College is hard. A million people will give you advice about what you should do, and most of it won’t be useful. But here is The Chronicle’s list of Duke-specific tips. Let us know if any of them were worth following.
• Sell your printer. It’s more expensive, slower and less convenient to print in your room than it is to stop by the computer lab and swipe your Duke card.
• Four fans are better than one.
• Leave time to dally on the way to class. Friendships get cemented on Duke’s pathways. It’s worth it to stop and talk. It’s also (usually) worth it to be on time to class.
• Leave your door open while you’re in your room. Close and lock it when you leave.
• Don’t tell anyone when you lose your bathroom key. That’s what hallmates are for.
• Leave campus. Duke is a sheltered environment, and people get spoiled. Wandering through Durham will remind you what happens when you graduate. There is a point to education beyond building up alcohol tolerance.
• The perfect solution to a hangover doesn’t exist. Just drink lots of water before you fall asleep.
• Keep beer in a Solo cup, and keep Solo cups in your room (ping pong balls, too).
• Go to class. Or read the book cover-to-cover. But do at least one.
• Apply for research money early and often. You’ll be thankful that you did when you go to apply for graduate school—and when you search for a job the summer after your junior year.
• Every upperclassman will know you’re a freshman. Relish the naivete.
• Go to the Marketplace, especially at brunch. Even if you hate the food, it’s worth a little indigestion to sit at a table and tell stories. Plus, you’ll miss the cereal selection when you move to West.
• Don’t depend on SafeRides. And if possible, have a girl make the phone call when you need a ride.
• The men’s bathroom in Perkin’s Library is located in the basement, through the downstairs Mac Lab.
• Use the Armadillo Grill, Devines’ or your dorm to watch away games with people. The one thing every Duke student has in common is basketball team allegiance.
• Make upperclass friends and take their advice. They are a way more reliable source of info about classes than ACES, ratemyprofessor.com or your advisor.
• Don’t be a groupie. It’s amazing how quickly you can earn a reputation.
• Meet your professors. Unlike at other schools where cordiality is just lip service, Duke profs really do want to talk. And they know way more than you do about school and about life.
• Find a set time to do laundry—or at least buy lots of underwear. (You never know where you might leave them.)
• You can cut the mandatory orientation events and no one will notice.
• Duke is expensive. $15,710 each semester, to be exact. And that’s just for undergraduate tuition. Room, board and mandatory fees tack on about another $4,000 each semester. That money pays for a lot more than just classes and a Duke seal on your degree. There is tons of stuff happening on campus and most of it is free (read: already paid for by fees, tuition and random alumni donations). Join activities, stop by shows, listen in on lectures, walk into Duke basketball games. These things are what make a Duke education worth the price tag.
• Student government in college is way different than student government in high school. You’ve been warned!
• Domino’s is open ’til 2. Jimmy John’s is open ’til 3. Cosmic is open ’til 4. But don’t eat after 11—that’s where the freshman 15 comes from.
• The first few weeks of school, the social scene will be off campus. If you don’t want the neighbors to call the cops and shut down “social life” for the rest of the semester, act civilly. And be quiet while you’re walking home.
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