Duke Class of 2013 Forum

[DallasCowboy]

If I can get Austin, yes. Vinson & Elkins Houston could be cool. Otherwise, I'm looking at Tampa before Texas.

[Jericwithers]

I'm 95% sure I'll be coming to Duke. Very Texas heavy class this year it seems, are any of you gunning to head back after LS?

I most probably will; Houston or Austin (maybe Dallas). Let the gunning begin .

[someones alt]

Thats okay I want Dallas , I'm one of the few people from Texas who kind of hates Austin

[Jericwithers]

Thats okay I want Dallas , I'm one of the few people from Texas who kind of hates Austin

I find it a bit over-rated, but thats because I don't go to clubs or bars. Besides that there are things I like and things I dislike, but I would still love to live here. Never been to Dallas, but I would probably enjoy living there to. Houston is home for all its negatives, so I guess we can be friends if yall promise to avoid Houston (we can partition off the state).

[DallasCowboy]

ITT we learn Duke' (or UT's) placement statistics will be bad because we will flood the Texas market.

[Jericwithers]

So where is a good place to live at Duke? I've found many 1 bedroom apartments for $500 1 mile from the law school, but am still unsure of the area untill I visit. Are there particular areas to avoid or to flock to?

[DallasCowboy]

I'd like to know, too. I'd like to either live within walking distance of class or halfway towards Chapel Hill.

[someones alt]

So where is a good place to live at Duke? I've found many 1 bedroom apartments for $500 1 mile from the law school, but am still unsure of the area untill I visit. Are there particular areas to avoid or to flock to?

I've been reading the thread from last year and it seems there are a few places consistently recommended but we're probably looking at different complexes because I'm wanting to live with a roommate. Idk if you saw the thread but someone compiled all the apartment info you can imagine

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 20&t=65220

I'm thinking Alexan Place/ Colonial Deerfield/ or maybe Pinnacle Ridge. I've heard mixed things about all of them though, so the biggest reason I'm going to ASW is to tour housing

[someones alt]

ITT we learn Duke' (or UT's) placement statistics will be bad because we will flood the Texas market.

I wonder how many in a given class aim for the Texas market. Hey hopefully it will be less than 10, and the ones who haven't posted in this discussion will get destroyed by the curve and ensure we all get what we want

[DallasCowboy]

I wouldn't worry too much. I'm most likely looking for Florida. I think it is pretty cool that some firms have offices in the Triangle (for 1L internships).

As for housing, I am definitely looking for a roommate (or more if there are any good houses for rent). Damn, I forgot about the roommate thing; I may have to attend ASW so I can find a reasonably normal and hopefully clean roommate.

[Jericwithers]

ITT we learn Duke' (or UT's) placement statistics will be bad because we will flood the Texas market.

I wonder how many in a given class aim for the Texas market. Hey hopefully it will be less than 10, and the ones who haven't posted in this discussion will get destroyed by the curve and ensure we all get what we want

According to the nalpdirectory website posted in the other duke thread there are 41 Texas firms which have OCI at Duke. Assuming they are all generally interested in hiring Duke grads then I think there is plenty of room for self-selecting Texans. I still think it would be easier to get a good job in Texas as a Duke grad than as a UT grad (just from the selling point of diversity).

Also, I was going to put throw my hat into the roommate pool until I read the last 6 words. Stupid rules.

[DallasCowboy]

feel free to substitute "nice couch and high definition television"

[insidethetwenty]

I visited Duke recently and looked at a bunch of apartments. I just kind of went down the list from the 2012 thread and picked the 5 or so I liked the best.

If you have any questions about some of the apartments I visited, they are still pretty fresh in my mind. I'll try to answer as best I can about them. I went to Alexan Farms, Beech Lake, Colonial Grand at Patterson, Evergreens, Mission University Pines, and West Village downtown (lofty-style places).

If anybody has Q's I'll try to answer them.

[Flanker1067]

Seems most of you are southerners. I am from CT, leaning towards Duke for next year. Any other new englanders around?

[MissCongeniality]

Duke is among my top choices, so I'm swaying very heavily toward them right now!

I'm not from Texas, and I'm thinking of going to the D.C. reception, depending on my finding a way there from Maryland.

[someones alt]

I visited Duke recently and looked at a bunch of apartments. I just kind of went down the list from the 2012 thread and picked the 5 or so I liked the best.

