ABSN Duke Fall 2010

and MLD, you're a piece of work. Oksana Bayul. dear lord that was funny.

I wish there was an Oksana Bayul scholarship. I would totally win it.

Yeah, I lost my job last July and business has been terrible, so my EFC is zero. I am the very definition of "need-based." I applied to that and the Rise to the Challenge one. Hopefully I can get *some* help.

Mine is $500 so I'm hoping that is practically zero.

I don't know if I count as "long distance" since we drove up the last time, but yes, we're planning on making another weekend trip up to find housing. I'm trying to do as much pre-searching online as I can, but it's a little overwhelming.

We're all going to have to come back to Durham to sign leases, right?

I think, in theory, you can sign a lease without ever showing up in person. I don't want to live somewhere I haven't actually seen first, though, you know?

Sara,, i replied to your message, did you get it?

Illini, eh? Thanks for taking Zook off our hands.

It's not that I don't enjoy basketball, but for some reason I can't get into it on TV. I loved covering the 2006 and 2007 tournaments and Final Fours (I was a photojournalist before jumping into this career change) but on TV it's just kind of boring. Or maybe it's because I've only been watching Florida's team on TV and they're just absolutely terrible now.

So, go Blue Devils! I'll cheer for them if I ever have the free time to do so while we're in this program. Guess I'll have to buy a few shirts... I have plenty of blue, but it's all got orange on it.

Last year the Gators (football) were on network TV or ESPN just about every week, so I just watched at home. There seem to be a lot of UF alumni/fans in the Triangle but, unfortunately, no Gator bar to watch the games. North Carolina even has a University of Florida license plate.

Ditto about Zook...although he was a good recruiter.:)

THis is not what I wanted to hear. Time Warner is the cable company there, right? I'm an Iowa Hawkeye and was hoping, by some small small chance they might carry the Big 10 Network. I mean, is there ANY bar that will show Big 10 games?

Just found out that Bull McCabe's (downtown, @ Chapel Hill and Main, great pub food) has Big10 Network! Just ask Willie or Tracy or Jay or Malachy to humor you (erm.... let's just say I've been there)

Those of you who are familiar with the Durham area, maybe you can answer this question: What differences can you point out between the cost of living in Baltimore vs. Durham? Job market? Home prices? Walkability? (If you don't know about Baltimore, you can just describe Durham...) Thanks for helping me :-)

Those of you who are familiar with the Durham area, maybe you can answer this question: What differences can you point out between the cost of living in Baltimore vs. Durham? Job market? Home prices? Walkability? (If you don't know about Baltimore, you can just describe Durham...) Thanks for helping me :-)

My knowledge of Baltimore comes solely from the Wire, so I'll just describe Durham.

With two Duke (soon to be three) hospitals in Durham (and one in Raleigh) as well as UNC hospitals down the road in Chapel Hill and a few other hospitals over in Raleigh, the Triangle is always going to be a strong job market for health care. Yes, the economy has slowed things down for the moment, but that will eventually change.

I'm pretty sure the cost of living in Durham is going to be less than Baltimore. Home prices did not skyrocket out of control here like they did in places like Florida, so the housing market is pretty stable. In-demand neighborhoods have seen prices stay the same or even go up slightly, whereas more suburban areas may have seen a drop off. The average home price is pretty low in the Durham, although certain neighborhoods demand a premium.

Some parts of Durham are fairly walkable, others not at all. The neighborhoods north of downtown like Trinity Park, Watts-Hillandale (where I live), and Old West Durham are all within walking (and if not, biking) distance of shops and restaurants. Southwest Durham is a more suburban area that is not walkable at all. Downtown has improved a lot over the past few years in terms of the number of restaurants, bars, and shops that it has to offer. No one is going to mistake it for Greenwich Village, but it is improving nicely.

Durham still has a bad reputation among some people who live in the Triangle (e.g., North Raleigh residents), but this is largely unfounded. Crime has gone down considerably over the past few years, and although there are bad areas (as in any city in the country), I would still think that Durham is considerably safer than Baltimore (if the Wire is even 50% accurate).

I hope this helps!

My knowledge of Baltimore comes solely from the Wire, so I'll just describe Durham.

This made me laugh (only cause I thought the same thing). Stringer Bell forever!

As far as Baltimore vs. Durham, I know little about either. But I do know the cost of living is higher in Baltimore, and considering JHU is already more than Durham, I would prefer Duke. You might have to tag on a few G's more to your loan to live in Baltimore. Do you know anything about financial aid yet?

The difference in reputation is negligible (both are good).

What is the student:teacher ratio? How many clinical hours does the program include? Does JHU do tuition reimbursement to work in the hospital?

Thanks a lot! I'm actually asking about the job market in general--I'm married so it's important my husband can get hired. He's an environmental engineer. Do you know anything about that?

I haven't found a cost of living difference between the two cities. But I'm coming from Portland, so both are a big step down in price.

My husband is actually working in Georgia right now so he's going to drive up to NC this weekend and visit Duke & the Triangle area. Is the Duke nursing school attached with the rest of the campus? What's the best way to go about parking somewhere central and taking a walking tour to see the school and campus? Thanks for mentioning those neighborhoods--I will tell him to visit those. Would you say Durham is pretty easy to navigate?

Thanks a lot for sharing all the info :-)

Does anyone know if there are any really bad areas that you would not want to live in? I don't really know the names/locations of neighborhood areas, so if you could street names or landmarks as a reference, that'd be great. Thanks!

This made me laugh (only cause I thought the same thing). Stringer Bell forever!

As far as Baltimore vs. Durham, I know little about either. But I do know the cost of living is higher in Baltimore, and considering JHU is already more than Durham, I would prefer Duke. You might have to tag on a few G's more to your loan to live in Baltimore. Do you know anything about financial aid yet?

The difference in reputation is negligible (both are good).

What is the student:teacher ratio? How many clinical hours does the program include? Does JHU do tuition reimbursement to work in the hospital?

Thanks a lot! I'm actually asking about the job market in general--I'm married so it's important my husband can get hired. He's an environmental engineer. Do you know anything about that?

I haven't found a cost of living difference between the two cities. But I'm coming from Portland, so both are a big step down in price.

My husband is actually working in Georgia right now so he's going to drive up to NC this weekend and visit Duke & the Triangle area. Is the Duke nursing school attached with the rest of the campus? What's the best way to go about parking somewhere central and taking a walking tour to see the school and campus? Thanks for mentioning those neighborhoods--I will tell him to visit those. Would you say Durham is pretty easy to navigate?

Thanks a lot for sharing all the info :-)

Well, the job market in general isn't great here, as with most places, but being an environmental engineer might not be so bad. I would imagine that government jobs are a possibility (including local and state, since the capital is Raleigh), and there might be environmental firms at Research Triangle Park (RTP), so I would check RTP's website to see what kinds of companies are there. Another good resource might be the Duke Nicholas School of the Environment website, because it might have some resources for job seekers.

Durham can be a little tricky to navigate. The nursing school is on the edge campus, not far from the hospital. I would park near the chapel and walk around from there. He can probably find a campus map on Duke's website. The visitor's center in downtown Durham has a good free city map if he wants to explore further.

As far as neighborhoods, East Durham is generally not where you want to be. I would check out the website www.city-data.com and look through the forums for Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill. There is some good information. It is not all good, but it is mostly helpful. There is one user called North Raleigh Guy who posts a lot of pictures of neighborhoods that he likes, which are generally the good ones.