<p>Hmm.. You know I actually heard about the fact that there is a possibility that students at Duke can take courses at Chapel Hill, but it was always tough to find things on it. If such is the case that would be an interesting thought for Cornell is in the middle of nowhere and UNC is only right down the road. And I know UNC and Duke's Anthro resources combined could provide a sound undergraduate education. And I can finish up with my Ph.D. hopefully at Stanford or Chicago the powerhouses of the discipline.</p>
<p>Duke, UNC, and NCSU have an Inter-Institutional agreement that means folks that want to take a class only offered at institutions other than their own can take apply to take them for credit. With UNC, it's nice because the Robertson Scholars program has a bus that goes between Duke and UNC every...half hour, I think. I have a student from NCSU in my class this semester, which is kinda a long haul but at least it's an option.</p>
<p>after reading some of the earlier posts...</p>
<p>should i be worried about the difficulty level of these classes @ duke, esp after i hear that pre-med is really competitive at duke...although, i hear mixed opinions, since most people also say that the people there are very relaxed...?</p>
<p>I honestly haven't felt that much of a competitive edge being pre-med. Sitting in general chemistry you know, I sometimes think "Ok, this is your competition," but really, everyone helps everyone, and no ones going to destroy your notes if you leave them sitting out in the open. It's like, you know it's there, but it doesn't show. Personally the only pressure I feel to compete is from myself, so that's kind of a personal problem.</p>
<p>Being in general chemistry, the first semester wasn't TOO terribly difficult for me. I know people who struggled through and barely passed, and people who did nothing but got A's. It's just depends on how you study, and how much effort you put into it...college is an adjustment...so classes are always difficult...but if you're accepted here you can handle it and excel.</p>
<p>Hello,</p>
<p>As a Math 32 TA and a premed, I can alleviate your concerns.</p>
<p>First, Math 32 may be the most failed course at Duke, but that's some miniscule fraction of one percent of students. It's a lot of work, but you'll really learn the stuff. I've seen/given out grades before and while it's a challenging class - especially later on in the semester - it's nothing that will ruin an academic career.</p>
<p>Premeds here do astonishingly well in the med school process - 85% or so of our premeds will get into medical school somewhere compared to about 50% or less nationwide (yes, that does mean that half of the kids who apply to medical school get in nowhere). With a ratio like that, our kids know they don't have to compete with each other. I've never felt any competition at all - if anything, we take pride in each other's accomplishments. Studying together is the overwhelming rule.</p>
<p>Oh, and Kerfin: nice concert the other night.</p>
<p>With apologies, I'm going to copy and paste something I wrote in another forum.</p>
<p>The first thing is - that's right, I'll say it - the basketball. I came into Duke with an extremely-anti-sports attitude. It took me time to come around. What I began to notice over time was that this was one element our community could always have in common. Colleges these days are very divided places: Greeks vs. Independents, financial aids vs. legacies, underrepresented minorities vs. overrepresented minorities. Duke students, though, no matter where they are, can always sit down and bond instantly over Shelden Williams, Josh McRoberts, and the team we admire. Is this a decision-breaker? Absolutely not. But I've become a fan over the years, and I believe you'll look back at the end of your four years and appreciate this element the same way I do.</p>
<p>Second, I will mention that Duke does a wonderful job of placing our students into top medical, law, business schools, careers, etc. This is not the key element of the decision, either, but if you are pre-professional, I will tell you that I would take our results over anybody else's. You can look at the pre-med forums on Duke's board to see why. In fact, you can look at the pre-med forums on the pre-med boards, and you'll discover that everybody uses Duke to disprove the notion that your undergraduate school doesn't matter. Whenever they need to prove that your school is important, somebody always goes over to Dean Singer's page and pulls up our numbers.</p>
<hr>
<p>I also want to preempt a few things.</p>
<p>First, yes, Duke is in a city (Durham). So is Emory (Atlanta). So is Harvard (Boston/Cambridge). Anybody who tells you that it's ever okay to wander around a city late at night is simply naive or has financial ties to the local criminal element. You can't walk around off of Duke's campus late at night, no, but most schools are in cities, and most cities simply arne't safe at 3 AM.</p>
