Our Duke college tour is November 5th (yes election day). Tell me what to expect.

[HoKogan]

So we have a 2pm campus tour lined up for my oldest daughter on election day. We got an email that we're to park near the Karsh Alumni Center. We're also doing an admissions program as well to understand the logistics there. Right now we only have the App tour to compare it to. I've heard from some that guide leaders dont go out of their way to make the prospective students feel valued, but they also said the same about UNC, and I've heard from others that that notion was ridiculous.
Not too worried about that regardless. Any tips? Questions we should hit? I know Duke is incredibly selective so we're not under any grand delusion that my precious artifact child just has to get in. Athletic favoritism also doesn't have much sway either as I tend to go to the home football games on occasion and the football program is just as happy to take my money whether my kid goes here or not. I just want to enjoy the experience and same for my daughter. I didn't get to do the college tour thing when I was in high school

 

[budwom]

hope you get a good tour guide. Some are very very good, some less so.

 

[CrazyNotCrazie]

So we have a 2pm campus tour lined up for my oldest daughter on election day. We got an email that we're to park near the Karsh Alumni Center. We're also doing an admissions program as well to understand the logistics there. Right now we only have the App tour to compare it to. I've heard from some that guide leaders dont go out of their way to make the prospective students feel valued, but they also said the same about UNC, and I've heard from others that that notion was ridiculous.
Not too worried about that regardless. Any tips? Questions we should hit? I know Duke is incredibly selective so we're not under any grand delusion that my precious artifact child just has to get in. Athletic favoritism also doesn't have much sway either as I tend to go to the home football games on occasion and the football program is just as happy to take my money whether my kid goes here or not. I just want to enjoy the experience and same for my daughter. I didn't get to do the college tour thing when I was in high school

I was actually on a zoom last night for alumni interviewers where they had four current students answer questions so this is somewhat top of mind for me.

A few things I would ask about:
Explain the QuadX program. How do they like it so far? Do most seniors now live off campus?
Talk about small group programs for freshmen like FOCUS (I think that is the name)?
I think there is now a universal pre-orientation program that everyone participates in? How does that work and what do they think of it?
How do they think Duke has handled things post October 7 (they will likely not give you a straight answer, though I think that from what I know, Duke handled it better than most of its peer schools)
How politically active is Duke? Is there a diversity of opinions? Are diverse opinions welcome, both inside and outside the classroom?
They mentioned something about there being a limitation on how many students can study abroad in each country/program. How does that work? Or you can just ask a more general question about study abroad.
If you are not super pre-professional, what is the atmosphere like?
Is it hard to get into classes you want?
How many minutes per game will Darren Harris get this season?

 

[HoKogan]

Thanks for the questions.
I had to look up what the Oct 7th incident was, I'm going to assume there was some blowback on the memorial service and I won't delve too much into it since that sounds like public policy. Its a good opportunity for us to discuss as a family how to approach an event or situation that you aren't sure where you stand on the event in particular.
I'll also lobby to the guide the likelihood that our OC tries to run Murphy more than he currently is.

 

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Thanks for the questions.
I had to look up what the Oct 7th incident was, I'm going to assume there was some blowback on the memorial service and I won't delve too much into it since that sounds like public policy. Its a good opportunity for us to discuss as a family how to approach an event or situation that you aren't sure where you stand on the event in particular.
I'll also lobby to the guide the likelihood that our OC tries to run Murphy more than he currently is.

By October 7 I mean the incident in Israel (trying not to be political). Penn, Columbia, Harvard had a lot of protests, issues with the presidents, etc. Duke definitely had a robust discussion and disagreements but from what I understand it was different, though I am not sure and I know the mods don't want us going into any more detail on the topic. As a Jewish person with many friends whose kids are currently in the college process, how schools handled this was/is a major question for them. My son was applying to NYC private schools last spring and we did a lot of research on how the different schools handled it when deciding where to apply and where to send him.

It likely is not a question you want to bring up to a tour guide in a group setting - it is controversial, there is a lot of nuance involved, and they won't give you a straight answer in that environment anyway. But I just included it in my list for the sake of completeness.

