<p>The particular mom has a daughter who is in a sorority, so I think it was related to the sorority scene, although she described it more broadly than that. Approximately 42% of Duke women are in sororities.</p>
<p>nceph - As a current Duke parent I have found events like BDD, Parents' Weekend, Move in/Move out to be disorganized. </p>
<p>You are right - there are back to back events in opposite locations with no transit time allowed. It has happened at every event there I have attended.</p>
<p>As far as advising - it's the luck of the draw. My D has an advisor who knows nothing about academics and has given my D no advice at all or just plain bad advice. Her advisor is very nice, but my D realizes in contast with advisors that her friends have she's clueless.</p>
<p>The administrative staff is also not very supportive and they are scattered in various locations. For instance the Disability office is tucked away near the Duke Police. The office for tutoring and academic help is on East campus. The office to obtain transcripts is not even on campus - it's in an office building off campus with no bus service to the office.</p>
<p>While you are there grab a Duke student newspaper and read what students have to say. There are been some recent articles about lack of housing on West Campus for 2nd year students (a dorm will be undergoing renovation in the fall). Every year when study abroad students return there is little or no space for them on campus. And Duke touts the fact that you are required to live on campus for three years. This was attractive to my D as she wanted a campus experience - but as the campus is so spread out - East, Central and the main campus (West) the students are also spread out.</p>
<p>nceph - as far as sororities and fraternities go Duke has a large percentage due to the fact that there are NO sorority or fraternity houses. If Duke had the traditional Greek scene with residential housing the number of members would be much smaller. That's because membership would be limited due to housing restraints.</p>
<p>My D is in a sorority and to be honest, it's been the best thing for her. She had not met anyone that she really clicked with her first part of freshman year. Once she joined a sorority all of that changed and best of all she received mentoring from the sophomore, junior and senior members of the sorority. She met young women who were majoring in physics, who were members of performing and acapella groups, who were members of ROTC, etc. Her sorority was quite a diverse group of young women.</p>
<p>The worst part of East Campus is that everyone is a freshman and unless one has a sibling they are all clueless together. That's why the sorority made a difference for my D because she got advice and mentoring from the older students. Most of her very good friends from high school couldn't believe she joined a sorority. They told her, "You're not the sorority type." They still tease her about joining a sorority.</p>
<p>Thanks, Westcoastmom. I guess if unorganized events are what Duke does, we won't take it personally! </p>
<p>What year is your D? Is this unhelpful advisor in her major? I think uneven quality of advising is pretty common at many schools, even at those that are reputed to have really good advising. One can draw a dud anywhere. I do think it's helpful to know how much help to expect though. With low expectations, it's less likely that one will be disappointed.</p>
<p>The suggestion to read the newspaper is a good one. We did grab a copy of yesterday's issue, and we've been reading it online as well. </p>
<p>Still three weeks to make a decision . . . . My son went to BDD yesterday with a favorable opinion of Duke. He still has a favorable view of the school, but he says BDD didn't really add anything to his impression or to help him make up his mind.</p>
<p>Our son is not in a fraternity, but he forged firm friendships with several students, male and female, while a freshman. They make of point of getting together regularly now that they are more spread out on West Campus. So, for him, the freshman experience was a good one. He was involved in a coulple ECs and tented for rhe UNC game, and that was another way in which friendships were created.</p>
<p>I also want to mention that, when our son determined that he was not getting what he needed from his first advisor, he asked for and got another.</p>
