For Duke, I had the opportunity to interview Arushi! She is so sweet and I found some things we have in common, especially seasonal allergies haha! She gives great advice for students interested in Duke and I definitely recommend checking out her responses! Thank you so much Arushi!
How would you describe the workload? Do students study at home during the weekends or go out and relax with their friends?
"The workload definitely depends on what classes you take. Like for example, CS201 wasn’t a ton of work when I took it, but I’m in CS250 this semester and it’s a lot of work. Math classes are generally difficult at Duke. On the weekends, most people tend to get work done during the day, and then go out with their friends at night. People tend to go out on weeknights too: Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are the most popular nights for students to go out."
What's it like to be a first-year student at Duke?
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"It’s super great! I love it. It can be intimidating at times when you feel that everyone has their stuff together and you feel like you don’t, but you soon realize that everyone is going through that and it’s a normal feeling here. Duke does a lot of fun things on campus too like painting nights or tea-tasting events, and even different showcases for students to attend. There’s always something fun to do. Also, all first-years live on a separate campus, so making friends is a lot easier since you know that everyone there is new!"
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"I personally very quickly felt at-home at Duke. And I miss it soooo much because of this quarantine thing. I remember coming into Duke being super scared I wasn’t going to make friends but that was the opposite of what happened. I have some of the best friends ever at Duke and I’m really grateful for that."
How would you describe the weather at Duke? Does it frequently snow? What would advise students to bring when coming to Duke?
"So I’m a local North Carolina resident, and I’ve lived really close to Duke my whole life, so I’m kinda an expert on Duke weather haha :) it’ll snow maybe once, max twice per year here, and it’s like 1 or 2 inches hahha it’s not bad at all. The pollen is really bad in the spring though, so if you have allergies like me, it can be really annoying."