Your Most and Least like Things about Duke

Colleges & Universities Duke University
1

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>so i’m considering going to duke. and before i’m there, i really wanna hear everyone’s opinion about duke and the life there. so tell all the incoming students your favorite and dislikes. </p>

<p>thx</p>

2

<p>Most: greek scene, friends, social/sports in general
Least: TREQS!!!</p>

3

<p>What are TREQs? lol</p>

4

<p>T- Reqs are the curriculum distribution requirements for Trinity College at Duke. They include Areas of Knowledge ([Duke</a> University | Trinity College of Arts & Sciences : Academic requirements](<a href=“http://trinity.duke.edu/academic-requirements?p=areas-of-knowledge-faq]Duke”>http://trinity.duke.edu/academic-requirements?p=areas-of-knowledge-faq)) and Modes of Inquiry ([Duke</a> University | Trinity College of Arts & Sciences : Academic requirements](<a href=“http://trinity.duke.edu/academic-requirements?p=modes-of-inquiry]Duke”>http://trinity.duke.edu/academic-requirements?p=modes-of-inquiry)).</p>

5

<p>Favorite things:

  1. The perfect balance of top-tier athletics and top-tier academics
  2. The beauty of the campus and the weather
  3. The students - some of the most talented yet down-to-earth people you will ever meet. You would never imagine that people so smart and successful in high school would be so humble, uncompetitive (at least outwardly), and friendly/social.
  4. The school spirit is completely infectious. I have yet to meet a Duke student (current or alum) who didn’t love their time at Duke.
  5. The social life is so flexible and inclusive. You can make what you want of it - Greek, SLGs, independent - and there will be a niche for you somewhere.</p>

<p>Least favorite things:

  1. Pre-major advising - Mine hasn’t really been able to tell me anything I couldn’t have found on duke.edu. (Some people do get great advisors though)
  2. The bus system. Sometimes you’re the only person on a bus and other times you’ll have to wait for 3 buses to pass before you get on. During nights/weekends you sometimes have to make plans around the bus schedule. That being said, I really liked the freshmen-only East Campus. Separate campuses was not a big deal at all for me.
  3. Okay, I seriously can’t think of anything else without resorting to complaining about the freshman meal plan, the lack of AC in some freshman dorms, and other little nit-picky things. </p>

<p>Duke’s not for everyone (no school is), but my experience has been amazing thus far. </p>

<p>

Okay, so the curriculum isn’t as open as Brown’s, but I think the T-Reqs are actually pretty reasonable and not very hard to fulfill depending on your major. I’ll probably end up taking 2-3 courses I didn’t intend to/outside of my major in order to fulfill my AOKs and MOIs (disregarding foreign language and Writing 20, which are pretty standard requirements for many schools). I haven’t found it to be binding at all.</p>

6

<p>I’m only doing a single major, maybe a certificate but I doubt it. I would much rather graduate having taken 18 econ classes and then whatever else pleases me, than to worry about taking classes like Religion or Lit classes that I simply hate. Instead, I will take less of what interests me (more along the lines of my major, though not necessarily exactly in). Yea, I found the easy A-/A classes, but that’s more of a fault of the system forcing me to I think, rather than me being lazy. Of course, you could argue otherwise. </p>

<p>ALP is the bane of my existence. </p>

<p>Buses, I didn’t mind. I liked that all the freshmen were together.
I liked the MP. Though for the money it blows.
I had no AC, but it was an easy year on us at least.</p>

7

<p>From a Tar Heel:</p>

<p>Least liked thing: Your basketball team/Coach K</p>

<p>Most liked thing: Your football team :p</p>

<p>One other thing I really like about Duke, is its gardens (I forget what they are called). Breathtaking in the spring.</p>

8

<p>Cuse, you’re thinking of the Sarah P Duke Gardens.</p>

<p>Dislike: How the 3 campuses are isolated from each other. I do appreciate how all the freshmen are put together, but I would’ve preferred it to be more like UNC, where basically all the freshmen are in South Campus–together, but still integrated with the rest of campus.</p>

9

<p>We live on the most beautiful campus I’ve ever seen. What’s not to like? :)</p>

10

<p>In comparison to most college cities Durham is pretty bad.</p>