Hi! I’m a current junior in high school and applications are right around the corner. Right now, Duke is a top choice for me and I’m heavily considering ED. ED is super scary to me because I can be very indecisive and I’m scared that I’m not making the right choice, but Duke has been on my mind for a very long time, so I think I might just go for it.
Here are some of my concerns that hold me back a little:
- I come from a small private school and I definitely wanted something bigger in college. Is duke big enough where you can meet new people? or are you constantly running into the same people all the time? I just don't want a super small bubble in college like I have in high school
- Is there stuff to do in Durham? When I visited I was pretty underwhelmed by Durham as a city and I'm worried that there wouldn't be much to do off campus. Is it noticeable?
- What is your least favorite thing about Duke?
I’d love to get opinions from duke students to help me figure out if this school is perfect for me or not!
Thanks!
Current Trinity student, rising junior here.
- I would say Duke is sizeable enough where meeting new people is no problem, but compact enough where you will run into quite a few acquaintances while riding the C1 to East Campus or studying in Perkins. Especially as a freshman on East Campus, this compactness is probably more noticeable, living together with the 1700 other freshmen. However, once you move to the "big city" of West Campus, the diversity of student life becomes more noticeable: while walking back to my dorm one afternoon I managed to go through a marathon poetry reading, a fraternity "darty", an acapella showcase, and a student protest, all occupying various niches of West Campus. So I'd say with 6,500 undergraduates, and many more graduate students, you have ample opportunities to meet and befriend people from all walks of life.
- In terms of things to do in Durham, me and my friends don't really have a problem. On some weekends we'll go to the farmer's market there, and on special occasions we'll check out the many restaurants in downtown Durham. As a freshman, I used to really enjoy visiting all the small coffee shops on 9th street to study and hang out with friends. And a lot of students actually volunteer in Durham, especially in the public school system. If Durham doesn't really do it for you, Raleigh is about a thirty minute ride, and you can always check out Chapel Hill using the Robertson Bus (it takes like 10 minutes). The Research Triangle itself is actually a pretty vibrant metropolitan area, so I don't think finding stuff to do is a problem as a Duke student.
- My least favorite thing about Duke. Well in general, I think if you go to any top university in the United States you will encounter an extremely elitist sentiment from the general student body. The New York Times recently did a study comparing the socioeconomic status of students at American universities, and found that student bodies at the twelve "Ivy Plus" universities were especially homogeneous: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/college-mobility/duke-university. So you'll find people on campus wearing their Phillips Andover and Choate-Rosemary sweatshirts and making plans to spend Fall Break in the French Rivera together, which will strike some students here on work-study as just incredulous. But, such elitism should not detract from the fact that Duke is still an incredibly diverse place.
Thank you!! That’s very helpful
ldoc97 said pretty much all that needed to be said for your first question.
As for the second, my life seems to center around food and Durham is great for that–can’t imagine ever getting bored with everywhere to eat nearby. Another thing I love about Durham is the Performing Arts Center; it’s surprisingly hip with the guests it brings in (for my taste).
I personally don’t feel the culture of elitism here (and I come from a lower-middle class family that was on food stamps during my childhood). Least favorite thing is the construction. Wakes me up in the morning and is overall a huge inconvenience.
- Duke is plenty big! You'll be just fine!
- Trust me, I felt the same way initially, but downtown Durham is pretty "hipster" , with tons of quirky people and interesting places. I've been down there a few times, and always had a great time. Personally, I am usually on campus hanging with friends, but on occasion, we all do go down there. Getting bored is never an issue
- I'd be nitpicking here, as I don't think its a big problem - but if I had my way, I'd get rid of Greek Life entirely. But personally, it has never really bothered me much, but I know a few friends who have been affected pretty negatively by it, which is why I feel it is better left out.
Finally, on a sidenote - if you are a bit iffy about Duke, I highly recommend you DONT ED here. Apply EA (Early action, nonbinding) somewhere that you are kind of interested in, and then apply RD to a few more places including Duke. Keep your options open. The friends I know that did ED in Duke were absolutely certain they wanted to come here. A good number of them were sons/daughters of Duke alums.
Note that the ED acceptance rate is more than double the RD rate. Some schools like MIT, Princeton, Harvard, etc state that applying early doesn’t increase your chances. But at Duke it definitely does.
I’d agree there is an advantage statistically in applying early to places like Duke, Dartmouth, Brown, and Cornell, where yield rates are pretty low compared to HYP/MIT/Stanford, hence why schools like Duke like ED to “lock” applicants in, and HYP can do EA, and still not worry about having below a 60% yield rate.
That being said…my previous statement was to make a point that do ED to Duke if you like it - not just because it is ranked top 10 in US News. If you are unsure, I’d still take the admissions hit, and apply RD to many more places just to have a potentially wider range of choices. I personally feel that if someone made the cut (even barely) for ED, then that person will still have a shot during RD at plenty of great places with those stats.