If you have any questions about some of the apartments I visited, they are still pretty fresh in my mind. I'll try to answer as best I can about them. I went to Alexan Farms, Beech Lake, Colonial Grand at Patterson, Evergreens, Mission University Pines, and West Village downtown (lofty-style places).

If anybody has Q's I'll try to answer them.

Did any of them stand out to you as particularly great? According to the survey, Beech Lake seems like a great deal but has a bit of a commute. Do you think it is bike-able or would a car be required? I'm bringing my car for sure either way, but not having to rely on it everyday would be nice. Also there seemed to be a bit more crime reported in relation to the other areas, did you get the feeling that might be an issue at all?

The survey has a lot of negativity towards Colonial Grand at Patterson because they apparently dramatically raise rent at the end of each year, so I'm kind of turned off by them.

I couldn't find a lot of information on the evergreens other than they seem cheap and nice. Whats the commute like here?

A lot of people complain that the lofts are expensive, but it seems like according to their website you could get a 2 bedroom/2 bath for about 600/month per person (in "phase 1" at least) which doesn't seem that bad to me, but are they lacking in amenities compared to other places? Seems like on their website they list cable television included, but thats it. I know some other apartments include water/internet/tv but I don't know what is standard.

Where I live now, its standard that any apartment comes with a personal washer and dryer, but it seems like all the apartments in Durham tout washer and dryer connections only. Are there apartments that come with a washer and dryer, or do apartment communities have public ones available-or are you stuck going to the laundromat?

Since I'll be coming from such a long way, I'm trying to anticipate how much furniture is worth bringing. I don't drive an S.U.V. and even if I take a UHaul I won't be able to take everything I own, and if I can avoid having to get new furniture in Durham then I'd like to. Are there any places that come furnished that you know of?

Sorry I know thats a lot, but anything you can answer would be really helpful.

[DallasCowboy]

Alright. Sign me up.

[insidethetwenty]

Did any of them stand out to you as particularly great? According to the survey, Beech Lake seems like a great deal but has a bit of a commute. Do you think it is bike-able or would a car be required? I'm bringing my car for sure either way, but not having to rely on it everyday would be nice. Also there seemed to be a bit more crime reported in relation to the other areas, did you get the feeling that might be an issue at all?

Beech Lake is a little bit older, but still pretty nice. It's also quite a deal. You could get a two bedroom for something like $850. If you split that with a roomie, you are saving tons of money. If you are more of a "by myself" person, the one bedrooms were something like $600 which is a pretty good deal, too. You'll need a car, though. It's not really bikeable. Addington/Alexan Farms was the nicest, IMO, but also the most expensive. One bedroom was something like $950 minimum. If you could get a roommate, I guess you could do a 2BR for a decent price there.

The survey has a lot of negativity towards Colonial Grand at Patterson because they apparently dramatically raise rent at the end of each year, so I'm kind of turned off by them.

Wow, I hadn't read that. That would turn me off, too. It was one of my favorites on the trip, though it was pretty expensive. It was nice and in a great location (still not quite bikeable, though).

I couldn't find a lot of information on the evergreens other than they seem cheap and nice. Whats the commute like here?

Cheap and nice is a pretty good description. The commute is fine by car and there's actually a back route that goes from Mt. Moriah Rd. to Erwin Rd. that makes the commute by car pretty easy. You'd probably be able to safely bike it, but it's about 6 miles. I don't bike, so I don't really know how hard it is to bike 6 miles...
Also, Evergreens doesn't bundle cable with the rent, so you can get DirecTV. I didn't run the numbers but it's probably cheaper to bundle cable and internet through the cable company than it would be to have cable internet and DirecTV.

A lot of people complain that the lofts are expensive, but it seems like according to their website you could get a 2 bedroom/2 bath for about 600/month per person (in "phase 1" at least) which doesn't seem that bad to me, but are they lacking in amenities compared to other places? Seems like on their website they list cable television included, but thats it. I know some other apartments include water/internet/tv but I don't know what is standard.

Yeah if you do one of those with a roommate you will be in great shape. They are pretty nice inside, especially if you like the renovated-warehouse-lofty feel. I don't know about amenities, but it's also within walking distance from a few decent bars/restaurants in a downtown revitalization area which I felt perfectly safe walking around in, even at night. There's an Irish pub down there and kind of a "taproom" joint that has duck confit. It would be a really cool place to live if I was a true urbanite.

