u/Head_Village_9388

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!!!

Hey everyone! I’m heading to Duke this fall as an incoming freshman and I'm incredibly excited to major in Computer Science. While my background is mostly just a basic AP CSP class (no major internships or research, though some cool projects) at my small high school, I have a background in competitive math and have spent the last few months teaching myself tons of interesting programming technologies, which I absolutely love! Given how competitive the current job market is, I'd really appreciate some advice on where to focus my energy so I can hit the ground running and eventually land internships. I know studying Data Structures and Algorithms is a must, but what other specific skills or tech areas are in highest demand right now for someone who is eager to learn and ready to grind?

Hey everyone! I’m an incoming freshman admitted to Pratt, currently planning to double major in ECE and CS.

I have a solid background in both hardware and programming from high school robotics (world championships!) However, while robotics was fun, I don’t think it's something I want to pursue much more in college and new-grad. I think I’d rather explore programming, SWE, and AI. Maybe some chip design as well lol.

I’m mainly trying to figure out how difficult and time-consuming the ECE/CS double major actually is, specifically the ECE portion since I think I’d like to focus more on CS or other areas. Are the ECE requirements and labs going to be super difficult and a brutal time-sink if I’m not super passionate about hardware?

I'm debating whether I should drop ECE and just do a pure CS major in Trinity. The main thing holding me back is that I really would prefer not to take Trinity’s heavy humanities load. The new Constellations/FOCUS T-Reqs and the foreign language requirements is quite a lot for me lol.

Any advice on the ECE workload/difficulty for ECE/CS double major and what you'd recommend in my shoes would be hugely appreciated. Thanks!

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!

I know Duke is ranked around #6 or #7 nationally by US News, but how well are they perceived and recruited by Big Tech, FAANG, unicorns, or other top companies? Or does the university name not matter that much once you pass a certain threshold?

I've heard lots of current students and alumni who mentioned the alumni network and brand name are super strong, and almost everyone lands top internships and new grad roles, assuming you put in the work and grind. Thanks!

I know Duke is ranked around #6 or #7 nationally by US News, but how well are they perceived and recruited by Big Tech, FAANG, unicorns, or other top companies? Thanks 😄

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!

On my common app for my second semester courses, I listed my correct course load at school and also a college math course I intended to take second semester at my community college. However after applying in January, I unfortunately didn’t know that the deadline to apply for courses was very early and completely missed it, meaning I could not take that community college course. But even if I did register on time, I probably wouldn’t have got it due to minimal space and less priority for dual enrollment students. Is there anyway I could get rescinded for this? I’m going to a T10 university that seems somewhat strict about schedule and course changes.

I choose Duke over all the mentioned schools for computer science and people keep being surprised that I rejected an ivy and Berkeley/GT/UIUC? Is this such a crazy decision, especially considering Duke is the best elite private school I got into overall and for CS/engineering, and my goals are to go into software engineering or big tech which Duke CS is pretty solid for?

I know Berkeley, UIUC, and GT are elite public schools for CS/engineering but due to the sheer size, massive sink or swim environment, and lack of individual resources and housing, I personally felt a private university would be better. I also don’t like urban areas as much. As an Indian, I do prefer a more Indian/Asian environment which Berkeley/GT are better for but I honestly don’t see this being a big problem at Duke. Thanks everyone!

I’m an incoming freshman from SoCal. I’m Indian and plan to study computer science and math, and was curious as to what current students/alumni think about their experience at Duke and if they feel like they belong and are genuinely happy :)

I don’t know as much about Duke coming from California and don’t know anyone else who got in, so I’m quite nervous but also excited!