duke supplemental essay tips

Duke University 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Early Decision: Nov 1

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 2

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Duke University 2023-24 Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: One required 250-word essay and two optional 250-word essays Supplemental Essay Type(s): Why , Communit y , Diversity

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)

Admissions is truly asking you to do your homework here. What do you make of Duke and why do you want to go there? This space is a wonderful opportunity for you to summarize the aspects of a Duke college experience that call to you and to address your personal connection to this elite school. Were you able to tour campus last year? What drew you in? What part of campus could you see yourself hanging out in? Where do you see yourself studying for exams? Admissions knows that Duke is a prestigious university, with impressive alumni to boot, so make sure to personalize your answer. Instead of showering Duke with compliments, focus on how Duke has attracted your interest and how you hope an education at Duke will prepare you to accomplish your goals—academic and otherwise.

We want to emphasize that the following questions are optional. Feel free to answer them if you believe that doing so will add something meaningful that is not already shared elsewhere in your application.  Four optional questions are available – a maximum of 2 can be selected.

Please select 0 – 2 optional essay topics. (respond in 250 words or fewer.), 1) perspective response, 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..

Admissions wants to know what you will contribute to the Duke community. What has shaped you as a person and how has that made your perspective unique? What lessons have you learned and applied? What can you share with others? Is there anything you can teach your classmates or peers about your hometown, culture, religion, identity, race, or ethnicity that they might not already know? Duke wants to know how your personal perspectives, beliefs, and/or lived experiences will affect the conversations you have and the ways in which you engage with the Blue Devil community, so tell them a story that helps them to imagine the kind of student you’ll be on campus next fall.

2) Intellectual experience

Tell us about an intellectual experience in the past two years that you found absolutely fascinating..

It’s no surprise that Duke is hoping to invite students to campus who are excited about learning, so take this opportunity to geek out about an awesome learning experience you had recently. Maybe you were given permission to write your research paper on a historic event that has always amazed you and, through that project, you were able to deepen your understanding of the complex social hierarchies during the Qin dynasty. Perhaps you had the opportunity to take a class or seminar with a thought leader you really admire or you went on a reading retreat that expanded your horizons. Whatever it may be, this is the perfect place to show admissions your passion for intellectual endeavors.

3) Beliefs & values

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.

This prompt is an inquiry: how do you communicate with others about difficult topics and issues? Duke wants to foster the kind of learning environment that encourages respectful discussions about beliefs and values, so tell them about someone you speak with about issues you hold dear to your heart. Maybe it’s a mentor in your life, who you consult when you feel overwhelmed by current events. Do they provide reassurance that you’re on the right path? Perhaps it’s a family member who tends to disagree with your worldview and vision for a better future. How do you approach these complex conversations? Have you ever questioned what you believe in, or perhaps, discovered a new perspective you hadn’t considered before? How have you become a better listener or speaker because of these chats? Don’t forget to mention the topic or issue of importance here, so you can also give admissions insight into what you care about.

4) Being different

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 tell us any ways in which you’re different, and how that has affected you or what it means to you..

We have all felt different from those around us at some point in our lives, and with this prompt, admissions is inviting you to talk about your lived experiences. Perhaps you are one of few South Asian students at your Midwestern high school, and that difference has led you to explore your heritage and connect with family members overseas to better understand what it means to be you. Maybe you have lived with a physical disability for as long as you can remember; how have the ways you move through the world and take up space impacted the way you interact with your surroundings and vice versa? Whatever has kept you from “fitting in,” admissions knows that difference makes communities stronger, so invite them to learn a little bit about what it’s like to be you and what the world looks like through your eyes.

5) Orientation, identity, expression

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..

Duke was one of the first schools to embrace the subject of sexual orientation and gender identity in their essay questions, and this is yet another step in their overt attempt to recruit a truly diverse pool of applicants. They want you to know that they embrace all sexual orientations and gender expressions, so if you are open to discussing your identity, feel free to share your story. Note that this question will not be applicable to all students, so if you don’t have a relevant story to tell, we recommend responding to two of the other three prompts!

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How To Write The Duke Supplemental Essays

Reviewed by:

Former Admissions Committee Member, Columbia University

Reviewed: 11/16/23

Follow along to learn everything you need about the Duke University essays, including prompts, tips, and examples. 

If you are on this page, you are probably doing some college research and may have Duke University on your list. With an acceptance rate of 5.1%, Duke University is one of the most competitive schools in the U.S.

Writing compelling essays is one of the most crucial parts of your Duke application. You may feel pressured to be as perfect as possible, but the good news is we’re here to help. If you’re struggling with your Duke application, look at our definitive guide on how to get into Duke and read on for info on the all-important secondary essays.

Here, we break down each supplemental essay question, give you tips on how to write them, and share examples of excellent essays. By the end of this article, you'll know how to write the Duke supplemental essays.

Let's get started!

Duke University Supplemental Essay Prompts 2023-2024

In addition to the long personal essay on the Common Application or the Coalition Application, Duke has six supplemental essay prompts, and five are optional questions in which a maximum of two can be selected. The following prompts can be found on the Duke admissions page .

“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.” 

“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. (Optional)”

“Tell us about an intellectual experience in the past two years that you found absolutely fascinating. (Optional)”

“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? (Optional)”

“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 tell us any ways in which you’re different, and how that has affected you or what it means to you. (Optional)”

“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. (Optional)”

All of these supplemental essay prompts have a 250-word limit. Make sure you choose the essay prompts you know you can answer well! 

How to Write Each Essay Prompt For Duke University

Here, we’ll cover how to write each essay prompt for Duke University. 

How to Write Duke University Supplemental Essay #1 + Analysis and Tips

Duke University prompt #1 :

“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.)” 

Analysis of prompt #1 : This essay prompt is your classic “Why do you want to go here?” question. Admissions want to see if you’re truly interested in what Duke offers. This includes specific programs, research opportunities, or extracurriculars. 

Duke is a very popular university with thousands of applicants each year. What can this school offer you, and how can it help you reach your goals? 

Here are some tips to get you started:

• Tip #1: Make it Personal :  You should make your essay as personal as possible. Share your interests and academic and career goals. Make sure to tie those into Duke’s mission and how you’d be a great addition to the school’s community. Be sure to add anecdotes as well. 
• Tip #2: Avoid Mentioning Elements Beyond the School's Control : such as the school's location, climate, or city. This information does not provide specific insights into what makes Duke unique. Remember, the prompt asks you about Duke specifically and why you’d like to attend the school. 
• Tip #3: Be Specific : Mention some specific things that Duke offers, such as a particular program or research opportunity. It’s always best to focus on a couple of things the school offers rather than adding a long list. 

How to Write Duke University Supplemental Essay #2 + Analysis and Tips

Analysis of prompts #2, 5, and 6 : Essay prompts two, five, and six are all considered diversity essays and are open-ended questions. These essay prompts help Duke learn more about you and your lived experiences. Duke University values diversity and believes it makes its community better. 

These prompts are an opportunity to share anything that makes you different, such as:

• Socioeconomic class
• Disabilities
• Gender Identity
• Sexual orientation
• Gender identity
• Gender expression
• Interests/hobbies
• And anything else that makes you different!

Share what being a part of these communities means to you, how it has affected you, or what it can bring to the Duke University community. 

Here are some tips to help you out:

• Tip #1: Reflect on Your Background : Discuss aspects of your background, such as cultural heritage, family dynamics, or personal challenges, that have shaped your identity. Don’t list a bunch of things that make you different. Stick to one and focus on it. 
• Tip #2: Share Personal Stories : Provide specific examples or anecdotes illustrating your differences. Personal stories can make your response more engaging and help the admissions committee understand your experiences more deeply.
• Tip #3: Show Resilience : If you've faced challenges related to your unique life experiences, discuss how you've navigated them with resilience. This could include overcoming adversity, advocating for change, or finding support networks.

How to Write Duke University Supplemental Essay #3 + Analysis and Tips

Duke University prompt #3 : ‍

“Tell us about an intellectual experience in the past two years that you found absolutely fascinating. (250 word limit.)” 

Analysis of prompt #3 : Duke is interested in learning about your intellectual pursuits and your approach to the learning process. You have the flexibility to explore various aspects, such as a specific class that ignited your curiosity, an independent research project you started, or an experiment you conducted in a science course, among other possibilities.

• Tip #1: Choose One Genuine Experience : Select an intellectual experience that fascinates you. This could be an academic project, a research opportunity, a challenging course, or any other intellectual endeavor that left a lasting impression. 
• Tip #2: Express Your Passion : Convey your passion for the subject matter. Describe why this particular experience captured your interest and why it was so compelling. Use descriptive language to express the depth of your fascination.
• Tip #3: Share Any Challenges and Growth : Share any challenges or obstacles you may have faced during this intellectual journey. Emphasize how you overcame difficulties and highlight the personal and intellectual growth that resulted from the experience.

How to Write Duke University Supplemental Essay #4 + Analysis and Tips

Duke University prompt #4 :

“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? (250 word limit.)” 

Analysis of prompt #4 : This prompt focuses on your internal beliefs and values. The core of your essay should involve revealing one of your significant values to the admissions committee. Be careful not to get too political. Instead, talk about a role model or someone who inspires you and why.

• Tip #1: Choose a Role Model :  Choose a role model or someone who inspires you. You can talk about a time your role model let you down, or you had a differing opinion, but be sure to focus on what you learned from that experience.
• Tip #2: Pick Thoughtful Examples : Choose examples that reflect substantial beliefs or values in your life. These could be related to ethics, morality, societal issues, or personal principles. Select instances that are meaningful and can provide insight into your character.
• Tip #3: Highlight Learning Moments : Emphasize what you have learned from agreements and disagreements. Discuss how they have contributed to your personal growth, expanded your understanding, or solidified your convictions.

Examples of Duke University Supplemental Essays That Worked

Below, you’ll find some Duke University supplemental essays written by successful applicants who were admitted to the school! Let’s look at each one and discuss what worked about it.

Sample Essay #1

Prompt : “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.” 

“At Duke I was equally entranced by the articulate movements of 3D printers in the Co-Lab and the stunning Gothic architecture. Instead of forming a dichotomy, these aspects of Duke blended to symbolize its emphasis on interdisciplinary education, which will offer me a nuanced perspective of the world integral to becoming a leader in engineering…”

Why Essay #1 Worked

In this excerpt from a “why Duke” essay example, the student answers the prompt with specific aspects of Duke University. They relate the Co-Lab and Duke’s Gothic architecture with their interests in engineering, and they explain why these things are a good match for them. 

Sample Essay #2

Prompt : “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.”

“The pitter patter of droplets, the sweet smell that permeates throughout the air, the dark gray clouds that fill the sky, shielding me from the otherwise intense gaze of the sun, create a landscape unparalleled by any natural beauty. I have gazed upon the towering cliffs of Yosemite, stood next to Niagara falls as the water roars, succumbing to the power of gravity, and seen the beaches of Mexico basked in moonlight, yet none of these wonders compares to the simple beauty of an Arizona rainstorm. To me, our rain represents more than humidity and darkness; its rarity gives it beauty. The uncertainty of when the next day of rain will come compels me to slow down, and enjoy the moment.

Out of the three realms of time; past, present, and future, the present is the only one we can experience, and I take advantage of every moment I have. When I pause my running to enjoy a sunset that dazzles the sky with brilliant colors of purple and orange, when I touch my brush to a canvas and focus on my movements in the present, when I drive home after a long day of improving our robot, and decide to drive around my neighborhood to finish “Garota de Ipanema”, which just popped up from my playlist of 700 songs, I am taking advantage of the moment.

So next time it rains, step outside. Close your eyes. Hear the symphony of millions of water droplets. And enjoy the moment.”

Why Essay #2 Worked

This essay tells a great story about the student’s unique perspective observing a seemingly mundane event in their community. They use specific and compelling language to capture the reader’s attention. They show us a few of their interests rather than simply telling us they like to paint, build robots, and listen to music. 

Sample Essay #3

Prompt : “Tell us about an intellectual experience in the past two years that you found absolutely fascinating.”

“Embarrassment’s red glow covering my face matched the red ink circling the “44” grade atop my AP Biology exam on Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration. I was devastated that day in Room 46.

Until then, Room 46 had been my magic school bus where we spent our time wandering wide-eyed through the world of science: dissecting pigs, testing our own DNA for the Alu insertion, and sharing community-creating laughs along the way. But receiving that “44” jarred me into feeling I didn’t belong there anymore. 

However, after meeting with my guidance counselor, contemplating dropping the class, and countless extra help sessions with my biology teacher, I realized my magic school bus journey wasn’t over yet, as I gradually concluded that my commitment to Room 46 was stronger than one bad test grade, that I was stronger than one bad test grade.

