Durham has an insane violent crime rate .

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a few people who did not have a great experience. It was too Greek dominated with the frats taking up the best housing and other pushed off to the far ends of the campus. All social life went through the Greeks and it was very stratified- ie these two are the best(riches kid), this one is next all the way down the line. Others have loved it.

When did you go there? We just did a tour a few weeks ago and the housing is clearly mixed uniformly in a central area among greeks and special interest housing.

Don't think you did your homework on that while you were just there...PP is correct on the housing.

I have two sons at Duke. They've changed the housing a lot recently. More than half the fraternities and sororities are on Central Campus, freeing up more of the nicer housing on West Campus for students who aren't Greek affiliated. You probably already know that fraternities and sororities at Duke don't have their own housing -- they are integrated into the dorms (though they usually live together within the larger dorm/campus apartment complex).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure I'd even heard of Duke until I really started looking at colleges around junior year, but I ended up falling in love with the school and choosing it for a number of reasons. I love the weather and scenery in the Carolinas (I wasn't looking for a southern school as much as wanted to avoid cold winters). I wanted a school that would be large enough to have plenty of people to interact with and small enough that I wouldn't get lost in a sea of students. I wanted a top ranked school. I wasn't certain if I'd want to stick with engineering or switch to humanities and Duke gave me both options.

DH and I met there and agree that alone was worth the tuition

I went to Duke for very similar reasons, and also because it was the school that gave me the most financial aid, and honestly, I did not really enjoy my time there as much. A lot of this has to do with my own personality as anything else. I am a homebody and probably should have stuck closer to home.

Part of my problem with Duke was the racial tension. I am surprised no one else ever mentions this. White students and black students really did not mix much socially, and even my parents noticed it when they visited campus. People did not seem to mix much with people who were demographically much different. For example, I am middle eastern and most of my friends, like me, were first-generation upper-middle class children of immigrants. Sometimes I felt like white kids on campus didn't really want to acknowledge anyone else.

I've read this observation many times about many elite schools- that super-accomplished students walk in, get their outstanding credentials, and then walk out to go jump through more hoops/make tons of money, without really developing intellectually or changing their point of view in the process. I generally found this to be true. The unofficial motto was "work hard, play hard" not "think hard" or "live a good life hard."

It didn't seem like a very healthy environment for young women. There were many, many girls on campus who were rail-thin, beautiful, perfectly dressed, accomplished in a million things, but there was something sad about them, like they were under so much pressure.

I really didn't find the career services or academic advisement to be anything to write home about. I honestly felt that no one there who advised me actually gave two shits about me, and it was fairly obvious (i.e. no one ever followed up with me, gave any indication that they cared about me as a person, etc.).

Durham was not a very interesting place to go to school.

Again, I am an oversensitive homebody, but I really wouldn't send my kids there. It was a pretty campus, I made a lot of great friends that I am still friends with 10 years later, and I had a lot of career doors opened for me, but I really wouldn't go there again if I did it all over.

I went there too and agree with the pp. Not a great place for women when I went. Lots of pressure to be perfect, very Greek dominated. Great, bordering on amazing academics. But very homogenous and lots of racial tension at the time.
I have heard it has changed for the better however.

Interesting that most of the posts are about years ago attendance. I have spoken with students who are presently there (black and white), and the general consensus is a positive one (though the noose incident made my skin crawl). I would be reluctant to base a decision on posters experiences of 10-20 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
I know a few people who did not have a great experience. It was too Greek dominated with the frats taking up the best housing and other pushed off to the far ends of the campus. All social life went through the Greeks and it was very stratified- ie these two are the best(riches kid), this one is next all the way down the line. Others have loved it.


When did you go there? We just did a tour a few weeks ago and the housing is clearly mixed uniformly in a central area among greeks and special interest housing.



Don't think you did your homework on that while you were just there...PP is correct on the housing.

