<p>I hear freshman have to ride a bus to campus everyday? What's the deal with that?</p>
<p>freshman are on campus - on East campus. There is also a West campus and a Central Campus. All three are connected. It's not like they are in separate locations in Durham or anything. But, the freshman campus (East) has its own dining hall, library, dorms, auditorium, gym, etc. . . it's actually awesome because you know that everyone in your dining hall is a freshman, most people at the gym or library are freshmen, etc. . . it makes it a lot easier to make friends and it just helps you be more comfortable. The history, art, women's studies, literature, and music departments are on East, as well as several econ and math classes and recitations. And some foreign language classes. Anyway, there are many classes on West, and so you take the bus (5-10 minute ride) to get there. It's actually not that bad when you compare it to long walks on other campuses. So yeah, I like East campus! It's not a bad system even though it might sound that way at first.</p>
<p>okay cool. I was under the impression that there were just freshman dorms in one area, and that freshman had to take a bus everywhere else.</p>
<p>how long's the walk from east to west? seems like a mile or so when i checked on google earth, but i can't tell for sure if that's a reasonable walking distance. also, is the road pedestrian safe (are there sidewalks, is it lit at night)? i saw what seemed like a huge highway passing right between the two campuses, i guess there's an underpass but still... how about biking?</p>
<p>It's about a mile and it's safe for walking/bicycles.</p>
<p>Walking to West is worth it on weekends if you're pressed for time and you just missed the bus. A leisurely pace will get you there in around 20 minutes. The C2 has taken me as long as 45 minutes from the time I start waiting on East to the time it got to West.</p>
<p>That said, the thing I'm most looking forward to next year is NOT TAKING THE BUSES. GAH.</p>
<p>It also depends on which courses you take. The history and lit departments are on east, as is music, and a lot of P.E., dance, some math, and philosophy courses. Sciences are usually over on science drive on west as is the social science classes for the most part. So quite frankly, ppl. will be taking the buses back and forth to get to classes on either west or east. Also writing classes are on east (since its a freshman course) and foreign language courses are on east and west. Some are also on central.</p>
<p>this might be a really stupid question, but if you have a car, can you just drive over to west campus? as in will there be places for you to park your car? or will you still have to take the bus?</p>
<p>Parking is one of the things that is kind of a disaster at Duke. Usually, you just take a bus when you need to travel around campus and a car when you leave campus.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Usually, you just take a bus when you need to travel around campus and a car when you leave campus.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That is very much true, except for one notable exception...TENTING. I cannot tell you how much the rest of my tent LOVED the 3 people with cars when there were no C-1's running, the C-2's were running every 15 minutes, all 8 of us had just missed the 10:45 bus, and we had to be in K-Ville to make sure we didn't miss a tent check should they have called one at 11 (the official starting time for when 8 people have to be there for the night.)</p>
<p>So, yeah. During tenting, having a car REALLY HELPED-- it saved our butts quite a few times. But other than that, most people who have cars still really just take the bus...</p>
<p>You can park anywhere regardless of permit (more or less) as long as it isn't M-F from 7am-5pm. That means that during they day, you park where your permit designates (red permits are for east campus - freshmen, blue permits are for the blue zone off of west - for upperclass/offcampus students). Since you WILL be ticketed if they find your car where it isn't supposed to be, few people push that limit unless it's close to 5. Therefore, everyone takes buses to class. And again, a 7-10 minute bus ride is a lot shorter than a 20 or more minute walk you'd have on a lot of other campuses.</p>