The journey was tricky and undoubtedly riddled with discouraging moments, but by applying myself and being resourceful, I made my “44” an isolated outlier before it was dropped from the gradebook entirely by semester’s end as my lowest grade. While my success can be quantified, it’s nonetheless my memory of Room 46 that’s continuously inspired me to transcend my limits and take on challenges even in areas of weakness (i.e. AP Bio). I consider this my best academic experience because it showed me what happens when you push past failure - success! - as I ended up getting an A in the class and a 5 on the AP test!”

Why Essay #3 Worked

This essay perfectly illustrates an intellectual journey the applicant had gone through that they persevered through. Initially, the applicant felt discouraged by their academic performance; however, they overcame it and learned through the experience and improved their grade tremendously. 

Get More Sample Essays Here!

Looking at examples of successful supplemental essays is a great way to discover strategies that work well. Use our extensive college essay database below to find many more samples!

Here are our answers to some of the most frequently asked questions concerning Duke essays.

1. How to Write Duke Supplemental Essays?

When writing the Duke secondaries, choose prompts that lend themselves to your story as an applicant. Your chosen prompts should allow you to talk about important lessons you’ve learned and how you’ve grown. 

The only required essay is the “why Duke” essay, which you should do plenty of research for before you start writing. Understanding and conveying why Duke would be an excellent fit for you is crucial based on your unique interests, passions, and values. 

2. What Makes a Good “Why Duke” Essay?

The trick to writing an excellent “why Duke” essay is doing plenty of research. You should learn everything the school offers, including clubs, programs, extracurriculars, awards, and history. Your essay should demonstrate how Duke is a uniquely perfect school for you and highlight what parts of Duke excite you. 

3. How Should I Start Writing My Supplemental Essays?

One of the best ways to start writing is to brainstorm and reflect. Have all your ideas written down on a page so you can pick the ones you think are the best. Do your research on Duke. By the time you start drafting, you should know what direction you want to take your essay and how to end it .

4. What If I Cannot Think of Anything to Write About In My Essays?

If you cannot think of anything to write about in an optional essay, it might be a good sign that you should leave it blank. If you have ideas but are stuck, try taking a break from brainstorming. 

Ask thoughtful questions and answer truthfully to get inspired. Try not to worry too much. Writing a 250-word essay is probably not the most challenging task you have ever done. 

5. How Long Is the Why Duke Essay?

Duke University’s supplemental essays are 250 words or less long, including the “why Duke” essay. 

6. Are Duke Optional Essays Optional?

Yes, the Duke optional essays are optional. Duke University has one required essay prompt that asks you to explain why you want to attend Duke. The other five essays are all optional. You can write a maximum of two essays in response to two or none of the four prompts. 

Final Thoughts

The Duke essays ask you to hone in on your academic interests, tell a story about your diverse experiences, and reflect on your sexual and gender identities. You should start researching and planning your essay as soon as possible, giving yourself enough time to develop your ideas. 

Use your authentic voice when you write these essays. The admissions committee has read enough about what other people have to say about you, and they want to know the person behind the printed name, transcripts, and score reports. 

Do not be afraid to be vulnerable in your essays. Be mindful of your spelling and grammar, and write about things that are important to you. Make your passion clear to your readers, and you will leave a lasting impression on them. 

Access 190+ sample college essays here

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How to Respond to the 2023/2024 Duke Supplemental Essay Prompts

Cait Williams is a Content Writer at Scholarships360. Cait recently graduated from Ohio University with a degree in Journalism and Strategic Communications. During her time at OU, was active in the outdoor recreation community.

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Bill Jack has over a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. Since 2008, he has worked at Colby College, Wesleyan University, University of Maine at Farmington, and Bates College.

Maria Geiger is Director of Content at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.

When applying to a school as selective as Duke University with a 6% acceptance rate, the supplemental essay portion is key to making your mark. There is sure to be a sea of stellar applicants with impressive transcripts and extensive extracurricular involvement. Standing out on the Duke supplemental essays relies on telling your story in a compelling way. 

It is helpful to break each prompt into pieces and identify the points you hope to address. Proper planning helps keep your responses clear, concise, and example-driven. Below, we give you more tips on how to tackle each prompt. We also provide thought starters for incorporating anecdotes from your own experiences.  

Also see: How to choose a college

Required Essay

“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)”.

For this essay, it will be important for you to do a little bit of research about Duke as a school and a community, and to make a list of the things that you like the most. Then, make a list of the things that you are looking for in a school unrelated to Duke. Look at both lists together, and make the connection between the two. 

A 250 word limit is the perfect number of words for this type of question. This would be a good question to dive into specific things that draw you into Duke University– mentioning things that you are looking for in a school that maybe only Duke has.  

Don’t miss: Scholarships360’s free scholarship search tool

Questions to consider: 

• What professors are you looking forward to working with?
• What research opportunities does Duke offer that you are interested in?
• What draws you in about the community at Duke?

Optional Essays

Although these essays are optional, we always encourage students to write them anyway so that the university is able to see who you are at a deeper level. If you have the same academic statistics as another student and the admissions professionals are trying to decide between the two of you, it could come down to the essays and which student they know more about. Help them get to know you better!

Each of these essays should be a maximum of 250 words, and there is no minimum. However, it would be a good idea to write at least 150 words so that the admissions committee has enough writing to get to know you. You may choose to write a maximum of two prompts to write essays for.

“ 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 ”

This is a question that you may be asked quite a bit on college supplemental essay prompts, just worded in different ways. Think about an experience that you did not write about on your application that makes you unique compared to other applicants. They are looking for something personal, honest, and open, so take a deep look into your life to see if there is anything that you feel comfortable sharing with them. 

Once you have figured out what experience you want to share, it may help to free write in a stream-of-consciousness type of way to help you get your thoughts flowing. After that, you can always go back and edit for length and clarity. If you don’t feel comfortable writing about a personal experience, that is okay! That is one of the reasons why this prompt is optional. 

Questions to consider:

• What type of person do you consider yourself to be?
• What experiences have shaped you?
• How have you been influenced by the experiences in your life?

Also see: How to respond to the Common App essay prompts

“Tell us about an intellectual experience in the past two years that you found absolutely fascinating.”

This is another one of those questions where you want to look deeper than the surface. It is important to not just re-word what you already wrote on your application or what your transcript already revealed. It also may be helpful to think about something more than just the classes that you took. Did you go on a field trip that made you passionate about what you wanted to study after high school? Maybe you had a career fair at school that shifted your mind academically. These are all great things to think about before you start writing this essay.

This type of essay tells the admissions professionals a great deal about who you are as a student, so this would be an important essay to write if you had to pick one of the optional ones. 

• What was your favorite class in high school?
• What about that class made it special?
• Did you have a specific teacher that made you decide what major you wanted to go into?

“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?”

In college, often the beliefs that you held as a child or in high school tend to develop or change completely. They are asking you this to get a feel for what kind of person you are, and more specifically, what kind of student or team-player you are. Generally, colleges and universities want to find students who are willing to test the beliefs of themselves and others so that they can see more than just one side of a situation, whether that be academically, socially, or personally. 

This is a difficult question to answer because it is sometimes hard to admit that our beliefs are sometimes wrong, or to admit that we disagree with people often. This is an important question because they want to see your response to the challenge.  

• What is something that you and your friends often debate about?
• Is there a topic that comes up at the dinner table a great deal that you end up having banter over?
• What are you passionate about?

“ Orientation, identity, expression 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. ”

This prompt is great because it is generally something a regular college application cannot answer. This is the place where you can talk more about who you are as a person, what your personal identity is, and why that makes you you if you choose to do so. You can write as little as you’d like or go right up to the 250 word maximum– whatever makes you most comfortable.

• What type of person do you identify as?
• How has your culture shaped who you are?
• How will you use who you are to shape your college experience?

“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 tell us any ways in which you’re different, and how that has affected you or what it means to you.”

This is another great opportunity to talk about things that you wouldn’t otherwise get to talk about. Take some time to think about any aspects of your life that you may have ever felt “different” in. Remember too that “different” does not mean bad. What are some ways that you have felt your differences have been to your advantage? 

Related: How to write a 500 word essay

Key Takeaways

• “Show don’t tell” as much as you can through short story examples 
• Do not shy away from injecting your personality and voice into your responses
• Think of what makes you truly distinctive and has formed the person you are today for prompt #1
• Take some time to read through the optional essay prompts and try to respond to at least one
• Remember, the more you can share about yourself, the more you can set yourself apart as an applicant

Additional supplemental essay guides

• Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, NC)
• Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN)
• University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)
• Emory University (Atlanta, GA)

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2021-2022 Duke Supplemental Essays Guide: Tips & Prompts

When applying to selective institutions, supplemental essays are a huge part of the process. Supplemental essays are an essential tool admissions officers use to assess student fit, and so Duke supplemental essays help assess whether or not you belong at the university.

Think about it: every other part of the application is relatively generic. Every college will receive the same information from the student including their name, demographic information, transcripts, SAT/ACT scores, and personal statement.

Supplemental essays dig a bit deeper into the student’s personality, passions, etc. As such, these additional questions should be taken seriously. It is important to use these essays to your advantage and prove to the school once more why you belong at that institution.

Review the guidelines and requirements for Duke supplemental essays.

Along with the Common App which contains your personal statement, Duke asks that students complete 1-3 short supplemental essays. The Duke supplement essays consist of a 200-word essay and two optional 250-word essays. For the 2021-2022 application cycle, your Duke application essays should be submitted with the Common Application on January 4th for Regular Decision and on November 1st for Early Decision.

You can read about the requirements on the official website .

Why Duke essay: 4 tips that can help you get admission in Duke University

The first prompt asks for a “Why this college” essay.

Please share with us why you consider Duke a good match for you.  Is there something in particular about Duke’s academic or other offerings that attract you?  (200 words maximum)

Admissions officers want students who will both excel and enjoy their time, so the case has to be made why you prefer Duke rather than any other top university.

1. Make sure your reasons are clear.

First and foremost, before you start any writing and planning, make sure the answer is clear to yourself. Sometimes our preferences for colleges at first can be instinctive or general, which is fine at first. But for these essays, your reasons will have to be articulated. If your reasons do not single out Duke from other universities, you are not really answering “Why Duke.” Before you make the case for Duke, make the case for yourself!

You may want to try rehearsing and answering yourself or writing it in 1-3 sentences. You will have space to elaborate and give examples but having a general point from the outset will make your case clearer and have a greater impact. This will also help you avoid your essay reading like a list, which can be both uninteresting and inadequate. Giving a list of good qualities of the university does not say why those qualities appeal to you.

2. Research the university .

Doing prior research can help you articulate the “Why Duke” question for yourself.

Read about Duke, from the official website and ranking websites to know the reputation of programs that interest you. Reading about things that are relevant to your college experience, like departments you are interested in, professors, student services. Read how the university talks about itself and what it says it excels at. Once you have found the things that you like about the university, you will have to consider why those things appeal to you.

3. Outline and plan your essays.

You may find that some things you are considering mentioning could fit under different prompts or are already mentioned in your personal statement. Whatever you do, plan the essays in advance to allocate the points you make so you do not repeat yourself. If something is important enough that you feel the need to mention it in another prompt, be brief.

Planning can involve outlining the essay before you write it. Because of the short length of the essay, you will probably only have room to make a few key points. Whatever points you make, know that in asking “Why Duke,” you are also being asked about yourself. Your point should not be just that Duke has this or that program. You should give reasons related to your interests, experiences, future plans, or values for why those programs fit you.

It may be a helpful practice to take a half-hour to write a quick draft early on. This way you can see what works or does not work when structuring your essay and figure out what points you have trouble articulating. You can then redraft it or outline it with these issues in mind.

4. Be particular. 

Finally, be particular. Pay attention to the phrase, “is there something in particular.” This question is asking you to provide specific reasons why you want to attend Duke University. Generic answers will not cut it here. Cite professors, professional resources, programs, internships, or other opportunities that genuinely excite you. Doing good research will make this task far easier. However, it isn’t good enough to simply name a professor or class without connecting it to why it is important to you. You can show that something is important to you by referring to your experiences or mentioning how that thing will help you.

Don’t write: 

I imagine myself taking Professor Smith’s Data Visualization for Gender Inequities. The class seems interesting and I would be excited to learn how to visualize data.

Instead, say:

Since my involvement in the debate club, I have been curious about how we can use empirical data to rectify societal issues. I imagine myself taking Professor Smith’s Data Visualization for Gender Inequities. This class will provide an important framework about the ways in which we can not only obtain data but how to use it to inform policy. 

