I’m joining the Duke Class of 2023 for engineering. I am curious about Project Search (I live in a rural area and have limited research opportunities). Can anyone provide information or opinions on the pre-orientation programs? Would it give me an advantage in classes or is it meant more to just connect with Duke before orientation?
In my experience, some of the pre-O programs do have a tendency to get pretty cliquey, and have a “reputation” (https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2017/10/dukes-2017-suspension-of-project-wild-came-after-23-students-were-cited-for-public-nudity) on campus.
Haven’t heard about people having advantages in classes, but I do hear good things about making friends early on.
Personally, I haven’t heard anything bad about pwild. Yeah there was that incident, but I wouldn’t say pwild has a “reputation.” The only people I know that talk about pwild participated in it and they all loved it.