OneDown&OneToGo

Please don't take this wrong but we live in New England and my daughter has two friends who attend the University of North Carolina and the University of Virginia.

Both girls like their schools but both have noticed that the culture of their school is different in noticeable ways than the culture of Boston/Cambridge area colleges. The differences aren't necessarily considered bad but just different enough that they feel that it will take a while to fit in. Everything from the higher level of politeness/formality (a good thing) to the higher formality of dating (probably a good thing) has been expressed to my daughter as things that took some time to get used to.

I wondered if Duke with its larger US and International draw of students would feel different than these other southern schools.

Again, I mean no harm in asking this question. I fact I like stereotype of southern schools more than the stereotype of New England schools, with which I have much experience from my older son at Harvard. I'm just trying to paint the clearest picture for my daughter of what different schools may be like.

Cuse0507

Yes. Duke has a reputation in the South as being a Yankee school, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon.

hookem168

From a current student: yes.

bluedog

Yes. Just to give you numbers to back it up:

UNC (stays constant due to public charter):
82% North Carolina
16% Other States
2% International

Discover academic opportunities that distinguish Carolina

Duke (class of 2013):
13% North Carolina
23% Southeast US (with FL, not a very southern state, being by far the largest component)
17% Mid-Atlantic
14% New England
13% West
10% Midwest
10% International (56 different countries)

Quick Facts about Duke

Top 11 states for Duke class of 2013:
North Carolina: 235
Florida: 139
New York: 139
California: 126
Texas: 87
New Jersey: 86
Georgia: 68
Virginia: 66
Pennsylvania: 64
Massachusetts: 59

Duke's student body is much more diverse from a geographical standpoint. Secret societies at Virginia? Check. Sundresses and khakis to football games at Virginia (although that's changed some the past few years)? Check. At Duke? Nope.

catg

Hopefully, it takes the best of both.

Senator Noodles

There's at least one secret society at Duke...
While girls definitely don't usually wear sundresses to sporting events, you do see a lot of sundresses on campus.

But I agree that Duke is definitely not a very southern school, though it isn't purely "New England" either - it's definitely a mix of Southern/Northeast/West Coast

OneDown&OneToGo

Wow, this is why I like CollegeConfidentail.com - quick responses from thoughtful people.

I like the comment "Duke has a reputation in the South as being a Yankee school" - ha!
I'm not quite sure how much of an insult/compliment that is as I've never been south of New Jersey.

Also, the Duke profile statistics and links were very useful - thank you. As I suspected Duke has good geographic representation and that probably does set the culture.

Regarding "secret societies", "sundresses" and "khakis", I think I know what they are but what does a sundress or khakis signify?
Is it a socio-economic symbol?

I think the hidden connotations of things like sundresses are what my daughter’s friends were cautioning her about. Please educate me.

rk33

Bluedog- you can say florida's not a very southern state, but trust me it's more than you think. Orlando-tampa-jax-miami, not really, everywhere that's not a big city YES.

Faline2

Duke is a national university in a southern city with a decidedly international reach. There are by Duke charter some larger % albeit modest admits from the two Carolinas to Duke. You will experience living in a southern town regardless of the fact that your peers will not be regional at all in origin. The Basketball ACC thing is regional and is one of the perks of life at Duke.
The Univ of VA has a large segment of Northern Va students that dominate the culture..we live in a rural section of VA. The NoVas are not often VA natives and therefore not only does UVA admit a much larger segment of OOS students by charter than does the more strict UNCCH legislature rules, but a significant part of the VA instate resdent students are actually from very transient families living on the beltway of the nation's capitol. So you will meet students at UVA from rural and less populated sectors but also keep in mind that VA has a large military installation coastline and a large part of the taxpayers are in the DC burbs. Even so, UVA has some decidedly Southern traditions on Greek Row particularly associated with football seasons. It wasn't coed for a long time. Traditions are part of UVA in a big way.

Cuse0507

It is mostly a tradition-at southern schools like UNC, UVa, or any SEC school, you'll have a large proportion of students dress up for the football games. Guys will wear khaki pants, dress shirts, ties and occasionally jackets, while girls will wear sundresses. They don't do this too much (or at all) at northern universities, and from what I gather they don't really do it at Duke either. The tradition is strongest among those in fraternities and sororities-the more southern the frat/sorority, the more people typically dress up.

catherine

Y0u can't compare the populations at UNC, UVA and Duke. The first two are public state universities and must take a large percentage of their students from in state. Duke is private. I'm just a freshman but I'm from the Northeast. I have met very few true Southerners here so far-I rarely hear Southern accents. In fact, I wish there were more (maybe it's just the people I know and the professors I have) because I chose Duke to get away from having grown up in a Northeast university town.

The girls don't dress up on a day to day basis at all. Mostly jeans. The biggest difference from the northern universities I visited are that the weather is better and people care more about sports and school spirit.

Dean J

If you want to chat about this, One Down, feel free to call my office and ask for me. I was raised outside of NYC and spent most of my educational and professional life in Boston.

The "guys in ties, girls in pearls" tradition at football games has faded a bit from the UVa scene. There are still many students who dress up, but the student section turned into a sea of orange in recent years. I just did a quick search on Flickr and here's a shot that shows the students section before a game at Scott Stadium (the hill and the bleachers next to it).

FWIW, secret societies are far less secretive and sinister than people think they are. Like Greek orgs, they have traditions, socials, and many do service work. Most of our early secret societies were literary groups.

OneDown&OneToGo

Dean J - Thanks for the offer. I am interested/curious enough now from what I've learned that I think my daughter and I will venture south before Thanksgiving and visit some schools. If I have questions after that trip I will call you.

Yes, there certainly was a lot of orange in the UVa Flickr pictures and I searched Flickr for Duke pictures and got a better image of that school - quite nice looking.

Regarding secret societies at UVa (per the Wikipedia link), they certainly have some odd names - "Eli Banana".

I attended Boston College back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and there were certainly no secret societies there or even frats/sororities. At my son's school (Harvard) they have relatively small all male organizations called "Final Clubs" which some say are "date rape" training academies and remnants of H's even more elitist past. So I have very little past of present experience with these sort of organizations. I guess they sound OK/fun.