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I really enjoyed my time at Duke and the opportunities it provided me with. The professors are truly amazing and you'll be learning from experts in your field; they're also mostly kind and genuinely care about their students. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved in research, build community, and have a rich social life. However, there are pretty stark socioeconomic disparities, and lower-income students like myself often felt out of place (once the administration literally made us t-shirts... Read More that said 'I am a low-income student' in big bold letters; they can be so elitist and tone-deaf). But expect to live like a king while at Duke: we had expensive campus parties with shrimp served in ice sculptures, lots of free food and merch, and generous financial aid. At one point I got so much financial aid that my amount owed was negative and Duke was literally paying me to attend. With that said, the promises I was fed about the value of a Duke education haven't come true for me at all. I've been unable to find a job despite hundreds of applications in the two years since graduation, and it makes me doubt the value of my degree, especially when I've tried to leverage Duke networks and found them mostly unhelpful.

I love my professors and friends at Duke. The campus is beautiful and they have so many extracurricular opportunities. Everything went well academically for me but the university’s culture is intense and their counseling center sucks. I tried getting help for my depression last year and was paired with an intern that had no idea what she was doing. She spent the entire sessions talking about her and then proceeded to live in the middle of the Spring semester. I tried to get paired with someone else... Read More and even requested a real psychologist but was told to wait until she came back. When she did she took forever to reschedule and again spent most of the session talking about her personal life and using her surgery for metaphors on how I should be resilient. It was uncomfortable and I even mentioned I had safety concerns and she dismissed them. I had to leave the school this year to take care of my mental health but I really wish I could have done this at Duke and not be away from my friends.

I really enjoyed my time at Duke. It feels like Duke is constantly trying hard to provide a unique set of experiences and opportunities for students. I participated in a number of 'Signature Duke' programs like the FOCUS program for first-years, Duke Engage (a funded internship somewhere around the world), and more - and these really made the school feel unique. Duke also is constantly trying to improve. In the time I was there and during the three years after, Duke has built new dining halls, new... Read More dorms, a new student health center, and more. I loved my time and would recommend other students consider applying!

I attended Duke as a master's student in the ECE department for one semester before transferring to another school. I liked many aspects of the school while I was there and also did well academically, but I ultimately decided to pursue a career path that is completely different from the ones for which Duke prepares its students. Duke's ECE program at the graduate level is very strong in software/machine learning/signal processing and regularly had representatives from the top software companies (Google,... Read More Amazon, Facebook, etc.) coming to recruit students, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to people who are either interested in those areas or want to be employed as software engineers at one of those companies. The opportunities for students interested in hardware were somewhat more limited in comparison, but I knew of a couple of graduates who went on to work for places such as Intel. In the end, my reason for transferring came down to finding out that I wanted to work in the building and construction industry as an electrical/power engineer, and I decided to attend a program at a different school that would help me in reaching that goal. Nonetheless, I do not regret the time I spent at Duke, and I learned many valuable things in my classes there that I know will continue to serve me well in my professional career. I believe it is an excellent fit for a large majority of ECE students, but it just happened not to be the right fit in my individual case through no fault of its own.

Why should you enroll in the Duke Physician Assistant program? Because Duke is a well-known, respected school, known for its basketball program as well as its world-renowned medical research, and it is located in the foodie mecca of North Carolina. When people hear the name Duke University, they think of the "Ivy League School of the South," and the name demands respect; but if you meet any of the faculty here, you will see that they are all very down to earth and personable. Duke is also famous... Read More for its basketball team, and going to games and participating in the Duke-UNC rivalry is great fun. Last but certainly not least, if you are a "foodie," Durham (where the university is located) has some of the highest rated restaurants in the state. You will not be disappointed!

The Master of Engineering (MEng) program with in the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University is great for students with an engineering background looking to further explore the business side of high tech companies. The program prepares students for the transition from an engineering role to a management role and gives students the opportunity to develop the skills needed to successfully lead project teams. The career services resources available to students in the MEng program are awesome!... Read More Before arriving to campus for orientation, students are given the opportunity to begin building relationships with the career services counselors and invited to participate in virtual workshops to prepare them for career fairs and individual job searches. The program also requires that all students participate in an industry internship which is a great way for students to gain experience in a field they think they may be interested in. The MEng program career services staff works tirelessly to guide students as they search for internships and full-time jobs. The Biomedical Engineering (BME) department at Duke is equally as great as the MEng program. BME students are able to select one of several concentrations to focus their studies on during their time at Duke. BME students can choose to participate in a number of design courses which allows them to apply their classroom knowledge to real life situations. The professors are helpful and the classes offered cover a wide range of topics. The tuition cost for Duke MEng students is hefty but when thought of as an 18 month investment in yourself, the price seems reasonable for the way the program prepares students looking to launch their careers.

The Duke University Divinity School is a great place to encounter diverse kinds of theology and biblical exegesis, grounded in confessional Christianity. Right now, I would rate their strongest area to be biblical studies. The Divinity School has excellent faculty in both Old and New Testament studies, and students have the opportunity to study with scholars in the university's Religions Department as well. Students can ground their studies in Christian perspectives of various kinds, and also gain... Read More exposure to Jewish and Islamic scholarship in Bible and religion. This is particularly valuable for those with a strong interest in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. The lower ratings on earning potential, career, and finances have more to do with the current job market for Bible and Theology graduates, and increasing costs of higher education everywhere than with Duke Divinity in particular.

Duke Divinity School is certainly not with out its troubles. It can be difficult for a person of color to navigate a school culture that is not particularly structured to assess your point of view with academic seriousness. There certainly is work that needs to be done in that regard. Having said that, bright spots do very much exist. Some of the professors within the Divinity School, despite the school's culture, know exactly how to speak to and nurture varying points of view, including those typically... Read More marginalized. Seeking out such professors, has made my time here more than simply bear able, but quite exciting. Practically speaking, the program is not as flexible as it could be. The learning goals of the Divinity School are clear and can, at times, feel quite restrictive. On the other hand, by being at a Divinity School that is a part of a larger university system, there are numerous opportunities to take classes beyond the Divinity School. This is a major benefit to one's learning experience as it allows students to round out their theological and ministerial training with leading and prolific scholars from a number of fields. As a theological school, Duke is very attentive to Scripture and tradition. This attentiveness is not too restrictive though. While some professors do not speak with a iron-fisted commitment to Scripture and tradition, the commitment to wrestle with Scripture and tradition is clearly something that the school values. This value is most certainly manifested in nearly every class. Overall, I would say that there are a number of places one could go that are more theologically liberal, as well as a number of other places that are more theologically conservative. Duke Divinity attempts and mostly succeeds at striking a balance between both. Having said that, there is much room for improvement of school culture in terms of relating to people of color.

I am currently enrolled in Duke's MSN Family Nurse Practitioner degree program with an expected graduation date of August 2019. I have completed one year of study and am so glad I chose to accept my admission off at this institution. All of my professors are personable and easily reachable by email or phone. I get a response from them within the day or the next day--this includes weekends or holiday breaks. I know that Duke will help find my clinical placements for me which is a huge relief since... Read More I have friends in other programs who have to secure their own clinical sites which is an added stress. The financial aid office always responds to my emails the same day, and I have not had trouble with my loan disbursements or having the school insurance and some other fees removed from my account for services that I do not use. My favorite class so far has been the physical assessment class which I feel has prepared me well to go into clinicals. This class not only prepares you to complete a head to toe detailed assessment, but how to write SOAP notes correctly and efficiently. I am not afraid to ask questions to my professors and classmates, and the online forums make you feel connected to the class and really let you immerse yourself in that week's knowledge.