<p>I thought it was interesting that fraternity membership was a significantly lower percentage than sorority memebership. Something like 19% in fraternities? I'd prefer that my son not join a fraternity, but I plan to leave that up to him, if he decides to attend a school that has them. I would think that at only 19% it would be less likely that he would feel inclined to join because most of his friends were. He's pretty independent, so I don't think it'd be an issue.</p>
<p>That's good to know that one can request a different advisor if one doesn't work out. Of course, sometimes it can be hard to know that one has gotten bum advice until one is in the middle of a miserable semester. </p>
<p>Lots to think about in the coming weeks.</p>
<p>nceph - fraternities have designated housing on West Campus. That means that fraternity members no matter what year they are have the option to live on West Campus. East campus is for freshmen; West campus is supposed to be primarily sophomores and Central campus is juniors and seniors. Students on East and Central have to take a bus to West campus which is the main campus.</p>
<p>So, if your S is in a fraternity he would be able to live on West every year, except freshman year. </p>
<p>Also, what is not mentioned is the non fraternity selective living groups. These are even more selective than fraternities or sororities. And they also have designated space on West campus. This year some selective living groups "deselected" current members in favor of new members!</p>
<p>And as far as staying overnight in a dorm - my D was able to do that during BDD, but it was worthless. Her host had a conflict (a prospective student who was the D of her mother's best friend just showed up at her room and she didn't know how to say she had a prior commitment) so she told my D she couldn't host her and palmed her off on student #2 who was also hosting. Student #2 left my D and the other prospective student in her room and disappeared not reappearing until 2AM. So, the overnight was useless - my D found out a lot about the other prospective student's private school, but didn't get the chance to really ask questions of current students.</p>
<p>And also, please note that the last day of undergrad classes is April 23rd so many students have papers and exams coming up in less than three weeks! That is most likely why it's difficult to find hosts for prospective students.</p>
<p>And here is what the Duke website has on % of Greek membership:</p>
<p>More than 40 percent of Duke women and nearly 30 percent of Duke men participate in one of the 38 recognized chapters here at Duke. In total, around 37 percent of Duke students are Greek affiliated.</p>
<p>Thanks for that additional information. I hadn't realized how the living arrangements sorted out between West and Central campus. </p>
<p>What can you tell me about the non-fraternity selective living groups? Is there some common interest affiliation? If they were mentioned yesterday, I must have missed the explanation.</p>
<p>This is somewhat of an ironic situation, but I believe I will now proceed to answer (to the best of my ability) my own original question now that I am back from Duke Blue Devil Days (BDD). Hopefully this can serve as a basic guide for those going in the future. Also, if anyone else has more tips, please feel free to amend or even contrast some of the things in this post. Thanks!</p>
<p>I believe the best way to go about this is to simply go through my journey chronologically. Keep in mind that this was my first visit to Duke, Durham, and North Carolina altogether so I only have my limited knowledge of this single experience. I am, indeed, an admitted student.</p>
<p>A Few Basics:
- Duke transport: once you get on campus there is a shuttle every 2-5 minutes between East and West campus.
- Weather: it was about 55 and cloudy for us. They said this was unusually bad weather. Thus, Id expect warm and sunny weather, but you can check depending on your day I suppose.
- Safety: I talk a little bit more about his later but I felt very safe on campus. My only precautions would be walking off campus, especially around East campus for dining. I would try to go before dusk and definitely stay in a group.
- Parents: Almost everyone I saw there went with their parents. I would definitely recommend that they go if possible. I elected to stay with my mom in a hotel rather than staying on campus. I dont really feel like I missed out on anything.
