<p>To start, I apologize for this rather lengthy response, but I felt it behooved me to clarify some prevelant misconceptions of Duke.</p>
<p>I have to say I was expecting Duke to be a lot like that review before I visited as a prefrosh, during which time I realized how completely inane and misleading it was. Now that I am here I am actually very angry at how much I think Princeton Review misrepresents the student body at Duke and its potential influence over prospective students. Focusing on like 5% of the student population to write a general review is ridiculous, but it is what Princeton Review does best. Princeton Review also claims that UPenn is more selective than Stanford, and that Duke is a "jock" school where there is little "race/class interaction." Wrong. Wrong. Oops, Wrong Again. Don't always believe what you read. </p>
<p>The vast majority of kids here are not at all like that article implies and the LAST place I would think of when I compare my experience here is high school. Dukies are way too brilliant, diverse, and multi-faceted to be reduced to ANY stereotype, let alone that one. Girls strutting around "in" bags over their anorexic shoulders? The review is almost comical to read as a student here.</p>
<p>Are there students here who went to Exeter, Groton, Andover, Hotchkiss, and St. Andrew's who are really wealthy and social, who have connections and wealth, and who resemble those mentioned by Princeton Review? Of course. Are they unique to Duke? Definitely not--you'll find them at Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, and Brown (heck the Versace heiress goes there...talk about girls' strutting designer bags over anorexic shoulders!). At any elite school you're going to have a lot of kids with a lot of money and connections (e.g. Rudy Giulliani's son and the daughter of the head of the New York Stock Exchange are already members of Duke Class of 2009).</p>
<p>That said, the majority of kids here are down-to-earth and anything but elitist. Kids here are very smart, very accomplished, and very unpretentious. Another thing I read before coming to Duke was a "lack of intellectualism"--what I have found, however, is that, though kids don't usually engage in the kind of quasi-philosophical and pretentious conversations I heard when I was visiting friends at Brown and Harvard (which usually displayed their ignorance rather than intelligence), kids here can and do have extremely interesting and deep conversations about things that actually matter (conversations that keep you up until 4AM). I have grown so much in my first year here.</p>
<p>I have friends here who are of every race, religion, sexual preference, and personality. I have good friends whose parents are CEOs of multi-billion dollar corporations and those whose parents are gym teachers and factory workers. The majority of my friends have never talked about money so I wouldn't know where their parents fall. For those whose financial backgrounds I am aware of, it doesn't make any difference in my or others' interactions with them. I am friends with lacrosse players, musicians, thespians, and academic superstars. I have really good friends in frats and sororities who are the most chill, laid-back people you've talked to. I know kids from Nigeria, Tanzania, London, Alabama, Mumbai, Seattle, and Toronto, among other geographic areas. If this is like high school then my high school must have been very atypical (and a whole lot dumber)!</p>
<p>I won't say that Duke is perfect in terms of different races' interacting but I wouldn't label it as "tension" at all but rather a degree of self-segregation, which you'll find at a lot of schools. Further, if you make a small effort to get to know people of different backgrounds here you will get to know a great number of amazing kids from all sorts of perspectives and places. It angers me when kids complain about things at Duke because it is so easy to change things up if you just take the initiative.</p>
<p>And about that "jock" school label--just because Duke students are extremely supportive of the basketball team and the administration here knows how to balance a stellar academic program with a great athletic one does not mean that the student population here is full of "jocks." In fact, that notion is pretty absurd. I visited Duke as a violinist of 15 years who knew little or nothing about sports expecting my conversations at this school to revolve around ESPN. I couldn't have been more clueless. </p>
<p>Yes, people know about the basketball team (thought I have met people who have never watched a game--heretics!) but when it comes to our football team, or even our top-ranked lacrosse, tennis, soccer, or other teams people are markedly clueless. (I don't know if that is a good thing.) If you expect Wallace Wade stadium to be packed at football games you are in for quite a laugh. In fact, even many of the scholarship athletes here would object to being labeled "jocks," as they have a lot more depth to them than that label conjures. I know baseball players who are theologians and soccer players who are trumpeters--I even know a football player who happens to be somewhat of a genius. That said, I also know plenty of varsity athletes who would fit the not-so-bright "jock" description, but they are usually quite personable and harmless. </p>
<p>What I mean to capture in this very long diatribe (SORRY!) is that Duke has a level of complexity that is not even scratched at by Princeton Review, and I would really hate for kids to not matriculate (or even visit) because they are prejudiced by this mindless junk. Please, as someone who's intelligent enough to gain admittance to Duke, do not form your view of my school based on a paragraph blurb of a company that has no affiliation with or idea of the Duke experience. Talk to students (feel free to ask me questions), visit, and then form your own conclusions. If they're anything like mine were, I'll see you next fall.</p>