Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina, is consistently ranked a top-ten school associated with the Ivy-plus colleges and Southern Ivies. Duke had an overall acceptance rate of 5.1% for the Class of 2028.
Duke’s one required supplemental essay this year asks (in their own words), “Why Us?” However, Duke also offers five additional optional supplemental prompts, of which students can respond to a maximum of two. While there were some slight wording changes, this format is the same as last year’s application.
One unique aspect of the Duke application is the option to submit a 1 to 1.5-minute video through the Glimpse platform for admissions officers to “get to know you better.” This optional supplement is only available for students attending high school in the United States and must be submitted by Nov. 6 for Early Decision or Jan. 16 for Regular Decision.
Essay Guidance
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TTA Top Tip: If you do choose to create a 1 to 1.5-minute video for Duke, focus on authenticity and clarity. Use this opportunity to highlight a unique aspect of your personality, interests, or experiences that isn’t fully covered in your written application. Keep your message concise and engaging, and practice delivering it to ensure you sound natural and confident. Use clear and steady visuals, and ensure good audio quality. Remember, the goal is to give admissions officers a genuine glimpse into who you are beyond your academic achievements and test scores (this can be a casual video on your phone, not an elaborate production).
DUKE UNIVERSITY: SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAYS
The following question is required for all 2024-25 applicants to Duke University:
- What is your sense of Duke as a university and a community, and why do you consider it a good match for you? If there’s something in particular about our offerings that attracts you, feel free to share that as well. (250 word limit)
We want to emphasize that the following questions are optional. Feel free to answer one or two if you believe that doing so will add something meaningful that is not already shared elsewhere in your application. Five optional questions are available – a maximum of two can be selected. (250 word limit)
- We believe a wide range of personal perspectives, beliefs, and lived experiences are essential to making Duke a vibrant and meaningful living and learning community. Feel free to share with us anything in this context that might help us better understand you and what you might bring to our community.
- Tell us about an intellectual experience in the past year or two that reflects your imagination, creativity, or intellect.
- We believe there is benefit in sharing and sometimes questioning our beliefs or values; who do you agree with on the big important things, or who do you have your most interesting disagreements with? What are you agreeing or disagreeing about?
- Duke’s commitment to inclusion and belonging includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Feel free to share with us more about how your identity in this context has meaning for you as an individual or as a member of a community.
- We recognize that “fitting in” in all the contexts we live in can sometimes be difficult. Duke values all kinds of differences and believes they make our community better. Feel free to share with us circumstances where something about you is different and how that’s influenced your experiences or identity.
Personal Application Boot Camp®
Three days of one-on-one work with a Senior Counselor from the Application Boot Camp® team.
APPLYING TO DUKE UNIVERSITY?
Are you thinking about applying to Duke University? Confused on how to start writing these essays? Contact us to discuss our Essay Guidance Program or Personal Boot Camp. By working on your applications now, you will be able to reap the benefit of increased odds in the early round of admissions.
Top Tier Admissions is tracking the 2024-2025 supplemental essay prompts for all top schools here — we look forward to supporting you!
Interested in reading more about Duke University?
- Duke University: Class of 2028 Acceptance Rate
- Duke University Admissions
- New Ivies: Class of 2028 Acceptance Rates
- Ivy Plus Acceptance Rates
- Southern Ivies: Class of 2028 Acceptance Rates
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