 

[Maged]

I am very interested in your impressions of the tour.

Is the tour guide well informed? Is he/she honest about difficult issues like diversity of opinion? Is there still a difference in the Duke environment from the Ivy League environment like there used to be?

I do lots of student interviews for Duke. Those are the tough questions I can't answer.

 

[sagegrouse]

The key part of the tour is the video and briefing in Karsh. Ask your Q's there. The campus tour is hit or miss. Mine in January was a big miss, although the two freshmen tour guides were happy when I offered to describe the development and changes to the Main Quad and give a little history. (I enrolled in 1960, and was the Grandpa on the tour.) They just talked about all their student activities and engagements -- they each had about a dozen but had been on campus only five months. (???)

Do not miss the Brodhead Center with a dozen different restaurants. Yumm! The building is amazing as well.

 

[luvdahops]

I was actually on a zoom last night for alumni interviewers where they had four current students answer questions so this is somewhat top of mind for me.

A few things I would ask about:
Explain the QuadX program. How do they like it so far? Do most seniors now live off campus?
Talk about small group programs for freshmen like FOCUS (I think that is the name)?
I think there is now a universal pre-orientation program that everyone participates in? How does that work and what do they think of it?
How do they think Duke has handled things post October 7 (they will likely not give you a straight answer, though I think that from what I know, Duke handled it better than most of its peer schools)
How politically active is Duke? Is there a diversity of opinions? Are diverse opinions welcome, both inside and outside the classroom?
They mentioned something about there being a limitation on how many students can study abroad in each country/program. How does that work? Or you can just ask a more general question about study abroad.
If you are not super pre-professional, what is the atmosphere like?
Is it hard to get into classes you want?
How many minutes per game will Darren Harris get this season?

These are good suggestions. I would also recommend checking out some of the videos on the Duke Undergraduate Admissions YouTube channel, especially any of the student or community panels.

Duke Undergraduate Admissions

Welcome to Discover Duke â Your Gateway to Duke University! This is the official YouTube channel of Duke Undergraduate Admissions, designed to help prospective students, families, and educators explore everything Duke has to offer. ð What Youâll Find Here: Campus Tours â Get a feel for Dukeâs...

www.youtube.com

 

[Phredd3]

I was actually on a zoom last night for alumni interviewers where they had four current students answer questions so this is somewhat top of mind for me.

A few things I would ask about:
Explain the QuadX program. How do they like it so far? Do most seniors now live off campus?
Talk about small group programs for freshmen like FOCUS (I think that is the name)?
I think there is now a universal pre-orientation program that everyone participates in? How does that work and what do they think of it?
How do they think Duke has handled things post October 7 (they will likely not give you a straight answer, though I think that from what I know, Duke handled it better than most of its peer schools)
How politically active is Duke? Is there a diversity of opinions? Are diverse opinions welcome, both inside and outside the classroom?
They mentioned something about there being a limitation on how many students can study abroad in each country/program. How does that work? Or you can just ask a more general question about study abroad.
If you are not super pre-professional, what is the atmosphere like?
Is it hard to get into classes you want?
How many minutes per game will Darren Harris get this season?

Of course, you're welcome to still ask, but FWIW, here are a few impressions to one of two of those by way of my daughter (current Duke senior):

-My daughter hated the idea of QuadX as a freshman. She thought the concept sounded confining. As a senior, she's very happy with how it has worked out in actual practice. She explicitly mentioned that it had the intended effect of bringing together her class and cohort.
-She enjoyed the freshman orientation programs, even though she is local and knew Duke well. It wasn't just orientation to the campus, but more orientation to the lifestyle and culture. She found it quite helpful to have that "fit in" period before the real work took over.
-Our family is not Jewish, nor are we Middle Eastern, so judging the response to October 7th is from a completely neutral perspective. There were some protests, but they were minimally disruptive. A few individual student code infractions were handed out, but it was not a large volume. Duke leadership and administration pretty much said and did the right things, and the campus stayed pretty sane. There was a walkout/protest during Seinfeld's graduation speech that made a point but didn't ruin the day for graduates.
-My daughter went on a summer study abroad program, and she loved every minute of it. She's in engineering and not exactly at the top of her class, so to the extent there are limitations, they are pretty limited limitations. I'd say the biggest issue for us was financial. The cost was not cheap, and we didn't qualify for the aid program.
-My daughter did not find it hard to get into her chosen classes, although she didn't always like the class times on offer. But she comes from an engineering perspective, where the load is pretty managed, at least for the first couple years.

