Duke University Top Questions

Duke is challenging. Whatever major you decide to become it will be hard work. If you're on the pre-health track then it can be even tougher. But it's not cut throat competitive (no one is going to steal your lab work), rather Duke is full off cooperation and group study. For most of the classes, if you study by yourself you will not do as well as if you studied in a group. The Link, or the basement of the library, is built for the sole purpose of group studying. When you're on Duke's campus you engage in conversations about the world around you, about different literature, about financial and economic problems and about issues facing each other with other students and faculty. The faculty here wants you to succeed at whatever you do and they try to help you find that passion. Professors gear their education towards learning for the sake of learning, and they truly value your opinions and ideas. That being said, the generalized view of education on campus is that you will use your Duke degree to do something great in the world - that you will get either a high paying job at a consulting firm or that you will literally save the world (be that through a top medical school or as the CEO of some global health non-profit).

Most professors are very nice, but the onus is on YOU to engage them- very few will take an active interest in your life unless you approach them first. Classes start off in auditorium settings, but as you progress within a major, the classes will get smaller. Class materials are typical midterms/ papers/ finals. Students are very competitive, and the Econ department has tremendous connections.

Most professors are very nice, but the onus is on YOU to engage them- very few will take an active interest in your life unless you approach them first. Classes start off in auditorium settings, but as you progress within a major, the classes will get smaller. Class materials are typical midterms/ papers/ finals. Students are very competitive, and the Econ department has tremendous connections.

Duke is academically rigorous. There’s no way around that. We are a competitive bunch and grades are one of our main priorities. That said, we keep the competition healthy. We feed off of each other. We often work in groups. We set time aside each day from socializing to study together. Additionally, there are countless academic resources available to students such as TA’s, professors’ office hours, and tutors. The students and faculty here try to create an environment where everybody succeeds. After all, upon graduation our fellow alumni will become some of our greatest allies in the world. It’s difficult to describe the “typical” Duke classroom experience. We have dozens of majors and each of them differ considerably. Speaking as an English major, though, I can say that many of the classes at Duke are small. Classroom participation is encouraged in nearly all classes and required in many. Over the years, I’ve gotten to know about half of my fellow English majors and several faculty members. Professors are usually willing to maintain contact after a class is over for recommendations, advice, or just conversations. I’m a senior now, and I truly feel like this place is my home.

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There's a commonly-quoted fact that goes around Duke's campus: from all other top-10 schools, medical schools look for a 3.7 GPA or above. From Duke, they will accept anything above a 3.0. This reflects that the Duke curriculum is an intense one, especially in the math, science, economics, and engineering departments. Though it is very easy to find easy-A classes at Duke, a lot of the required classes for the biggest majors are big, weed-out classes. These big classes are typically curved to a B-. In smaller classes, professors are usually very lenient about grades and tend to give out high numbers of A's. My favorite class at Duke has been Abnormal Psychology with Professor Rosenthal - he is an AMAZING lecturer and I learned so much - it cemented the fact that I want to go to graduate school for psychology. My least favorite class has been the introductory molecular biology course, Bio 101. It's a lot of intricate details and semi-pointless memorization, but it is a new class and they are still perfecting it. Students study VASTLY different amounts, from none at all to making studying a full-time job. This depends on major, but really it mostly depends on the student themselves and how much time they need. I have found that I am able to get A's in my classes studying less than 3 hours a week for most, and less 8 hours a week for some. Duke education is geared in many directions - a lot of kids are "engineers" or "pre-med" and know exactly what they want to do, but others are much more unsure and simply taking classes they like. Really, any amount and kind of academic engagement is welcome at Duke. As a psychology-biology double major with a statistics minor, I have found my classes challenging, but not life-consuming, and I have had very little trouble balancing work for my classes with other activities.

My english professor and I exchange regular emails about Federicco Fellini and Italian popular culture. He teaches a class on Melville and Faulkner. I tell you this to illustrate how the teacher-student relationship at duke goes far, far beyond the classroom. My english teacher knows not only my name, but my home town, how many sibblings I have, my favorite place to eat on campus (its his too), and why The Great Gatsby is my favorite novel of all time. Duke professors are accessable, friendly, helpful, and fascinating. They are there to both guide and inspire you, challenge and help you. Duke professors want you to actually learn, not just pass their classes or memorize your way to an A. My science teacher used to offer a bi-weekly office hours where he would spend hours explaining anything and everything. Because Duke is a large university, people assume that a close teacher-student relationship isn't possible. Quite the opposite.