Do not use this essay to brag to the university about how prestigious they are. In other words, don’t tell Duke you want to go there because Duke is a highly ranked institution; they already know that. And for everyone applying, the prestigiousness and quality of education is already a reason for applying. So, being specific and giving good reasons will also help you stand out among other students. What else matters to you about the institution? Do you like the culture, the classes, programs, majors? If you can’t think of a reason to attend Duke other than because it is Duke, you may want to reconsider why you’re applying.

Another way of being particular is talking about your personal connection to the university. This connection may be about the culture, a personal experience with the school, a visit, or a talk with an admissions officer. If you have not had the opportunity to visit, perhaps there are student support systems that appeal to you or alumni you look up to.

Duke’s Optional Supplemental Essays

Duke offers two optional supplemental essay prompts. Here is the first:

Duke University seeks a talented, engaged student body that embodies the wide range of human experience; we believe that the diversity of our students makes our community stronger. If you’d like to share a perspective you bring or experiences you’ve had that would help us understand you better, perhaps a community you belong to or your family or cultural background, we encourage you to do so here. Real people are reading your application, and we want to do our best to understand and appreciate the real people applying to Duke. (250 words maximum)

Some keywords to pay attention to in this prompt are diversity, perspective, experiences, community, cultural background. This supplement essay is intentionally broad so that everyone should be able to answer it. Duke wants to see that you have your own perspective that you will bring to the university community.

You can use this essay to discuss an ethnic, cultural, or religious identity you belong to. Some students may feel their identities do not say anything special about who they are – but that’s okay. If you find that these kinds of identities have not impacted you in a significant way, you can think of other communities you belong to that matter to you. Perhaps the city where you live shaped your identity, or maybe the school club you belong to shaped your way of thinking. No matter what your background is, you should answer this optional essay. If you don’t, you are wasting an opportunity to make a case for yourself.

This essay is not a list of facts about yourself. You need to show how this background impacts your perspective. For this reason, it is a good idea to discuss both your past and your future, because the major takeaway from this essay is how you will use these experiences to diversify the incoming class. An easy structure to use for this kind of essay is (1) what it was like having this background, (2) how it affected you, and (3) how this will affect your experience at Duke. For example, you may say growing up in a Hispanic household taught you the importance of family and community. Then, you can discuss how to plan to promote that culture with students at the university.

Of course, it should offer a perspective not offered anywhere else on your application. Therefore, if you wrote about a certain part of your identity as the topic for your personal essay, choose a different aspect of your life for this essay.

Duke’s commitment to diversity and inclusion includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. If you would like to share with us more about your identity, you can do so here, or use any previous essay prompt you feel is appropriate. (250 words maximum)

This essay has a similar purpose to the last essay. If you choose to answer it, make sure that you do not make the same point in both essays. Again, what is important for this essay is not that you have a certain identity, but that you show how it has informed your perspective. This perspective that you talk about – whether it is your passions, values, future plans – does not need to be something you are fully certain of. Your response here can be more reflective. You can talk about different possibilities or how you hope to change in the future. For both these optional essays, what is important is that you demonstrate genuine reflection on your background or identity.

You may feel that this essay is not applicable to you, or that you are uncomfortable answering it. It is fine that you skip this optional question. The first optional essay serves a similar purpose, so do not worry as long as you fill that one out.

Key takeaways on Duke University supplemental essays

For all of these Duke supplements, what matters more than the identity you chose is how you explain the effect your identity had on you. In other words, do not simply write about your cultural heritage or involvement in a community without explaining how it shaped you. Similarly, the “Why Duke” essays cannot be answered by only saying things about Duke. Ultimately, the question is why you think you belong at the university. Always relate whatever it is you are talking about back to yourself. By showing passions and purpose – that is how you stand out from other students on these essays.

Finally, clarity and conciseness are essential. Take advantage of the space you have and do more with less. Preparation and trying to understand the reasons Duke appeals to you will make the writing process easier and the essay better. If you genuinely are interested in going to Duke, you should have good reasons, and take the time to find the right words for them. The more convinced you are, the more passionate and authentic your writing will come across.

FAQs related to Duke essays

How many supplemental essays does duke have.

Duke requires one supplement essay and offers two optional ones. The required essay is 200-words and the optional ones are 250-words each.

Should I answer the Duke optional essays?

Yes, you should take advantage of more opportunities to make your case. Many approaches can be taken for the first optional essay. However, you may find that the second optional essay is inapplicable to you or you may be uncomfortable answering it. If you find it difficult to answer, you probably should not.

When do the Duke supplemental essays come out?

The latest versions of Duke’s supplemental essays come out sometime around mid-August. The essay prompts for the 2021-2022 admissions cycle have been released on Duke’s website .

How do you stand out to Duke?

Be genuine. These Duke writing supplements are not only about qualifications but about finding people who really care about the university. If you like the university, find out how to express and explain it. Connect everything you talk about (what you like about Duke, your background) back to yourself.

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College Essays

Do you want to be a Blue Devil? If so, you'll need to submit strong Duke essays as part of your application.

Duke requires its applicants to answer two essays, one as part of the Common or Coalition app, and one "Why Duke" essay. Students will also have the option to answer up to two more personal essay prompts, but they aren't required.

We're going to break down all the prompts for you and walk you though how to write amazing Duke supplement essays. So let's get started!

What Is the Duke Supplement Essay?

Duke requires that you submit two to four essays as part of your application. You're required to answer one "Why Duke?" essay prompt, as well as a Common Application essay or a Coalition Application essay (depending on which one you use to apply). Additionally, you have the option of answering up to two more essay questions.

Duke requires the Duke supplement as part of its application process for a couple of reasons. First of all, written essays are a great way to assess your preparedness for college. Duke wants to see that you can write clearly and concisely and can follow all of the necessary grammar conventions.

Duke also wants to get to know you more as a student and possible member of its campus. Essays are a great way to learn more about who you really are beyond your test scores and other credentials.

Finally, your Duke essays are where you can demonstrate your affinity for Duke itself. Why do you want to go there? Your essays can highlight your passion for the university.

It's extremely important to put time and effort into each one of the Duke supplement essay prompts so that you're able to meet all of these needs.

Duke Supplement Essay Prompts

You'll have to answer at least two and as many as four Duke supplement essay prompts for your Duke application. All students are required to write one longer essay. The essay you write will be determined by whether you're submitting the Common Application or the Coalition Application (Duke accepts both).

You're also required to answer the "Why Duke" essay prompt. There are four more personal essay questions that are optional for all applicants. You can answer up to two of them.

2022-2023 Duke Long Essay

The long essay prompt is actually the essay you'll write as part of your Common App or Coalition App. There's not a separate "long essay" prompt for Duke, so don't worry when you don't see the prompt pop up when you click over to the writing supplement tab.

On the other hand, that means that the long essay prompt you submit will depend on whether you're using the Common App, QuestBridge App, or Coalition App. These apps have slightly different essay prompts associated with them!

If you apply to Duke via the Coalition Application, you'll select one essay prompt to answer. For more information on how to ace your Coalition Application essay and an analysis of each prompt, check out our in-depth guide .

If you apply to Duke via the Common Application, you'll also need to select an essay prompt to answer. For more information on how to craft an amazing Common Application essay and in-depth look at each prompt, check out our blog post dedicated to that very topic .

2022-2023 "Why Duke?" Essay

All Duke students are required to answer the "Why Duke?" essay . Here's the essay prompt for 2022-2023:

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)

For more information about how to answer this question, you can check out our in-depth post to the "Why Duke?" app. 

2022-2023 Optional Duke Essays

You also have the option of responding to optional Duke essays. There are four prompts, and you can answer up to two of them. However, you don't need to answer any if you don't feel the need to. Duke makes it clear that these Duke admissions essay prompts are completely optional. Their exact phrasing is, " Feel free to answer them if you believe that doing so will add something meaningful that is not already shared elsewhere in your application." For each prompt you choose to answer, you can write up to 250 words.

Here are the four prompts:

We seek a diverse student body that embodies the wide range of human experience. In that context, we are interested in what you’d like to share about your lived experiences and how they’ve influenced how you think of yourself. 

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?

 What has been your best academic experience in the last two years, and what made it so good?

Duke's commitment to diversity and inclusion includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. If you’d like to share with us more about your identity in this context, feel free to do so here.

Required Duke Essay, Analyzed

Guess what: 250 words isn't a lot of words to describe your love for Duke! You'll need to be clear, succinct, and honest in order for your Duke admissions essay to stand out.

Because the word limit is so constrained, it's better to focus on one or two specific ideas, rather than trying to cram as many thoughts as possible into your short essay. For instance, while you may be enamored of Duke's entire faculty, choose one specific professor whose work you admire and expand on that. Any depth you can achieve in this small space will go a long way.

The key here is to be specific about why Duke is the best school for you. We just mentioned discussing faculty, but you can also talk about specific classes you want to take, academic organizations you want to be involved in, or even research opportunities you want to pursue. That means you'll need to do your research, but trust us: it will make a huge difference.

If you're still confused about this prompt and want a little extra help, don't miss our entire article about how to write an amazing "Why Duke" essay!

Optional Duke Admission Essay Prompts, Analyzed

Treat this question as an opportunity to share more about yourself. If you have something real and important to write about, do so. But don't try to invent an experience that doesn't actually belong to you—it'll come across as fake and insincere. Unless you really have nothing to say, I'd suggest including something.

If you choose to answer this question, lean into authenticity. Don't be scared to be vulnerable or honest. While the question talks about Duke's commitment to diversity, don't feel like you have to invent diverse experiences just to fit in.

Share about your unique perspective. Be sure to indicate why this point-of-view belongs to you, and you alone. Your perspective is made up by your experiences and interactions, so you can highlight how these have affected you.

For this prompt, Duke is giving you the chance to share your values and how you communicate and respond to opinions different than your own. College is a place where you'll encounter people with many different beliefs, and Duke wants to make sure its students are able to respectfully talk about big topics, even if the people you're speaking with don't have the same beliefs or values as you do.

If you decide to respond to this prompt, think about a person or people you particularly love debating or having discussions with. Be sure to explain who you agree/disagree with, what topics you discuss, if you generally agree or disagree, and specifically how you make sure the conversation is respectful and thoughtful. 

Show Duke that you're able to contribute positively to any discussion, even if you disagree with what's being said .

What has been your best academic experience in the last two years, and what made it so good?

Here Duke wants to know what motivates and excites you academically. Did you love partaking in a class debate? Maybe your best experience was bonding with a study group and helping each other learn the course material, or maybe it was doing a deep research dive to become an expert on a particular topic.

The specific experience you choose matters much less than your explanation of why it was so positive. Be sure to discuss exactly what you found about the experience you found enjoyable and  what you took away from it. If you can, try to tie it in to how you'll be a strong student at Duke and continue to find positive academic experiences.

Duke's commitment to diversity and inclusion includes gender identity and sexual orientation. If you would like to share with us more about either, and have not done so elsewhere in the application, we invite you to do so here.

Don't answer this optional essay unless you have something real to say. Don't feel intimidated or scared that ignoring this question will reflect badly on you. It won't. You should really only address this prompt if you're a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

What will reflect badly on you is making something up that comes across as insincere, or worse, ignorant. Speak truthfully and from the heart.

Similarly, if you do have reflections on gender identity and sexual orientation, don't feel like you have to share them. Remember, this essay is optional. It's completely fine if you're not quite comfortable enough or ready to talk publicly about these topics.

If you choose to answer this question, only speak about real experiences that happened to you. It's better to keep them personal. This essay isn't the place to reflect on the overall political climate surrounding LGBTQ+ rights, especially if those issues don't relate to you. It is, however, the space to talk about your specific identity and journey.

How to Write Great Duke Essays

If you want your Duke essays to stand out and help you get admitted, follow these tips!

#1: Use Your Own Voice

The point of a college essay is for the admissions committee to have the chance to get to know you beyond your test scores, grades, and honors. Your admissions essays are your opportunity to make yourself come alive for the essay readers and to present yourself as a fully fleshed out person.

You should, then, make sure that the person you're presenting in your college essays is yourself. Don't try to emulate what you think the committee wants to hear or try to act like someone you're not.

If you lie or exaggerate, your essay will come across as insincere, which will diminish its effectiveness. Stick to telling real stories about the person you really are, not who you think Duke wants you to be.

#2: Avoid Cliched or Overused Phrases

When writing your Duke essays, try to avoid using clichés or overused quotes or phrases. These include quotations that have been quoted to death and phrases or idioms that are overused in daily life. The college admissions committee has probably seen numerous essays that state, "Be the change you want to see in the world." Strive for originality.

