Online Research verses First Person Opinions

I'll probably do a bit more college app related posts recently because there is exactly ONE month left till apps are due (in our school), and its starting to get in my head. (Plus I think this is a nice place for me to brainstorm ideas.) This isn't totally a bad thing, but I just hope things don't get repetitive and boring (because later on in my life, I just might look back to these blogs and read how I survived my senior year).

So college related stuff, here we go...

Yesterday, I was doing some online research on Duke to write their why-school essay. I found some facts about their various departments and student organizations. There were also some interesting study abroad programs. It all sounds pretty nice, but I just feel like I can't really get the gist of what being a Duke student is really like. I also can't really tell what are the negatives about going to Duke. They wouldn't tell you that on their website. Today, however, I got some really nice perspectives from a friend that I am extremely grateful of. He is now a freshmen in Duke and he loves it there. He says the weather is nice, but Durham, the city near Duke, is not that great (and I almost got fooled by the Duke and Durham video on their website). However, he also said that there is so much going on in the campus that there is not that much need to go out! Well that sounds nice! He also told me that the cafeteria food is just mediocre but from time to time there will be something good. Those are some pretty honest evaluations, but he did convince me that Duke is really nice. Now I only hope that my hard work can pay off - I want to get in!