Looking for info about Wake Forest and Duke social climates

[Anonymous]

Could someone please take a moment to focus on the question about the social climate at Duke in particular. Would an intelligent, active, but reserved student enjoy the social life at Duke?

[Anonymous]

Most colleges are overpriced.
Most colleges have way too many students that binge drink.
Yet we still drive ourselves crazy trying to figure out where our student will fit in without going broke or hoping our child does not drink themselves to death.
There is really something wrong with the entire system of college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could someone please take a moment to focus on the question about the social climate at Duke in particular. Would an intelligent, active, but reserved student enjoy the social life at Duke?

Have multiple family connections to Duke. It's big enough that people who want to explore quieter interests can do so happily. Keep in mind this is one of the most selective universities in the country with a fair amount of outreach to minority students and others who diversify the campus.

On the other hand, if the student in question is the type who would affirmatively recoil at seeing frat boys being frat boys, or would take issue with the mere fact that there are sororities on campus, Duke is not a good place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most colleges are overpriced.
Most colleges have way too many students that binge drink.
Yet we still drive ourselves crazy trying to figure out where our student will fit in without going broke or hoping our child does not drink themselves to death.
There is really something wrong with the entire system of college.

Our colleges and universities are among the few things we still do really well in this country and are the envy of the world. You need another hobby.

[Anonymous]

    Subject: Re:Looking for info about Wake Forest and Duke social climates
Anonymous



Anonymous wrote:
Most colleges are overpriced.
Most colleges have way too many students that binge drink.
Yet we still drive ourselves crazy trying to figure out where our student will fit in without going broke or hoping our child does not drink themselves to death.
There is really something wrong with the entire system of college.


Our colleges and universities are among the few things we still do really well in this country and are the envy of the world. You need another hobby.

LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most colleges are overpriced.
Most colleges have way too many students that binge drink.
Yet we still drive ourselves crazy trying to figure out where our student will fit in without going broke or hoping our child does not drink themselves to death.
There is really something wrong with the entire system of college.

Our colleges and universities are among the few things we still do really well in this country and are the envy of the world. You need another hobby.

Do you really think that colleges should cost $60,000 a year? Do you really think that when the majority of students at colleges binge drink that this is a good idea and is just a phase that kids need to go through? Colleges could be a lot better if they were more affordable and students didn't waste their time getting drunk three nights a week. So sick of the idea that the "work hard, party hard mentality" is the key to life. We could do better than this.

[Anonymous]

I didn't attend Duke or Wake Forest, but I know several people who went to Duke. Some who liked it, some who didn't. Duke is extremely competitive, about as competitive of many of the ivies--and the kids who attended were very intelligent, high achieving kids. I would say the people who liked Duke probably would have liked someplace like Dartmouth. Although it is a large enough school where someone who isn't into the frat scene/doesn't fit the mold I'm describing COULD find their space socially, in general the people who enjoyed Duke were very smart, very preppy/conventional types, and not necessarily the most intellectual kind of people. I don't mean that they aren't smart, driven, and high achieving--just they aren't the sort who want to sit down in a coffee shop and discuss Foucault at length. One of my friends was really put off by that kind of culture socially and transferred to University of Chicago, which was a much better fit for her. She is the sort of person who is very nerdy and intellectual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous



Could someone please take a moment to focus on the question about the social climate at Duke in particular. Would an intelligent, active, but reserved student enjoy the social life at Duke?

From my understanding, the Greek life is institutionalized with the school giving the better housing options( better as in more desirable area) to the Greeks. So there is an institutional bias with alums and school toward greeks( most places are like that b/c Greek life is a major part of the experience for some). The link below gives you a little more info on numbers and etc. Of the people I know who went there, the people who joined the Greek life love the school, sport teams etc and they would have fit in almost anywhere. The more introverted type really resented the Greeks and would have chosen a different school. Interestingly, they still joined a sorority. They also mention the big difference in the wealthly vs middle class(as in dcum middle class, ) students. It will depend on the kid, people change in college. There is not a lot to do in a small university town, so the Greek life become more important vs urban university.

Do the Greek organizations at Duke have housing?
Sixteen (16) of the 17 IFC, and all nine (9) of the Panhellenic chapters enjoy housing through dedicated areas of the residence halls called “sections.” Generally, sections include common areas, study space, storage areas, and contiguous bedrooms.  Our Multicultural or Multicultural Greek Council (MCG) shares one section which houses members from several MCG chapters. Typically, all sophomore members will live in a fraternity/sorority section, but many juniors and seniors who continue to reside on campus will choose to live in section as well. Members living in section maintain a contract not with the fraternity itself, but through the University Housing office. As such, these areas are maintained by university housing staff and are subject to housing rules and regulations. The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life provides organizations without a designated living area with alternate storage space on campus, and works with each group to obtain rooms for the organizations’ various events and meetings.  The maps linked to below show the current locations of the chapter sections:

https://studentaffairs.duke.edu/greek/frequently-asked-questions/faqs-parents-and-families

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could someone please take a moment to focus on the question about the social climate at Duke in particular. Would an intelligent, active, but reserved student enjoy the social life at Duke?

