There are no praises of Duke than can be sung of which you are not already aware. After all, the law school application process calls for a lot of research and introspection before selecting the right institution, so we won’t waste your time by rattling off statistics. Instead, we hope here to give you an introduction to the student groups and university resources that will make your time here comfortable, challenging, and ultimately worthwhile.
The law school building is located on the periphery of West Campus, a short walk away from Duke Chapel, the Bryan Center, Cameron Indoor Stadium, and the other graduate and undergraduate schools. Duke has more graduate students than it does undergraduates, which means that law students, medical students, and others pursuing advanced degrees take a large part in campus life. The many resources of the university—from restaurants to textbooks, from health care to counseling, and from libraries to laboratories—are as available to law students as they are to undergraduates.
Within the walls of the law school, you’ll likely be spending whatever time is not earmarked for classes and studying with a few of the dozens of student-led extracurricular organizations. Journals are dedicated to publishing novel and groundbreaking legal research, while groups like Moot Court, Mock Trial, and the Transactional Law Society aim at honing practical skills. Identity groups welcome new students with open arms, while others focus on growing network and career connections within certain legal markets and specialties. Service groups strive to make a difference in the community through meaningful pro bono work and advocacy, while some are simply an opportunity to get together with friends and meet new people with common interests.
As mentioned above, you already know all of the statistics and hard data about what a phenomenal education Duke Law provides. What no amount of words and numbers can convey, however, is how it feels to be a Duke student, and how meaningful the connections you make here are going to be. That’s something that you’re going to have to find out for yourself.
