Duke Essay Guide

Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James Buchanan Duke established The Duke Endowment and the institution changed its name to honor his deceased father, Washington Duke. Duke University is ranked among the top universities in the United States. Undergraduate admissions are among the most selective in the country. It spends more money conducting research than most other universities in the country and its researchers are among the most frequently cited. 

Fun Facts

Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski is the longest winning male college basketball coach in history with 976 career wins as of February 11, 2014. Under Krzyzewski (pronounced: She-shef-ski), Duke has won 4 NCAA championships; it’s tied for fifth all-time in NCAA wins. As a testament to his influence on the school’s men’s basketball program, Cameron Indoor Stadium’s basketball court was renamed Coach K Court in November 2000. The area outside the stadium is known as “Krzyzewskiville” or “K-ville” On that note, if you want to get into the home basketball game against UNC, look into “camping K-ville” -- it’s one of the biggest traditions! 

Established in 1966, the Lemur Center is the world’s largest sanctuary for rare and endangered prosimian primates. Sprawled across 85 acres in Duke Forest, it houses 15 species of lemurs, lorises from India and Southeast Asia, and bushbabies from Africa. Admissions 

Duke admissions is extremely selective with an acceptance rate of 8%. Students that get into Duke have an average SAT score between 1480-1570 or an average ACT score of 33-35. The regular admissions (RD) application deadline for Duke is January 4. Interested students can also apply for early decision (ED), and the Duke early decision deadline is November 1. The application fee for either round is $85. Applications are done through either the Common Application, the Coalition Application, or Questbridge.For the incoming class of 2023, the overall acceptance rate was 7.8%. The acceptance rate of ED applicants was 18.4%, while the acceptance rate for RD applicants was 6.4%. Of the accepted students, 61% went to public school, 24% went to private school, and 10% went to school overseas. The racial breakdown is as follows: 45% Caucasian, 29% Asian American/Pacific Islander, 12% Hispanic, 12% African American, 2% Native American. 8% identified as first-generation college students. Below are the overall statistics of Duke’s undergraduate population of around 6500 students. 

 Duke uses a “holistic” review process to evaluate applicants -- this means they will consider your application essays, recommendations, interview, extracurricular activities, rigor of high school classes, GPA, test scores, personal qualities, and talents. Less important (but still considered!) are first-generation or legacy status, geographical residence, racial/ethnic status, volunteer work, and paid work experience. 

One important note when applying is that you will choose your prospective department at the time of applying -- either the Pratt School of Engineering or the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and admission will be to that specific department. You can alwayschange during your undergraduate career, but each department has specific requirements that must be fulfilled! 

Early Decision: Application are due on November 1st, Decisions are released early-mid December. Applying ED is the way to go if Duke is really where you want to go -- if you are accepted, that means you have already 100% committed to going to Duke! If you are deferred, you will be considered alongside the larger pool of RD applicants. 

Regular Decision: Application are due on January 4th. Decisions are released late March. Most applicants choose this option: from here, you are either accepted, rejected, or waitlisted.

The main application categories are: 

Transcripts and grades: Duke looks at the courses you’ve taken from what’s available to you, individual grades in academic courses, overall GPA, and class rank (when available). Official transcripts for all academic work completed in high school are required and must be submitted by your school counselor or another school official. Duke highly recommends taking full schedules of academically rigorous courses throughout high school. 

Test Scores: Duke University will remain test-optional policy for students applying for admission to the first-year undergraduate class in the 2021-22 admissions cycle. However, Duke will continue to consider SAT and ACT scores as part of the application of students who choose to submit them and will accept self-reported scores for purposes of assessing an application. Scores sent from testing agencies will be required from those students only if they enroll at Duke. Duke does not require SAT Subject Tests, but will consider those scores, along with other scores like AP and IB, if you choose to report them. Please note if you choose to not haveyour scores considered, Duke will not suppress SAT Subject Test scores or AP scores if they are already on file with Duke. 

Recommendations: Duke requires three letters of recommendation for each applicant: one from your school counselor and two from teachers who have taught you in major academic courses (English, mathematics, social studies, sciences, foreign languages), preferably within the last two years of secondary school. If you are applying to the Pratt School of Engineering, at least one recommendation should be from a math or science teacher. Extracurricular Activities: The application includes space for up to ten extracurricular activities. Use as few or as many spaces as you need. Be sure to include school, community, family, and work commitments on your list. Keep in mind that quality > quantity! Sustained interest and dedication are better than a long list. 

Essays: Both the Common Application and the Coalition Application include a one-page personal essay as well as short essay questions specific to Duke. The long essay question prompts are dependent on which application platform you choose (Common, Coalition, Questbridge). Duke also has short supplemental essays that all applicants must complete in addition to the general long essay. 

Interviews: Alumni interviews are an optional component of the Duke application process. After applying, students are matched with alumni volunteers on a first-come, first-served basis if an alumni interviewing committee is present in their area. Students who wish to interview must submit their application by the Early Decision deadline (November 1) or the Regular Decision priority interview deadline (December 20). An alumni interviewing committee member will contact you via phone or email to arrange an interview.

Supplements: If you have exceptional artistic talent, you may submit supplementary material to be evaluated by Duke faculty through the online SlideRoom portal. You do not need to plan on a major or minor in your artistic discipline(s) to submit a supplement, but you should have an interest in remaining engaged with the arts in college.  

