<p>How is duke focus graded? Is it mostly participation based? Essays? Did you read quizzes? Midterms/finals?</p>
<p>And are these pretty harshly graded?</p>
<p>Thanks!!!</p>
<p>I’m wondering the same. Particularly in the Ethics/Global Citizenship one.</p>
<p>It depends on the specific focus program, but generally focus classes are graded the same as most other classes at Duke - a mixture of tests, essays, participation, and homework. Focus classes are generally graded more leniently than other Duke classes (in my opinion).</p>
<p>Every single one of my friends who did FOCUS regretted it. Unless you’re deeply fascinated with the topic, I strongly recommend you not do it. It seems appealing from the outside, promising a low student-teacher ratio and other perks but it honestly ends up being a waste of time. Plus, you’ll be behind on your major requirements.</p>
<p>@cornetking: Can you explain?</p>
<p>I am a prospective neuroscience major taking exploring the mind.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.dibs.duke.edu/uploads/assets/77/courses_2013_Fall_highlighted_2013-03-22.pdf[/url]”>http://www.dibs.duke.edu/uploads/assets/77/courses_2013_Fall_highlighted_2013-03-22.pdf</a></p>
<p>According to the website, the focus seminars count towards the 2 elective requirements for my major.</p>
<p>The FOCUS grading is super arbitrary many times and my friends found the assignments to be pretty dumb. They didn’t gain much at all out of it and sacrificed 2 slots their first semester to take it.</p>
<p>For a neuroscience major, the exploring the mind FOCUS will only fulfill one of your electives. The focus classes are all 100 level classes, and 4 out of your 5 electives must be at the 200 level or above. Many people enjoy FOCUS, but I would say that the majority don’t gain much from the experience and wish that they had not “wasted” two classes.</p>
<p>as a parent I was concerned that my D was not considering focus. I thought is may be a path to get on an inside fast track. the comments here make me feel better and support her intuition that it may not be right for her.</p>
<p>I think that “the driven kind” will enjoy the Focus. The scholarship committee in their letter to my DS suggested he “strongly” considers participation in the program, pointing out to the fact that huge majority of the students that go on to receive further, graduate scholarships and accolades are graduates of Focus. I also think that it helps to foster a sense of “belonging” in the first few months at a totally new place.</p>
<p>As far as “waste” of credit goes - in the first semester the student is allowed to sign up for no more than 4.5 credits, but starting second semester they can take 5.5 or even 6 credits, so any perceived “wasted” time can be quickly made up :)</p>
<p>Focus can be great if you are interested in the topic. One challenge is that some of the courses within a topic area fill up. In those instances students may get stuck in a course that they are not interested in. My son enjoyed one of his focus classes and it turned into a paid research assistantship after the semester was over. I expect that the relationship he developed with this faculty member will last all four years. During Parents Weekend there was a very nice reception for families with students in the Focus Program. I had a much better sense about all the thought and care that goes into the program after attending the parent event. One thing that was mentioned was that faculty take their responsibility to the Focus students seriously and make an extra effort to mentor and provide letters of reference to graduate school. Apparently, it means something to graduate school admissions committees when a faculty member can say that they have known a student for 4 years.</p>
<p>Faculty were very accessible and top notch. They continued to stay in touch with students after the semester was over, inviting them to meals with visiting professors, etc… Although students in his topic area all lived in the same dorm, they weren’t particularly close.</p>