- Dress: Completely casual. Most all students were in jeans and a t-shirt. Parents were dressed a little more formally I suppose: slacks and a dress shirt, I suppose. Also, I thought it would be tacky to wear Duke gear so I didnt, but many people did.</p>
<p>Arrival
The beginning of my journey of Duke began upon arrival at the Raleigh/Durham airport. It seemed to be fairly old and run down but a well organized place with a Starbucks and other places to grab a snack before heading to my hotel.</p>
<p>As soon as our plane arrived, I phoned our hotel to come pick us up. We stayed at the Millennium Hotel which was a very nice place, provided unlimited transportation by bus for only $4 a day (including to and from Duke East and West every 30 minutes), and had special rates for guests coming to BDD (I think it was $90/night). I would highly recommend staying there if you are 1) with parents. and 2) not staying on campus. The Millennium bus was there within 15 minutes and took us to the hotel. The bus to and from the airport does cost an unreasonable $30 for each adult, but we paid it anyway.</p>
<p>Other means of transportation to and from the hotel would include calling a taxi or renting a car. The main campus is only about a 20 minute drive from the airport, so it shouldn't cost too much.</p>
<p>First Impressions</p>
<p>I am glad that my mom and I decided to fly in the morning before BDD and get checked into our hotel by around the late afternoon. I would recommend doing this if possible. It allowed us to go to East Campus and get a feel for the place. I would highly recommend going to East Campus the night before BDD if at all possible. At least, I would go to East Campus sometime before going to West.</p>
<p>I say this because East Campus is where you are going to be living as a freshman and most of the programming for BDD is on West campus, so being able to get a feel for the place you are going to be staying next year is probably a good idea. Additionally, during BDD programming, you don't really have a lot of time to wonder around. Finally, (and most importantly), I would recommend going to East campus before seeing West campus because otherwise you might feel like it's not so great of a place. It would be like receiving a brand new car for your birthday and then receiving a sweet new iPhone or something. The iPhone is really cool, but compared to a new car, it doesn't feel that exciting. Enough said.</p>
<p>East Campus</p>
<p>East Campus is located in a better area than West as far as off-campus dining goes. However, the area really is not very nice. There is a short wall that encloses all of East Campus which provides an aesthetic barrier to the outside city, but its overall function is negligible. Point: I truthfully am uncertain of the safety on East Campus. Personally, I had absolutely no issues or concerns, but it would be potentially very easy for unwanted riff-raff to be walking in or around campus. Thus, I would try to go to East before dusk, especially if you go off-campus for dining.</p>
<p>East Campus Dining</p>
<p>If you do decide to stay on campus for dinner, you can go to the Marketplace to get food. This is in the East Campus Union, and I would recommend students eating here at least once as this will be your primary source of food for the next year. It was basically a standard cafeteria with a little coffee shop off to the side. Anyone can go there at anytime so feel free to drop in with parents as well.</p>
<p>I decided to take the advice of one of the posters here and eat at Elmo's which was 1-2 blocks off campus. The food was good and the price was very reasonable. I would recommend Elmo's. I also did see George's Garage nearby and it seemed like a good place as well, although I didn't go in. Also, there is some kind of mall/outlet thing with a Mongolian and an Indian place right down Ninth Street. I ate at the Mongolian place the day of BDD and it was very good as well. I would recommend it, probably over Elmo's. The Indian place, (Dale's, I think it was called), seemed popular as well, particularly among the Duke students.</p>
<p>The First Night</p>
<p>There are basically three things that I learned of to do on your first night:
