Duke University
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Majors: Political Science with a Markets & Management Studies certificate
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: White Straight Male
Summary
I’m in Greek life, and I play a lot of intermural sports.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
Sexual Orientation: Straight
High School Experience: Private school in Los Angeles, California with a graduating class of 280 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First Generation College Student: No
Majors: Political Science with a Markets & Management Studies certificate
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: I’m in Greek life, and I play a lot of intermural sports.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
Intermural sports have been a lot of fun. It’s a good time to be active and hang out with my friends.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your Political Science major?
The classes are mostly writing-based, and there aren’t really any problem sets. There are memos and essays.
Is there anything that you feel your major’s department does especially well or especially poorly?
It’s good that you get advisors without too many people assigned to them, so they’re usually available to meet.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I think it’s definitely both. Classes with curves get more competitive, but I’ve been in a lot of classes where it’s been collaborative. Both my economics and math classes were curved. People would collaborate in economics less so than in math. In Political Science, there’s a lot more group work. We’ll have presentations where we all have to do some research, and since it’s not curved people don’t mind helping each other out.
What has been your favorite class in your major?
Political Autonomy. I was really interested in learning how the economy works on a wider scale.
What has been your least favorite class in your major?
Institutions in Self Governance. The material was dry.
Do you feel that people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
I’d say so. There’s a lot of discussion and debates in those classes. Most people are pretty good about not taking what people say in the debate personally.
What made you choose your major? And are you happy with your choice?
I wanted to do economics initially, but it ended up being pretty boring, and I wasn’t interested in doing the math or the statistics that are required. For Political Science, I can do foreign policy and political autonomy, so I feel like I’m learning a lot more about what I want to learn. I’m probably going to do something in business, so the Markets & Management certificate will be helpful down the road.
Reasons to Attend
1) It prepares you really well. You’ll be in an environment with driven students who will push you to be better.
2) It’s a good atmosphere with how good we are at basketball. It brings some excitement to campus. People get really into the sports here, so it’s not just working all the time.
3) The teachers know a lot about their subjects, and they’re willing to meet with students to share their knowledge with them. A lot of the ones that teach me have been invested in their student’s success. If you show them you want to do well, they’ll help you out.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) If you want an experience outside of the school in a city or a good town, Durham isn’t right for that.
2) In some classes like economics, and those doing finance, it can get competitive. Some people get anxious and stressed out all the time because people feel like they’re falling behind.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Blackwell in a single.
Sophomore: Off-campus apartments with one roommate.
Junior: Off-campus house with three roommates.
What has been your favorite living situation?
Probably this house. It’s nice living with more people, and we each have our own spaces.
How was transitioning from LA to Durham, NC?
It was a transition, but it wasn’t that bad. It’s different because it’s a much smaller city and it’s slower-paced. The town is mostly Duke, whereas there’s a lot going on in LA.
What is your favorite off-campus restaurant?
Vin Rouge. I can’t afford that by myself, so that’s a parent’s weekend thing. The place I go most often would be Alpaca Chicken.
What is your favorite place to get away from campus?
My house.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
On campus is really safe. Durham as a whole is not that safe, but if you’re a student you won’t go to the dangerous places.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
There are two bars that everyone goes to. One is called Shooters, and it’s open Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Devines is opened on Thursdays, which is usually what we’ll be doing. Depending on my work, I usually go out Thursdays and Saturdays, and sometimes Wednesdays. Fridays are usually spent staying in or doing work.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
I’d say it’s a pretty big impact. You’re going to go out with the people in your frat or sorority, so if there aren’t a lot of people going out, you’re probably less inclined to do so. There are also mixers, but if you’re not part of them, you won’t go to those.
Can you describe a typical night going out freshman year before you were in a fraternity?
There would usually be some sort of frat event hosted by one of the frats I was rushing. They’d invite freshman to their first-semester stuff. Other nights it would be a small group of friends from my dorm, then we’d go to Shooters or Devines.
How happy are you with the weekend activities or nightlife at your school? Is there anything you would change if you could?
It’s pretty fun. People seem to be going out less and less since I was a freshman. Before I was at Duke, people would even go out on Tuesdays, but that seems like overkill. I wish there were more bars because we only go to two consistently.
What have been some of your favorite times at Duke?
A really fun part of the year is before we play North Carolina. There’s a walk-up line to get tickets where you camp for weeks before, or you can sleep outside for a few days.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
They were all in my pledge class. I knew some of them while I was rushing, but I got to know them a lot better after we joined.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
A lot. It feels pretty integrated, and there’s a lot of diversity. [Duke’s student body is 44% White, 21% Asian-American, and 10% Black.]
How would you describe the student body?
It feels pretty ambitious. I know it was more intense for the seniors when the investment banks would come and do their information sessions. Everyone was really driven, and there was a really competitive environment for some time because everyone was scrambling for the few positions they offered.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Duke?
I think it’s pretty good. There’s a good group of people who go out. I know people go out way less than big state schools, but I’m happy with it. There’s a work hard play hard environment. I have a lot of good friends not in my frat who’ve I’ve met going out or through class. You’re not defined to the one group you join.
How do you like the size of your school? How has the size of your school influenced your social experience? [There are about 7,000 undergraduate students at Duke.]
I do like the size. I know some students who go to bigger schools that don’t know all the people in their frat that well, and I think it’s nice that ours is big enough to always have a group of guys to hang out with, but it’s small enough to know everyone pretty well.
Do you think people are happy with their choice of Duke by senior year?
I think a lot of people are. Everyone seems to love it here.
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
I haven’t gotten a job through the alumni network, but a lot of people who do finance have.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
I’ve used it for reading over my resume. They’ve edited it and made it sound better. They also have a career fair, which is when a bunch of companies come and set up stands. You can sign up for information sessions, or figure out what’s available.
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that will be helpful professionally?
We used RStudio for statistics labs. I learned Excel in high school, but haven’t used it here.