This essay is your chance to tell Duke why you love the school and why you want to spend the next years studying and living there! Think about your passions -- both academic and extracurricular -- and how Duke can help foster those interests. Do some research and cite specific examples of what drew you to Duke and how you envision yourself making use of resources and opportunities on campus. Things to consider discussing are how you were originally exposed to a certain field or subject or hobby, as well as how you plan on furthering your interests at Duke as well. What have you learned throughout your studies and experiences? Feel free to get as creative as you want too! It doesn’t necessarily have to be something academic -- maybe you just love dogs and camping and basketball and want to wax poetic about Handsome Dan and K-ville, and that’s perfect! Rhe student chose to go the route of discussing one of my academic interests and how she planned on pursuing that interest at Pratt through coursework, research, clubs, and other activities.

Example Essay

Wars are no longer won by nuclear bombs, but by quiet clicks of the keyboard and quick strokes of the mouse. Everything from physical infrastructure to personal data is vulnerable to being hacked: no one issafe. As the number of connected devicesincreases exponentially,so too does the pool of available devicesfor hackersto compromise. As an Electrical and Computer Engineering major in the Pratt School of Engineering, I would like to take coursessuch as Computer Network Architecture and Wireless Communication Systemsto learn about the structure and intercommunication ofsmart devices,so I may improve the devices’ infrastructure to prevent future attacks while preserving user privacy. I also anticipate seeking research opportunitiesto apply knowledge gleaned from my classes; I look forward to the opportunity to work under Professor Gorlatova to learn how to ameliorate IoT devicesso they cannot be easily exploited by hackers using botnetslike Mirai. Additionally, as a member of the Society of Women Engineers, I am excited to promote the contributions of women in engineering through projects and outreach with other like-minded students and professionals. With my peers, I aspire not only to addresstechnological issuesin society I’m passionate about, but also to engage in new innovative projects and win an award in the annual HackDuke hackathon. 

Some heroes have superpowers and wear capes, but heroes of this digital age will look more like me, huddled in Perkins and armed with a laptop and a cup of coffee. 

 This prompt is the ultimate personal essay! Talk and ramble about your passions and experiences and what makes you, you! Think about your hobbies or activities or backstory or daily routines and how you bring your own unique flavor and style to everything you do. Think about transformative experiences that you’ve had and lessons you’ve learned. Thisprompt also gives you the freedom to define “community” as however you want to. Other than school, you could also discuss community as your city, your orchestra, your sports team, your cultural group, another identity or demographic group, or anything that suits your vision for this essay! Again, think of what initially led you to take this action, what you did, and what you learned from it. What change did you make, and what changes did you experience as a result? Overall -- what defines you? Why does it define you? What are things you’ve learned? How can you continue to grow and share your story at Duke? 

Example Essay

Mental health has been a critical part of my identity and I wanted to share a snippet of my journey, from battling depression myself to the ways I’ve tried to broaden awareness and understanding and help others who are struggling as well. I felt that outside my test scores and extracurriculars and awards that I already provided in my application, this is also something that has defined and shaped much of who I am.

 “Hello, thisis Kana (my alias) from Teen Lifeline. What’s your name?” “It’s Shelby (her alias). I just wanted to thank you for talking to me the other night. Honestly, you saved my life...” 

While listening to Shelby’sinitial call--a bad breakup,school, and family problems had culminated in a failed suicide attempt-- my training had instinctively kicked in and I began to explore her feelings and coping mechanisms before initiating an action plan to help. Fifty heavy minuteslater, we agreed she would talk to her mother and seek professional help. 

As a trained peer counselor on the crisis hotline, my weekly six-hourshifts are dedicated to helping callers who battle addiction orsevere mental illnesses, or are contemplating suicide or running away from home. I appreciate the intensive six months of training and plethora of role-playsthat have prepared me to respond stoically, but with unconditional empathy,so I may guide each unique caller towardsthe road to recovery. 

Mental health is an issue too-often ignored in high school. As a member of Bring Change to Mind, a nonprofit dedicated to ending the stigma associated with mental illnesses, my job isto engage local organizations and professionalsto speak atschool events and to bring increased understanding and awareness of mental health. I have also used opportunitiesin my AP Psychology classto addressissues concerning mental health by sharing my personal experienceovercoming dysthymia (chronic depression) as well as presenting my work at the local teen crisis hotline. 

This prompt really gives you the freedom to talk about anything you want. This can be taken in any direction -- feel free to also use an existing prompt from somewhere else that you’ve already written. Focus on showcasing parts of yourself that you haven’t gotten an opportunity to yet throughout the application, or you feel like could be emphasized more. Remember, Duke wants to get to know you! 

 It’s scary and stressful to go throughout this entire process of applying to colleges, but I know you can do it! You’ve already done the hard part over the past few years of high school -- now, it’s your time to shine and showcase everything you’ve done to Duke! Start your essays and application early, and iterate over multiple rounds of ideas and drafts. Have brainstorming sessions with family and friends, and don’t be afraid to ask for help with ideas and revisions and advice! However, throughout the process, remember to stay true to who you are and let your voice speak through and express yourself authentically. Think about who you are now, and the mark you can leave on the Duke community, and what the Duke community can bring to you as well. And above all, have fun! Good luck -- we’ll be rooting for you. Go Blue Devils!! .

Written by PathIvy Content Team!