I remember being at Duke years ago to interview for a merit scholarship and inadvertently walking past some dorms occupied by fraternities. Some of the frat brothers started leaning out of the windows and yelling I had no business walking near their rooms. It seemed really odd because the dorms were close to the central part of the campus and looked like college dorms, so it wasn't like I was walking out of my way to see fraternity row. I have visited a lot of college campuses and never came across anything similarly douchey at any other school.

That's the problem...it's like the Greeks are part of the administration of the school. I know one president tried to change this and was shut down.

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.

Anonymous wrote:If you like Duke, check out NC at Chapel Hill and Wake Forest. I think you also find those schools attractive and obviously meeting the criteria of the Carolina Weather etc. Duke is VERY difficult to get in so you do need alternatives.

I would also look into Davidson. FWIW (not much perhaps), Forbes recently ranked it above Duke as the number one school in the South.

When you consider that the brighter kids usually attend Ivies and the kids from more modest backgrounds attend state universities, Duke does end up with an unusually obnoxious, entitled student body.

Anonymous wrote:ED = Early decision

I thought it meant something else. Except, of course, with respect to the infamous Duke lacrosse team.

David Duke University.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a few people who did not have a great experience. It was too Greek dominated with the frats taking up the best housing and other pushed off to the far ends of the campus. All social life went through the Greeks and it was very stratified- ie these two are the best(riches kid), this one is next all the way down the line. Others have loved it.

When did you go there? We just did a tour a few weeks ago and the housing is clearly mixed uniformly in a central area among greeks and special interest housing.

Don't think you did your homework on that while you were just there...PP is correct on the housing.

I remember being at Duke years ago to interview for a merit scholarship and inadvertently walking past some dorms occupied by fraternities. Some of the frat brothers started leaning out of the windows and yelling I had no business walking near their rooms. It seemed really odd because the dorms were close to the central part of the campus and looked like college dorms, so it wasn't like I was walking out of my way to see fraternity row. I have visited a lot of college campuses and never came across anything similarly douchey at any other school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a few people who did not have a great experience. It was too Greek dominated with the frats taking up the best housing and other pushed off to the far ends of the campus. All social life went through the Greeks and it was very stratified- ie these two are the best(riches kid), this one is next all the way down the line. Others have loved it.

When did you go there? We just did a tour a few weeks ago and the housing is clearly mixed uniformly in a central area among greeks and special interest housing.

Don't think you did your homework on that while you were just there...PP is correct on the housing.

Anonymous wrote:I know a few people who did not have a great experience. It was too Greek dominated with the frats taking up the best housing and other pushed off to the far ends of the campus. All social life went through the Greeks and it was very stratified- ie these two are the best(riches kid), this one is next all the way down the line. Others have loved it.

When did you go there? We just did a tour a few weeks ago and the housing is clearly mixed uniformly in a central area among greeks and special interest housing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke is great. Small, friendly, nice town, great academics. Nice that Greek life exists but doesn't rule the social scene. Freshman live in East Campus and tours don't go there. You won't hurt for a supportive alumni network if you stay on the east coast. And everyone will hate you when it's basketball season (but they are just jealous).

Nice town?

It's not a traditional college town, in which the university is integrated into the town, like Chapel hill. In fact, Duke was built to be separate, away from "town" (at the time) and indeed, with a wall around it. We lived there for 10 years (DH was a grad student with a full ride) and I thought the town sucked. It's very segregated, and there is a lot of local violence (generally not aimed at the students). There is a batch of low-income housing right near the campus, and the contrast always vexed me. I dislike the hot humid weather 6 months of the year. And I never found much to do outside the university - the beach is at least 3.5 hrs away (outer banks = 5 hrs) and the "mountains" just about as far. Presently there are some interesting retail ventures, but it seems unsustainable to me with no base to support it.

DH did very well, the low cost of living served us well, and we have moved on with the Duke name on the CV, never looking back. And we do NOT miss it.

Anonymous wrote:Duke is great. Small, friendly, nice town, great academics. Nice that Greek life exists but doesn't rule the social scene. Freshman live in East Campus and tours don't go there. You won't hurt for a supportive alumni network if you stay on the east coast. And everyone will hate you when it's basketball season (but they are just jealous).

Nice town?