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Duke University
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Inside Scoop

Quick Stats

School Slang
  • The ‘Dillo: Armadillo Grill, a popular place for some good Mexican food
  • The BC: The Bryan Center
  • Blocking: In the housing lottery, it is possible to sign up in a “block.” Students who "block" are given consecutive lottery numbers to have a better chance of getting rooms next to or near each other.
  • Cameron Crazies: What Duke students morph into once they enter Cameron Indoor Stadium
  • Grace: When the temperature dips below freezing in K-Ville, campers are granted “grace” and allowed to head back home for the rest of the night.
  • Graffiti Bridge: The bridge between West and East on which students are allowed to plug parties, activities, and theme weeks
  • Gross Chem: The building is the “Paul M. Gross Chemical Laboratory Building,” but is referred to as “Gross Chem.”
  • K-Ville: Krzyzewskiville, the village of tents created by avid students camping out for Duke basketball tickets
  • Tent Check: There are random tent checks for those who do tent for games, to make sure everyone’s there. The killers are the 2 a.m. tent checks when everyone stumbles into the bitter cold in their pajamas.
  • Tunneling: East Campus has a tunnel system under the dorms.
  • Walk-up Line: The line of people who didn’t camp out for the basketball games
Things I Wish I Knew Before Coming To School
  • Duke is pretty much its own little world; except on weekends, you don’t really see the outside on this enclosed campus.
  • Durham is really not a great college town—Chapel Hill, however, passes quite nicely and is a free bus ride away.
  • Just because the Marketplace is all-you-can-eat doesn’t mean you should eat all you can.
  • Just how big Greek life is here
  • Parking can be very difficult.
  • Without air conditioning, the first and last few weeks will be a formative experience.
Tips to Succeed
  • Get a good amount of sleep, use the exercise facilities (because they’re awesome), eat well, take care of yourself, and balance work and fun. Time management is tough at times, but Duke students learn to make it work.
  • Go to office hours! Many professors are willing to help, or even just to chat.
  • Meet as many people from as many backgrounds as you can. All the resources are there, whether you are looking for an intellectual conversation or help with a research project.
  • Study. A lot will be demanded of you academically, and there's simply no substitute for hard work.
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Duke Student ReviewsWhat's This?

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Inside Scoop at Duke University

tallo

'14

Political Science and Government

5.0
A+

Like We Fell Out of a Movie

The most unique thing about this school that has continued to baffle me is that everyone in the school is fit. And I'm not talking about stick thin or 26-inch biceps, but I mean we're all healthy and generally conscientious about our health. And I don't know about any other school but I feel like it's a novel thing.

Jan 08, 2012

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Inside Scoop at Duke University

FlyingAngel

'15

Mechanical Engineering

4.2
A-

Basketball!

We have strong sports program, but also one of the highest rates of athletes actually graduating.

Dec 29, 2011

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Inside Scoop at Duke University

moominluv08

'12

French Language and Literature

4.6
A

Awesome Athletics/School Spirit AND Extremely Ambitious Student Body

Makes for kind of a competitive combo, but never a dull moment.

Oct 06, 2011

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Page 1 of 3

Facts

Traditions
  • Blue Devil Mascot : The Blue Devil mascot appears to pump people up at all the basketball games. Since he can’t talk to mock (and what’s a basketball game without jeering?), he wears a headband with some little witticism about the other team. He also runs over to the band and bangs the bass drum during tip-off.
  • Bonfires : After Duke beats UNC in a home basketball game or wins a national championship, the wooden benches which line the West Campus quads burn in a giant celebratory bonfire (monitored by fire marshals, of course).
  • K-Ville : This little tent community has become highly organized in recent years. It requires registration, scheduling, making tent checks, and sitting/sleeping for long hours in the bitter cold. However, there are some perks—free pizzas, meeting the basketball players, and courtside seats for the biggest rivalry in college basketball!
  • Last Day of Classes Concert (LDOC): On the last day of classes, Duke, like some other colleges, has several artists come in to do a concert before the reading period and exams begin. The bands are usually quite good, and it’s a great chance to relax with friends before you have to buckle down and study hard for finals.
  • Midnight Breakfast : This is a tradition that is much enjoyed on East Campus. The Sunday night before exams begin, freshmen line up on the quad to get into the Midnight Breakfast. Inside is a mixture of desserts and breakfast food, as well as (usually) some free T-shirts. This is definitely a tradition worth taking part in.
Urban Legends
  • All students, before they graduate, must complete five “graduation requirements.” These include: tunneling, climbing atop Baldwin Auditorium, driving around the West Campus traffic circle backwards, climbing the Chapel, and hooking up in the library stacks or Duke Gardens.
  • East Campus wall is 10 feet high—three feet above ground and seven beneath.
  • James B. Duke first offered his endowment to Princeton University, but only if its trustees would change the name to "Duke." They refused. James B. Duke approached Trinity College next, and they agreed (other versions of this story substitute Yale or Georgetown for Princeton).
  • The only reason US News doesn’t rank Duke ahead of Stanford is because Stanford would refuse to participate in the rankings if it was ranked below Duke.

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Most Recent Student Author

College Prowler guides are in the hands of students throughout the entire process. Because you can't make student-written guides without the students, we have students at each campus who write, edit, and survey their peers for every guide that we publish. Thanks to our most recent student author at Duke

Name: George Carotenuto

Hometown: East Hanover, NJ

Major: Economics

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