I have taken three large lecture classes: Econ 51, Psych 11 and Compsci 82. Otherwise, almost every other class I have taken has had 16 or fewer students. I am an English major with a concentration in history, documentary and visual and media studies. My professors not only know my name by the end of the semester, but they know my goals and interests. From a practical perspective, this makes networking easy. Yet it makes for a much more meaningful classroom experience, as well. Class participation is expected and often encourages discussion outside of class. My pre-med friends often talk about extremely competitive classes. Students who enter Duke with a specific career in mind tend to suffer the most from the competition. Students are competitive by nature of being high achievers. However, the level of competition varies greatly by major. As an English major, I rarely feel as if I am competing against my classmates. Our interests and concentrations are so unique, there is little worry about coming up second in a direct comparison. A Duke education can certainly be geared towards learning skills you will later need in the job market. And there is a dominant atmosphere on campus that values an undergraduate education geared towards getting a job. However, many of the classes are based off of a thorough grounding in theory with the trust that you will develop the technical skills you might need either through summer internships or when you find yourself actually on the job. While I wish I had more technical training, I am grateful that I understand the complexity of the tasks I will later be expected to perform. This approach encourages a different way of approaching work, one focused on a deeper understanding of its significance rather than rote mechanics.

I have taken three large lecture classes: Econ 51, Psych 11 and Compsci 82. Otherwise, almost every other class I have taken has had 16 or fewer students. I am an English major with a concentration in history, documentary and visual and media studies. My professors not only know my name by the end of the semester, but they know my goals and interests. From a practical perspective, this makes networking easy. Yet it makes for a much more meaningful classroom experience, as well. Class participation is expected and often encourages discussion outside of class. My pre-med friends often talk about extremely competitive classes. Students who enter Duke with a specific career in mind tend to suffer the most from the competition. Students are competitive by nature of being high achievers. However, the level of competition varies greatly by major. As an English major, I rarely feel as if I am competing against my classmates. Our interests and concentrations are so unique, there is little worry about coming up second in a direct comparison. A Duke education can certainly be geared towards learning skills you will later need in the job market. And there is a dominant atmosphere on campus that values an undergraduate education geared towards getting a job. However, many of the classes are based off of a thorough grounding in theory with the trust that you will develop the technical skills you might need either through summer internships or when you find yourself actually on the job. While I wish I had more technical training, I am grateful that I understand the complexity of the tasks I will later be expected to perform. This approach encourages a different way of approaching work, one focused on a deeper understanding of its significance rather than rote mechanics.

I have taken three large lecture classes: Econ 51, Psych 11 and Compsci 82. Otherwise, almost every other class I have taken has had 16 or fewer students. I am an English major with a concentration in history, documentary and visual and media studies. My professors not only know my name by the end of the semester, but they know my goals and interests. From a practical perspective, this makes networking easy. Yet it makes for a much more meaningful classroom experience, as well. Class participation is expected and often encourages discussion outside of class. My pre-med friends often talk about extremely competitive classes. Students who enter Duke with a specific career in mind tend to suffer the most from the competition. Students are competitive by nature of being high achievers. However, the level of competition varies greatly by major. As an English major, I rarely feel as if I am competing against my classmates. Our interests and concentrations are so unique, there is little worry about coming up second in a direct comparison. A Duke education can certainly be geared towards learning skills you will later need in the job market. And there is a dominant atmosphere on campus that values an undergraduate education geared towards getting a job. However, many of the classes are based off of a thorough grounding in theory with the trust that you will develop the technical skills you might need either through summer internships or when you find yourself actually on the job. While I wish I had more technical training, I am grateful that I understand the complexity of the tasks I will later be expected to perform. This approach encourages a different way of approaching work, one focused on a deeper understanding of its significance rather than rote mechanics.