1. Visit the Nasher Museum in Central Campus.
2. Go to Brightleaf Square: a hub for Duke students and the height of Durham off campus.
3. Go to Duke West/Duke</p>
<p>I would recommend going to Brightleaf to either eat or simply check out. Youll have plenty of time for West campus tomorrow.</p>
<p>Blue Devil Days!</p>
<p>I think for this, Ill just go through the schedule and say what programs I did, what I liked, and what Id recommend you doing. Note: you can download the complete schedule from the BDD website, Im simply trying to give a bit of further insight.</p>
<p>Meet Your Admissions Officer
Although registration starts at 8:00, I decided to take the 8:30 bus over to the Bryan Center. I would recommend this. Theres really nothing to do at this point except talk to other admits (which you can do for the rest of the day.) There is a small breakfast served at this time.</p>
<p>WELCOME
Go to the welcome at 8:50. It was nice, informal, funny, and somewhat informative. The Dean of Undergraduate Admission and the Dean of Undergraduate Education were the two speakers. They were both very good.</p>
<p>Departmental Fair
This was a real quick thing, fairly self-explanatory. There were just a lot of little tables set up with one or two professors from the different fields ready to talk to you about your interests. This went very quick. Youll need about 5 of the 55 minutes allotted.</p>
<p>Financial Aid Advising
After my short stop at the Departmental fair, I decided to walk down to the Financial Aid Office. Although, the people were nice and eager to help, Im not sure theres much they can do for you during BDD. Unless you have a specific question, going to the FinAid office is completely pointless. In order to actually get anything done, including an Aid Appeal, they said that I had to put in a written request (ie. Email or letter.)</p>
<p>I would skip this option.</p>
<p>Mid-Morning Sessions
The Mid-Morning sessions run from 10:45-11:30. This is where you start having to pick and choose what you want to attend. Here, you can either go to the Civic Engagement Session, Arts & Sciences Session, or possible other Pratt sessions depending on the day you go I think.</p>
<p>I chose to go to the Civic Engagement Session which was about the new DukeEngage program. Basically, this was a short informational session about DukeEngage, which as a fully-funded opportunity for all Duke undergrads to do service around the world. As I was extremely interested in the program before BDD, I had already read basically all the information presented in the session, but the Q&A part was nice.</p>
<p>If you are interested in DukeEngage, my recommendation would be for you and your parents to split up at this point. I would have your parent go to the Arts & Sciences or Pratt Session, and you go to the Civic Engagement Session. That way, you can get both things in between your family.</p>
<p>Late Morning
At this point, I went to lunch. There are lots of options for dining, and Duke gives you a map with suggested dining places. I would definitely stay on West Campus for lunch. I ate in the Great Hall, which is in the West Union right next to the Chapel. It was a nice place with sandwiches, sammies, bagels, bagelwiches, coffee, and some other stuff. I liked the Great Hall and would highly recommend eating there. There is dining in the Bryan Center (including a McDonalds and a separate deli thing), but I thought checking out a different aspect of Duke was better than staying in Bryan all day. Note: they give each student a dining card with $9 on it.</p>
<p>Quick story While I was eating in the Great Hall a girl came and sat down next to me. She turned out to be a sophomore transfer from Harvard. She loved Duke and encouraged me to go there over any school in the country (including Harvard) because she felt that Duke truly values their undergraduates and that Duke students are much more sociable and much less cut-throat.</p>
<p>Early Afternoon
After lunch, we walked around West campus for a while and then went to the Chapel for a come-and-go organ recital and then met outside at 1:00 for a campus tour. Truthfully, my guide was dead boring and showed us almost none of Duke.</p>
<p>I would not particularly recommend the tour. Even with a different guide, the route was just really short and quite pointless. They take you to the Rec center or the athletic facilities which you should definitely check out if youre interested. I would just do a self-tour if you feel comfortable or go to another session. Duke Myths and Traditions might be interesting, I dont really know, though.</p>
<p>Then, I would take the bus over to East Campus for the Res Life Open House. The guide takes you to see a room and he is quite informative. I would definitely try to go to this.</p>
<p>Mid-Afternoon
I didnt go to a Mid-Afternoon session. These are basically just the pre-professional sessions. I would probably recommend them if you are interested in Business, Law, or Medicine. However, I took this time to attend a class on East campus. If you havent been to a class at Duke before, I think you should go. The class I attended was Appearance and Reality, a philosophy class. There were about 15-20 students and was very discussion oriented. Although I did have to stay for the full 75 minutes, it was worth it.</p>
