<p>I went to Duke, and danstearns, unfortunately, is correct.</p>
<p>I’m actually kinda offended you guys called me a ******bag. Jerks! :(</p>
<p>Regarding two posts above:</p>
<p>I went to Duke, and danstearns and hoyasaxa1, unfortunately, is incorrect. </p>
<p>See how easy that was? If I had known it was this easy to prove and disprove things I would have stopped going to classes a long time ago. </p>
<p>“I’ve been to Detroit, and Sharron Angle, unfortunately, is correct. Sharia law has taken hold in 'Murica!”</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>“I’ve been on a plane before, and Juan William, unfortunately, is correct. Muslims in their traditional dress is suspicious and frightening.”</p>
<p>In fact, that’s how all things should be decided. So I say that since I’ve been to Bojangles and their chicken is absolutely delicious, if I can get another person to agree, we should make all other fried chicken chains illegal and mandate Bojangles be served every other meal.</p>
<p>OK, SBR, let’s be SIMPLISTIC so it’s easy for you to understand (distinctly qualifying statements with “my experience” etc., given that it is too much to assume that you understand that those qualifiers are understood).</p>
<p>I attended Duke and had the same experience that danstearns describes about his visit to Duke. My roommates and many of my fraternity brothers and I often would discuss this feature about many of our fellow Duke students–that they often tried too hard (even with the support of our beloved basketball team) to prove our worth, particularly relative to our peer schools and the schools that MOST of our fellow Duke students did not get in to (Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, etc.).</p>
<p>Does that work better for you, SBR?</p>
<p>Hoya, you were in a frat?</p>
<p>No wonder you complain so much about being surrounded by ******s. LOL</p>
<p>Hoya: perhaps sarcasm is too subtle? It’s ok, the internet is supposed to be a faceless, anonymous medium of communication anyway. </p>
<p>I know they are your experiences. Who else’s would they be? If you didn’t intend to use it to extrapolate something else (the overall Duke experience, the Duke culture, or even a portion of the student population) however, it would be pretty pointless to say it since you know, strictly speaking, it’s just your personal observations. So clearly, you believe that your experiences carry some sort of “weight” and as such, it would be of value for someone trying to ascertain whether Duke, overall, is a ******y school. </p>
<p>So therefore, I used sarcasm to point out that personal experiences would be inappropriate as validation for very broad generalizations expressed by other people. </p>
<p>So in conclusion, saying that your personal experiences corroborate or support danstearns’ assertions is fine. I’m not going to argue your feelings or opinions. However, using that as basis to say that the over-SIMPLISTIC and general statements of another is absolutely “correct” is somewhat overreaching based on the limited data (qualifiers or not).</p>
<p>So before you get all worked up about it, understand that I believe you when you say you had a bad experience at Duke and I know there are people at Duke like that. I just don’t find the phrasing to be appropriate.</p>
<p>Hey everyone, I just started at Duke this semester, and I think this thread needs a healthy dose of perspective. The students I’ve met so far are virtually all very nice, friendly people. Yes, there are a few ******bags (just like at every other college), but they’re definitely the exception rather than the norm.</p>
<p>On another note, there’s no need to attack the OP. He was just asking a question–it may seem like a silly question to those of us who are actually here, but given the media’s portrayal of Duke in the past few years, it’s an understandable misconception.</p>
<p>Funny thread. I just have 1 data point to add.</p>
<p>D went on an athletic recruiting visit to Duke. Coach basically told her there was no way she would be admitted to Duke without his support. (She had a 35 ACT and is now competing at the school ranked 8 spots higher than Duke).</p>
<p>One bad coach does not a d-bag student population make, though.</p>
<p>^ That sounds strange to me. Are you sure that is exactly what he said? There was no other factor besides that ACT holding your daughter back (like a 2.5 GPA for example), or you simply misheard him? Maybe he was just saying there is no guarantee without my help?</p>
<p>Im in no way trying to defend him (whoever he is) or trying to say that that sort of thing would never happen at Duke (I know you are about to accuse me of that Hoya), as it probably did. I doubt someone would just make that up. But it seems weird that a coach would say that kind of thing to any potential recruit. Maybe he just wanted to try and convince her to commit to the team if she decided to go there? Strange. </p>
<p>If a coach told me that I couldnt get in alone I wouldnt go there either, especially if I had your daughters stats (or stat, Im assuming the rest were on par with that). Congrats to her for where she ended up!</p>
<p>But, to contribute to this thread, I have visited Duke many times (sister’s there), and most people I have met are awesome and very friendly. All my sister’s friends were really nice, and made sure I had a good time while I was there. Theres going to be a few ******s. There are. But dont generalize about the whole school because of a few people. It all depends on who you associate yourself with.</p>
<p>It was very strange, NCBoy. At the time we visited Duke my daughter had the 35 ACT, top 5% of her class, NHS, plus she was ranked in the top 20 nationally in her sport. This coach acted like it was a major distraction for him that she was there. He said, “well the #1 recruit in the country is excited to be joining us next year, but if that falls through we’ll work our way down the list.” I just sort of nodded and then he went on to add “…and your chances of getting into Duke without coach support are very slim.”
As we left, I asked D if she wanted to take the campus tour and she said, “Nah, let’s just go”.
(Sidenote, the #1 recruit ended up at Stanford.)
The strange thing was that he called us to come visit campus after a national meet. I can only assume that before our arrival he had just gotten off the phone with #1 and was feeling like he had the luxury of being arrogant and rude. But as I said, 1 bad coach shouldn’t taint the entire institution.</p>
<p>^ Yeah if I was going to college with the intention to play under a coach for 4 years and he turned out to be such a ******bag during the visit then I wouldn’t go there either. Congrats to your D and best of luck wherever she ends up.</p>
<p>^Thanks for the kind words, she’s enjoying both school and sport right now.</p>
<p>I have loved Duke so much. I’m sorry varska your daughter had a tough time. I’m going to go on a limb and guess she was being recruited for track. I have a good friend turn down running at Princeton and Stanford for Duke, and she too had a rough time with the staff. It got better, but my advice to you is don’t look back. Good luck!</p>