Without a doubt, Duke is challenging. It's not easy like high school was, and I've learned to lower my standards on my grades (chances are, you won't get all As here). When you're surrounded by people who are just as smart as you are, and more often than not for me, smarter, you can't expect to be the best at something. Everyone at Duke was top notch in high school, so when you put a bunch of people like that together, not everyone can stay at the top. So far, most of my classes have been larger lecture classes because as an engineer and pre-med, I have to get a lot of general requirements out of the way. Because of this, the classroom environment hasn't been too intimate. In labs, recitations, and the few smaller classes that I have had, professors and TAs typically know the names of the students. Participation is encouraged though even if the professor doesn't know each student's name. For larger lectures, if you go to office hours of a professor he/she will remember your name though. So far, my favorite class has been my engineering mechanics class this semester. We're finally getting into material that I can directly relate to my major. My least favorite class is undoubtedly organic chemistry (both semesters of it). The professors have been great, it's just the material that I dislike. A good professor can't make organic chemistry enjoyable, unfortunately. Most of the professors are high quality here. I've yet to have a professor I've disliked. Not all of them have been great, but they've all been at least good. Students study a lot here. A lot of people will wait a few nights before a test to study though, and some will even wait until the night before. People here are good students, but not everyone starts preparing for a test weeks ahead of time. We study, but we also have fun. Students are competitive, but it's not cut-throat. I've been surprised on many occasions by my peers. Students will actually go out of their way to help each other. I thought there would be a mentality like, "I'm not going to help her. It will hurt the curve," but I was definitely wrong about this. It's competitive because students want to be successful individually, not because they want other students to fail. Duke has reasonable requirements for students. I don't have much flexibility in my schedule because I have a lot of requirements to fill, but that's because I'm both and engineer and a pre-med student. For most students, the requirements do not feel overwhelming and they can explore different electives. Overall, Duke creates well-rounded students who are prepared for the next step, whether that may be employment or further education. The engineering department, from my experiences, especially prepares students. I am studying Biomedical Engineering. BME at Duke is ranked second in the nation and was the first accredited program in the major in the United States, so we have a history of excellence in this field. I am very confident in the BME program, as well as other programs at Duke, so I believe that students will not be disappointed by their education.

I'm not going to lie - attending Duke means you will face an intense and rigorous academic life, no matter what your major is. Professors expect a lot from their students simply because they know we can handle it. I've only been in one 500 person lecture, which was an Intro to Psych class I took my freshmen year. Besides that, all of my classes have been limited to less than 40. I've been in several classes with just 10 to 15 people, which is an awesome learning experience at the collegiate level. I'm a Public Policy and English double major, which is my way of combining an interest of public service with a love of literature. The Public Policy school is one of the best in the country and boasts amazing professors and courses; besides the core requirement classes (which were not my favorite), I have enjoyed all my courses, because they are interesting and relevant to the world we live in. The English Department at Duke is equally as strong. I enjoy my English courses because they are generally small discussion based classes where I have been able to get to know my professors and peers very well. There is definitely a balance between academics for the purpose of getting a job and academics for the sake of learning; I feel like everyone is interested in learning for the purpose of getting a job after Duke, but likewise, students are interested and engaged in learning for learning's sake. A lot of my friends take classes that just sound interesting, and that have nothing to do with their majors/minors. That is very common practice at Duke.

