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[quote=Anonymous]NP here.  I attended quite awhile ago so maybe things have changed.  I did feel that Greek life dominated the social scene.  If the OP's child is looking forward to it, stop reading here because most likely he/she will be fine.  I distinctly remember almost every single girl on my hall being involved in rushing a sorority.  In the end they may not have joined or could have stayed friends with girls not in their sorority but I most definitely felt on the outside looking in as someone that didn't rush spring of freshman year.   There definitely was a racial divide but it was more of apathy/not in the same social scene than any active malice.  While I made friends (mostly with others of the exact same background) my social life in general was one of great effort on my part.  Finding someplace to hang out other than Greek parties and as a minority female finding someone to date were not easy tasks. I don't know why but interracial dating back then in the 90's was still like everyone knew that one BF/WM couple because it was that unusual.

So socially it was not great but I made the best of it.  Academically speaking, it was fabulous.  I absolutely loved my public policy major and wonder what the heck I would have majored in at a liberal arts school if that had not been available.  The career counseling could have been better but I lucked out via my older friends and found out about a Dean that really looked out and kept people up to date with different opportunities.  While I did not meet my spouse there, one of my friends brought me to a party post college where I met my husband.  So in the end, my career, my best friends, and my spouse were all a path that I may not have been on had I attended a different school.  I also see that Duke has tried to make a more cohesive Freshman experience on East campus and has opened up west campus to theme living so you don't have to be in a fraternity to have a housing situations around a common interest.  I remember one of my classmates worked on getting a theme dorm on West campus so like a PP mentioned you can work to change things if you aren't happy the way they are.  I think Duke does have room for kids that are go getters/leaders that come up with these ideas to improve the community.

In the end it really depends on your kid. There is work/hard play hard atmosphere, I agree that it isn't overly intellectual, and unless a lot has changed, Greek life is a big part of the social scene.  You can find a path though even if it isn't a natural fit but your kid has to be willing to put in the effort.
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