<p>ENTP - You’re right, I was just really flabbergasted by some of the things hookem has said in this thread (and in others); the post was more a personal rant than anything to further the purpose of this thread. (Having said that, I still maintain that he needed it.)</p>
<p>A quick word on diversity. I got into two LACs along with Duke, and diversity was the main reason why I picked Duke over my other two choices. I wasn’t disappointed. Just by through hallways and quads, I hear about four other languages besides English every day. Being Singaporean, I guess I help contribute to this diversity in some way, but even beyond racial and cultural lines, Duke is a very diverse place. In my group of friends I have an art major, a biology major, a Russian major, a smattering of various engineering majors, an English major, and I’m pubpol/econ. It makes for interesting study room sessions, and it also makes for interesting Marketplace table conversations. So Duke is to some extent an academic mixed bag…there are definitely the more popular majors but you meet plenty of people who are doing cool combinations of double majors or certificates, Program II and so on, and you pick up interesting little pieces of knowledge from them, be it over dinner or on the bus to West. Because of the various study abroad programs Duke offers, as well as DukeEngage, you also meet lots of students (mostly upperclassmen, since freshman year is typically spent on campus) who have built schools in Belize, studied in Tuscany, etc etc… Academically, there is a really wide range of things to soak in just by being on campus and meeting new people.</p>
<p>I can’t really comment on political diversity - I think it really depends on where you go. Among the friends I have in my pubpol classes, there’s some diversity there… among my other more “miscellaneous” circles of friends (hallmates, for example) I feel like people are fairly liberal. To be honest, I haven’t paid all that much attention to this, so I could be off the mark.</p>