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.