<p>Second, TAs: In my four years at Duke, I've never had a single class that was taught by a TA. I have occasionally heard that such things happen, but I've never actually seen it. My understanding is that sometimes, late in their graduate school careers, there is a subject that needs a teacher and it turns out that a grad student is the most qualified teacher for it.</p>
<hr>
<p>Now, to the important elements.</p>
<p>1.) Astonishingly wonderful advising systems. We have famous premedical/pre-law/career advisors. I've ranted about this a little bit on a thread relating to UCB in the Premed topics forum (<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com...ad.php?t=149508%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com...ad.php?t=149508</a>) but the bottom line is that advising is both key and really wonderful here. They've earned their reputation as being among the best in the country.</p>
<p>85% of our premeds get into a medical school; this compares to a national number of around 50%, sometimes lower. (Yes, that does mean that half of all students who apply to medical school will be admitted nowhere whatsoever.) Most comparable schools boast rates that are noticeably lower than that. I can't guarantee this, but I believe people on these boards have been mentioning that Stanford's percentage is about 75%. Of course, Stanford also has to deal with the UC system, so the comparison isn't exact, but I frankly can't imagine anybody preparing us for the process better than Dean Kay Singer and her office.</p>
<p>Second, if you look, you'll notice that the average GPA among our accepted premeds at a given medical school is lower than the national GPA among accepted premeds, and lower than the GPA at some "peer" institutions. This tells you that students from Duke who have WORSE grades are getting into the SAME medical schools as others. Why?</p>
<p>This is reflected in our numbers.</p>
<p>2.) World-class faculty in small classes. Duke's philosophy in hiring faculty is that we want absolutely brilliant faculty on the cutting edge of their fields, and we will put up with almost anything to get them. The one thing we will not put up with, however, is an unwillingness to make teaching their absolute top priority. That means that the faculty we have here love students and will go far out of their way to make sure we learn. This means partly that we learn better, which helps us once we actually get into med school, but it also means that we get better letters of recommendation, which are huge.</p>
<p>This to me is the most important point: Yes, there are schools with similarly or perhaps even more qualified faculty as leaders in their fields. But at what other school do undergraduates have real, worthwhile access to those leaders on a routine basis? Where else will a health economist who is cited repeatedly in every textbook hold multiple review sessions, some of them on Sunday evenings, just to make sure we really learn the stuff? Where else will a world famous chemist respond to freshmen questions via e-mail during his Thanksgiving day? Some schools have wonderful faculty who will do this - but I don't think any of them will top us in the access we have to brilliance.</p>
<p>3.) An encouragement to pursue co-curricular activites. And yes, I did just call them co-curriculars rather than extra-curriculars. Duke understands that we're training young men and women here, not just scholars, and so I've never heard of a student here who had anything short of astonishing extracurriculars. I'm a tour guide, and I make it a habit when I'm on my tours to mention the accomplishments of the various students I run into - I can afford to do this because Duke students are simply astonishing. Friends of mine have discovered new chemical structures, signed up for internships with the bioterrorism department of the government - it seems everybody has something incredible that they view as normal because that's what Duke students do.</p>
<p>We have a department entirely for the purpose of helping students arrange interesting, educational, or service-oriented (but usually all three) summer projects.</p>
<p>This is crucial - we need good qualifications, yes, but the people who will be trying to decide whether to offer us jobs in the future are also looking for people who are firmly grounded in reality and able to apply what they've learned. People who have shown themselves to be committed to helping others, who can dive into the intellectualism known as research, and who have proven that their abilities are more than just "hypothetical" are standout candidates.</p>
<p>On top of that, it just helps keep us sane.</p>
