Duke University Top Questions

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Most people believe that the campus is full of rich, white, and pretentious students. While yes the campus sends many of its students to top consulting firms and into Investment banking careers, the students are not oblivious or uncaring to the world around them. Not everyone on campus is white or rich; in fact, a significant population of the campus receives financial aid (many are in work-study programs). While there is a portion of the population who will fall into this stereotype, it is not generalizable by any means. Whatever you are looking for, you can find at Duke.

1. Work hard, play hard. 2. Highly ambitious and competitive. 3. Trends towards prestigious, high-paying jobs. 4. Most come from well-to-do backgrounds. 5. Tends to be fairly shallow, unless you find the right circles. Most of the stereotypes above are fairly accurate.

Rich, preppy, fun-loving smart kids from either the New England or the South. The stereotype is true for a pretty significant part of the student body.

Rich, preppy, fun-loving smart kids from either the New England or the South. The stereotype is true for a pretty significant part of the student body.

Rich, preppy, fun-loving smart kids from either the New England or the South. The stereotype is true for a pretty significant part of the student body.

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Due to occasional spikes in conveniently awful press, Duke kids sometimes get a bad rap in the media for being rich, white, cliquey party animals. There was a Rolling Stone article several years ago, GQ rated us one of America's "Douchiest" schools, and of course, the lacrosse scandal still sticks out in the average American's mind when they hear "Duke." Think polos, topsiders, and Brooks Brothers club shorts. What you should also know is that these aggressive, negative stereotypes are incredibly overblown. Is there a significant Greek presence at Duke? Sure. Some students choose to take fraternity and sorority life very seriously. Rest assured, though, that even those within the Greek system are very often actively involved in many other social and extracurricular spheres and avoid closing themselves off from the rest of campus. As an extroverted independent, I have never once felt socially alienated. I party with frat guys. I hangout with my teams from various extracurriculars. I chill with my basketball/workout friends. At Duke, our students are such amazing, well-rounded, talented individuals that the concept of over-the-top social segregation is becoming less and less of an issue. Duke might have been closer to some of our stereotypes years ago, but know that when you step onto campus now, you will be surrounded by thousands of amazing, dynamic people who don't fit into neat little cliche boxes. You can make friends with anyone and everyone. Duke is also far more ethnically and financially diverse than people give it credit for. The admissions committee does a good job of making sure they've built a class full of people from all kinds of backgrounds, and the financial aid system is one of the best in the world, thanks to our generous endowment. Big need-based grants are far more common than our privileged stereotype might suggest.

For some reason I've never really understood, Duke students are stereotyped to be toolish jerks. According to this stereotype, they are rich, Northeastern kids who party all the time and have little regard for the people around them. Growing up a UNC fan in North Carolina, I am well aware of this sentiment. However, for the most part, it is utterly false. Although there are toolish jerks at Duke (just as there are at any school), Duke is an incredibly diverse campus with people from all walks of life. Not everyone is rich and there is not stigma against those who don't have as much money as others - in fact, it's almost impossible to tell who has money and who doesn't. However, there is one notable area in which Duke students do conform to their stereotype; within some (but not all) fraternities in the Greek scene, men tend to homogenize into one kind of person - and that person is often a tool. Yet this is only a portion of the Greek scene, and a vast minority of the Duke student body. As a whole, I'd say the correct stereotype about Duke is students who are passionate. Students get whole-heartedly involved in all aspects of their school, from social to academic to athletic to extracurricular. They are passionate about their studies, their fellow students, and their school.