Go, Duke! Go, Duke, Go!!!

Introduction
It should be pretty clear to anyone applying to Duke that you have to be willing to meet academic challenges in order to succeed at this school. Duke can be tough. Sure, you can mosey your way through school with easy courses - but at Duke, "easy" is a relative term. It's not impossible; I mean, I'm a huge lazybones and a top-rate procrastinatory, but I made Dean's List. One really important thing (and I think this goes for any college) is writing ability. Though I won't lobby for the IB (International Baccelaureate) Program, I will say that 4 years in that line of study made me really good at churning out papers quickly and effectively. If you struggle with writing, Duke does require all freshmen to take a Writing 20 course, which can be helpful, but know that most classes require some writing and many require a lot of writing. Oh, and first-year languages aren't easy. Latin 1 - yes, ONE - was by far the most difficult course I took last semester. Languages here are great, but they're no field trip. Basically, know what you're getting yourself into, but don't freak out. I promise it's fun too.

Campus Life and Social Life
There is a ton of stuff to do on campus. There are always loads of parties going on, usually hosted by frats, though local clubs and hangouts can always boast enough Dukies for a real party. Sports are excellent - obviously on the varsity level - but there are also club sports and then, my favorite, intramurals. I've played IM dodgeball, flag football, and I'm steady on an all-girls' IM basketball team right now. You can play IM anything; there's even competitive, organized ultimate Frisbee. Also, there are a zillion clubs at Duke. You can join anything. There are all kinds of music groups (choirs, orchestras, a cappella groups, etc.), language clubs, mulitcultural groups, even things as random as a grilling club started by some bored seniors that ended up being featured on the Food Network. Religious life on campus presents a ton of opportunities as well; in addition to the beautiful Duke Chapel, there are endless campus ministry groups for every faith. I'm in...3 Bible studies, at last count, in addition to attending and singing in weekly Chapel services and participating in and leading the Wesley (United Methodist) Fellowship's Sunday night worship. There is no lack of things to do as a Duke student. Academics
All departments at Duke are great. All the professors are wonderful. Some of them are boring, but hey, they're old. All the TAs I've had so far have been very helpful and intelligent to boot. The workload totally depends on the classes you take. If you're like me, you'll end up with a good bit of "required" reading with essays spread out over the course of the semester and a few Latin sentence to translate a couple times a week. If you're like my crazy engineering friend down the hall and take 3 lab classes, you do homework constantly, as he's been doing all weekend (no lie).

Student Body
Duke students are a pretty diverse pack. Yeah, there are the rich white kids, but if you step outside of that bubble (or if you just ARE outside of that bubble, haha) you'll find a plethora of students varying in nationality, ethnicity, religion, etc. There is no "typical" Duke student. We have kids from all over the U.S. and all over the world. Let's just sample some of my dormmates: I'm white, my roommate's black, and the girl across the hall is from Morocco. My best friends in my dorm include the skinny cross-dressing white boy, the half-Japanese kid, the "bad Jew," a Polish girl, a Mexican guy, and a "blaxican" (he's half black, half Mexican). I don't know about you, but I'm a big fan of diversity, and we definitely have it here.

In Closing...
Duke girls...best in the world! :)