<p>4.) Warmth. Students here - knowing that we will all do well in the process - learn together. You won't hear of us stealing each other's notes or sabotaging projects. We study together. We encourage each other. Frankly speaking, we take care of each other. Duke students are warm, and we will support each other through rough times along the track. Is this a stereotype? Absolutely. Are there exceptions? Also absolutely. Has it proven true for me? Also absolutely.</p>
<p>5.) A determination to continue improving. Duke's SAT averages rise every year. Our campus, already one of the most beautiful in the country, improves every year when we add new buildings and construction. Each class of students is more impressive than the last. Every department is constantly adding prestigious new faculty. I often joke to my parents that I got a sweet deal - admitted to US News's 9th university but graduating from the 5th. It's almost like a transfer to a better school. We are a school on what our President calls an "upward trajectory". We aren't afraid of change. We aren't attached to tradition. We will do what's best for our school, and no options are ruled out simply because they would rock the boat too much.</p>
<p>Examples: the economics major - the largest major at Duke, with nearly a third of our students! - has been completely overhauled in the past four years, witnessing a great improvement in curriculum and faculty. Our housing system has improved dramatically. We've build a new $150M center for interdisciplinary science research, with a new science building on the way.</p>
<hr>
<p>To sum:</p>
<p>1.) We have advising which will give you an incredible edge, no matter what your future plans may be.</p>
<p>2.) We have astonishingly briliant faculty who are committed to teaching undergraduates. We have the most access to the most brilliant faculty of any school in the country.</p>
<p>3.) Duke helps students grow into well-rounded people, something that is valuable for all levels of career as well as emotional sanity.</p>
<p>4.) Warmth and community, including basketball.</p>
<p>5.) Upward trajectory. We are great, but we're not content to stay merely great. We have outrageous ambitions, and we want you to be a part of those dreams.</p>
<p>impressive post, very informative ^_^</p>
<p>bluedevilmike is right on. In my opinion, what sets Duke apart from most other top universities is its collaborative nature. Sure, we're a bunch of type-A, hyper-competitive students - but it's in an "me against the class vs. me against the person sitting next to me" sort of way. In every class I've been in, from a physics course packed with pre-meds to an ethics in policy choice course, I've never feared nor seen any evidence of "sabotage" or mean spirited practice. You have questions on how to do the homework? Just ask someone - they'll share how they did it. Want to discuss lecture material before a test? I met up with a girl in my discussion section that I had just met a week or two earlier. We aren't here just to get a degree from Duke, we're here to learn - from great professors and from one another.</p>
<p>And Duke basketball brings this school together in a way unmatched by any other top institution. You magically have fraternal bonds with 6500 undergrads, and countless thousands of grad students, alumni, staff, and other fans. The electricity you feel in the stands tends to carry over into all that we Duke students do. We're passionate, driven, and like to succeed. But we know that we can't do it alone - it takes teamwork.</p>
<p>If you want to be part of something that isn't resting on its ivy laurels, that is constantly seeking to develop new and more innovative practices, that has more educational and extra-curricular opportunities than one could ever imagine, then choose Duke. That's why I did.</p>
<p>Bump. I figured that given the time of year, prospective freshmen can use all the info they can get.</p>
<p>Odd that this thread seems to have died on the vine... Thought I would bump for grins.</p>
<p>Lemur research center!!</p>
<p>I'm going to c/p from my Duke Poly sci vs. Georgetown SFS post:</p>
<p>I went to Blue Devil Days last weekend. </p>
<p>Basically, I was supposed to spend my whole spring break touring colleges and go to uchi, northwestern, gtown, and berk after duke</p>
<p>but after I got back to the dorms at 2 in the morning, I flopped onto my sleeping bag and realized that I had fallen in love with Duke. And cancelled all my flights and flew home.</p>
<p>I'm going to Duke.</p>
<p>It's not all because of that one night-- it's a mixture of things.</p>
<p>1) The campus is gorgeous. I've spent a month at gtown already-- it's tiny. They're not allowed to expand. It's actually a fairly dinky campus. The SFS building, Walsh, has really old classrooms. Duke= total opposite.
2) The academics are just amazing at Duke. In EVERYTHING (well almost, I think). At Georgetown, I would only go if I were for sure doing SFS and going into foreign service for sure, because the academics for everything else there aren't worth it for me to spend four years on a small campus in D.C.