Similarly, avoid using clichés, which take away from the strength and sincerity of your work. Don't speak in platitudes about how the struggle for gay and lesbian rights has affected you… unless it actually has!

#3: Check Your Work

It should almost go without saying, but you want to make sure your Duke essays are the strongest example of your work possible. Before you turn in your Duke application, make sure to edit and proofread your essays.

Your work should be free of spelling and grammar errors. Make sure to run your essays through a spelling and grammar check before you submit.

It's a good idea to have someone else read your Duke essays, too. You can seek a second opinion on your work from a parent, teacher, or friend. Ask them whether your work represents you as a student and person. Have them check and make sure you haven't missed any small writing errors. Having a second opinion will help your work be the best it possibly can be.

That being said, make sure you don't rely on them for ideas or rewrites. Your essays need to be your work.

#4: Only Answer What You're Comfortable With

Remember, Duke's optional essays are just that—optional. It can be tempting to respond to everything on the application and if you have an important story to tell, you definitely should.

However, if you have nothing to say, don't feel like you need to make something up. You're better off answering less, honestly, then you are answering more, dishonestly.

What's Next?

Have you taken the ACT or SAT yet? Not sure which one you'll do best on? Read our guide to choose the test that's right for you .

If you've taken the SAT and want to improve your score, check out our guides to improving your Reading , Writing , and Math scores.

Not sure what you want to major in? Don't worry! With our advice, you'll figure out what you should study as an undergrad.

Hayley Milliman is a former teacher turned writer who blogs about education, history, and technology. When she was a teacher, Hayley's students regularly scored in the 99th percentile thanks to her passion for making topics digestible and accessible. In addition to her work for PrepScholar, Hayley is the author of Museum Hack's Guide to History's Fiercest Females.

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Analyzing the Duke Supplemental Essays 2022-2023

Padya Paramita

October 4, 2022

Duke continues to rock the admissions world with its continually declining acceptance rate. Its current admit rate of 6% makes it one of the most competitive schools in the country. And the admissions selection process is only getting tougher in Durham, North Carolina. If you’re planning to apply to this top ten university, stellar grades and test scores won’t be enough. You will need to convince admissions officers that you’ve done your research and know without a doubt that you’re a good fit. It’s time to put your all into the Duke supplemental essays 2022-2023 to show why you’re worth admitting over the competition. 

Upon reading your essays, admissions officers want to learn more about your intellectual pursuits and the communities that matter to you. Duke proudly boasts a diverse campus and looks for students who will take advantage of the school’s resources “intelligently, creatively, and enthusiastically.” Your essays must reflect how you plan to do so. To guide you through the Duke supplemental essays 2022-2023 , I’ve outlined the prompts, the do’s and don’ts of answering them, and tips to help you stand out in the tough application pool.

Required Questions

Please share with us why you consider Duke a good match for you.  Is there something in particular about Duke’s academic or other offerings that attract you?  (200 words maximum)

Since Duke has become one of the most selective schools with increasing momentum, it’s going to take a lot more than saying you like all of its features, or that you really want to attend one of the North Carolina Research Triangle schools in order to impress the admissions officers. Since you don’t have a lot of available words, you have to be as specific as possible when writing the Duke supplemental essays 2022-2023 . 

It would be wise to keep the focus on your prospective major and talk about how and why you’re a good fit for the program. Do the necessary research to learn about specific courses within the major that align with your unique goals, talk about Duke facilities that can help you reach them, and find ways to connect your passion for your subject with Duke’s expertise in the field. The limit of 200 words might just allow enough space to discuss an extracurricular interest alongside your academic goals, so mention a student organization relevant to the theme of your application. This helps you touch upon the “other offerings that attract you” aspect of the question.

Because this is really a “Why Duke” question, while you can briefly refer to activities you’ve done in high school, you should keep your main focus on all the things you love about Duke and pack in as many details as you can within your concise essay. 

Optional Questions

Duke University seeks a talented, engaged student body that embodies the wide range of human experience; we believe that the diversity of our students makes our community stronger. If you’d like to share a perspective you bring or experiences you’ve had that would help us understand you better, perhaps a community you belong to or your family or cultural background, we encourage you to do so here. Real people are reading your application, and we want to do our best to understand and appreciate the real people applying to Duke. (250 words maximum)

This question among the Duke supplemental essays 2022-2023 wants to gauge how you would add to the diversity of Duke’s campus. Remember, the word “diversity” doesn’t only include factors that are out of your control such as race or ethnicity. If you want to talk about your cultural or religious community—since your familial background is one of the topics that Duke has primarily encouraged—that’s great! But if you believe it wouldn’t make you stand out, think about a community that you’ve found thanks to an extracurricular activity or work experience. No matter what community you choose, you shouldn’t dedicate all of your words to your explanation of the premise. This essay should be about you —think about how your perspective has been shaped by the community and vice versa. How would you be different had this community not existed? 

Make sure you haven’t elaborated on this part of your profile elsewhere in your application. This essay is a great way of providing more context on something meaningful that admissions officers wouldn’t easily be able to guess. Even though this is optional, the vast majority of applicants will answer this prompt because it’s flexible, and you should too.

Duke’s commitment to diversity and inclusion includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. If you would like to share with us more about your identity, you can do so here, or use any previous essay prompt you feel is appropriate. (250 words maximum)

Duke wants to make sure they’re admitting students who bring a variety of perspectives and part of that is ensuring that they provide a chance for LGBTQIA+ students to share their experiences. If you feel comfortable talking about your journey—do so. You could write a powerful essay highlighting how your sexuality or gender identity plays a role in your interests and goals or who you are as a member of your community 

Instead of general statements about identity, provide anecdotes on the ways it has changed your perspective and impact on others. How has your outlook changed since you realized you’re not straight or cisgender? Has it affected your extracurricular choices or career aspirations? Have you found community through this identity? Remember that this essay is optional, so if you’re uncomfortable talking about your identity, you don’t have to write this essay. And if you’re not LGBTQIA+, you absolutely should NOT write this essay.

Additional Tips for the Duke Supplemental Essays 2022-2023

• Emphasize What You Can Bring to the Duke Community - Since Duke admissions officers already know what makes the school great, the supplemental prompts are geared to understand how you would uniquely contribute to the Duke community. When you sit down to brainstorm your Duke supplemental essays 2022-2023 , make sure you think about how you can add to the multicultural flair that Duke prides itself on.
• Include Duke Specifics - It can be very easy to get carried away when talking about yourself. Yes, it’s your supplemental essays, but you don’t want to write a response that could be used for any school. So it’s important that you keep in mind the research you’ve done on Duke. Try to talk about how you and your perspective would thrive at Duke’s welcoming campus? If there is a pre-existing student organization at Duke that includes people with similar backgrounds—or you would like to start one—include that in your essay as well.
• Use the Word Limit Wisely - While 200-250 isn’t the most restrictive word limit range in the world, it’s not extremely generous either. When writing your Duke supplemental essays 2022-2023, prioritize the content necessary to get your narrative across, and cut any unnecessary statements. Each sentence should provide new information that makes you memorable in the reader’s mind. If you go over the limit—or start repeating your personal statement —it’s time to make cuts and keep what’s new and relevant.

While Duke University is by no means easy to get into, the Duke supplemental essays 2022-2023 provide a great chance to convince admissions officers that you’ve done your research and are a perfect fit. So take advantage of this opportunity and brainstorm essays that not only highlight your experiences but also convey your commitment to Duke’s academic programs and passionate community. You’ve got this!

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6 Duke Supplemental Essays That Worked for 2023

Getting into Duke University is difficult in 2023. But you make sure you have your best chances by writing great supplemental essays.

In this article, I've gathered 6 essays from admitted Duke students so you can get inspired.

What is Duke University's Acceptance Rate?

Duke University has highly competitive admissions, and this past year over 45,000 students applied to Duke. Duke had an overall acceptance rate of 4.8%.

Duke University Acceptance Scattergram

If Duke is your top choice school, then consider applying Early Decision. For the Class of 2026, the acceptance rate for ED admissions was 21.3%!

Regardless of if you apply regular or early, admissions to Duke is competitive. But that only means writing stellar essays matters even more.

What are the Duke University Supplemental Prompts for 2022-23?

This year Duke asks applicants to write one required essay of 200 words and two optional essays of 250 words each.

Here are the 2022-23 Duke writing supplement prompts:

• Please share with us why you consider Duke a good match for you. Is there something in particular about Duke’s academic or other offerings that attracts you? (200 word limit)

We want to emphasize that the following questions are optional. Feel free to answer them if you feel that doing so will add something meaningful that is not already expressed elsewhere in your application. If you have already addressed either or both of these questions in your application, please don’t worry about leaving them blank. We appreciate how much time it takes to fill out this and your other college applications.

• Duke University seeks a talented, engaged student body that embodies the wide range of human experience; we believe that the diversity of our students makes our community stronger. If you'd like to share a perspective you bring or experiences you've had that would help us understand you better, perhaps a community you belong to or your family or cultural background, we encourage you to do so here. Real people are reading your application, and we want to do our best to understand and appreciate the real people applying to Duke. (250 word limit)

Duke University Nondiscrimination Statement

• Duke’s commitment to diversity and inclusion includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. If you would like to share with us more about your identity in these areas, you can do so here or, if you feel you have adequately represented your gender and sexual orientation in other parts of your application, feel free to not respond to this prompt. (250 words maximum)

If you're serious about getting into Duke, you should definitely answer the second optional prompt.

Because everybody has a unique background, and this prompt is another opportunity to show admissions officers why you deserve admission.

6 Duke University EssaysThatWorked

Here are 6 of the best Duke essays that worked that respond to the writing supplement.

I've also included an example of a Common App personal statement essay from an admitted Duke student.

Let's get started and inspired writing great admissions essays like these.

• Duke University Essay Example #1
• Duke University Essay Example #2
• Duke University Essay Example #3
• Duke University Essay Example #4
• Duke University Essay Example #5
• Duke University Essay Example #6

#1. Duke "Diversity" Essay Example

Prompt: Duke University seeks a talented, engaged student body that embodies the wide range of human experience; we believe that the diversity of our students makes our community stronger. If you'd like to share a perspective you bring or experiences you've had that would help us understand you better, perhaps a community you belong to or your family or cultural background, we encourage you to do so here. Real people are reading your application, and we want to do our best to understand and appreciate the real people applying to Duke. (250 words max)

The pitter patter of droplets, the sweet smell that permeates throughout the air, the dark grey clouds that fill the sky, shielding me from the otherwise intense gaze of the sun, create a landscape unparalleled by any natural beauty. I have gazed upon the towering cliffs of Yosemite, stood next to Niagara falls as the water roars, succumbing to the power of gravity, and seen the beaches of Mexico basked in moonlight, yet none of these wonders compares to the simple beauty of an Arizona rainstorm. To me, our rain represents more than humidity and darkness; its rarity gives it beauty. The uncertainty of when the next day of rain will come compels me to slow down, and enjoy the moment.

Out of the three realms of time; past, present, and future, the present is the only one we can experience, and I take advantage of every moment I have. When I pause my running to enjoy a sunset that dazzles the sky with brilliant colors of purple and orange, when I touch my brush to a canvas and focus on my movements in the present, when I drive home after a long day of improving our robot, and decide to drive around my neighborhood to finish “Garota de Ipanema”, which just popped up from my playlist of 700 songs, I am taking advantage of the moment.

So next time it rains, step outside. Close your eyes. Hear the symphony of millions of water droplets. And enjoy the moment.

#2. Duke "Diversity" Essay Example

Prompt: We seek a diverse student body that embodies the wide range of human experience. In that context, we are interested in what you’d like to share about your lived experiences and how they’ve influenced how you think of yourself. (250 words max)

Ever since I can remember, the comforting lullabies my mother sang to me planted a deep seed in my mind. In my dreams, I began a journey for my identity to discover the hidden stories within those songs. Perhaps that's what led me to explore Hindustani music. "Sa-re-ga" encodes my ancestors' songs just like "do-re-mi." With this solfege, I began exploring a vocal part of my culture, collecting the keys to my identity.

Each song I learned further educated me about myths and legends that helped form who I am today.

When I face adversity in male-dominated activities, I remember Sita, who fought heroically in revolutionary conflicts hundreds of years ago. This has empowered me to believe in my talents and goals, whether I am doing research or organizing a STEM fair in my community. The character Arjuna, who became one of the best archers, taught me perseverance and a desire to learn from others. When chosen to fly to Denmark to play badminton with local clubs, I embraced this experience to play among outstanding competitors and to enhance my competitive abilities. As an Asian American, I am reminded by the Indian National Anthem that I am an American and an Indian.

