Your First Year

Hands-on Learning, From Day 1

At Duke, you begin real-world, hands-on projects in engineering design and programming on the first day.

Throughout Year 1, the curated challenges you’ll take on will build lifelong skills—including critical thinking, computational fluency, professional communication and self-efficacy.

Duke’s Innovative Team Approach

You don’t go through our First Year Experience alone. Far from it. Our team approach to advising will surround you with coaching from 360 degrees.

Two semesters later, proud (and a little amazed) of all you’ve accomplished, you’ll feel confident going into Year 2 that you’ve got what it takes to be an engineer.

Year 1 Course Schedule

When you begin building, you start with the foundation. That makes sense, right? Your first courses set up a sturdy base of knowledge and skills you’ll use throughout your time at Duke—and for the rest of your life.

• The table above assumes no Advanced Placement (AP) or International Placement (IPC) credits in math, chemistry or computer science. Talk to your academic dean for guidance.
• You may be assigned an academic writing course in the fall. If that happens, you’ll take First-Year Computing in the spring.

Suggested First Engineering Courses