Not from my daughter's perspective: Darren Harris will get only about 5mpg this season, unless we continue to blow out even good teams by 50.

Anything I didn't answer, she doesn't have a good view of and/or she hasn't communicated her view to me.

I hope that helps a little.

 

[duke2x]

They have been using it as an early voter site. It makes driving on DU Road for football/hoops a mess. If they use it for election day, be warned that parking and traffic may remain a mess.

 

[HoKogan]

I can only speak for Alamance but the places where early voting were located were not the places for ED voting. However, most college campuses are going to have a voting location for the students, usually at the center for student life or whatever building uses similar nomenclature

 

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Of course, you're welcome to still ask, but FWIW, here are a few impressions to one of two of those by way of my daughter (current Duke senior):

-My daughter hated the idea of QuadX as a freshman. She thought the concept sounded confining. As a senior, she's very happy with how it has worked out in actual practice. She explicitly mentioned that it had the intended effect of bringing together her class and cohort.
-She enjoyed the freshman orientation programs, even though she is local and knew Duke well. It wasn't just orientation to the campus, but more orientation to the lifestyle and culture. She found it quite helpful to have that "fit in" period before the real work took over.
-Our family is not Jewish, nor are we Middle Eastern, so judging the response to October 7th is from a completely neutral perspective. There were some protests, but they were minimally disruptive. A few individual student code infractions were handed out, but it was not a large volume. Duke leadership and administration pretty much said and did the right things, and the campus stayed pretty sane. There was a walkout/protest during Seinfeld's graduation speech that made a point but didn't ruin the day for graduates.
-My daughter went on a summer study abroad program, and she loved every minute of it. She's in engineering and not exactly at the top of her class, so to the extent there are limitations, they are pretty limited limitations. I'd say the biggest issue for us was financial. The cost was not cheap, and we didn't qualify for the aid program.
-My daughter did not find it hard to get into her chosen classes, although she didn't always like the class times on offer. But she comes from an engineering perspective, where the load is pretty managed, at least for the first couple years.

Not from my daughter's perspective: Darren Harris will get only about 5mpg this season, unless we continue to blow out even good teams by 50.

Anything I didn't answer, she doesn't have a good view of and/or she hasn't communicated her view to me.

I hope that helps a little.

Thanks. This is great. Regarding study abroad (which they now seem to call study away to be more inclusive of domestic programs), from what I understand, starting I believe with the current junior class (so your daughter would not have been impacted), they only let a certain number of students go to a country and/or program. Because they don't want all of Duke to be in Madrid or Florence or Sydney or wherever else. I was not 100% clear on this so perhaps someone more knowledgeable can clarify. I don't think it is a huge limitation but it is a thing.

And, like some of my other questions, it is probably too deep in the weeds to ask a tour guide, though I think that study away in general is definitely worth asking about.

 

[Phredd3]

Thanks. This is great. Regarding study abroad (which they now seem to call study away to be more inclusive of domestic programs), from what I understand, starting I believe with the current junior class (so your daughter would not have been impacted), they only let a certain number of students go to a country and/or program. Because they don't want all of Duke to be in Madrid or Florence or Sydney or wherever else. I was not 100% clear on this so perhaps someone more knowledgeable can clarify. I don't think it is a huge limitation but it is a thing.

And, like some of my other questions, it is probably too deep in the weeds to ask a tour guide, though I think that study away in general is definitely worth asking about.