I plan to bring my music and stories with me to college. The keyboard in my Duke dorm will ring with strong Hindustani notes. I hope to share with my dorm mates and friends the history of those heroes and the strength I gleam from them every day.

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#3. Duke "Why Engineering" Essay Example

Prompt: If you are applying to the Pratt School of Engineering as a first-year applicant, please discuss why you want to study engineering and why you would like to study at Duke. (150 words max)

At Duke I was equally entranced by the articulate movements of 3D printers in the Co-Lab and the stunning Gothic architecture. Instead of forming a dichotomy, these aspects of Duke blended to symbolize its emphasis on interdisciplinary education, which will offer me a nuanced perspective of the world integral to becoming a leader in engineering.

I will join the Academy for Model Aeronautics and share my passion for designing drones, while taking fascinating courses such as “Taboo Markets” and “Banality of Evil”, while simultaneously working on an engineering project that improves real people’s lives in “Engineering Design”. By joining the Duke Robotics Club, I can expand upon my love for robotics, and I hope to write for the Duke Engineering magazine, as well as join the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. By drawing from this diverse range of educational experiences, I can become a leader in creating a better future.

#4. Duke Personal Statement Example: "Forest of Lights"

Common App Prompt #7: Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design. (250-650 words)

The diamond leaves of gnarled oak trees throw spectrums of color onto mounds of frosty snow that gleam melancholily under the moonlight. The leaves chime as wind violently rustles them in a haunting melody. I splinter a leaf off its branch and inspect the shard of my illusion, eyes dancing with amusement.

As I dwell in my worries, a cold hand reaches from behind me and taps my shoulder.

I jerk away, fear bubbling in my amygdala as I look into the nonexistent eyes of my intruding visitor.

The moon illuminates a blob of pink squish as it draws back slowly, points its spindly hands towards my drink and asks: “Could I have some of that?”

The blob wipes its invisible mouth with its nonexistent sleeve. I ask: “What are you?”

The blob tells me to stop looking at it so suspiciously. “I can prove it,” It says. I tell it, please, go ahead.

Suddenly we are back in the glowing forest. “Diamonds? Pah!” The blob dismisses them. Instantly, the leaves turn solid gold, the snow melts, and the wintry world is thrown into a blistering summer.

The blob laughs heartlessly. “Your cortex is under my control,” it says smugly.

“I heard you had a question for me?” It taps its invisible ears knowingly.

The blob wriggles its invisible brows as it waits.

It smiles that wicked smile. It laughs that sinful laugh. Then that insufferable blob wakes me up.

As I sit up in the dark and rub my bleary eyes, I am vaguely aware of the deep­set unfulfillment settling itself inside me. I yawn and plop back into bed, the soft red glow of my alarm clock indicating that it is still before midnight.

Why This Essay Works:

One thing is for sure about this essay: it has a unique idea that has surely not been written before. Regardless of your topic, you want your essay to be unique in some way, even if it isn't as fantastical as this essay. You can use a unique structure, such as having central symbolism, metaphor, or being structured as a recipe, for example. But this can easily become "gimmicky" if it doesn't have a clear purpose. In general, the most effective way to have a unique essay is to focus on having deep and unique ideas and reflections. By focusing on interesting takeaways and connections that are ultra-specific to you and your experiences, your essay will standout regardless of the structure.

What They Might Improve:

This essay uses a lot of fiction-like writing that is fantastical and "flowery." Although moments of this kind of writing can make your essay more vivid, it is quite easy to end up with dense storytelling and descriptions that ultimately don't share anything interesting about you. The purpose of your essay is ultimately to learn about you: your values, your ideas, your identity, etc. By using dense story-like writing, it can be easy to lose focus of what admissions officers are looking for. In general, avoid writing "fancy" stories like this essay, unless you have a clear and distinct purpose for doing so. Everything in your essay should have a purpose in "going somewhere" (i.e. reaching interesting ideas and takeaways).

This essay is definitely creative, but lacks meaningful takeaways and ideas. By the end of the essay, we don't know much about the author besides the fact that they have an affinity for creative writing and are "on a search." Although the content is unique, the end result comes off as quite generic and surface-level because no interesting thoughts are explored deeply. The most interesting part of this essay is "I open my mouth and ask it my most crucial question," but this is super unsatisfying because the question is never divulged. Instead, the reader is teased by this fantasy story and the essay goes nowhere meaningful, which comes off as gimmicky and "creative for creative's sake," rather than deeply personal and interesting.

This essay ends on the idea of "continuing my search," but for what exactly? It is never explained, elaborated, or even implied (besides one reference to painting earlier). That makes this conclusion comes off as somewhat surface-level and uninteresting. Admissions officers won't care about "your search" unless they have a reason to care. That is, unless it tells something specific about you. On it's own, this idea of "exploring" and "searching" is meaningless because it is too broad and unelaborated.

#5. Duke Personal Statement Example: "Shadow-Box Stick Art"

Common App Prompt #5: Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. (250-650 words)

This essay shows a strong thinking ability because the author shows how they view the world differently than others. Specifically, the author is able to see something as mundane as fallen branches as an opportunity to create artwork. Showing how you view things differently is a great way to demonstrate your unique perspective. Another strategy is to think deeply about things that are often easily overlooked or things that are mundane on the surface. Everything can be reflected upon deeply, and doing so shows a strong thinking ability and level of thoughtfulness. Ask yourself: what do you see differently than others around you? What do you find fun that others find "hard"? What do you find fascinating that others find "boring"? What is something mundane in your life that you do, and what's the greater meaning behind it?

This essay uses a lot of narrative writing—that is, recounting of a specific story and moment. While most essays use storytelling, what most applicants get wrong is they describe unimportant details to the story. Don't write like a fiction book and describe everything in the scene, like what others were wearing, what people looked like, what the environment was, each small action that took place. This is a common mistake that students make in trying to write compelling stories, but it ends up with a lot of unnecessary details. This author shows how a story can still take up a lot of the essay, while also including interesting reflections throughout the story and making it purposeful by only including details that move the story forward.

This essay has a somewhat unexpected conclusion where the author connects to their significant accomplishment of starting and running a charity. Even though this is such a large and meaningful activity, the author chose to only write about it when it came in naturally and not make it the whole focus of the essay. Counterintuitively, by de-emphasizing your biggest accomplishments, they will seem more impactful and you will seem more ambitious. This is because students often try to showcase their achievements and make them the focal point, but instead if you have the attitude of, "Yeah, this is what I did, but really it is nothing in comparison to what I'm going to do" it makes your accomplishments even more impactful. You don't want to be nonchalant, but you do want to make your accomplishments small in comparison to your future goals and achievements, which will show both humility and ambition.

This essay is almost 100 words less than what is given. In general, you should try and make your essays as close to the word limit as possible. Why? Because you should have a lot to say and it should be a challenge to fit it all into your essay, not the other way around. Especially for personal statement essays, its almost always better to use most of the words. Being within 10-20 words of the limit is usually the target. In this essay, they could include further meaningful details that make their essay more vivid. They could describe what their "stick art" actually looks like, because it is hard for the reader to imagine since it is an obscure type of artwork. They could reflect on the impact of their charity: how many people did it help so far? What are their goals for the future of it? What have been challenges with it? Don't add words just to add words, however. As with everything, each sentence should be meaningful and have a clear purpose, but this essay could definitely use more words.

#6. Duke Personal Statement Example: "Kiki's Delivery Service"

Common App Prompt #6: Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more? (250-650 words)

I spent much of my childhood watching movies. I became absolutely engrossed in many different films, TV shows, and animations. From the movie theatres to the TV, I spent my hours enjoying the beauty of visual media. One place that was special to me was the car. My parents purchased a special screen that could be mounted on the back of the headrest, so that I could watch movies on trips. This benefited both parties, as I was occupied, and they had peace. Looking back, I realize this screen played a crucial role in my childhood. It was an integral part of many journeys. I remember taking a drive to Washington D.C, with my visiting relatives from Poland, and spending my time with my eyes on the screen. I remember packing up my possessions and moving to my current home from Queens, watching my cartoons the whole time. I can comfortably say that watching movies in the car has been an familiar anchor during times of change in my life.

I used to watch many different cartoons, nature documentaries, and other products in the car, yet there has been one movie that I have rewatched constantly. It is called “Kiki’s Delivery Service” by Hayao Miyazaki. My parents picked it up at a garage sale one day, and I fell in love. The style of the animations were beautiful, and the captivating story of a thirteen year old witch leaving home really appealed to me. To be honest, the initial times I watched it, I didn’t fully understand the story but the magic and beauty just made me happy. Then, the more I watched it, I began to see that it was more about independence, including the need to get away from home and establish yourself as your own person. This mirrors how I felt during that period of my life,with mehaving a little rebellious streak; I didn’t agree with my parents on certain topics. That is not the end of the story though. As the years passed, and I watched it a couple more times, although with less frequency than before, my view of this movie evolved yet again.

Instead of solely thinking about the need for independence, I began to think the movie was more about the balance of independence and reliance. In the movie, the girl finds herself struggling until she begins to accept help from others. Looking back, this also follows my own philosophy during this time. As I began to mature, I began to realize the value of family, and accept all the help I can get from them. I appreciate all the hard work they had done for me, and I recognize their experience in life and take advantage of it. I passed through my rebellious phase, and this reflected in my analysis of the movie. I believe that this is common, and if I look through the rest of my life I am sure I would find other similar examples of my thoughts evolving based on the stage in my life. This movie is one of the most important to me throughout my life.

What Can You Learn From These Duke Essays?

If you're trying to get into Duke, writing great essays is one of your best ways at standing out. These 6 Duke essays that worked are successful examples of essays admitted into Duke so that you can get inspired and improve your own essays.

What did you think of these Duke essays?

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People love to ask why. Why do you wear a turban? Why do you have long hair? Why are you playing a guitar with only 3 strings and watching TV at 3 A.M.—where did you get that cat? Why won’t you go back to your country, you terrorist? My answer is... uncomfortable. Many truths of the world are uncomfortable...

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Her baking is not confined to an amalgamation of sugar, butter, and flour. It's an outstretched hand, an open invitation, a makeshift bridge thrown across the divides of age and culture. Thanks to Buni, the reason I bake has evolved. What started as stress relief is now a lifeline to my heritage, a language that allows me to communicate with my family in ways my tongue cannot. By rolling dough for saratele and crushing walnuts for cornulete, my baking speaks more fluently to my Romanian heritage than my broken Romanian ever could....

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A cow gave birth and I watched. Staring from the window of our stopped car, I experienced two beginnings that day: the small bovine life and my future. Both emerged when I was only 10 years old and cruising along the twisting roads of rural Maryland...

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The Admissions Strategist

How to write the duke supplemental essays 2020-2021 (examples included).

Duke University has an acceptance rate of 9% and is a prestigious school that is appealing to thousands of applicants, thanks to its excellent programs and warm southern climate.

Duke also ranks in 9 th place on the list of Top National Universities by US News.

So, can you stand out from such a competitive applicant pool ?

One way to do so is through your supplemental essays! This guide will help you write the best Duke supplemental essays.

Click above for a video on how to write the Duke supplemental essays.

What are the Duke Supplemental Essay Requirements?

Duke requires you to submit a supplemental essay for the program that you are applying to, and gives you the option to respond to up to two other essay prompts if you feel that there are aspects of your background that were not covered in other parts of the application.

The supplemental essay prompts can be found on Duke’s admissions website and are also reproduced later in this guide.

Tips from Duke University

Before we get into the specific questions associated with each program, Duke has some general tips for their applicants when writing the supplemental essays.

• It is not easier or harder to be admitted to one program or another.
• Pick the school and academic fields that best match your interests.
• One of the short essay questions is required, and the other is optional.

Concerning the third bullet, Transizion recommends that you respond to optional essays that pertain to you.

That is, if the essay has something to do with your life, you should answer it. Writing essays can be tiring and stressful, but this advice is for your own good.

The main point of the first two tips is to remind you that it will be easier to write your essays on the field you’re interested in than on the field you think has the higher acceptance rate.

When answering a question about why you want to attend Duke and study at a program, never write about the following:

• Location (perhaps your fascination with the Research Triangle)
• Social life

One thing that you may notice about Duke’s supplemental essay questions is that they are generally more straightforward than some of the other more creative questions you may have received from other schools.

Thanks to this straightforward nature, just write:

• Don’t craft a gimmicky introduction.
• Stick to a simple structure.
• Make sure to brainstorm different ideas, themes, values, hobbies, and interests . You don’t want to write your essay, only to realize that you now have a better idea and should have started writing with it.

