Applying to Duke: How To Apply

The application process can sometimes feel like a maze of forms, personal statements, and test scores. So we've tried to make the process as clear as possible. We want to give you the chance to tell us about yourself in the most straightforward and effective way, allowing you more time to focus on why you would be a valuable addition to the Duke community.

Duke uses the Common Application or the Universal College Application plus the Duke Student Supplement (Form A). You may submit Form A before or with the Common Application or the Universal College Application, and you should include your non-refundable $75 application fee (payable to Duke University) or fee waiver request with the form. You can apply either on paper or on-line. Click on the tabs below for more information about each application method. Please note that all changes and updates to the application must be made in writing. You may send a letter (or fax) which includes your full name, address, date of birth, and high school to the address below.

If you are interested in reading our short-answer questions for first-year admission in 2008, we have provided them here for you. Your answer to the following questions will be evaluated along with the essay you’ll write as part of the Common Application or the Universal College Application. We encourage you to take advantage of this additional opportunity to let us know about your intellectual and personal interests. Please limit each answer as indicated.

(Required for Engineering Applicants Only) If you are applying to the Pratt School of Engineering, please discuss why you want to study engineering and why you would like to study at Duke. (Please limit your response to one to three paragraphs.)
(Required for Transfer Applicants Only) Consider the books, essays, poems, or journal articles you have read over the last year or two, either for school or leisure. Please discuss the way in which one of them has changed your understanding of the world, other people, or yourself. (Please limit your response to one to three paragraphs.)

The following questions are optional—and yes, they truly are optional! If you choose not to answer them, your chance of admission will not be affected.

(For Arts and Sciences Applicants Only) If you are applying to Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, please discuss why you consider Duke a good match for you. Is there something in particular at Duke that attracts you? (Please limit your response to one to three paragraphs.)
If you have participated in any significant research activity outside of school, please provide a brief description and limit this response to one or two paragraphs.
We seek to understand and appreciate you as an individual. If there is a parent, sibling, other relative, or friend of yours who you think could help us do that, we would be happy to receive a one-page letter from one of them. This optional information will be considered in our understanding of you as a person, but will not be formally evaluated as part of your application.