Duke University is known for their strong research and innovation, extensive global programs, and competitive athletic teams. Recently, Duke’s acceptance rate has been declining, hitting a new low of 4.1% for the Class of 2028. Their esteemed alumni include Apple CEO Tim Cook, comedian Ken Jeong, NBA player Seth Curry, and philanthropist Melinda Gates. Hoping to join their ranks? First, you’ll need to nail the Duke supplemental essays. Let’s dive in.
Duke’s 2025-2026 Prompts
Required Essay Question
- What is your impression of Duke as a university and community, and why do you believe it is a good match for your goals, values, and interests? If there is something specific that attracts you to our academic offerings in Trinity College of Arts and Sciences or the Pratt School of Engineering, or to our co-curricular opportunities, feel free to include that, too. (250 words or fewer)
Optional Essay Questions
Although these prompts are optional, you can select up to two prompts to respond to. Each prompt permits a maximum of 250 words.
- Viewpoints and experiences: We believe a wide range of viewpoints and experiences is essential to maintaining Duke’s vibrant living and learning community. Please share anything in this context that might help us better understand you and your potential contributions to Duke.
- Difference of opinion: Meaningful dialogue often involves respectful disagreement. Provide an example of a difference of opinion you’ve had with someone you care about. What did you learn from it?
- Something you are excited about: What’s the last thing that you’ve been really excited about?
- Ethics & AI: Duke recently launched an initiative “to bring together Duke experts across all disciplines who are advancing artificial intelligence (AI) research, addressing the most pressing ethical challenges posed by AI, and shaping the future of AI in the classroom” (ai.duke.edu). Tell us about a situation when you would or would not choose to use AI (when possible and permitted). What shapes your thinking?
General Tips
These essay prompts all seek to understand who you are as a person. Even in the required essay, which asks you about Duke, you’ll need to imagine yourself at Duke, or at least consider the ways your interests, abilities, and/or personality traits are well-suited to a Duke University experience.
Writing about yourself is difficult, even though it’s one of the hallmarks of the college application experience. (Or, maybe, admissions officers choose to make applicants write about themselves because it’s difficult… ) That said, there are some ways to overcome or even embrace this challenge.
Talk It Out
If you’re having trouble deciding drafting your essays, try talking about the questions asked by the prompts out loud. Talk to a friend or family member or even to your bedroom wall. Consider recording yourself while you speak, or asking someone to type what you say. You absolutely have a story to share, and that story can be shared colloquially, at least in a first draft.
Think About Who You’re Not
If the prospect of defining your identity, interests, and perspectives is daunting, try making a list of things you’re not. Labels you don’t identify with, perspectives you don’t hold, and interests you would never pursue. Once you’ve got this list, try turning every item on it around, and replacing it with an answer that does, in fact, speak to you.
Consider What’s Missing From Your Application
If you look at your application as a whole, there are likely parts of yourself that aren’t communicated in it. Think about the admissions officer looking at your application. Who will they think you are, based on the provided materials, and how does that person differ from the real you? This mental exercise should help you identify what’s missing from your application. Make a list of these missing elements, and try to focus on them while writing your essays.
Duke Required Essay Question
What is your impression of Duke as a university and community, and why do you believe it is a good match for your goals, values, and interests? If there is something specific that attracts you to our academic offerings in Trinity College of Arts and Sciences or the Pratt School of Engineering, or to our co-curricular opportunities, feel free to include that, too. (250 words or fewer)
This is your “Why Duke?” essay. In order to effectively answer this essay question, you’ll need to do your research. Not only should you identify what makes Duke unique, but also what makes Duke the right place for you. In other words, don’t list unique qualities of Duke that could apply to any applicant. Determine what aspects of Duke will be relevant to your college experience and academic interests.
This prompt specifically asks applicants to share what their “sense of Duke as a university and a community” is, so you’ll need to make sure you have some facts at the ready to respond to this part of the prompt. For instance, when discussing your “sense of Duke as a university,” you can describe how the academic possibilities at Duke speak to you. Is it the action-driven nature of the Nicholas School of the Environment? Are you inspired by the interdisciplinary opportunities at Trinity College of Arts & Sciences? Further, when discussing your “sense of Duke as… a community,” you can research campus life, student experiences, and more in order to develop a nuanced sense of the kind of people you’d be in company with at Duke.
The key to a compelling response lies in making explicit connections between Duke’s offerings (academic and social) and your personal goals, values, and interests. Start by clearly articulating what you hope to achieve or experience during college—whether that’s conducting groundbreaking research, pursuing interdisciplinary studies, or developing leadership skills through service. Then identify your core values, such as collaboration, innovation, intellectual curiosity, or social impact.
