r/duke

could be niche stuff that u think makes duke different for u, etc... personally i love how our club sports teams are very active and passionate about their sport, some even holding mixers with their varsity counterparts if possible

I got this email a little bit ago.

Dear Hollayo,
We are writing to inform you that the Duke Alumni lifetime email service will be discontinued effective July 31, 2026.  After careful review, we determined that ongoing security inconsistencies and increasingly unreliable message delivery no longer meet the standard of service our alumni community deserves. We recognize this change may affect your email communications, and we appreciate your patience and understanding as you make this transition.  What You Need to Know Your Duke Alumni lifetime email address will remain active through July 31, 2026. After that date, access to the service will no longer be available. We strongly encourage you to download and save any data you wish to retain before this deadline.
Determining Your Next Steps Please review the scenario below that applies to you and take the appropriate action before July 31, 2026.
If you use a Duke Alumni lifetime email address as your primary email provider: You will need to select a new email service provider and migrate your communications accordingly. We recommend taking the following steps as soon as possible:  Notify your contacts of your new email address and update it across all personal, professional, and subscription accounts.  Update your preferred email address in your Duke Alumni Network Profile to ensure uninterrupted receipt of university communications.
If you use a Duke Alumni lifetime email for forwarding only: Email forwarding will cease on July 31, 2026. Please confirm that your preferred email address is current in your Duke Alumni Network Profile so you continue to receive communications without interruption.
If you have an Duke Alumni lifetime email address (@alumni.duke.edu) but do not actively use it: No action is required. Your account will be closed on July 31, 2026. As a courtesy, please verify that your preferred email address is up to date in your Duke Alumni Network Profile.
More Information For more detailed information about the Duke Alumni lifetime email service discontinuation, see our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page on the Duke Alumni website.
Thank you for your continued connection to the university. We remain committed to supporting you through this transition.

It's a bs cost-cutting measure.

It's no secret that grade inflation is a big problem at Duke, with something like 25% of students ending with 4.0s IIRC. But even among my non-pratt friends, I don't know almost anyone with a 4.0. Maybe I'm just in the wrong circles?

might be a veryy stupid question.... buttttt i recently committed to duke over my state school (gt, uiuc, etc) known for engineering/cs job/internship placement and have been struck with the somewhat illogical fear that i'm going to struggle to find top jobs or internships in tech in the future. 🤷🏼‍♂️ duke is insanely good though overall which i know helps tons and the life here seems amazingggg. i understand that the alumni network isn't very helpful for engineering majors and the hiring processes are a lot more meritocratic. if any of you guys have tips or convincing statements please do share lol 😆 i'm going to be CS or (maybe) ECE probably :) i can’t wait to spend the next 4 years at duke!!!

what’s the best dorm to get freshman year?? i heard trinity has really bad quad links so what’s the best dorm so you end up good freshman year and the years after that??

If you got accepted to Duke with merit aid, mind sharing some details? How much it covers and reasons why you think you made it? Thanks!

Does anyone know where internship opportunities are better between the two? I know Duke's engineering program is better but what about general opportunities career wise?

Hey everyone! I’m an incoming CS major in Trinity for Fall 2026 at Duke. Super excited :)

I’ve heard on this subreddit that students can be transferred into Pratt during the summer before classes. I’ve already emailed Duke about this, but is this very likely to go through? My goal is to Purdue a CS/ECE double major to learn more about hardware and software, and also avoid the more strict and rigorous liberal arts requirements in Trinity (especially with the new curriculum updates with focus and constellation among other things).

I’m also a bit confused on how to determine which AP tests I need to study for to get credits in both scenarios (Trinity or Pratt, since I’m not sure which one I’ll end up in, although CS/ECE is my goal, but I’m also graduating in 3 years for which I know there’s other policies about AP credits for). Thanks!

Hello, amazing Duke community. I am so very proud my niece got into early acceptance. Any gift that would be helpful ( other than flat out money.) She comes from a middle class family, and looking at tuition maybe I should give her some dough. What say Blue devils?

I’m an incoming freshman at Duke hoping to major in Econ!

Was wondering which first year experience would be better for an Econ major!

Any recommendations for either focus/ constellations?!

Go blue devils!!! 💙😈

I’m visiting campus as a huge Duke fan from Wisconsin. We won’t make it early enough for an official Cameron Indoor Stadium tour, which makes me so sad, but we’ll for sure see the basketball museum and the chapel.

