>
<p>"I said Duke seemed more artsy than UVA. I am used to the normal jeans+tshirt/sundress type attire people wear here, and when i went to duke they were wearing all these weird clothes and i was like uh.... i am glad i do not go here lol. i dunno if it was for a theme party (though, it was during the day) or a sports team/dorm theme, or whatever, but those crazily dressed duke people would be stared at here lol."
what is this person talking about? how is duke artsy? i thought it was preppy?</p>
<p>and last, for someone who likes to drink, is duke ever boring?</p>
<p>All those quotes clearly came from people who have no idea what they are talking about and apparently spent very little time to learn. Alas. </p>
<p>I can't speak about UVA's social scene because I participated in it for exactly one weekend. I wish people who'd done the same here would feel free not to extrapolate.</p>
<p>Seriously check out the Duke'11 facebook group. Tons of questions about social life on campus has been answered by current freshmen.</p>
<p>The one that throws me is the last quote. That's very bizarre. ... Artsy? Duke certainly fits the preppy stereotype as far as I can tell. In fact I often find myself warning my "artsy" friends (I grew up in Berkeley) that Duke might not be the best atmosphere for them.</p>
<p>Maybe I'll start showing them that thread from now on...</p>
<p>can you join the facebook group w/o a duke email address?</p>
<p>Artsy: This just goes to show that you can't reduce a school down to an adjective or two. I would not describe Duke as artsy, but there are people here who would fit that description (whatever that would actually entail). Also there are "preppy" people here, but no way would I classify myself or most of my friends as that.</p>
<p>some people on this board say that they can not be happy or duke or wouldnt fit there. what kind of person would this be?</p>
<p>terminally unhappy people.</p>
<p>I live in NC and, hah this is weird, but though I didn't apply to Duke I do have a good idea of what goes on in Raleigh and Chapel Hill (I'm a prospective UNC student).</p>
<p>The quote that irked me the most was the one ragging on Chapel Hill and Raleigh. Has this person EVER walked around the streets of Chapel Hill? There are posters upon posters upon posters of art and music events all around the city. Despite the rivalry, I've also heard of Duke and Carolina kids going to each other's campus for events. I really don't think you'll find a lack of things to do at Duke.</p>
<p>I do have to say this, and I don't go to Duke so please take my opinion with a grain of salt, that every kid from my school that I know who now attends Duke drinks quite frequently (of the seven kids I know there, six are wild partiers). I get the impression that, though there are things to do at Duke, a lot of the students there do come over to UNC's campus for non-alcoholic activities. That's not to say that UNC doesn't have its fair share of partying, but that was something that turned me off when I visited.</p>
<p>And to say that indie bands don't come through Chapel Hill... I know I already touched on this, but anyone from NC will read that statement and groan! Cat's Cradle is known around the nation by artists. You can find anyone there, too, not just indie rock.</p>
<p>heh.. well I have spent a summer at UVa and made several visits duiring the school year and can say without reservations that UVa has a better social scene. Duke students are very limited in what they can do, both in selecting parties and what they do while they are at parties. The administration seems to have a very tight grip around the social scene on campus, and it can be pretty frustrating sometimes.</p>
<p>I have had many long conversations with my Duke friends about the social scene and the general concensus is that it could be better for us, but it all depends what you are looking for. There is definitely a group at Duke for everyone, whether it be in a fraternity or sorority or just a small group of friends. However because Duke is much smaller overall than UVa there are fewer groups, and therefore can be harder to find your social niche'.</p>
<p>Seven is clearly too small a sample size, though there's no denying we have a pretty sizeable group of partiers. 85% (six out of seven) is clearly not representative, though.</p>
<p>the duke party scene is great, if you don't really know what partying is before going to college. really, it's not that much different from Dartmouth (from my one visit to Dartmouth, it seemed more party-oriented than Duke, but then again it is in the middle of nowhere ), Penn, etc., and certainly can't compare to UVA or UNC. that's not to say you won't have fun at duke, but just don't except state school atmosphere</p>
<p>Yes, I'll be the first to admit that I don't have as clear a picture of Duke as someone who attends there would have. :) I have been exposed to Duke a number of times as an NC resident though and have somewhat of an idea of what goes on there. I'd say that it's probably hard to escape the party scene, but if you'd like to, you're certainly capable of doing so.</p>
<p>Interesting that you brought up Dartmouth, though, elpope, as my brother went there. He said it was very difficult to find anything to do other than go to frat parties, and plenty of his friends echoed those sentiments. It seemed that the atmosphere was very friendly and inclusive, yet, if that's not what you're into it wouldn't be too much fun.</p>
<p>I'm sure I can't help out people who've never seen Duke as much as current Duke students, but I hope I said at least something that helps!</p>
<p>Obviously UVA/StateSchoolX will have a better party scene... but is there a party scene at Duke? Yes.</p>
<p>Are there opportunities for nondrinkers? Yes (though you gotta find em/people who share your decision not to drink)</p>
<p>Now.. the question I have is: Are these social events a) hard to find and b) does the social scene (not only parties) revolve around Greek life?</p>
<p>Like, are there many non-greek events/parties? I'm sure different student organizations hold things and that the sporting events provide a good way to have fun.</p>
<p>I just don't want to be forced into joining a frat (I know that they're all not the stereotypical sort) to have fun at Duke. Oh, and are the frat parties typically open to everybody?</p>
<p>These social scene questions are really tough to answer because quite frankly it's tough just to give one overlaying explanation. Personally, I enjoy my weekends hanging out with friends but not going to large parties or the clubs near campus. Other people like this, and they'll be able to elaborate on that more. I wouldn't say that social events are hard to find. Frat Parties are open to anybody. Quite frankly (generalizing here) frat parties are very popular with freshmen early on before they explore and find other ways of having fun with friends and stuff over the weekend. The social scene diversifies as students get more acclimated to Duke. Different organizations do hold events (hopefully more in the future now with the plaza available and a student push for more venue space available for such events). K-ville is fun the first couple months of spring semester (I especially enjoy personal checks).</p>