<p>If you do choose to go to a class at any time during the day (which I think you should). Simply have your parents go to the session that you are missing. Hopefully they can fill you in afterwards.</p>
<p>Late Afternoon
I didnt make it to any of these sessions either except for the student life fair because of my class. The fair was good, though, and I would definitely recommend going there to check out the clubs and organizations you can get involved in.</p>
<p>On a side note, my mom did attend the Parent Information Panel which consisted of 5 parents of Duke students who fielded questions. She said it was moderately informative but definitely not necessary. In retrospect, I should have sent her to the Focus Program Session because I think it is an interesting program that I know little about.</p>
<p>Wrapping up
The Life fair was basically the end of the programming. After this, we took a little more time to walk around West Campus and we also walked around Duke Gardens. You must go to Duke Gardens They are gorgeous and are right on West Campus.</p>
<p>In conclusion, I found that BDD was a good experience. I, unlike others on this thread, did not find the programming to disorganize at all. However, I did feel like it was very unrestrictive. There wasnt someone telling you where to go or what to do. I could have simply lingered around Duke all day if I had wanted to. The advantage of this is the freedom to choose events, or skip them if you want, and to roam around. One disadvantage, however, that I found of the liberal nature was that I felt somewhat disconnected from Duke and its student body.</p>
<p>The thing about BDD is that they dont really set up specific opportunities for you to really talk to the students at Duke (other than the short student-to-student panel that I missed because of my class). However, to get around this inconvenience, you just cant be shy. You have to connect yourself rather than fall of the map. I talked to several people, including the Harvard transfer student, about Duke and they were all extremely helpful, friendly, and encouraging. Everyone seemed to love Duke. One girl leaned out her window on East campus and shouted down to our Res Life tour group Come to Duke! Its the best decision youll ever make!</p>
<p>Overall, my first visit to Duke was a great one, and I hope to matriculate this fall. If you have any questions that I might be able to answer, feel free to email me at p<em>hp</em><a href="mailto:fan@yahoo.com">fan@yahoo.com</a>. Ill do my best.</p>
<p>Good luck and I hope this filibuster is somewhat useful!</p>
<p>Amazingly written and thoroughly described! This is extremely helpful..i might not even need to go to blue devil days now..</p>
<p>nceph - you have to hunt for information on the selective living groups. It's not something that Duke publicizes in contrast to Greek life. Men have an advantage in the selective living groups as some of them (including all the fraternities) are all male. Ten years ago Duke promised sororities their own space on West when they lost the space they had on East. At one time West was the men's campus and East was a women's only campus. </p>
<p>As you can see from the web pages these selective living groups have "Rush" just like the fraternities and sororities. Greek rush is highly monitored - I don't know about the selective living groups. Here is a page from the Duke website that lists some of the groups:</p>
<p>Residence</a> Life and Housing Services :: :: Communities :: Selective Living Groups</p>
<p>Round Table:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.duke.edu/web/roundtable/%5B/url%5D">http://www.duke.edu/web/roundtable/</a></p>
<p>Brownstone:</p>
<p>Brownstone</a> - Duke University</p>
<p>Maxwell:</p>
<p>Maxwell</a> House</p>
<p>Mirecourt:</p>
<p>[Mirecourt[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Wayne Manor:</p>
<p>[url=<a href="http://www.duke.edu/web/waynemanor/aboutus.html%5DAbout">http://www.duke.edu/web/waynemanor/aboutus.html]About</a> Wayne Manor](<a href="http://www.duke.edu/web/mirecourt/news.htm%5DMirecourt%5B/url">http://www.duke.edu/web/mirecourt/news.htm)</p>
<p>Share:</p>
<p>Thanks so much, Westcoastmom, for taking the time to provide all of that information and to post all of those links. I had no idea I was asking you to do so much work! I don't have time to read all of them now, but it looks like lots of helpful information for me (and more importantly, my son) to process.</p>
<p>nceph - not a problem. The non Greek selective living group options have been rarely discussed in this forum. Earlier this year (right in the middle of "Rush") a current student posted asking when they could apply!</p>
<p>The dates to tour and apply are during the very first month (January) when students start the spring semester. So, if your S is interested in a fraternity or non Greek Selective living group he needs to be prepared to work this into his schedule when he returns for second semester.</p>
<p>This is the time when students are deciding to add/drop or get off a waitlist for a class and buy their textbooks. So, it tends to be a busy time.</p>
<p>Also, if your S likes to sing there are many Acapella groups and there are also other performance based groups.</p>