roaringlion

Definitely don't by sold by the clinical placement office at Duke. If anything most students wish we could find our own at this point. When you canvass on your own, you know where you want to look based on traffic, etc. You can also spend as much time as you need on it to make sure you have a placement. With the placement office, like I said they don't care at all where you want to be. They will happily stick you in the middle of a ghetto 3 hours from your home with traffic and if you try to complain and point out that they promise 2 hours, they just say that they use mapquest and traffic is not considered. In addition, they often DO NOT have a clinical placement for a number of students by the start of the semester. They don't tell these students until last minute, which at times leads to people starting late and having to make up hours. Many of the staff in the office are also extremely difficult to speak to, often act annoyed when you try to email them, and are unwilling to even taken student leads on placements. It's billed as some wonderful plus to choosing Duke, but really it's one of the main reasons you should run away as fast as possible. Yes, the tuition is also crazy. Already expensive, and then they have a history of hiking it by 5% or more every single year, outpacing inflation. If you start in the Fall but put in your deposit in May, the rates will rise over the summer AFTER you've already paid your deposit. It's almost scam-worthy. Like I said, the other main reason I picked Duke was the hands on sessions. I was so excited to have multiple days on campus to practice suturing, physical exams, etc. It was SUCH A WASTE. We would spend 3 full days on campus, and maybe do two small 1 hour workshops of hands on skills? The rest of the time was panel discussions on ethics or how to be published in a nursing journal. Every on campus session all of the students would get together and wonder why the f*** we were even there. People flew in from all over the country to do something they could have just streamed online? Overall, a huge letdown. They think they can do whatever they want because of their name recognition and money, but there are so many lesser known programs that would be 10000x better option for most students. Even the quality of the education was questionable at times, with students often questioning if they were really prepared enough. AVOID AVOID AVOID. I cannot say it enough. Any other school is a better option other than a few of the for profits.

I wish I knew, before I went to Duke, how horrible it was. I also wish I knew how PAINFULLY expensive it would be and that they would raise the price by nearly a hundred dollars per credit constantly even after you've already signed up! I wish I knew not to look for a school that helps with clinical placement. I thought it would be great, but the clinical placement office at Duke is horrible. They do not work with students for placement, often place people hours from their home, and then get mad if you try to change it. Find something closer to home after they placed you 3 hours away with traffic? Too bad, they don't like that - take what they find or suffer the consequences. Also, I wish I knew about all the red tape, politics, and drama behind the scenes. I wish I knew how poorly managed the program was. I wish I knew that the "on campus" sessions that I was so excited for were nothing more than the online lectures in person, with only a little time reserved for hands on.

A word of advice from someone who attended the NP program at Duke - STAY AWAY. Trust me. It is amazing what goes on at this school, especially for the price students pay to attend. Numerous students have been pushed to the point of dropping out by members of the administration. The "on campus" visits are often a huge waste of time and involve maybe 1 hour of hands on stuff (if that isn't cut out last minute) and 6-7 hours of listening to panel discussion on ethics or nursing technology or how to get published. The clinical placement office is more of an obstacle than a help - they advertise they will place you within 2 hours of your home (one way) but do not mention that they only use mapquest without traffic considered. If you live in a major city, watch out. I know students who lived in the NYC or DC areas where traffic can turn 2 hours into 4 hours easily and they don't care. And watch out for tuition and fees as well - it's already one of the highest in the country and goes up about 5% every year of the program. Trust me, if I knew then what I knew now I would have gone to ANY other school I was admitted to. Don't make the same mistake I did.

To all the students who have applied or are thinking about going to Duke, please, please do not make that mistake. As someone who attended the graduate program at Duke I can tell you that I absolutely made a horrible decision choosing it. Considering it is one of the most expensive programs out there, it was a VERY costly mistake for me. The number of students who regret going to Duke is staggering, and there are many of us who even considered some sort of class action at one point. If I knew then what I know now about Duke I could have saved myself a ton of money and time. The academics are okay, but the behind the scenes drama and red tape are a nightmare.