Duke University Top Questions

The coursework can become inherently difficult to balance with extracurricular activities.

I think the most frustrating thing about my school is the fast pace at which extracurricular activities, living groups, and student government organizations recruit. Rush and elections occur at the very start of the semester, and if you're brand new to campus it feels very overwhelming to try to adjust and figure out non-academic aspects of life at the same time. A student should try to figure out what they want to do before arriving on campus so they can be well-informed when the application processes start.

parking is terrible

The most frustrating thing about my school is how competetive everyone is. A lot of classes are graded on a curve so students are very unwilling to help someone that they see is struggling becuase they are so focused on beating htem. This leads to a really tense classroom evironment where everyone is also judging the other students to determine who they can beat.

The most frustrating thing about my school is the difference between Greeks and non-Greeks. In order to have fun on this campus, it is pretty much mandatory that you join a fraternity or a sorority. Those students who do not "go Greek" do not have as much fun, because most of the weekend social events organized on campus are by Greek organizations. For those people who cannot afford to pay as much as $1000 for membership, it is pretty hard to meet people and to enter in a social network if they do not join a fraternity or sorority.

The most frustrating thing about Duke is the competition for grades. Sometimes, other students aren't willing to help you understand something or learn new material fully because they are trying to get ahead in the class themselves and are more concerned about their own well being. There are particular classes that are especially cut-throat, mainly the pre-health science courses in which the grading is curved.

Many activities on campus are based around alcohol. Students work extremely hard in their academics during the week, but many choose to "let loose" and go crazy on the weekends.

It is frustrating that people don't think that such an awesome school can be in the South.

The grading and class credit system allows for a large amount of parity between different majors.

Intense academic competition

Residential Life maddeningly tries to dictate every facet of student life. From banning lofts to trying to institute mandatory sleep hours for freshman, they fail to realize that we are in fact adults.

It's so competitive!

big science classes

It's career-focus among undergraduates and lack of interesting intellectual inquiry among students and staff. It's supposed to be this bastion of intellectualism, but it's just school.

So difficult academically.

A lot of work, and people i dont seem to share many interests with..

Often hard to find social pursuits or leisure activities outside of drinking, especially if you do not have a car.

The housing is not as modern as it could be, though there are clearly new dorms that are much nicer than the rest (they also cost more).

Our reading period before final exams is usually only a weekend, which is never enough time to study before exams start.

After freshman year, I find it hard to make new friends. Also, it is a little difficult to make friends outside of your own race.