Absolutely. I can only give you one perspective. My daughter's program was technically limited, but I think there was only one person who was turned down, and that's mostly because they couldn't get their act together in a timely way. But we have heard that there are some super popular ones that do get a higher turn-down rate. So I think it depends on what you want to do, and how focused you are about doing that one thing. But honestly, if you're that focused, there are usually ways to make it happen for a determined, persistent student.

 

[Mal]

Absolutely. I can only give you one perspective. My daughter's program was technically limited, but I think there was only one person who was turned down, and that's mostly because they couldn't get their act together in a timely way. But we have heard that there are some super popular ones that do get a higher turn-down rate. So I think it depends on what you want to do, and how focused you are about doing that one thing. But honestly, if you're that focused, there are usually ways to make it happen for a determined, persistent student.

I have one more (disappointed/annoyed) perspective to add here. Not directly Duke related, but might give HoKogan a few lines of inquiry to pursue on their visit.

A lot of schools, in our era of squeezing out every possible drop of revenue from their undergraduate students, have started aggressively funneling kids into their "[name of school] in [name of city]" programs, where they're the operator. In other words, they're looking askance at having their students go study at Cambridge or the Sorbonne or through independent operators more than in the past (in some cases claiming it's because of accreditation/quality of academics issues; in others forcing them to take all their classes in the local language if the program's not run by the university, knowing that only foreign language majors or native second language speakers can/will) because it's $30k out the door. It can lead to capacity problems, because there are limited options for students in most majors. That's in addition to defeating one of the purposes of studying abroad: getting out of the bubble of your own university. We're dealing with these issues right now as our sophomore (not at Duke) is writing half a dozen essays and applying to study abroad 17 months from now and being told her first choice program has a 30% acceptance rate. It's like the college application process all over again; I spent several hours refining essay ideas with her this week. It's a different world than when I grabbed a dozen brochures from the Study Abroad office in the Allen Building one March afternoon, sent in paperwork to a couple of programs for that August within about a week, and had settled on one by April (in a non-English speaking country because Duke only required us to take an intro course in the local language). Don't know if Duke's pushed in that direction, but you might ask for info. not just on what percentage of students go abroad for a semester at some point, but breakdowns on where, and Duke vs. non-Duke programs. Likewise when touring other schools, of course.

Totally separate item: you might ask students and/or AO staff whether (a) QuadX and (b) the Broadhead eateries have cannibalized social life on East Campus and what the administration is doing to combat that. When we visited in March of '22 with our daughter, East was deeeeeeaaaaaaad on a Thursday night, even though all the freshmen are now living there. It also looked like 98% of the landscaping budget had gone to West. I lived on East as a freshman a million years ago and of course it was always the quieter side of Duke, but it sure felt to me like kids were staying on West or heading back over there for dinner and then studying at Perkins more than we did.

Have fun! Be sure to take your daughter over to CH afterwards, to reinforce for her how special Duke is.

 

[luvdahops]

I have one more (disappointed/annoyed) perspective to add here. Not directly Duke related, but might give HoKogan a few lines of inquiry to pursue on their visit.

A lot of schools, in our era of squeezing out every possible drop of revenue from their undergraduate students, have started aggressively funneling kids into their "[name of school] in [name of city]" programs, where they're the operator. In other words, they're looking askance at having their students go study at Cambridge or the Sorbonne or through independent operators more than in the past (in some cases claiming it's because of accreditation/quality of academics issues; in others forcing them to take all their classes in the local language if the program's not run by the university, knowing that only foreign language majors or native second language speakers can/will) because it's $30k out the door. It can lead to capacity problems, because there are limited options for students in most majors. That's in addition to defeating one of the purposes of studying abroad: getting out of the bubble of your own university. We're dealing with these issues right now as our sophomore (not at Duke) is writing half a dozen essays and applying to study abroad 17 months from now and being told her first choice program has a 30% acceptance rate. It's like the college application process all over again; I spent several hours refining essay ideas with her this week. It's a different world than when I grabbed a dozen brochures from the Study Abroad office in the Allen Building one March afternoon, sent in paperwork to a couple of programs for that August within about a week, and had settled on one by April (in a non-English speaking country because Duke only required us to take an intro course in the local language). Don't know if Duke's pushed in that direction, but you might ask for info. not just on what percentage of students go abroad for a semester at some point, but breakdowns on where, and Duke vs. non-Duke programs. Likewise when touring other schools, of course.