Duke attracts some of the brightest students in the country, and their academics were the main reason I decided to attend the university. Classes are normally small, 10 to 15 students, so the professors can know each student on a more individual basis. In these courses, participation is not only encouraged, but it is part of the grade. Even in lecture sized classes (the biggest class I had at Duke was 120 students), all of my professors have addressed me by name. My favorite course at Duke was Introduction to Creative Writing, which I took in Berlin, Germany with the Duke in Berlin program (a summer study abroad program). The course only had seven students, but we were all very eager to learn and produced some amazing writing in the process. This was also the most unique course I have taken, mainly because our writings were based on Berlin and required us to roam the city. Using the city as a muse definitely advanced my growth as a writer, and I was able to explore Germany at the same time! Ironically, my least favorite course was another creative writing course. The professor made this course unbearable for me, and he was very condescending towards writing he deemed "bad." With that being said, professors really do make or break courses, and I would do some research before signing up for anything. While all Duke professors are experts in their field, some are simply not meant to be teachers. For that reason, I only spend time with some of my professors outside of class, usually the ones I feel can teach me something not taught in the classroom. All professors have office hours, and this is a great way to drop in and have a conversation. Conversations are also prevalent among the student population, and the majority of Duke undergraduates and hungry for debate. This can almost be problematic, as students will deliberately look for arguments or points they can contend. These same students study constantly, as is the case with most colleges. I think that Duke students feel more obligated to earn "good" grades, since all of us excelled in high school. With that being said, students are extremely competitive. It takes a particular type of high school student to do well at Duke, and these students must be ready to face a highly pressurized environment. I am a Psychology major and an English minor, which are two vastly different departments. Psychology is one of the most popular majors at Duke, and for that reason there are numerous courses in developmental, biological, social, cognitive, and abnormal specialties (at least one of which you have to focus). There is a lot of freedom in the major, and I have only taken a few courses because they were "required" (statistics and a methods course). I love Psychology, and I recommend that students choose a major that they are truly in love with. On the other hand, the English department, more specifically the creative writing section of the department, is not very large. There is no creative writing major at Duke, which is why I chose to minor in English. Since the minor only requires five English courses (of my choosing), I have a ton of freedom to pick the courses I want to take. With that being said, the overall graduation requirements are certainly fair at Duke. I fulfilled most of my requirements without having to specifically choose courses that were coded certain ways. For example, students need to take two QS (quantitative studies) courses, which are normally calculus, statistics, or computer science. I had to deliberately enroll in computer science to satisfy my graduation requirements. I imagine that students with a more science focused major may have similar trouble fulfilling the ALP (arts, literatures, and performance) and SS (social sciences) requirements. You also have to take three FL (foreign language) courses at Duke, which is a great opportunity to learn a new language. Looking at these requirements, I believe Duke is really geared toward learning for its own sake. Duke forces students to take courses in areas outside their majors, which I think can be beneficial for all (I have certainly become more analytical after taking computer science). The university recognizes that the vast majority of its undergraduates want to go to graduate school, and so it doesn't gear its academics toward getting a job. In the end, Duke is really what you make of it, and you have the opportunity to really branch out of your comfort zone.

Duke attracts some of the brightest students in the country, and their academics were the main reason I decided to attend the university. Classes are normally small, 10 to 15 students, so the professors can know each student on a more individual basis. In these courses, participation is not only encouraged, but it is part of the grade. Even in lecture sized classes (the biggest class I had at Duke was 120 students), all of my professors have addressed me by name. My favorite course at Duke was Introduction to Creative Writing, which I took in Berlin, Germany with the Duke in Berlin program (a summer study abroad program). The course only had seven students, but we were all very eager to learn and produced some amazing writing in the process. This was also the most unique course I have taken, mainly because our writings were based on Berlin and required us to roam the city. Using the city as a muse definitely advanced my growth as a writer, and I was able to explore Germany at the same time! Ironically, my least favorite course was Advanced Narrative Writing, another creative writing course. The professor made this course unbearable for me, and he was very condescending towards writing he deemed "bad." With that being said, professors really do make or break courses, and I would do some research before signing up for anything. While all Duke professors are experts in their field, some are simply not meant to be teachers. For that reason, I only spend time with some of my professors outside of class, usually the ones I feel can teach me something not taught in the classroom. All professors have office hours, and this is a great way to drop in and have a conversation. Conversations are also prevalent among the student population, and the majority of Duke undergraduates and hungry for debate. This can almost be problematic, as students will deliberately look for arguments or points they can contend. These same students study constantly, as is the case with most colleges. I think that Duke students feel more obligated to earn "good" grades, since all of us excelled in high school. With that being said, students are extremely competitive. It takes a particular type of high school student to do well at Duke, and these students must be ready to face a highly pressurized environment. I am a Psychology major and an English minor, which are two vastly different departments. Psychology is one of the most popular majors at Duke, and for that reason there are numerous courses in developmental, biological, social, cognitive, and abnormal specialties (at least one of which you have to focus). There is a lot of freedom in the major, and I have only taken a few courses because they were "required" (statistics and a methods course). I love Psychology, and I recommend that students choose a major that they are truly in love with. On the other hand, the English department, more specifically the creative writing section of the department, is not very large. There is no creative writing major at Duke, which is why I chose to minor in English. Since the minor only requires five English courses (of my choosing), I have a ton of freedom to pick the courses I want to take. With that being said, the overall graduation requirements are certainly fair at Duke. I fulfilled most of my requirements without having to specifically choose courses that were coded certain ways. For example, students need to take two QS (quantitative studies) courses, which are normally calculus, statistics, or computer science. I had to deliberately enroll in computer science to satisfy my graduation requirements. I imagine that students with a more science focused major may have similar trouble fulfilling the ALP (arts, literatures, and performance) and SS (social sciences) requirements. You also have to take three FL (foreign language) courses at Duke, which is a great opportunity to learn a new language. Looking at these requirements, I believe Duke is really geared toward learning for its own sake. Duke forces students to take courses in areas outside their majors, which I think can be beneficial for all (I have certainly become more analytical after taking computer science). The university recognizes that the vast majority of its undergraduates want to go to graduate school, and so it doesn't gear its academics toward getting a job. In the end, Duke is really what you make of it, and you have the opportunity to really branch out of your comfort zone.