Duke Optional Essay Questions
These essay prompts are optional, but we recommend answering one of them. Every essay opportunity is another opportunity to demonstrate to Duke how excited you are to attend and how well you’ll fit in as a student.
Each essay response is limited to 250 words.
Viewpoints and experiences: We believe a wide range of viewpoints and experiences is essential to maintaining Duke’s vibrant living and learning community. Please share anything in this context that might help us better understand you and your potential contributions to Duke. (250 words or fewer)
This essay response seeks to understand your worldview. If you have had unique life experiences that have influenced your worldview, here’s your chance to share some of those experiences and how they’ve informed your perspective. Be specific in your narration, and make sure to clarify how your perspective(s) have changed.
You may also have a complicated relationship with a certain social, political, or economic issue. For instance, you may have developed your political opinions in opposition to those held by your immediate family members. You can share your ability to think independently with the Duke admissions team in this essay. Explain how you have pursued your own research into subjects important to you, spoken to people whose opinions vary, and forged your own path through it all.
Difference of opinion: Meaningful dialogue often involves respectful disagreement. Provide an example of a difference of opinion you’ve had with someone you care about. What did you learn from it? (250 words or fewer)
This essay prompt seeks to understand the people you surround yourself with in addition to getting a sense of your worldviews. Similarly to prompt one, you’ll need to discuss your perspectives on the world. Unlike prompt one, this prompt focuses on your perspectives through the lens of others in your life.
You can describe a time when you disagreed with a friend, family member, classmate, coworker, or even an authority figure like a teacher or employer. Regardless, discuss your disagreement respectfully so that the reader understands that you approach even complicated issues with nuance and maturity.
In order to effectively discuss the agreements and disagreements you have with the people in your life, you’re going to need to give the reader at least a taste of your values and beliefs. Focus on just one or two important beliefs/values, if you can. Otherwise, you risk your essay feeling bloated or underdeveloped. When discussing your values/beliefs, be sure to provide the requisite context. Moreover, when possible, clarify how the people in your life have disagreed or agreed with your perspectives, versus just stating whether they agreed or disagreed.
Something you are excited about: What’s the last thing that you’ve been really excited about? (250 words or fewer)
This essay is designed to reveal your authentic interests, passions, and what genuinely motivates you. Duke wants to see what makes you come alive and how you engage with the world around you when you’re genuinely enthusiastic about something. In terms of topics, your excitement could stem from anything: a book you couldn’t put down, a scientific discovery you read about, a project you worked on, a conversation that changed your perspective, a skill you learned, or even a problem you’re trying to solve. What matters isn’t the scale or perceived importance of what excited you, but rather how genuine your enthusiasm is.
Remember that you shouldn’t choose a topic you think will impress admissions officers. Instead, focus on the “why” behind your excitement and dig deep into what specifically about this thing captivated you. How did it make you think differently or want to learn more? Perhaps this interest connects to broader interests you already had or led to entirely new areas of exploration. Would you say your excitement inspireed you to take concrete action (ex: research further, start a project, have deeper conversations, or change your behavior in some way)? I would recommend showing your intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm through specific details and vivid storytelling rather than simply stating how you were feeling about the subject or topic. That way you can help the reader feel your energy and understand what drives your passion for learning and engagement with the world around you.
Ethics & AI: Duke recently launched an initiative “to bring together Duke experts across all disciplines who are advancing artificial intelligence (AI) research, addressing the most pressing ethical challenges posed by AI, and shaping the future of AI in the classroom” (ai.duke.edu). Tell us about a situation when you would or would not choose to use AI (when possible and permitted). What shapes your thinking? (250 words or fewer)
This prompt assesses your critical thinking about emerging technology and ethical reasoning. Duke wants to understand how you navigate complex ethical questions and whether you can think thoughtfully about technology’s role in society and learning.
The scenario you present can involve academic work (when to use AI for research vs. doing it yourself), creative projects (using AI for brainstorming versus original creation), or real-world applications (AI in healthcare, criminal justice, or employment). But rather than focusing on abstract or overly broad discussions, you should focus on concrete and realistic situations where you’ll have to make this decisiona about AI usage.
You can demonstrate nuanced thinking by acknowledging both benefits and risks of AI in your chosen scenario. Instead of using absolute statements where it seems like you’ll adopt or reject technology blindly, try to come up with a more specific scenarios! As for your reasoning, consider factors like authenticity, fairness, privacy, human agency, or learning outcomes. What ethical principles guide your decision-making and how do these ideas relate to your personal values and/or experiences?
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