<p>Initially, I felt you had already attached to Tufts and did not want to "lobby" for Duke. Boston has its own magic after all.</p>
<p>But...I have a son in the Duke Class of 2009. He did not make up his mind to attend Duke till the last week of April. We are the only people who went to two Blue Devil Days. Duke seemed a bit cold on visits to him. His first Blue Devil Day was frankly a rather negative experience. Somebody who "did not want a prefrosh" finally came for him for an overnight but made it clear he was forced to do it by his frat. He immediately dumped our son and went to a party. My son had to be mature enough to not judge Duke by this one negative experience with a student who was socially lacking. Our son is not all that extroverted, but he decided to ignore this experience and to try his best to give Duke a fair shake. He went to classes on Blue Devil Days and shook hands solo with as many people as possible.</p>
<p>Luckily this was also the day the orchestra did its final concert. My son went to this (alone) as he, like many Duke freshmen, really likes to play but is not a conservatory type player. He wanted to be in an Orchestra purely for the pleasure of playing great music. He observed a great deal of espirit de corp in the Orchestra, and admired the conductor's clear first name basis with the entire group. Each senior wrote a tribute/looking back sort of thing in the program. My son could see himself spending a couple evenings a week happily in this company. </p>
<p>May I also point out that Duke has a splendid and I do mean splendid cultural arts budget and programming year round that has astounded our son.</p>
<p>Also, my son like many Duke students was a passable Varsity athlete. He likes Division One sports. He realized that Duke was going to be special but he had no idea how much he would later love being a Blue Devil. He is about to watch Hopkins and Duke compete in Baltimore in Lacrosse at this very minute..he is there, and is thrilled out of his mind for his friends, three of whom are on the Duke lacrosse team. But he also follows women's volleyball, womens basketball and a few other teams. Duke sports are a great anecdote to intense academics and a great time to be with friends and a great alum connection forever. Consider that.</p>
<p>My son also considered a very elite small LAC in New England because he wanted to know his professors. He has had lunch with his Chem prof (where my son was ...average) because they both love classical music. He has coffee with his language profs. He has warm friendships with his FOCUS profs. He is moving to Europe next year and loves his Duke liasons there. He doesn't know all his profs but frankly..they exceed his expectations and he sings their praises.</p>
<p>Like you, he did not initially have a warm fuzzy experience there but for different reasons. Number one, he expected to be waitlisted and not admitted. Number two, he was realistic and instead, he emotionally attached to the schools he knew would admit him. He gave more to those schools, attended classes at those schools and knew more students at those schools. He was also in the top quartile in the other schools and he knew he was likely remain in the top quartile if admitted to his match or match reach sort of schools. Only two people he knew were ever admitted to Duke and no one from this area got in except every couple to three years. He knew that he would be "average" at Duke. He had to really think about what that meant and about how hard it would be to transition to being in the middle of the Bell Curve. He had to decide how he would redefine "being successful" at Duke.</p>
<p>Since Day One, our son loved and admired his freshman hall mates. East Campus is super family-like and fun and a great bonding year for freshmen. He made more friends than he ever had in high school quickly. He is only average though..in outgoing qualiites. I guess I am saying, Duke is a warm place. You will not be disappointed but will likely be surprised at how thrilling it is to realize your entire class is full of people who are talented with interesting back stories. Durham..well...it is not Boston but it would be your home for four years and you should get out in it and serve in some capacity. </p>
<p>good luck..if you choose Duke based only on readiness for a big challenge and new horizon, our son's experience has been stellar so far. I recommend the school to you</p>