Duke University Admission
Duke University Undergraduate Program
Duke University Application

The Facts

Duke University was established in 1924 when North Carolinian James B. Duke founded the university to improve the quality of life in the Carolinas. Since then, his intentions have certainly been implemented; the university now draws top students and faculty from all over the world. Out of the 18,000 applicants each year, only 1,600 are admitted. The admissions standards are extremely high; in the entering class of 2004, the average SAT score was 1475, and 88% of the students were in the top 10% of their graduating high school class. There are two schools at Duke, the famous Pratt School of Engineering, and the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. Some of the most popular majors include economics, public policy, and of course, engineering.

The campus is situated in the suburban town of Durham, North Carolina, which is known for its temperate climate and beautiful natural surroundings. Some student complain that the town hasn’t really embraced its status as a “college town” yet, and there isn’t really anything to do off-campus; however, there are several clubs and restaurants slowly beginning to sprout.

The Social Scene

The campus is absolutely gorgeous, and is known for its neo-gothic architecture surrounded by large trees and parks. The campus is divided into an East and West campus, with the freshmen living in one community on the East campus to foster a great first year experience. The dorms are beautiful and quite old, but they have recently been renovated. Students are required to live in housing for three of the four years.

Duke is renowned for its strong school spirit—their men’s basketball team, the Blue Devils, is hugely popular; students are known to camp out in front of the stadium for days at a time just to ensure they get tickets for the next big game. Intramural sports are also popular, and range from squash to ultimate Frisbee on the quad.

There are 35 Greek organizations at Duke, both fraternities and sororities, so any student who is thinking about rushing should have no lack of choices. Fraternities dominate the social scene, hosting lavish, wild bashes for all students who like to party. Because of the administration’s crackdown on drinking (they closed the campus bar), fraternities don’t have as many parties on campus, but have begun to rent out area restaurants and clubs. Apparently, “drinking is a required activity.”

The girls tend to be hot and image-conscious, while the guys are a mixed bag of preppy athletes or complete geeks—guys, this might be your lucky day.

What's Good

“The sports team is really what holds the school together, game time is when every single student can get excited about the same thing.”

“There is always a party happening to take the edge of the fierce academics.”

“The academics are absolutely incredible. I don’t think I ever expected to be able to learn quite so much in just one semester.”

What's Bad

“If you don’t like sports or parties, there isn’t anything to do.”

“The freshmen are really isolated over on their own campus. It’s hard to get to know any upper-classmen.”

“Durham is probably the most boring town in history. You’d think by now they’d get a clue about the fact college students like to have fun and start profiting off all the rich kids who have got daddy’s money.”

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