Your First Year
This is Going to be Great
The first year as a Duke engineering student isn’t just a course schedule, it’s a carefully curated experience.
A Signature Experience
We’ve designed a set of courses that immerse you in real-world, hands-on design and programming. Not only will you get to impact the community from your first day, the challenge will build skills critical to all engineers—critical thinking, efficient communication, grit and resilience.
And you won’t have to do it alone. Our approach to advising provides a set of mentors including faculty to upperclassmen to help steer you through any bumps in the road.
Components of Your First Year
The Design Pod
The Design Pod is a 5,000-square-foot maker space specially built for Duke’s First-Year Design Experience. FYD teams also meet in The Foundry, another awesomely equipped design lab at Duke.
Course Schedule
When you begin building, you start with the foundation. That makes sense, right? Your courses in the first year set up a sturdy base of fundamental knowledge and skills you’ll use throughout your time at Duke—and the rest of your life.
| Fall Semester | Spring Semester |
| The First-Year Design Experience | Physics |
| Mathematics | Mathematics |
| Chemistry | Introductory technical course or Biology |
| Digital computation | Academic writing |
Note Well:
- 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 digital computation in the spring
Suggested First Engineering Courses
| Prospective Major | Introductory Technical Course |
| Undecided | Biology 201L, or any of the below |
| Biomedical Engineering | Biology 201L |
| Civil Engineering | CEE 132L |
| Electrical & Computer Engineering | ECE 110L |
| Environmental Engineering | CEE 132L |
| Mechanical Engineering | EGR 121L |
Your Academic Dean
Working with your advising team, you and your academic dean will craft your roadmap—an academic plan. You’ll consult with the same dean throughout your time at Duke, creating a strong professional relationship.