Where I live now, its standard that any apartment comes with a personal washer and dryer, but it seems like all the apartments in Durham tout washer and dryer connections only. Are there apartments that come with a washer and dryer, or do apartment communities have public ones available-or are you stuck going to the laundromat?

Pretty much all of the apartments had an extra "washer/dryer rent" that was something like $30-$40/month. I think all the places also had common areas with quarter laundry machines. I would probably just pay the extra money, but if you didn't mind carrying your laundry to the common area you would spend less.

Since I'll be coming from such a long way, I'm trying to anticipate how much furniture is worth bringing. I don't drive an S.U.V. and even if I take a UHaul I won't be able to take everything I own, and if I can avoid having to get new furniture in Durham then I'd like to. Are there any places that come furnished that you know of?

Sorry I know thats a lot, but anything you can answer would be really helpful.

Some of them had furnished options, but they were extra. I'm bringing my furniture so I'm not really sure how much more. Probably something along the lines of the W/D.

[someones alt]

Hey thanks for the incredible info. The lofts seem like a pretty good deal with a roommate. I can't wait for ASW so I can tour some of these places myself. Hmm an extra 30/40 a month doesn't seem that bad, especially if its split 2 ways, thats probably what I will do unless I luck out and find someone to live with who has a washer and dryer to bring.

I'm starting to get pretty excited

[DallasCowboy]

The two bedroom lofts sound cool, I didn't realize those were an option. Pinnacle sounds like the best to me, though, if that is where a large group of law students live. Also, it seems close to Chapel Hill. I just wonder how long it takes to drive to class from there.

[iceman12354]

Another reason to come to duke.

"Duke Law grads land Supreme Court clerkships for 2010-11 term
Amy Mason Saharia ’05 to clerk for Justice Sonia Sotomayor; Garrick Sevilla ’07 to clerk for Justice Samuel Alito."

-- http://www.law.duke.edu/

[someones alt]

The two bedroom lofts sound cool, I didn't realize those were an option. Pinnacle sounds like the best to me, though, if that is where a large group of law students live. Also, it seems close to Chapel Hill. I just wonder how long it takes to drive to class from there.

Yeah I just got off the phone with the lofts and they seem pretty badass. They have a nice big two bedroom/bathroom floor plan for 1212 a month and as far as laundry is concerned the rep told me they have community laundry machines on each floor of the building, but Phase 1 is not set up with washer/dryer connections. Still seems like a good deal, I was just concerned about having to take all my dirty clothes from my apartment to some other building.

As far as furniture the rep said a furnished one would cost about 200/mo extra but that its kind of unnecessary because right down the street they have a moving company that gets lots of furniture left at it by the constant flow of duke students that they resell for cheap, and also the humane society has a big cheap furniture resale store right by the lofts.

^ All of this is in reference to Phase 1 of the lofts btw, Phase 2 is a different story (and price range). Phase 1 sounds like it has everything I want, but I'm betting the place fills up pretty quickly. She said the Duke Business School's open house is at the end of February and they get a lot of attention during that time frame.

$50 student application fee, and $250 hold fee, however when it comes time for you to move in the $250 becomes your security deposit.

Edit: Pinnacle ridge seems good too, and looks like a decent amount of law students live there but I can't get their website to work. Seems like a cheaper option than the lofts though not as nice. I'm torn between wanting to save money and wanting to be able to walk across the street to bars/restaurants

[Jericwithers]

I'm going to avoid this thread till I get my scholarship offer, or I run the risk of getting my heart broken.

[DallasCowboy]

You'll get some money, I know it.

I'm just wondering if Duke people go out more in Durham or Chapel Hill. If it's Durham, then closer to campus is obviously perfect. Not that I plan on going out too often 1L anyway (easy to say now).

[insidethetwenty]

You'll get some money, I know it.

I'm just wondering if Duke people go out more in Durham or Chapel Hill. If it's Durham, then closer to campus is obviously perfect. Not that I plan on going out too often 1L anyway (easy to say now).

Most people, from what I gather, go out in Chapel Hill.

That said, if you live in the lofts mentioned above you will be within walking distance of a pretty cool downtown development. There's only one really "fratty" bar there (there's an electric bull there), but there's a pretty good hipster-like bar with about 50 different taps and duck confit on the menu, and a pretty legitimate Irish Pub with Harp on tap and traditional Irish fare. There's also a Japanese steakhouse and a Greek place.

Also in Durham, at the SouthPoint mall area they have a bunch of the big chain restaurant/bars like PF Chang's, etc.