Totally separate item: you might ask students and/or AO staff whether (a) QuadX and (b) the Broadhead eateries have cannibalized social life on East Campus and what the administration is doing to combat that. When we visited in March of '22 with our daughter, East was deeeeeeaaaaaaad on a Thursday night, even though all the freshmen are now living there. It also looked like 98% of the landscaping budget had gone to West. I lived on East as a freshman a million years ago and of course it was always the quieter side of Duke, but it sure felt to me like kids were staying on West or heading back over there for dinner and then studying at Perkins more than we did.

Have fun! Be sure to take your daughter over to CH afterwards, to reinforce for her how special Duke is.

Have some perspective on this question, as my son is a freshman and living in West Residence Hall (fka Jarvis). I think this is definitely an issue during the week, especially since most classes and club/organization gatherings are on West. But per my son, there is a decent amount of socializing on East over the weekends and the Administration does seem to actively encourage the freshman mixing with each other as much as possible versus relying on their QuadEx affiliations (at least so far).

 

[Kdogg]

When we visited in March of '22 with our daughter, East was deeeeeeaaaaaaad on a Thursday night, even though all the freshmen are now living there. It also looked like 98% of the landscaping budget had gone to West. I lived on East as a freshman a million years ago and of course it was always the quieter side of Duke, but it sure felt to me like kids were staying on West or heading back over there for dinner and then studying at Perkins more than we did.

That's going to predate QuadEx. It's a byproduct of it's precursor - All Freshman East - which started my freshman year (1995). Looks like not much has changed from how it was back then from Monday to Thursday. Lots of things did shift to West on the social side and organized activities. Freshman on East generally had to DIY stuff and well we did. For me, it lead to less interaction with upperclassmen but I'm still tight with my freshman year friends. I think it's been proven that that experiment builds class bonds. Weekdays were slow but activities picked up over the weekends.

 

[HoKogan]

Isn't east campus near 9th street? I'm not super familiar with Durham (I can tell you how to get to WW from Burlington with no issue) but I don't know specifics. I know 9th Street is supposed to be where the college age kids go to hang. I also heard Durham wanted to do a light rail sort of like Charlotte but Duke killed it for some reason.

As far as study abroad, I never did it myself. My wife did it when she was in college. Basically they would swap places with a student at a sister school. She paid her tuition, they paid theirs and other than the travel expense, there was no additional cost. The guide at App said thats how theirs works so I would assume other schools do that as well. I know Duke has a satellite campus somewhere in China, but thats probably not meant to facilitate studies abroad unless you speak Mandarin.

 

[Kdogg]

Isn't east campus near 9th street? I'm not super familiar with Durham (I can tell you how to get to WW from Burlington with no issue) but I don't know specifics. I know 9th Street is supposed to be where the college age kids go to hang. I also heard Durham wanted to do a light rail sort of like Charlotte but Duke killed it for some reason.

Yes, East is a few block from 9th Street. Also yes, Duke did kill the light rail project because it thought the vibrations and magnetic interference would interfere with equipment at the Med Center and research building. It probably didn't matter because a few year later the Federal government said they were not going to provide funding because the Triangle's density didn't justify it. I think NC DOT is trying to get some smaller projects off the ground that could eventually merge into an integrated system in the future.

 

[Mal]

Isn't east campus near 9th street?...I know 9th Street is supposed to be where the college age kids go to hang.

It's right there, yes. Again, Stone Age perspective, so may not be relevant today, but in my day students tended to spend more time on 9th Street after freshman year, after we'd moved off of East. We also, for what it's worth, spent more time in the Brightleaf Square area (primarily at Satisfaction and the Down Under Pub, R.I.P. to both) and in Chapel Hill than we did around 9th Street.

 

[HoKogan]

I've heard the cosmic cantina is a good place to eat