If you have a firm idea of what you would want to study at Duke, use this supplemental essay to show the admissions committee!

• Talk about the classes and resources that you would take advantage of as a student at Duke.
• For example, discuss an upper-level mechanical engineering course on mechatronics that you want to take.

Admissions committees don’t necessarily expect students to know exactly what they want to study before they step on campus, but they do want to make sure that their school, or in this case, engineering, is really what you want to do.

Think about why you want to study engineering and what about studying the subject at Duke interests you.

For example, you might be interested in tissue engineering and drug development but aren’t sure whether you’d like to major in biomedical engineering or chemical engineering.

• Is there a professor whose research fascinates you? Why?
• What classes would you take as a student at Duke?
• Is there an extracurricular that you’re excited to join?
• Is there an aspect of your current education that sparks inspiration within you?
• What about engineering do you love? Design? Solving problems? Inventing? Math?
• Do you have inventions that you’d like to share with the world?

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Thus, ask yourself:

• How will Duke’s engineering program help me accomplish my goals?

“Why Duke?” Supplemental Essay

Please share with us why you consider Duke a good match for you.  Is there something in particular about Duke’s academic or other offerings that attract you?  (200 words maximum)

This supplemental question is straightforward and can be broken down into two parts:

• Why do you consider Duke a good match for you, and
• Is there something in particular about Duke that attracts you?

When approaching the first question, you should focus on your own experiences and why you think that you would be a good fit for Duke.

You might focus on the following:

• Your academic interests
• Your community interests, and how your experience would add to the existing communities at Duke.
• Alternatively, there may be a community that you see Duke does not have, so you could argue that bringing your community to campus is what makes Duke a good match for you.
• For example, you might be interested in the political issues of an obscure social group that Duke is not aware of. Write about that.

This is the time to talk about the resources that Duke would offer you as a student.

• This might be a certain major, a particular professor, or a student organization.
• You should talk about how you might use those resources as well.
• For example, there might be a music group on campus that you’d be interested in joining because you’ve been in choir for the past few years.

Still having trouble? Here are more straightforward questions:

• What student organizations do you want to join?
• What do you plan to study? Why?
• What professors do you want the opportunity to talk to?

Tie the answers to these two questions into your essay, and you’re done!

“Why Duke” Supplemental Essay Examples!

Here’s an essay from a student who applied and was accepted to Duke:

The forty-two volunteer opportunities at the Duke University Medical Center was one of the first facets of Duke that drew me in. The DUMC student volunteer program offers diverse and enriching experiences for undergraduate students, especially those interested in pursuing medicine like myself. Digging deeper into what Duke has to offer its pre-medicine students, I am drawn to the rigorous courses as I thrive in academically challenging environments. Furthermore, the university’s connections enable pre-medicine students to have meaningful experiences in professional workplaces, such as opportunities for shadowing. Shadowing is a key element that attracts me to Duke since it is an essential component in preparing for a health career. This opportunity is something that I value because it provides a realistic insight into the skills and proficiency needed in the professions, as well as an understanding of the numerous paths in health care. Outside of experiences directed at pre-medicine students, Duke also offers a wide variety of activities and clubs to create a well-rounded atmosphere for their students. It is important to me to follow the hobbies and passions that lay outside of my educational focus, so I am excited to explore the variety of clubs and organizations. I have actively participated in traditional Indian dance and volunteered within my community for as long as I can remember, so it was exciting to find student groups within Duke committed to the passions I already have, such as Duke Dhamaka, Blue Devils United, and Environmental Alliance. I’m looking forward to finding communities at Duke, both inside the classroom and out, to which I belong.

Here’s another “Why Duke” Essay Example:

I am particularly interested in Duke’s strong emphasis on interdisciplinary education. This unique learning environment will allow me to explore my varied interests, which include studying neuroscience and economics. I am interested in understanding the intersection between these fields, where I can gain insight into our human decision-making system. Engaging in Duke’s renowned Center for Interdisciplinary Decision Science will allow me to collaborate and take part in neuroeconomics research under the guidance of the field’s leaders and pioneers. I am specifically interested in the research of Dr. Huettel, who correlates quantitative behavioral data with neurobiology to reveal interesting analyses about human behavior. In the future, I hope to use my background in the social sciences and the interdisciplinary education from Duke to arm myself with a diverse set of skills to provide the highest quality of care in my career as a physician.

A third “Why Duke” Supplemental Example:

Duke students and professors exhibit curiosity, a love of learning and a contagious school spirit. I want to be a part of it. I was first drawn to this passion for learning and infectious school spirit when I attended the Duke Ac tion Science Camp in fourth grade. During the camp, I was awed as I watched a professor’s excitement as he made a reaction with calcium carbonate hot enough to cook on. I waded into a creek to observe all sorts of critters, got to extract DNA from a strawberry and even went to visit the lemurs. I was hooked! The action-packed camp ignited my love of learning for science and the arts. My decision to make Duke my home was made final by my visit last summer. My family spent the whole day exploring and talking to students on Duke’s campus. While each student had a different story, they all shared the same passion. Every student emphasized the diversity of the student body, the collaborative nature of the community, and each student we spoke to shared the same excitement that I remembered that science professor having all those years ago. Duke provides the academic challenges, collaborative environment, and impassioned, curious community that I am looking for.  Having been a Stanton Blue Devil for the last four years, I am ecstatic about the possibility of becoming a blue devil for another four years!

Duke Diversity Essays

If you read through these essay questions and find that there is something you want to say that hasn’t already been mentioned elsewhere in your application, go for it. Your perspective and experience are important.

Duke University seeks a talented, engaged student body that embodies the wide range of human experience; we believe that the diversity of our students makes our community stronger. If you’d like to share a perspective you bring or experiences you’ve had to help us understand you better—perhaps related to a community you belong to or your family or cultural background—we encourage you to do so. Real people are reading your application, and we want to do our best to understand and appreciate the real people applying to Duke. (250 words maximum)

These are fairly personal questions, so if there are any experiences that you feel have shaped your upbringing and/or led to your decision to apply to Duke, let them know here.

For example:

• Did a grandparent raise you?
• Did you have to work to support your family?
• Have you been diagnosed with a chronic condition?
• Did you immigrate to the United States from another country?
• Are you an active member of an organization that promotes the welfare of a particular social group?

Whatever it is, Duke’s admissions committee wants to hear it and is giving you the space to tell them here.

You don’t need to feel constrained when writing this essay. Think about your strengths, weaknesses, struggles, challenges, accomplishments, family life, genetic conditions, and other elements that have influenced your life.

“Diversity” doesn’t mean ethnic or racial diversity; think about what you bring to the table. These questions will help you brainstorm:

• If you entered a room full of people, what would you tell a stranger about your life story?
• What have been your greatest struggles and challenges?
• Name an accomplishment, no matter how small or large, that you worked hard to attain.
• What are three traits that are essential to understanding you?
• What do your family and friends love about you?
• Is there a story from your life that is a crucible? Name the dramatic changes you went through after this crucible.

Duke’s commitment to diversity and inclusion includes gender identity and sexual orientation. If you would like to share with us more about either, and have not done so elsewhere in the application, we invite you to do so here.  

This is also a personal question, but if you do have experiences relating to your gender identity or sexual orientation that you would like to share with the admissions committee, do so here.

• For example, you may have realized you were bisexual in high school, or maybe you don’t identify as male or female.
• Has your gender identity changed over time?
• Did you discover that your sexual orientation was not what you originally thought it was?

Again, you do not have to write a response to this essay if you would prefer not to.

Duke Diversity Supplemental Essay Examples

I was just trying to buy a Sprite and pay my hundred rupees. The cashier was starting to look as hassled as I felt, speaking urgently in a language I couldn’t understand. We were both frustrated and the cashier stormed off to another counter and grabbed a plate from under it. At this point, I’m thinking “Why would I need a plate for my Sprite?” Normally at shops, the employees know enough English, and I can understand the gist of the Tamil words with my own Telugu background. This time, we were both extremely confused. Eventually, after non-verbal communication and pointing, I realized she was supposed to offer me a free plate with my Sprite because of a deal.  Most people are surprised to learn that moving to India was a huge adjustment for me even though I’m Indian. Yet, considering I was moving to a country I never lived in, a state whose language I don’t speak, and a culture I’m not fully part of, it has been a definite challenge. From the language barrier to the culture change, and even the conservative manners and customs, I have had to adapt to a new way of living. All of that and living in a country that is different culturally and socially from the United States gave me a new perspective of viewing my place in the world. I am confident that these experiences will help me make the community at Duke even more inclusive and understanding of differences.

Growing up in a Sindhi Indian family, I was brought up following unique cultural traditions of music, art, and dance. However, one of my favorite parts of my upbringing revolves around baking Sindhi desserts like khorak, majoon, and khus-khus seero. I have vivid memories of beautiful Saturday afternoons that my mom and I spent baking these sweets, filling the room with a brilliant aroma. I remember slowly gaining an appreciation for the patience, care, and subtle attention needed to cook these deserts. These dry fruit desserts, traditionally baked in India, are used to celebrate important and beautiful occasions, such as weddings and holidays. My family and Sindhi community, however, also use them to remember and enjoy the often overlooked moments in life, aiming to spread joy and happiness to those who eat them. Through eating these desserts alone, I often see smiles from my family members, as they reminisce about their earlier joyful memories of relishing these sweets with their loved ones, celebrating life’s beautiful moments. At Duke, not only do I hope to bake these deserts for others, but I also look forward to embracing new traditions from other students excited to share aspects of their cultural identity. Overall, I hope to use these sweets to share at least a snippet of my culture with the Duke community. With every small progress that I may make with my peers at Duke, I hope to share this beautiful emphasis on celebration that I have gained from my Sindhi cultural upbringing.

Conclusion: Writing the Duke Supplemental Essays

Now that you’ve finished this article, you should feel prepared to start writing your supplemental essays for Duke University.

Additionally, don’t forget to proofread . These essays are short, but you don’t want to apply with a false sense of confidence. Go through every line looking for the passive voice, typos, and punctuation errors.

If you get stuck, feel free to revisit this article for some brainstorming tips. Good luck!

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Blog > Essay Advice , Private University , Supplementals > How to Write the Duke Supplemental Essays

How to Write the Duke Supplemental Essays

Admissions officer reviewed by Ben Bousquet, M.Ed Former Vanderbilt University

Written by Kylie Kistner, MA Former Willamette University Admissions

Key Takeaway

Duke requires you to write one 250-word supplemental essay. You can also submit two optional essays.

Let’s get right into it.

How to write the required Duke supplemental essay prompt

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).

This prompt asks for a mix of a “why us” and a community essay . With this combination of prompt types, your goal is to a) show genuine interest in and understanding of Duke and b) show that you are, indeed, a good match.

Before you start writing, we’ll break down the prompt into its central questions:

• What is your sense of Duke as a university and a community?
• Why do you consider it a good match for you?
• What in particular about its offerings attracts you?

Your essay should be specific and draw on particular examples from the Duke community and from your own life. You can answer the questions in the order they’re listed, or you can mix it up if that feels more natural.

Browse Duke’s website for specific details you can draw on. Don’t be afraid to look for community, institutional, and academic areas that interest you. You can even take a look at Duke’s motto and mission statement. You’re on the hunt for areas where your values or experiences match up with what Duke has to offer—that’s what we call “alignment.” Alignment signals to your admissions officers that you belong at Duke.

How to write the optional Duke supplemental essays

Duke’s admissions office emphasizes that the following essays are optional—you should submit them if you feel like they add value to your application. You’re allowed to respond to up to two of them.

Now, these are optional. But we recommend that you write at least one. Don’t write any old essay just to have it in your file, but do write essays that add explicit value to your application narrative.

Okay, that said, let’s dive in.

Lived experiences: We seek a diverse student body that embodies the wide range of human experience. In that context, we are interested in what you’d like to share about your lived experiences and how they’ve influenced how you think of yourself.

A pretty standard diversity prompt . You might find this essay useful to write if there’s something significant about your lived experience that you haven’t been able to write about elsewhere in your application. You could write about an aspect of your identity, a particular part of your background or home context, or something related to how you see or experience the world. As always, if you’re writing about a challenging subject, remember to keep the majority of your focus on growth, hope, and positivity.

Beliefs and values: 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?

You could take this prompt in a lot of different directions. Whatever topic you choose, make sure that your beliefs and values align with the beliefs and values that Duke holds as an institution. This essay is the perfect place to show good character fit and value alignment.