Have multiple family connections to Duke. It's big enough that people who want to explore quieter interests can do so happily. Keep in mind this is one of the most selective universities in the country with a fair amount of outreach to minority students and others who diversify the campus.

On the other hand, if the student in question is the type who would affirmatively recoil at seeing frat boys being frat boys, or would take issue with the mere fact that there are sororities on campus, Duke is not a good place.

Actually, you might recoil at what frat boys being frat boys do these days. My nephew, a Dartmouth student who is not an introvert at all, but a very social kid and a varsity athlete, has been disgusted by some of the stuff he's seen at frat parties at Dartmouth. Binge drinking and date rape are not just good fun.

[Anonymous]

We are planning to take junior DS to visit both ths spring. He is a serious kid, pretty much an introvert, who does not want to go to a big party school and would prefer a school with no frats or where frats aren't a big deal. We are from VA, for example, and he much prefers W&M to UVA because of size and social climate. We need to broaden his list. He isn't eager to go much farther north or more than about 6-8hours away. Can anyone tell me whether a kid like this could be happy at either of these schools? TIA. I have gotten a lot of good info from this forum

Why the 6-8 hours? Is getting the right university important or a 6-8 hour drive? After fresh year, most really do not come back a lot. Think about expanding your search distance.

[Anonymous]

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/717962-top-schools-with-no-greek-scene.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't attend Duke or Wake Forest, but I know several people who went to Duke. Some who liked it, some who didn't. Duke is extremely competitive, about as competitive of many of the ivies--and the kids who attended were very intelligent, high achieving kids. I would say the people who liked Duke probably would have liked someplace like Dartmouth. Although it is a large enough school where someone who isn't into the frat scene/doesn't fit the mold I'm describing COULD find their space socially, in general the people who enjoyed Duke were very smart, very preppy/conventional types, and not necessarily the most intellectual kind of people. I don't mean that they aren't smart, driven, and high achieving--just they aren't the sort who want to sit down in a coffee shop and discuss Foucault at length. One of my friends was really put off by that kind of culture socially and transferred to University of Chicago, which was a much better fit for her. She is the sort of person who is very nerdy and intellectual.

Chicago and undergraduates who want to discuss Foucault in a coffee shop are the outliers here, not Duke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Do you really think that colleges should cost $60,000 a year? Do you really think that when the majority of students at colleges binge drink that this is a good idea and is just a phase that kids need to go through? Colleges could be a lot better if they were more affordable and students didn't waste their time getting drunk three nights a week. So sick of the idea that the "work hard, party hard mentality" is the key to life. We could do better than this.

I agree with you that $60,000 is too much. As you know, though, state schools are much more affordable and state schools would be even more affordable if it weren't for the anti-tax crowd.

Re the drinking, have you ever been among British university students? Because, really....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are both too Greek. How about CMU in Pittsburg.

CMU has fraternities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could someone please take a moment to focus on the question about the social climate at Duke in particular. Would an intelligent, active, but reserved student enjoy the social life at Duke?

Have multiple family connections to Duke. It's big enough that people who want to explore quieter interests can do so happily. Keep in mind this is one of the most selective universities in the country with a fair amount of outreach to minority students and others who diversify the campus.

On the other hand, if the student in question is the type who would affirmatively recoil at seeing frat boys being frat boys, or would take issue with the mere fact that there are sororities on campus, Duke is not a good place.

Actually, you might recoil at what frat boys being frat boys do these days. My nephew, a Dartmouth student who is not an introvert at all, but a very social kid and a varsity athlete, has been disgusted by some of the stuff he's seen at frat parties at Dartmouth. Binge drinking and date rape are not just good fun.

You don't need to look at Dartmouth to find examples of boorish behavior. You can find it on campus at Duke. But a university is a larger environment where people can seek out different activities and ways to spend their time. Quite honestly, I think there's a huge double standard at work here, propagated by the typical DCUM posters who insist on urban diversity for adults, but think homogeneous liberal campuses are the only way to go, and who get upset about boorish frat boys at a school in the South, but turn a blind eye to rampant drug use at small LACs in the Northeast, so long as the school is suitably PC.