Beating a dead horse, but: - small classes. Obviously, there are the usual giant intro lectures for weed-out courses, but they are certainly not the norm at all. In the humanities disciplines particularly, my usual class has 20-30 students. - great professors. Again, there are exceptions, just like there would be at any other university. By and large, the faculty are brilliant, eager to help via office hours, and genuinely interested in teaching. - smart peers. Goes without saying.

Professors know your name. Classes are rarely too big for that, and even in a big class you can still receive individual attention if you are persistent. My favorite classes were (1) Music, Sound, & Style, which was a sort of musical history and appreciation class for classical music, dealing with the time between the Baroque and Modern periods; (2) The History of War, which was a comprehensive history of warfare class that went from prehistoric civilization, through Ur and Babylonia, and finished with the development of guerrilla-style wars like the Peninsular War of Napoleon in Spain.

Excellent professors, and you can get easy classes if you just look for them.

Whether or not a professor knows your name clearly depends on the size of the class. In general, classes beyond the introductory level are small and possess an intimate atmoshpere conducive for close relationship with your professor. Students study a lot between Sunday and Thursday, but when Thursday night comes around, not much studying gets done. Another thing that I have found to be most rewarding at Duke is the frequency of intellectual conversations outside of class. I can remember going into the dinning hall with intentions of eating quickly to get work done early, yet I end up staying an extra 4 hours talking to friends about topics ranging from politics, global warming, to race issues. I have always said that the classroom is everywhere. Just being a person with a diverse group of friends helps one to learn and grow as a person. The intellectual conversations I have had at Duke have revealed to me a world of knowledge I could have never thought of amassing. To my suprise students on campus are not as competitive as I thought they would be. Honestly, I feel like we live in an environment in which most of us are very much aware of our intellectual abilities. When you step on campus you are amongst the cream of the crop, and you are rightfully so. There is no need for competition when in the end we all will be in great positions for our future. I would say that the education at Duke encompasses both the preparedness for a job and the overall sake of learning. The curriculum is geared toward classes that relate to your field of study or work, but it also has room for a few classes that one might take just for the sake of learning about that topic.

Academics are in one word...unparalleled. The academic resources at duke are amazing. as i said above, anything you want to do, you can do. If you want to study geology in Timbuktu, east asian fashions in vietnam, or the history of cheese in Venezuela, you can do it. Duke has amazing resources to help you pursue you passions. Professors are great. Classes are small. help is available.

Students at Duke put academics and studying before anything else. You'll see your friends studying all of the time. You can expect to have at least one person in each class that was born to talk and that likes to answer all of the questions, but that doesn't stop the professors from giving everyone a fair chance to voice their ideas if they want the chance. You're going to have to take a foreign language, which may be cool with you, but as a computer science major, I really hate the requirement, especially since I now have to take three semesters of Latin...