3) Which brings me to my next point: the cities. Durham is a crappy city, I admit that freely. D.C. is also an amazing city. But this didn't make me want to go to Georgetown; it was actually the opposite. First of all, there are so many things going on at Duke that it's IMPOSSIBLE to get bored if you're an interesting person who enjoys learning new things. I love the location of Duke because it's NOT in a city. THe problem with city schools, in my opinion (not necessarily a universal absolute) is that students go for the city and not as much for the school. Case in point: Columbia. Why Columbia? "I love NYC!!!!!1one"
4) The PEOPLE. Okay. This is the most important part. The people ==> the environment and ambience of a school. Duke's students are by far the friendliest students at any of the schools I got into and was seriously considering (berk, chi, nw, gtown). I had a huge suitcase and was trying to get down stairs and I told the man behind me to go ahead, and he just took my suitcase and carried it down with him. Everyone opens doors for everyone else, and if you're a female, they walk you everywhere and wait for you to get inside before they enter... and they're not all from the south, so it's not just a southern gentleman thing! Everyone is soooo unpretentious and happy and laidback, but wildly intelligent at the same time. People here study hard, party hard. But even if you're not cut from that cloth, there are people here like you! guaran*<strong><em>inteed. I met sooo many different people here. White kids? Yeah there were a lot. There were a lotttttt of minorities too, though. The diversity is not necessarily in the racial breakdown of the school (although that is definitely not bad-- around the same white-preppiness to gtown); it's in the broad range of personalities and experiences among duke students.
5) Miscellaneous cool *</em></strong>. K-town, freshmen living on East Campus, the FOCUS program (I heard ambivalence about it-- i guess it depends on who you are and which one you pick), giving freshmen dorms a video camera to film a movie, the amazing study abroad, great personal connections with professors, the food (Marketplace at duke= O'Don at gtown; lackluster. but we're getting a better vendor for our year and with a better food point system), the WEATHER (can you really stand snow and swamp weather of DC? ew), Duke Gardens (it's breathtakingly gorgeous), the great rates of going to grad school, the amazing grad schools on West campus, the BASKETBALL TEAM (gtown beat us ONCE but it's all about the consistency), I could just go on and on. </p>
<p>Go to Duke.</p>
<p>pri, I love your enthusiasm. Makes me glad I'll be going there too.</p>
<p>:D are you really? dudeeee PM me or something we should talk.</p>
<p>pri! another 2010 dukie from SoCal! HOLLAH BACK GURL</p>
<p>I'm from LA :) Are you the same Pri in the Duke group on myspace? We never typed to each other but I remember your name.</p>
<p>I was also considering Northwestern, Gtown SFS, and Berk (among a few other schools as well)! I nailed out Berk early on after the rest of my acceptances, and Gtown. I like Northwestern for its creative writing prgoram, but Duke seems like it has too many opportunities to pass up. I'm pretty sure that I can even add 293847239 more items to your amazing list above.</p>
<p>Hollering back.</p>
<p>If I look like I'm a fish in my black and white myspace picture... then yes :) </p>
<p>add me and we'll talk!</p>
<p>Yeah, coming from Orange County, you'll love the weather - I guarantee it :-)</p>
<p>Wait until it snows - they you and the Floridians will freak out and take pictures while everyone else stares blankly. They have a hard time with the whole "in winter, it doesn't snow back home" thing....but it's really just because when we go home for break, we don't bring winter clothes....</p>
<p>Glad that you seem to feel the same vibe for Duke that all of us did....and still do. It's an awesome place.</p>
<p>u no iv always wanned to b a part of a college community with passion...frm the posts iv read here im pretty sure now y its duke or bust fr me...was a lil intimidated to b a minority at such a ginormous scool..sum of that anxt has left me thanx to ya'll..cant believe i got into DUKE!!! heheh...hey anothr question hows the biomedical engr field..i was hooked on to duke fr that...is it as goood as evry1 says it is?</p>
<p>the most failed math class at duke is math 32, but its not too bad if you like math and have done well in calc in high school. the people that struggle are usually liberal arts people who didnt take calc until college or who struggled in high school. but i def think duke is great for pp/econ, and if you do well in calc bc you may only have to take math 103 at duke (which is easy)</p>