I visited Duke University’s beautiful campus today in Durham, North Carolina. The campus includes over 8,000 acres, with 7,000 of that comprising the Duke Forest, a living learning laboratory for students. Undergraduate students apply into one of two colleges: Trinity College of Arts & Sciences (80% of students) & Sciences or Pratt School of Engineering (20% of students). Duke’s culture encourages students to study broadly and engage in meaningful research. Duke students often engage in interdisciplinary studies and explore their interests across disciplines. Over 80% of students have more than one major, adding either a double major, minor or certificate (or interdisciplinary minor) to their degree. For students whose academic interests do not follow traditional departments or programs, Duke’s Program II offers students the opportunity to design their own individualized degree program and requirements.
To further encourage deeper student-faculty connections, Duke students are given $74 each semester to “Flunch” or take a member of the Faculty to Lunch. This is a great way for students to get to know their professors and deepen their learning. The first year class of 1,745 students all live on Duke’s East Campus, which boasts its own dining facilities, library & gym. Upperclass students live on the West Campus, but depending on their class schedule, students can travel between campuses several times/week
As a top research institution, Duke invests $800M for undergraduate research alone. This includes 69 Bass Connection Teams which bring together groups of undergraduate and graduate students with faculty to engage in a year-long research project and publication. Through the DukeEngage program students can engage in an 8 week volunteering project throughout the globe. The Duke Muser Program is a centralized database of undergraduate research opportunities with faculty, post doctoral researchers and graduate students.
Athletics is big at Duke - especially Basketball. While I was there, students were gearing up for the Duke-UNC game, which involves spending several weeks camping out (or “tenting” as the students call it) to get tickets. Tenting has itself become a fun social activity on campus, with concerts and food trucks, all of which adds to the excitement of the game.
Admissions is highly selective, with a 15% Early Decision and 5% Regular Decision Admit rate. Duke will remain test optional for students entering Fall 2025, however, will be reevaluating this policy for future students. Due to the increased use of AI and concern about “ghost writing” of essays by consultants, Duke just announced that it will no longer be assigning a point value to the college essay as part of the admissions process. [Inside Higher Ed Article] While admissions will read the essays to get an understanding of the student as a whole, the formal point system will only include Curriculum Strength, Academics, Recommendations and Extracurriculars.
According to Duke, admissions is looking for the following in prospective students:
Engagement with ideas, people and your community
Interest in being challenged intellectually and personally
Drive to make an impact
Imagination, creativity, curiosity and a sense of humor
Openness To opportunities and to being transformed
Integrity, kindness and resilience
Overall, Duke offers students with intellectual curiosity and drive a place to explore their diverse academic interests and have a meaningful impact on their world while in college and beyond.