If you’re applying to Duke, it’s likely that you’ve invested many an hour in some combination of academics, athletics, extracurricular activities, employment, and community service. Thankfully, Duke won’t demand too many more of those hours, keeping its supplemental writing ask to a few shorter prompts. The challenge? Standing out in just 500-750 words. Let’s take a look at the prompts and check out some strong examples to help you make the most of Duke’s supplemental essay prompts.
But before you get too far—one more thing. (There’s always a catch, right?) You’ll want to take a quick peek at Duke’s Common Data Set. In it, you’ll find a treasure trove of information on the institution, ranging from enrollment and tuition statistics to student life and financial aid information. Next, read through Duke’s academic strategic plan to better understand its values, roadmap for the future, and the role “diverse and inclusive communities of excellence” play in its vision. Checking out both will help you better understand who Duke is looking for and how you’ll fit in on campus.
What are Duke's supplemental essay prompts?
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)
Prompts #2 + #3:
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. Five optional questions are available - a maximum of 2 can be selected. (250 word limit for each)
- 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.
- Intellectual experience - Tell us about an intellectual experience in the past two years that you found absolutely fascinating.
- 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?
- 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.
- 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.
How to Write Each Supplemental Essay Prompt for Duke
How to Write the Duke Supplemental Essay #1 + Examples
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 is asking for a short “Why us?” essay. Check out my full guide to this essay here.
Remember—the best “Why us?” pieces don’t celebrate how “x” school is the GREATEST SCHOOL OF ALL TIME. They’re more an explanation of why you and the school are the perfect match. Make sure to connect each of your Duke examples to your goals and interests.
Let’s jump right into some examples and explore what makes them work.
Example 1:
If I could pursue one goal for the rest of my life, it would be promoting gender equality. With a major in Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies and certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, I plan to focus on the intersection of social impact and business at Duke. Classes such as “Women at Work,” “Transnational Feminism,” and the annual Feminist Theory Workshop will help me understand how race and gender impact economic exchange and women’s mobilization.
I plan on rushing Scale and Coin to catapult my career in business and participating in the Design to Impact Incubator which encourages social innovation.
To give back in Durham, I hope to empower women of color at surrounding schools by leading social entrepreneurship workshops. I will also work with TEDxDuke to incorporate female speakers from underrepresented industries. I believe that Duke’s interdisciplinary approach will help me become a strong businesswoman and champion of equality.
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Tips + Analysis
Ground your “Why us? in a specific purpose or objective. This student names her long-term goal—“promoting gender equality”—and then names the specific programs she’d pursue to prepare her for that goal. Remember, this doesn’t lock you into a single course of study once you get there, but it can demonstrate that you’ll arrive on campus focused and motivated. Not sure what your big picture goal is? Try asking yourself: What impact do I hope to have on the world?
Name campus resources. This piece is brimming with specific Duke resources: Women at Work, the Feminist Theory Workshop, Scale and Coin, and TEDxDuke. Use your internet research superpowers to find the most specific resources possible. For example, instead of writing about a “Business Leaders Speaker Series,” name actual speakers who have been a part of the event in the past.
Diversify your resources. Not only does this student name specific resources, but she also names various types of resources, including classes, workshops, student societies, and clubs. She also includes an activity she wants to create and lead: social entrepreneurship workshops. Review your Duke research and make sure you’ve found diverse resources, not just classes.
Identify what you’ll walk away with. This student doesn’t just name resources; she cites the specific skills, understandings, and outcomes she’ll gain. Whether it’s understanding “how race and gender impact economic exchange and women’s mobilization” through her engagement with the Feminist Theory Workshop or “giving back to Durham” through “leading social entrepreneurship workshops,” we know this student isn’t just copying and pasting the stuff she Googled—she’s identifying resources that will both help her grow and help her impact her communities. You can set yourself apart as well by doing the same.
Example 2:
I’ve always been amazed by the beauty of nature and I want to dedicate my efforts to preserving the planet. By combining a major in Mechanical Engineering and an Energy & the Environment Certificate at Duke, I intend to apply robotic technology to solve global environmental challenges.
Courses like Energy Engineering and the Environment and Power Generation will teach me about renewable energy conversion devices to serve today’s energy-hungry society. Unique interdisciplinary robotics courses like Control of Dynamic Systems would give me the skills to design robots capable of promoting forest regrowth without human intervention.
I’ll grab FLUNCH with Dr. Justin Ridge and discuss his research on using remote-sensing drones to evaluate coastal habitats. During the summer, I hope to volunteer with Duke Engineers for International Development, where I could use my skills as an engineer and to help solve pressing environmental issues in developing countries.