Best academic experience: What has been your best academic experience in the last two years, and what made it so good?

Here is the place for your academic interests to shine through. It might be a good one if you’ve had a particularly noteworthy academic experience. Or you might use it to describe a great relationship you have with a teacher or your favorite project you’ve ever worked on. If you’re not sure which other prompt to choose, an academic essay is almost always a safe bet.

Orientation, identity, expression: Duke’s commitment to diversity and inclusion includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. If you’d like to share with us more about your identity in this context, feel free to do so here.

And with this final prompt, we have another kind of diversity essay, but this one’s more specific. Duke doesn’t want you to feel obligated to share anything you’re not ready to share yet, but feel free to answer this essay prompt if you think it will help Duke admissions officers understand you better.

Want more information about Duke? Check out our How to Get into Duke guide or Duke Common Data Set post.

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Duke Supplemental Essay Examples

Writing essays can be a tricky business, especially if you can’t see samples, which is why reading over some Duke supplemental essay examples will be just the ticket for your own essay writing process. This should give you a good idea of how to proceed, whether you need help with how to start a college essay , or are trying to edit and refine your first draft. Following the examples laid out below is a great way to make your college application stand out.

In this article, we cover all six possible short essays required by Duke for their supplemental section. Some of the essays are optional, but we provide examples for all of them; carefully read the prompts to find the examples relevant to your application. These are the essays that are truly unique to Duke. Then, we provide some notes on essay writing in general, and some expert college essay tips for Duke, in particular.

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Article Contents 11 min read

Short essay.

For all Duke applicants: “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.”

Word limit: 250 words, max.

Numbers never lie, and with Duke’s commitment to intellectual honesty, I know that I will feel at home in your institution. My interest in mathematics has been life-long, and from the time I was little and played with number-based toys, through my developing years applying math to music and music to math, I have allowed numbers to permeate my very way of life. Math is beautiful. It describes our universe and fills me with awe and wonder. It is because of this that I seek out unique experiences and understandings of mathematics, and novel approaches to the subject. Consequently, I have several reasons for wanting to study math at Duke.

The Lyceum is a concept that fascinates me. The idea of approaching the exploration of advanced mathematics through social interaction is strangely unique. I would think that more people would want this, but Duke has it. This forum would allow me to engage with my peers, my mentors, and those who have gone before and, when I am an older student, with first-year students as well – all of us learning together, from each other. What could be better than that?

Numbers don’t lie, as I said, and Duke’s high academic standard also means that my admission would truly mean something; acceptance from a discerning institution is valuable, indeed, and would provide a wonderful sense of accomplishment, while imbuing a sense of responsibility.

The Lyceum is one of my favorite concepts as a learning tool, and I itch to participate; I hope you will allow me that opportunity.

Duke emphasizes that these questions are optional for all applicants and notes the following:

“Feel free to answer them if you believe that doing so will add something meaningful that is not already shared elsewhere in your application. Four optional questions are available – a maximum of two can be selected. Please select 0–2 optional essay topics.”

Word limit: 250 words, max. per essay

Optional Essay No. 1: “We seek a diverse student body that embodies the wide range of human experience. In that context, we are interested in what you’d like to share about your lived experiences and how they’ve influenced how you think of yourself.”

My parents got divorced, and I know that that’s the oldest story in the book at this point, but this family schism – at first traumatizing and upsetting for me and my siblings – became a very important aspect of my life and shaped my worldview into what I think is a unique perspective.

My family is biracial, with my Black mom and white dad starting a family together. Although they parted ways, both sides of my heritage have remained intact, and I feel like I get two perspectives. We live in a racially charged world, and my experiences and sympathies allow me to understand the many facets that go along with current conversations about race.

You will be writing in a standard essay format: opening paragraph, body, conclusion. You will present a central idea, theme, or college essay topic , and work from there to deliver that idea quickly, and concisely.

Your opening paragraph should start off with a “hook” sentence that draws in the reader and makes it impossible for them to stop reading. The better the hook, the better the start, which will greatly help your readers enjoy your work. You also need to present your main focal point in the opening paragraph.

This is particularly important in Duke’s essays, as they have a 250-word limit; these essays are very short, and you don’t have a lot of space to include extra material. Check out some college essay introduction examples to boost your writing in this area, specifically.

In the body of your essay, you will have a few, short paragraphs to deal with your topic and answer the prompt. Get into as much detail as you can but stick to two or three main points. Again, you are constrained by the word limit, and you don’t have room to add a lot of detail.

Try to pack in some reflection on how you have grown as a person or student due to each event you discuss. The prompt can be answered, plus you can allude to academic achievements or some other accomplishments that the admissions committee will take a closer look at on your resume.

Your conclusion should focus on wrapping up the essay and summarizing anything set up in the opening paragraph. However, as noted, your conclusion should also make the committee want to hear more from you; give them someone they would want to meet in an interview. How to write a college essay can be tricky but following these steps will already get you headed in the right direction.

Remember to edit and refine! No essay is perfect from the start, so give yourself time to get feedback, do re-writes, and triple-check for spelling and grammar.

Please note that Duke also requires applicants to write other essays: one from a selection of Common App essays or Coalition Application essays, depending on which application you are using. Transfer students are required to write an additional essay as well. We have not written samples for these essays in this article.

Essay writing is a lot less intimidating once you have seen it done by someone else. These essay examples should prove invaluable to you while you create your own essays for your application.

Read as much as you can, both in terms of example essays and general technique, and focus on answering the prompts directly and skillfully.

Yes. Every option you have available to you should be exercised because each one is an additional opportunity to showcase your talents and abilities to the admissions committee.

Not formally, but they are reviewed by the committee, so a quality essay makes a big difference. Make sure every part of your application is the best you can make it.

About three weeks to write and refine your essays should be sufficient. This doesn’t mean 40 hours a week, but just that you’re setting aside time to ponder the prompts, brainstorm, write, and edit, which does take a lot of time if done well.

Yes. Never exceed any word counts, page counts, or character limits. Note that if you apply somewhere with a character limit, that limit probably includes spaces, so calculate carefully and err on the side of safety. Don’t let your essay or application fail because of an exceeded word count.

This goes double for deadlines: cutoff points are cutoff points, and you can’t exceed them.

You could ask teachers if they would look at your essays, but you can also check out college essay review services for assistance.

You can confidently submit your essay when you know you have corrected all errors, fully explored the prompt, answered any questions, put yourself into your essay – so that your character and individuality shine through – and shown your potential.

These are both application systems that streamline the application process to universities and colleges. The Common Application is more widely used, so you have access to more schools through it; the Coalition Application is intended for disadvantaged students, who might come from lower-income districts, or who have some other roadblock to higher education in their lives.

If your schools-of-choice are only available through the Common Application, you will probably use the Common App as your system. On the other hand, if you are from an underrepresented group, or need additional assistance, you might have a better overall experience with the Coalition App.

Yes. In fact, they accept students from many backgrounds. From their website: “Whether you’re an international applicant, one that is undocumented, homeschooled, transferring, or one with a disability – we are here to help you navigate the application process.”

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Duke Essays 2023-24

Writing college essays is an integral part of crafting an impactful application narrative, and the Duke essays are no exception. Duke University is one of the most prestigious and competitive schools in the nation, so applications are rigorously evaluated. Like the other aspects of your Duke application, your Duke essays play an extremely important role in the admissions process. The Duke essays, particularly the Why Duke essay, are what helps successful students make their mark amongst other qualified applicants.

To impress Admissions, you’ll need to make each one of your Duke essays count. Wondering how you can stand out to Duke admissions and write a powerful and effective Duke essay? Then you’re in the right place! 

In this guide to the Duke Essays, we’ll look at: 

• Duke essay prompts and requirements
• Tips for how to write the Duke supplemental essays
• The importance of Duke essays in the admissions process, and more!

First, before we get into how to write the Duke essays, let’s check out some Duke quick facts. 

Duke University Admissions: Quick Facts

Duke university admissions quick facts.

• Duke University Acceptance Rate: 6% – U.S. News ranks Duke University #7 on its National Universities list. Its ranking and low acceptance rate make Duke one of the most competitive universities in the nation. 
• 1 (~ 250 word) Why Duke essay
• 2 (~ 250 word) optional Duke essays
• Duke University Application: Students can submit their application via the Common App , Coalition Application , or QuestBridge Application . Make sure to have all of your Duke University requirements ready when applying, including your Duke essays!
• Early Decision: November 1
• Regular Decision: January 2
• Duke University Essay Tip: There is only one required Duke essay. However, with various optional Duke essays, we recommend taking the time to complete them. Don’t miss out on a chance to bolster your application and impress Duke with your thoughtfulness and dedication! 

Please note that essay requirements are subject to change each admissions cycle, and portions of this article may have been written before the final publication of the most recent guidelines. For the most up-to-date information on essay requirements, check the university’s admissions website.

Does Duke require essays?

Yes, the Duke essays are part of Duke’s application requirements. First and foremost, students should allow themselves plenty of time to carefully craft the required Why Duke essay. Additionally, Duke has various prompts for students to choose from for the optional Duke supplemental essays. While these are optional, we recommend embracing them as an opportunity to showcase more of your unique traits and qualities. 

Keep in mind these are not the only essays you’ll submit to Duke. Students are also required to complete the long essay that is available on their chosen application platform.

How many essays does Duke have?

Technically, Duke has two required essays: the personal statement long essay and the Why Duke essay. However, applicants may also choose to respond to 0-2 optional Duke essay prompts. Duke stresses that responding to these Duke essay prompts is in fact optional. In other words, they should only be included if you feel that they will truly add something to your application. 

That being said, we still recommend writing the optional essays. Duke provides five different Duke essay prompts for students to choose from. So, you’ll be sure to find a prompt and corresponding topic you’re excited to write about!

Each of the Duke supplemental essays has a word limit of 250 words, making them short essays. Although shorter, don’t think you can crank out your Duke essays quickly. With limited space to communicate your ideas, you’ll want to choose your words carefully and with intention. 

Now we know there are two required essays in the Duke application as well as two optional essays. In the next section, let’s look at the Duke essay prompts for each of the short answer essays. 

Duke Short Answer Essays

First, let’s start with the required Why Duke essay:

“Why Duke University” Essay Prompt

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).

If you’ve started working on any other college applications, the Why Duke essay probably looks familiar. That’s because it is a standard why school essay. We’ll get into the specifics of how to answer the Why Duke essay shortly. But, to write a compelling essay, you’ll need to do some research to determine what you like about Duke. That way, you’ll be prepared to answer the question: Why Duke?

The following short answer Duke supplemental essays are optional. Students may choose up to 2 to respond to. The optional Duke essay prompts are:

Optional Duke University Essay Prompts

1. perspective response: 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., 2. intellectual experience: tell us about an intellectual experience in the past two years that you found absolutely fascinating., 3. beliefs & values: 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, 4. orientation, identity, expression: 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., 5. being different: 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 tell us any ways in which you’re different, and how that has affected you or what it means to you..

As you can see, there are five unique Duke essay prompts for applicants to choose from. With such variety in these Duke essay prompts, the opportunities for essay topics are endless. In the next section, let’s go over some tips on how to get into Duke with stellar essays.

Tips for approaching Duke Short Answer Essays

Here are five tips to help you put your best foot forward as you tackle your Duke essays. Even though we’re discussing these in the context of the Duke essays, these tips aren’t school-specific. So be sure to keep these tips in mind while writing your other college essays !

5 tips for writing Duke supplemental essays: 

1. start early.

When writing the Duke essays, you’ll need plenty of time to brainstorm, draft, revise, and proofread. That means you shouldn’t leave the Duke essays to the last minute. Yearly, the updated Duke essay prompts are usually released the summer before the application deadlines. That gives you lots of time to plan and complete the Duke University requirements accordingly. 

2. Choose the right topic for you.

This is arguably the most important part of your Duke essays. You need to choose a topic that you can write genuinely and passionately about. Keep this in mind when brainstorming for the Why Duke essay and when reviewing the optional Duke essay prompts. 

3. Get specific with your responses.

One of the worst things students can do when writing Duke essays is write generically or on cliché topics. The Why Duke essay and the other optional Duke supplemental essays require detailed answers. Use anecdotes and personal experiences to immerse the reader. And, adding specific details in your own voice will make it unique to you—which is the goal!

4. Meet the requirements.

When considering the Duke essays, you’ll need to keep in mind the specific writing requirements . This includes staying within the 250-word limit as well as comprehensively answering the prompt. (Of course, successful Duke essays will go beyond simply meeting the requirements – but be sure to double check them.)