Anything else we can’t miss while we’re there?

[edit: word]

Hi everyone!

I’m wondering about the P-Week orientation surveys—is it first-come, first-served, where you have to be quick to fill out the survey, or do they “match” you to projects?

My first choice is currently Project WILD (second choice Project Waves or Project Build), and I’m curious if it tends to be competitive. Would it be likely that I’d only get my third or fourth choices? Also, how many options can you select on the survey?

Thanks in advance for any insights!

Hello all,

From out of town and wanted to visit campus and pick up some duke swags, like hoodies or sweat pants.Does the Duke university store allows non student to purchase? (I’m staying near the Duke university medical center)

Also where can I check out hall of fame for sports, huge nba and ncaa fan, I would like to visit the trophies and some photos.

If there are other things I should do while on campus please let me know.

Sorry for the noob questions, thanks yall.

What will my dean say, and do any of you have experience with this? I’m disappointed, but I recently found out that I did not pass my last class required for graduation. It is my last grade and for my major. I received an F.

What has been your experience? Any advice? I do not want to have to enroll in another semester for one credit, but is this something I can do at home? It is not offered over the summer. Will I be able to walk?

I stopped receiving any email from Duke after commitment day 5/1 even though I committed a while back. Is that normal?

Hi everyone! I'm an incoming first-year student at Trinity. I'm currently working on my FOCUS application for the first year experience, and I have a question.

Are you guaranteed to be selected for a FOCUS cluster if you apply for FOCUS, or is there a chance you're placed in a Constellations program due to FOCUS reaching capacity?

Hi everyone!

I’m an incoming freshman in Pratt planning to double major in ECE/CS. Because Duke tuition is quite expensive for my family, my ultimate goal is to graduate in 3 years (6 semesters) to save a full year of tuition. Unfortunately, my family is going through some severe personal issues right now, and are willing to pay for all 4 years, but it would definitely put a strain financially on us in the future.

I’ve read through the updated Fall 2025 Pratt curriculum and policies, and I think I’ve mathematically mapped out a way to do this, but I need a sanity check from current students on how bad the scheduling/registration reality actually is, since the schedule definitely seems super tight haha

Starting Stats (AP Credits)

- Calc BC: (Skipping 111L/112L)

- CS A: (Skipping 101L)

- Physics C: Mechanics: (Skipping 151L)

- I know Pratt’s new 2025 rule means my AP Humanities credits don’t count toward the 5 required Liberal Arts graduation credits.

- I unfortunately was sick during AP Chem last year and didn't get a qualifying score, so I know I'll have to take CHEM 101DL at some point.

Pratt requires 34 credits, and my current credits will clear 4 of them, so only 30 remain.

My Plan

Duke caps first semester of freshman year at 4 credits, so I'll do that first semester, meaning I'll have 26 credits left to do.

I'm also planning to take 3 (maybe 4) Duke online Liberal Arts classes (Pratt requires 5 total) over my two summers while hopefully interning somewhere to pay for it. My reasoning is that the 3-4 online classes are much cheaper overall compared to a year's worth of tuition.

This drops my remaining Fall/Spring requirement to 23 classes over my last 5 semesters, meaning I just take a normal load of 4 to 5 classes a semester.

My Planned Freshman Fall:

- MATH 218D-2

- PHYSICS 152L (Getting through the post-matriculation physics rule early so I can take ECE 110L in the Spring).

- COMPSCI 201 (Skipping EGR 105L since I already have a solid Python background and want to get into the AI track faster).

- EGR 101L or Writing 120

I just had a few questions for current students about how feasible this is:

1. Since freshmen register last, what are my actual chances of getting seats (and non-overlapping lab times) for CS 201, Physics 152L, and Math 218 in my first semester? Will I likely get completely cooked?

2. How often do required upper-level ECE and CS classes overlap (ECE/CS Scheduling Conflicts) on the master schedule? Am I going to get blocked by single-section classes conflicting, since I unfortunately won't have that 4th year of buffer to schedule more classes lol

3. Has anyone done the online Duke humanities classes over the summer while working at an internship? Is doing 1 online class per 6-week summer term quite feasible even while working, or is it difficult?

I know this is going to be a massive grind, but I’m very ready to put the work in, as I don't want my family to have to strain financially to afford my college tuition. I just want to know if the university policies and master schedule will physically let me do it. I'm also definitely planning on forming a really strong relationship with my dean to map this out. Any advice is hugely appreciated!