The traditional questions for current Duke students thread

<p>What are the pros and cons of the focus program? Have you done it? Would you recommend it?</p>

<p>I did FOCUS and got a lot out of it. In fact, my FOCUS helped me decide on that subject as a major. The interaction with professors and the housing component are great for freshmen. All Trinity freshmen are required to take a seminar and Writing 20, so FOCUS only requires one extra seminar.</p>

<p>I did not do a FOCUS, and was happy with my decision. but then again, I was an engineer, didnt have too many credits and wanted to do a lot of academic stuff which wouldnt have left too much time to do FOCUS.</p>

<p>FOCUS is quite intense though, and you should do it only if it is something that really interests you.</p>

<p>Honestly, I did a focus, and if I could go back, I wouldn't do it. My focus was a notoriously easy one (I don;t think it exists anymore) and it was a lot different than I had expected it to be. i loved getting the seminar/writing 20 out of the way, and i loved having my classmates in my dorm with me, but outside of that, eh...</p>

<p>I was just on the FOCUS website and it looks like they aren't having Writing 20 in FOCUS any more. Now FOCUS will only be two of your classes.</p>

<p>This was from an earlier post. "Loveduke" talked about how she now learned time management skills and sleeps 8-9 hours every night.</p>

<p>I have a question for any Duke student though. While I believe Loveduke...I'm just wondering with classes and then the work how do you enjoy all the festivities/fun at Duke? I was accepted to Duke (so happy!!) and I realize how many great EC's/festivities there are on campus. But honestly with school work does one really have time to engage in these activities?</p>

<p>Hi, I am an international student.</p>

<p>I am an atheist and I am rather put off by Duke's "Eruditio et Religio"
The Divinity School, and the mention of ties with the methodist church. </p>

<p>How is the religious atmosphere at Duke?</p>

<p>tryingmybest,you are right. Most people at Duke don't have time to do every single fun activity that is going on. The biggest regret I personally have is not to have enough time to do all this cool exciting stuff. For instance, this weekend I was invited to a total of 23 events(no kidding!) happening on campus.The thing with activities is, most people end up choosing a couple of activities they are really interested in pursuing in college and do those in depth. Of course, everyone ends up having a lot of fun anyway!
I think this would be true of a college experience anywhere, there's always a lot of stuff going on. I believe this a way to train you to think about what your priorities are and how to manage your time.
Most people can usually take 4 classes, a couple of EC's, a job and still find time to party hard on weekend though!</p>

<p>finalround- to answer your question- the religious atmosphere at Duke is pretty secular and liberal- nobody's out to enforce their opinions on you. All the religious groups I know organize events more out of a sense to spread awareness about their religions rather than to merely proselytize. For instance, last fall the Muslim Student association and the Duke Hillel organized a joint event "Peace or Pieces" where they held fund raising drives for people affected by the Israeli-Lebanese conflict. Yesterday, there was an Interfaith Campus Fast to raise funds for kids in Kenya.
People go to the Jewish sabbath dinners all the time with their friends basically as a way to enjoy the great kosher food, but also as an opportunity to learn about their way of life.I think that is indeed what is the hallmark of a Duke experience- to actively engage the other and be willing to be exposed and to learn about other cultures and way of lives.</p>

<p>finalround- as long as you are accepting of others and don't try to force your beliefs on others you will have no problems. Religion can 100% be a nonfactor if you want it to be.</p>

<p>how many classes can u take the first semester?
I'm an international student ,so I don't really understand the US college system..
I have no APs nor IB credits</p>

<p>Coola -- Your proposed schedule almost sounds like a bio-major, non-premed schedule, since you're taking 26 (bio major) and 151L but not 152L (non-premed).</p>

<p>If that's right, then by all means that's the way to go. But if you're premed you'll need 152, and if you're not a bio major then 26 should really be avoided.</p>

<p>andriuxs: a normal course load is 4 full credit courses per semester. You are allowed to take a maximum of 4.5 credits without being considered overloading. Usually the 0.5 extra credit can be used for classes like various physical education courses, ROTC classes, seminars, special pass/fail classes (you can only take one class as pass/fail at Duke so be wise about how you use it).</p>

<p>Not that overloading has any institutional consequences. Beyond 5.5 you have to get permission from the Registrar, which is pretty much just a formality.</p>

<p>You might go a little insane from being so busy. But it's not as if Duke will charge you extra tuition or anything.</p>

<p>bluedevilmike: At the time.. I wasn't completely sure, but now I am heading more towards the pre-med track. So I'd take Chem 152L over Bio 26.. which Bio classes would you recommend for pre-med?</p>

<p>I think if you want to get A's here you will have to do a lot of work - you will definitely be working most of the time in my opinion. The way grading is structured (at least in most A&S classes) it is not hard at all to get B's and you can still have plenty of free time if that is what you prefer.</p>

<p>It depends entirely on your own background. I came from a high school that was strong enough I found Duke to be generally quite lightweight by comparison. Obviously this is not the case for all or even most students, but the point is that it varies considerably.</p>

<p>what are the dorm and food like at duke? i know all freshmen live on one side of the campus but are there different types of dorm options and are the dorms nice?</p>

<p>I really like the dorms I lived in, and I'm really quite picky about housing. Freshman dorms tend not to be air conditioned, and after that there's a tendency towards AC. If your lottery number is good, you can always choose a very plum housing assignment. If it's not, you can usually live in a somewhat smaller but very new place, or a somewhat older but very large place. (Hint: pick newer.)</p>

<p>I really liked the food, but I'm not that picky about food. I could live off of pizza and hamburgers indefinitely. The McDonald's people didn't have to ask me what I was ordering in the morning. They knew what I wanted.</p>

<p>In response to an earlier post about sleep/work/activities, it really depends on the semester, and as was mentioned, time management. I allow 1 night a weekend to really just go out and do what I want. I watch the TV shows I want, and have a fair amount of leisure time. BUT you do have to work pretty hard when you are working. If you're concentrating on your work/working in between classes/not cramming for tests, you'll definitely have time to take advantage of all the amazing things here. I mean, I'm a chem major and I promise you I manage to get A's all the time (in more than just lower level classes), so it is doable. Of course you may have a rough semester here and there (ie my semester now) where things aren't so easy, but it works itself out.</p>

<p>With food and dorm life, they have their pros and cons. Like bluedevilmike said, the freshman dorms, for the most part, aren't air conditioned, BUT you get used to it and they really are great communities. With West Campus, you get to choose your individual room so you know what you're getting into. My quad is old with exploding toilets, things of that nature, but the quad next to me just got renovated and is wonderful...it really just varies.</p>

<p>Food, I think, is amazing. It's kind of like if you want it you can find it. Alot of people dislike the Marketplace, but it is nice to have that consistency, and after freshman year you just have food points to get what you want. You can find organic vegetarian options, Mcdonalds, Chick-fil-A, bagels, sandwiches, subway, grill food, or order from Merchant's-on-Points if you want a pizza or something. Check out <a href="http://www.dining.duke.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.dining.duke.edu&lt;/a> for all the options...I think dining here really is leagues better than many other schools!</p>

<p>Duke is a great school and all, but my question is about financing such a school. Is 40K+ really worth it for an education from Duke? Maybe so, but to all of you attending Duke right now and those of you who have graduated, how did you finance it and was it worth it in the end?</p>

<p>Also, are there any of you who have graduated early (3.5 years or even 3 years) through the use of credits gained from AP tests, IBs, etc?</p>