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Tips + Analysis:
This piece showcases the same elements of a strong answer as the previous example, but with a focus on engineering and sustainability.
Ground your “Why us?” in a specific purpose or objective. Just like in the first example, this student names her long-term goal—“applying robotic technology to solve global environmental challenges”—and names the specific program she would pursue to prepare her for that goal (a mechanical engineering major and environment certificate). Again, this doesn’t lock you into a single course of study once you get there, but it can demonstrate that you'll arrive on campus focused and motivated.
Name campus resources. This piece shares lots of Duke resources as well, including classes like Energy Engineering and the Environment, Power Generation, and Control of Dynamic Systems, academic resources like FLUNCH, and volunteer opportunities like Duke Engineers for International Development. Use your internet research superpowers to find the most specific resources possible. For example, instead of writing about a professor you want to work with, name her current research project and how it overlaps with some of your interests.
Diversify your resources. This student’s specific resources are focused on academic resources geared toward solving environmental problems. But she still manages to include classes, an extracurricular academic opportunity, and a volunteer opportunity. Review your Duke research and make sure you’ve found diverse resources, not just classes.
Identifying what you’ll walk away with. This student also goes beyond just naming resources. She too cites the specific skills, understandings, and outcomes she’ll gain. In this case, she backs up every resource she names with what she’ll gain, using transitions like “will teach me about…” or “will give me….”
How to Write the Duke Supplemental Essay #2 + #3 + Examples
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. Five optional questions are available—a maximum of 2 can be selected.
Option 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. (250 words)
Choosing a Topic
If you read this prompt and think, “Oh, I can totally write about _____________!” jump right down to “Example # 1: Top-of-mind Identity.”
If nothing immediately comes to mind (as a straight, white cis male, I get that), don’t despair! The prompt invites you to talk about a “community you belong to,” which leaves the door open for you to write about almost anything. Two general approaches that might work:
Go broad, with an identity that lets you highlight a few different activities/experiences.
Brainstorm some shared values you have with your family (“I come from a community/family of _____________.”)
Consider if any of these shared values have connections to activities you do.
For example:
Creators → Film makers club, stage crew, knitting
Storytellers → Theater, young historians, Sunday school teacher
Educators → Tutoring, student council, babysitting
Skeptics → Debate team, student representative in local government
Optimists → Environmental club, neuroscience research
2. Go super specific and make it a more focused community/extracurricular essay.
Make a list of clubs or activities you’re involved in that have a sense of purpose. Spoiler alert: Almost any club or activity can fit this description.
Identify one or two that have a strong sense of community (Stereotypically: theater kids. But we’ve also heard of close-knit Science Olympiad teams, political clubs, etc.)
Some examples (but again, almost any can work):
Progressive Students Council
Wikipedia editors
Community Beautification Club
Model UN
Still struggling to come up with different communities you’re a part of? Check out this longer post on How to Write the Community Essay.
Example Essay 1: Top-of-Mind Identity
I look around my room, dimly lit by an orange light. On my desk, a framed picture of an Asian family beaming their smiles, buried among US history textbooks and The Great Gatsby. A Korean ballad streams from two tiny computer speakers. Pamphlets of American colleges scattered on the floor. A cold December wind wafts a strange infusion of ramen and leftover pizza. On the wall in the far back, a Korean flag hangs beside a Led Zeppelin poster.
Do I consider myself Korean or American?
A few years back, I would have replied: “Neither.” The frustrating moments of miscommunication, the stifling homesickness, and the impossible dilemma of deciding between the Korean or American table in the dining hall, all fueled my identity crisis.
Standing in the “Foreign Passports” section at JFK, I have always felt out of place. Sure, I held a Korean passport in my hands, and I loved kimchi and Yuna Kim and knew the Korean Anthem by heart. But I also loved macaroni and cheese and LeBron. Deep inside, I feared I'd be labeled by my airport customs category: a foreigner everywhere.
This ambiguity, however, has granted me the opportunity to absorb the best of both worlds. Look at my dorm room. This mélange of cultures in my East-meets-West room embodies the diversity that characterizes my international student life.
I’ve learned to accept my “ambiguity” as “diversity,” as a third-culture student embracing both identities.
Do I consider myself Korean or American?
Now, I can proudly answer: “Both.”
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Tips + Analysis
Share your identity by setting the scenes with rich details. The prompt says it all—Duke wants to know “the real person” applying to Duke. An engaging description will help set the scene for your lived experience of your identity. It also helps preempt any possible stereotypes that might unconsciously exist in a reader’s mind. Instead of opening her piece with “I am Korean-American,” this student brings us right into her room and shows us what her Korean and American identities look—and even smell—like.