5. Get feedback from others.

You’ll want to have another pair of eyes read over your Duke essays. This person should be on the lookout for not only grammar and mechanics, but also content. Does your essay describe you in a genuine way while also answering the prompt? While outside suggestions are great, don’t let them obscure your personal experience! Do your best to implement the feedback in a way that maintains your own voice as a writer. 

How to write the Duke supplemental essays

When it comes to writing the Duke essays, approach each prompt with the intention of responding with new, valuable information. Both the Why Duke essay and the other optional Duke supplemental essays will ultimately contribute to your overall application narrative. What parts of your personality, skills, values, interests, or experiences haven’t yet had the chance to shine? The Duke essays are your opportunity to build upon your candidate profile. That makes them a crucial part of any “how to get into Duke” plan . 

Why Duke essay

Let’s review the Why Duke essay prompt again before diving into how to write it. 

When it comes to writing the Why Duke essay, applicants will need to do their own research. Remember our tip on getting specific? Well, that holds especially true for the Why Duke essay. You’ll want to do some investigating on programs unique to Duke . Are there certain clubs you’re interested in joining? Or maybe you want to study a major that Duke is known for?

Additionally, the prompt asks how you’d fit into the university community. Do some digging on Duke’s values and mission . Do they align with your own? Can you find a link between what the school values and what you have to offer?

As a rule of thumb, be sure you’ve backed up your Why Duke essay with Duke-specific research. However, a clear, specific, and impactful essay doesn’t simply regurgitate what you find on the website. Connect any details you mention to you: your values, beliefs, community, skills, goals, etc. 

Optional Duke essays

Now, let’s check out each of the optional Duke essays. 

Optional Duke University Essay Prompt #1

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..

Similar to the Why Duke essay, this first choice prompt is one that can be seen on many college applications. It asks students to delve into the communities, perspectives, and values that they’ve experienced. If responding to this prompt, make sure to connect the topic of your essay back to the Duke campus community. In other words, how will your experiences add to Duke? As there’s a bit of similarity to the Why Duke essay, make sure you don’t repeat themes or topics. 

Optional Duke University Essay Prompt #2

Tell us about an intellectual experience in the past two years that you found absolutely fascinating..

In the second of the optional Duke essay prompts, students can expand on their intellectual curiosities. As a competitive , highly ranked university, Duke wants their students to be academically motivated and curious learners. This is a perfect opportunity to discuss an important experience that shaped you and your future academic or career goals. But, pay close attention to mention a recent experience—the prompt specifies within the last two years!

Optional Duke University Essay Prompt #3

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.

This prompt challenges students to think about their interactions with others. What is important to you and who has agreed with you or challenged you on those topics? If responding to this prompt, show your growth from the situation. Did you experience a perspective shift? Or, at the very least, did you learn something new that you could appreciate about a different perspective?

Optional Duke University Essay Prompt #4

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..

If you can personally expand on these themes, then it’s a great opportunity to highlight an important part of your identity. However, only write on this theme if it pertains to you. Specifically, don’t write an essay about being an ally or one that only talks about someone else. Like all successful Duke essays, you need to be the star of your essay, which means getting personal!  

Optional Duke University Essay Prompt #5

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 tell us any ways in which you’re different, and how that has affected you or what it means to you..

This may seem like a unique college prompt. But, it’s simply another opportunity to show what sets you apart from the crowd. If this prompt calls out to you, then write passionately about what makes you different. Confidence is key—just make sure to hit every point in the prompt when writing your essay. That means you need to highlight how you’re different. And how it’s shaped you as a person or its meaning to you. 

QuestBridge Applicants to Duke University

Duke University partners with QuestBridge to provide students from low income families an equal opportunity for a college education. With the high cost of college , students all over the country are facing challenges affording higher education. QuestBridge aims to make college attainably for academically motivated students who might not have even applied to schools otherwise. The program then provides mentoring and a full scholarship to students at one of their nearly 50 partner schools .

In order to apply, students must meet both academic and financial criteria. If you qualify, you can then fill out a National College Match application online for free. If you become a Finalist, this application will then be sent on to your top colleges of choice. However, if chosen to be a Finalist, you’ll have to complete additional application components. 

The QuestBridge application has its own essays. They are as follows: 

QuestBridge Application Essay Prompts

Essay 1: personal essay (800 words), we are interested in learning more about the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations, and accomplished your successes. please describe how the most influential factors and challenges in your life have shaped you into the person you are today., essay 2: topical essay (select one option from the following four prompts, 500 words) , tell us about a concept, theory, or topic you have explored simply because it sparked your intellectual curiosity. why do you find it intriguing how do you want to further explore it, describe an experience that caused you to change your perspective and/or opinion., what aspect of your current community do you admire and wish to bring to your future college community, inclusivity involves embracing diversity and working to include people with backgrounds and experiences different from your own. describe an experience where you have played a role in fostering inclusivity..

Since QuestBridge is a college pathway for low income students, applicants might choose to write essays from a “low-income lens” . This means that applicants might consider how their families’ financial circumstances have shaped their perspective, values, and experiences. Of course, similar to our tips for Duke essays, the most successful writers will show self-reflection and personal growth.

Does Duke care about essays?

Put simply, yes! Duke essays are a crucial part of the Duke application and Duke University requirements. As such, Duke admissions considers them extremely important in their holistic evaluation process. Duke admissions evaluates applicants based on both personal and academic interests. Through your Duke essays, they want to know more about your personal interests, experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds. Basically, they want the whole picture of who you are and what you value. 

Your Duke essays are what make your application come to life. You might even think of them as the personality of your application. Admissions officers will be able to see your academic and extracurricular qualifications listed dryly in other parts of your application. The Duke essays are your chance to place some meaning and importance to them. Or they’re an opportunity to show a new part of yourself not otherwise mentioned in your application. They’re the soul of your application—so yes, they’re important. 

Keep in mind that after applying, you can check on your application status through the Duke portal . There you will see any updates on your admissions decision.

How do I make my Duke essays stand out?

Now that we know the Duke essays play a vital role in the evaluation process, you’re probably wondering how you can make them truly shine. The Why Duke essay and optional Duke essay prompts provide various opportunities to showcase more parts of yourself. However, choosing the right topic and prompt for you is important when it comes to crafting a genuine, passionate essay. Make sure the topic you choose to write on excites you. If it doesn’t, it will read that way, and it will be challenging to capture your reader’s interest. 

When it comes to the Why Duke essay, all applicants are answering the same prompt. However, your topic is completely up to you. All of your Duke essays need to read as though they couldn’t possibly pass for anyone else’s. As such, use anecdotes and detailed examples to immerse your reader in the essay. Get creative and have fun when writing! Just pay careful attention that you are fully answering each of the Duke essay prompts. And, be sure whatever topic you choose, you stay focused and arrive at a meaningful conclusion by the end.

Duke Supplemental Essays – 5 Takeaways

There are many ways to write successful Duke essays. We’ve gone over some tips on how to respond to the Duke essay prompts. Now, we’ll leave you with 5 key takeaways that you can keep in mind when starting the Duke supplemental essays. 

1. Brainstorm, draft, revise, repeat.

Essentially, this is the process you need to follow when writing any college essay, including the Duke essays. Students may revise and rewrite a Duke essay multiple times in order to have the best version. This takes time. In order to get the most out of this writing process, start early! Allot the time needed for the why school essay and other Duke supplemental essays so you can tackle multiple drafts.

2. Choose a meaningful topic.

Whether writing the personal essay, Why Duke essay, or the other Duke supplemental essays, topic choice is key. Don’t base your topic decision on what you think admissions wants to see. Choose an experience, skill, interest, perspective, or value that is truly meaningful to you. Reflect on how it’s shaped you and work on writing an essay that reflects its importance in your life. 

3. Use anecdotes and personal details.

College essays don’t need to be dry—in fact, they shouldn’t be! Successful Duke essays will captivate the reader from the start. Think about anecdotes you can use in your essays that will make a further impact. Additionally, consider the hook of your essay too! Successful essays often drop the reader in a captivating circumstance to immerse them in the experience. 

4. Be specific.

When it comes to writing the Why Duke essay, be sure you’ve mentioned aspects unique to Duke. You shouldn’t be able to pass off your Why Duke essay for any other why school essay. Do your research and make sure that comes across in the essay. However, don’t simply list specific programs, clubs, or professors at Duke. Relate it back to you and how you’ll take advantage of those experiences. 

5. You’re the star.

Keep in mind that you need to be at the center of each of your Duke essays. Every time you respond to the Duke essay prompts, think of yourself as the protagonist of your potential story. Do you shine? Does the admissions team learn more about you that they haven’t seen elsewhere in your application? Avoid talking about others more than yourself!

Additionally, looking at other Duke essay examples and college essays that worked can help inspire your own Duke essays. While you shouldn’t try to copy Duke essay examples, reading them may help you discover your own ideas. Finding the strengths in others can help you tell your unique story in the best way possible! 

CollegeAdvisor has additional essay examples and plenty of other free resources to guide you in your college essay writing journey. Check them out and reach out if you want personal guidance on how to get into Duke. Our expert advisors have helped students write impactful essays to gain admissions to top universities across the nation, including Duke. So, don’t hesitate to look to us for help as you start working on your Duke essays – good luck!

This essay guide was written by Sarah Kaminski. Looking for more admissions support? Click here to schedule a free meeting with one of our Admissions Specialists. During your meeting, our team will discuss your profile and help you find targeted ways to increase your admissions odds at top schools. We’ll also answer any questions and discuss how CollegeAdvisor.com can support you in the college application process.

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Prompt's How-to Guide for "Why Duke" and the Other Supplemental Duke Essays

The duke supplemental essay prompts, and how to nail them (2020-2021)..

We like Duke’s straight-to-the-point approach to supplemental essays. They are simple classics, which you can have a lot of fun writing. Or at least, do well on.

How? Either follow our quick tips below — from our experience at Prompt helping applicants get accepted. Or, check out our full guide to succeeding at the Duke short essay supplements .

If you’d also like personalized guidance from people who’ve done this thousands of times, get started with us here .

Duke short essay prompts 2020-2021

Short essay — required:

Please share with us why you consider Duke a good match for you. Is there something in particular about Duke’s academic or other offerings that attract you? (200 words maximum)

• Our tip: Be as specific as you can, here. Get to know that website! (For more on writing great “why this college?” essays, see here .)

Short essays — optional:

• Duke University seeks a talented, engaged student body that embodies the wide range of human experience; we believe that the diversity of our students makes our community stronger. If you’d like to share a perspective you bring or experiences you’ve had that would help us understand you better, perhaps a community you belong to or your family or cultural background, we encourage you to do so here. Real people are reading your application, and we want to do our best to understand and appreciate the real people applying to Duke. (250 words maximum)
• Duke’s commitment to diversity and inclusion includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. If you would like to share with us more about your identity, you can do so here, or use any previous essay prompt you feel is appropriate. (250 words maximum)
• Don’t even think of skipping the first question. You can and will shine here.
• Do think of skipping the second. If you have something compelling to say, please share it. But if not, skipping is advised.

How to Write Outstanding Duke Supplemental Essays (Including Why Duke)

Our best advice for impressing admissions officers with your duke essay supplements..

Duke’s supplemental “short essay” prompts are straight-forward — but a lot hinges on them. We’ve got a few quick tips on how to set yourself up for success, from our experience at Prompt helping applicants succeed.

Or, check out our full guide for nailing the Duke short essay supplements . But the best tip we can give you is to get excellent feedback from people who know you well. If you’d also like personalized guidance from people who’ve done this thousands of times, get started with us here .

Duke short essay prompts 2020-2021

Short essay — required:

Please share with us why you consider Duke a good match for you. Is there something in particular about Duke’s academic or other offerings that attract you? (200 words maximum)

• Our tip: Get to know the Duke website, do your research, and get specific. (For more on writing great “why this college?” essays, see here .)

Short essays — optional:

• Duke University seeks a talented, engaged student body that embodies the wide range of human experience; we believe that the diversity of our students makes our community stronger. If you’d like to share a perspective you bring or experiences you’ve had that would help us understand you better, perhaps a community you belong to or your family or cultural background, we encourage you to do so here. Real people are reading your application, and we want to do our best to understand and appreciate the real people applying to Duke. (250 words maximum)
• Duke’s commitment to diversity and inclusion includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. If you would like to share with us more about your identity, you can do so here, or use any previous essay prompt you feel is appropriate. (250 words maximum)
• The first question here is OINO (optional in name only). If you don’t have anything to contribute to campus, why would they take you? (Good news: of course you do!)
• The second question is fully optional — in fact, only write if you feel you have something compelling to say here.