Duke University

The weather here is pretty nice all the time with random snow thrown in. Gotta dig the cathedral and etc. Basketball season provides a guaranteed awesome social event if you tent and attend the games. And when you're done with whatever social activity you choose to partake in (with the sketchier activities being within the walls), you always have a lot of work to do in your down-time. Nothing feels as great as working all week for a great, not-stop weekend.

1st Year Male -- Class 2008

Education Quality: A+, Surrounding City: B

Duke is a really great place. There are many, many amazing people who aren't pretentious about their own accomplishments even though they usually have a lot to be proud of.

Duke's campus is very beautiful even though there is a lot of building going on right now. I see the building as a really great thing though because we are really striving to be among the very best, and I think that we are succeeding. We have/will soon have a new art museum, science research centers, huge library addition/renovation, public policy building, additions to the Law, Business, and Divinity schools, and the list goes on and on, trust me. I feel that there is no other school that is improving as quickly as Duke is.

Another good thing, I feel, is that Duke is very self-critical and able to identify problems and try to fix them, which I don't think that every school would do as openly as Duke does.

All of my teachers have been great. I will admit that sometimes work becomes a chore and seems to emphasize just lots of work and hard test rather than pure learning, but most often that's not the case, and you will find that at virtually every school anyways. It's really up to the student whether or not s/he takes advantage of all the educational opportunities here. Having a world-class hospital right next door is pretty cool too, for premed students and those interested in biomedical research.The worst thing would be the bus system as a freshman; it can be annoying. But I've realized recently that to go from one end to the other of most college campuses would take at least 30 minutes (the amount of time it takes me to walk from East to West) and they don't even have buses to help them out. But that only lasts one year, so it's all good.

1st Year Male -- Class 2008

Campus Aesthetics: A+, Innovation: B

Duke has been awesome and basically what I expected. Anyone who cites it as cold or boring hasn't tried hard enough. Granted, if you stay in your room and watch tv, it would be pretty lonely. I think people are friendly and everyone can fit in with a group somewhere. Did you expect this to be like a utopia? Actually, everyone is really interesting and fun, but they won't hold your hand. Duke students are assertive and i dont think there is much room for "followers". If you think duke is oppressive it obviously wasn't the place for you.

1st Year Female -- Class 2008

Useful Schoolwork: A+, Perceived Campus Safety: D