Duke University

Location

Readers should know that when we say Durham, it’s not to be mistaken for the Durham in England, of course. Although it’s one of the bigger cities in North Carolina, it’s quite dull, really, and there isn’t too much to look forward to even around Durham. Raleigh is about half an hour away, but the nearest ‘big’ city would be Washington DC, and that’s a good 5-6 hours away. Oh dear.

Campus

If the size of the campus (8000 acres) isn’t enough to make your mouth water, then the splendid Gothic architecture certainly will be. Within the campus lies the beautiful Duke Forest; no, it isn’t a ‘jungle’ – wild animals won’t appear out of nowhere and skin you to death – it’s a private research forest, which is a really cool thing. To call the buildings, well, ‘buildings’, would be doing a disservice to architecture, since these are definitely palaces. But as antique (in a good way) they might look from the outside, you’ll be surprised, and pretty pleased, to know that they are absolutely state-of-the-art from the inside. Fantastic laboratories, athletic facilities and lecture halls and complemented by the massive library system, which has over 6 million volumes in all!

Residing Options

Now, while living off-campus is definitely an option, most students tend to live on campus itself, though there definitely isn’t a dearth of apartments outside Duke. For those who don’t like the idea of living within the college boundaries, The Belmont, West Village and Erwin Mill are very viable and pretty cheap options, provided you find yourself a roommate or two, of course.

Faculty

Although Duke has earned its reputation primarily due to its medical programs, the Pratt School of Engineering (that’s where you engineers will land up) isn’t lagging too far behind. Professors are highly knowledgeable, and are always willing to help students, provided the initiative comes from the correct side. And if you’re a biomedical student, getting into Duke is akin to striking gold, since you’ll be getting access to the medical school’s facilities, and being taught a number of courses by their professors.