The traditional questions for current Duke students thread

<p>so if i have enough history credits from AP does that mean i don't have to take another history class again?
is there a web site or something that gives the list of the 5 modes of inquiry where are supposed to have?</p>

<p>sry, i got my question answered.</p>

<p>Alot of people hate the T-Reqs at Duke...but really...it's a beautiful thing. I'll never set foot in an lit class ever...my roommate will never set foot in a lab...and you never have to set foot in a history class.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I kind of want to refresh my memory with an intro class, so I can I decline the credit, or do I have to advance to a higher-level class?

[/quote]

For the bio major you have to take Bio 26L even with AP credit, so you'll still have a broad intro class.</p>

<p>So from what i can gather, Writing 20 is definitely required of all freshmen? Is it possible to never take an english course ever again? What if you get 2 AP English credits? (I hate english.)</p>

<p>Also, I know that at some schools (thinking of the College of William & Mary in particular), the schoolwork is very strenuous and all-nighters are the norm, with 25-page papers due every two weeks and the like. Is this the case at Duke?</p>

<p>1) Yes, writing 20 is required for ALL freshmen (including engineers)</p>

<p>2) It is possible to never take an english class at Duke (there are plenty of other ways to fulfill your ALP credits)</p>

<p>3) Any AP credit that you bring with you to Duke do not count toward graduation requirements, so you can't use your english classes to get out of any modes of inquiry or areas of knowledge</p>

<p>4) I have yet to hear anyone I know pull an all-nighter. I know some people who have worked into the wee hours of the morning, took about a 3 hour nap, and then continued working (stupid finals...). But know too that this is a rare event...most people get plenty of sleep.</p>

<p>5) I know that some classes have papers due instead of finals/normal tests, which can reach some enormous lengths (15-20 pages and the like), but the average is usually 7-10 (what I hear from friends, I only had to write a 2 page extra-credit paper during my first semester)</p>

<p>reverberating: it's all about time management from what i've seen. You don't have to get no sleep unless you want to or make poor decisions to put yourself in that position for the most part. There are exceptions though.</p>

<p>reverberating- After Writing 20 (which, I mean, you can take a Writing 20 not related to books/english), no, there are ways to get around english classes. The english classes I've seen have counted for things like ALP credits or CCI credits and stuff, all of which can be obtained with other classes. As for the additional writing credits...trickier but usually you can find some way within your major. I believe I get a W credit for PChem, and I know with the Chem major you can apply to receive a W credit with your independent study. SO there are definitely ways around taking english classes.</p>

<p>Also, seriously the work is only strenuous if you make it strenuous. I was so freaked out about that last year and convinced myself that I failed at life and had to stay up til 5 am every night to be on the same level as everyone else. Unfortunately I finished last year with a sub-3.0 GPA. This semester I stayed incredibly on top of my work, literally slept 8-9 hours EVERY SINGLE NIGHT (not kidding), and ended up with nearly a 4.0 for my semester GPA. And I'd say I definitely had a pretty heavy workload with orgo + classes with a ton of reading and a ton of papers. It literally is just about time management and NOT PROCRASTINATING. If I had some free time I'd be like "OK, I'm going to start my art history paper that's due in 2 weeks." It's just about staying on top of your work.</p>

<p>Thanks, warblersrule and gcards1!
another question...
When/what is convocation? Our info packet didn't say anything about it.</p>

<p>Convocation is generally the day after move-in. There's a nice lunch on the quad after as well.</p>

<p>Convocation is a freshmen class assembly the day after move-in. You get hear a speech from the President of Duke University and probably the dean of admissions and such. It marks the official start of your college career in some ways. </p>

<p>And as someone mentioned, you get lunch on the quad afterwards :)</p>

<p>So is it for students only? or do parents attend as well?</p>

<p>the parents go but from what i remember they were put into page auditorium where they watched a recording of the live address in the chapel</p>

<p>Yup, they also had some people out on the quad watching a video screen this year I think. Parents usually leave right after the convocation lunch.</p>

<p>Judging by the previous posts, none of the current Duke students have done justice to the questions regarding FOCUS and Writing at Duke. I will therefore attempt to enlighten these poor souls as I, myself, am a Focus student.</p>

<p>Focus at Duke is a rich program in that it allows you to take several courses with the same group of students for an extended period of time (For most Focus clusters, this means one semester; for others, an entire year). This group of students not only share your interest, but live in your dorm. You will therefore be able to interact with them greatly outside of class and hopefully begin your college career with already 20 lasting friends. Engineers are just as qualified to join the Focus program as Trinity (or non-engineer students). There is no difference in the selection process nor are there any advantages for either type of student in terms of scheduling.</p>

<p>Now, Writing 20 is not, as many of you have assumed, an English course. It is, granted, called writing, but writing courses at Duke serve a very different purpose to your conventional English course in high school. All the writing courses at taught by Ph.D. scholars, meaning that first of all, you are addressing all your "writing" professors as Drs. Second, the courses are designed so that they teach you about writing research papers, given the assumption that all of you are already fairly skilled in general writing. You are not spending 40k to attend Duke and learning about the basics of grammar and spelling. The writing course will teach you invaluable lessons about writing academically and strengthing the logic of your paper. Be warned, much of the work is based on research, and that's why we hear rumors about the large amount of work. Plan your time wisely.</p>

<p>Last but not least, writing 20 is incorporated into the Focus program so you will be taking writing the first semester of your freshman year at Duke if you are enrolled in Focus. Focus is fun, so don't be afraid to let your passion take over.</p>

<p>No doubt FOCUS is enriching and helps with adjusting to college and building a social and academic support network and all that, but FOCUS also does take up 3 credits of the first semester/year (last I checked) which could have been spent on doing some reqs. <em>shrugs</em> Sometimes people who do not have lots of AP credits want to have room later on for other things or study abroad and having to take a summer session or overload to do your reqs your junior or senior year instead of a semester/summer in ________ (insert country) might not be so appealing. But if making a smooth transition to college is important, then FOCUS sounds like a pretty good idea.</p>

<p>Edit: this is spoken from an engineer's POV</p>

<p>are there tutors to help and are they free? (i'm not the brightest in physics...)</p>

<p>Yeah, there are free tutors through the Peer Tutor Program at the Academic Resource Center. </p>

<p>Check out the website:</p>

<p><a href="http://aaswebsv.aas.duke.edu/skills/PTPwebsite/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://aaswebsv.aas.duke.edu/skills/PTPwebsite/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Edit: tutor not available for all classes, only "selected introductory courses" w/e that entails. Free up to 12 hrs a semester. Blah blah blah <em>fine print</em> </p>

<p>Edit2: Your best bet if that doesn't work is office hours of profs and TAs, your fellow students, upperclassmen(RA, etc). Most of them should be very willing to help.</p>

<p>are the tutors good?</p>

<p>and is there a lot of collaboration in terms of studying and such? In my school we'd always check answers on h/w before we turned it in and such. or is it more "cut-thorat?"</p>

<p>Never really tried a tutor. But I think it depends since they are all peer tutors (aka students), my friend this year is a Japanese tutor and he's a great guy :)</p>

<p>As for collaboration? Yup, I help others with hw all the time and I ask for help all the time too, as for comparing answers...well it's against the honor code and teachers usually frown on that...but, that's not to say it doesn't happen, you can decide what to do. Some teachers even post answers online so that you don't need to compare w/ other ppl (math department). </p>

<p>Regarding cutthroat, not really. Some classes are curved based on average and stuff, but that's mostly the huge intro classes so it shouldn't be impossible to stay on top of stuff, other than that, I really don't feel a lot of competition.</p>