Duke University Tour

Duke is a selective mid-sized school with 6,700 students located in Durham, NC. The 9,000 acre campus divided in to east/west campuses butts up to 9,000 acres of open space – and is nicknamed “the University in the Forest”. Duke is a unique with DI championship sports that coexist with stellar academics. School spirit is strong and Duke Blue is present everywhere. Duke pride’s itself on its diversity and there are lots of student resources on campus.

Duke has two undergraduate schools: 80% of students are in Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and 20% of students in the engineering school. The engineering school offers 5; students take half their classes in the school of engineering half in college of arts and sciences. Duke places emphasizes community service and service is a big part of the school and woven into the academic classes. Writing 101 is the only required class for all students. The school stresses exploration, discovery and hands on learning. You hear a lot about small seminars, service work, and how students get to build their own curriculum. 70% of classes have fewer than 20 students. It’s competitive, but students say the workload is manageable and highlight the collaborative nature of the school. Students rave about how much professors support Duke students and there are many opportunities to connect with faculty. Learning is very hands on.

80% of students live on campus. Unique to Duke, is the Duke In program with programs in the U.S. and abroad taught by Duke professors. While sports are huge, greek life is also a big part of the school. Durham is a small working class city, that gets press as a foodie destination and is well-known from a medical research center in the U.S.

Fun fact: Duke has the largest lemur population outside of Madagascar.