Share challenges you’ve faced due to your identity. Duke wants to hear about a variety of ways your identity affects your experience (and what you will in turn bring to Duke). Sharing challenges (for this student: a lack of belonging) will help your reader empathize with you and can set you up to share some learning or growth that’s been an outcome of living with this identity. If you haven’t experienced challenges, no worries! You can use your 250 words to:
Share the positive ways you experience your identity. What have the benefits of holding this identity been? Are there values you’ve learned from others with the same identity? Are there unique experiences your identity has opened up? Are there lessons you’ve learned through any adversity related to your identity?
This student gets to experience “the best of both worlds” because of her mixed identity. She even explicitly renames her challenge (ambiguity) as a strength (diversity), demonstrating a strengths-based mindset.
Bonus Points: How might you engage with this identity at Duke? There’s a chance for a mini “Why us?” with this prompt. Research a club, class, space, or speaker that will help you further engage with this identity at Duke. Can’t find one? Write about wanting to create that space, class, or club.
Example 2: No Top-of-Mind Identity
I belong to a community of storytellers. Throughout my childhood, my mother and I spent countless hours immersed in the magical land of bedtime stories. We took daring adventures and explored far away lands. Imagination ran wild, characters came to life, and I became acquainted with heroes and lessons that continue to inspire me today. It was a ritual that I will never forget.
In school I met many other storytellers—teachers, coaches, and fellow students whose stories taught me valuable lessons and enabled me to share stories of my own. My stories took shape through my involvement with theatre. I have learned that telling stories can be just as powerful as hearing them.
When I tell a story, I can shape the world I live in and share my deepest emotions with the audience. This is exactly why I love theatre so much. The audience can relate to the story in many of the same powerful ways that I do.
I love to perform with my theatre class to entertain and educate young audiences throughout my community. To tell our stories, we travel to elementary and middle schools performing plays that help educate younger students of the dangers of drugs, alcohol, and bullying. As storytellers, we aim to touch lives and better the world around us through our stories.
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Tips + Analysis:
Name the community you belong to and how/why you got involved. If you’re writing about a shared family value, describe how that value has shown up for the generations that came before you. Don’t spend too many words on this—Duke wants to hear mostly about you!—but spending a few early words detailing where you inherited a value or identity from will help the reader “understand and appreciate the real people applying to Duke.”
This student names the community (storytellers) and how he became a part of it (bedtime stories). If you’re writing about a club or group you’re a part of, share a descriptive anecdote that captures the kind of work you do with that group, and follow it up by naming the group and its purpose: “As a member of (insert group), I belong to a community of people who (insert amazing activities and values).”
From there, you can write a straightforward extracurricular essay! Our full guide for that kind of essay can be found here.The best extracurricular essays are grounded in values, but that will be doubly important for this prompt to make sure your writing stays on-prompt (i.e., addressing identity and community).
Bonus Points: How might you engage with this identity at Duke? This approach also gives you a chance for a mini “Why us?” essay. Research a club, class, space, or speaker that will help you continue your work at Duke. Can’t find one? Write about wanting to create that space, class, or club.
Option 2
Intellectual experience - Tell us about an intellectual experience in the past two years that you found absolutely fascinating. (250 words)
This prompt is a great option for students who have had a truly one-of-a-kind educational opportunity or who have experienced some deep revelations or insights on who they are (or who they want to become) thanks to that experience. So while this prompt may not be the best for the student who took an engineering class and discovered a love for aviation, it might be so for the student who got to build an actual airplane from a kit in their engineering class and then was part of the team who flew said airplane from Texas to EAA AirVenture OshKosh. See the difference?
It’s OK if you don’t have that level of academic experiences to write about—this is a judgment-free zone. In that case, we’d encourage you to select another one of the prompts available to respond to.
Although we don’t have a Duke-specific response to share, the essay below was written for a similar UC prompt. With a trim to word count, this essay would fit nicely as a response to Duke’s prompt. We’ll explain the marks it hits in the Tips + Analysis below.
Option #2 Example Essay:
Following my sophomore year in high school, I was hungry to apply the skills I had learned in calculus and engineering to real world problems. I secured a summer internship with Professor Gurav Sant’s Laboratory for the Chemistry of Construction Materials, a Civil and Environmental Engineering Lab at UCLA.
The lab’s focus is to make building materials more sustainable. When I joined the lab, their primary project was to design a concrete that can sequester CO2. My individual research project, which aimed to solve a part of the problem, focused on the dissolution kinetics of calcite to better understand calcite stability in cementitious solutions.
I designed and conducted experiments to test calcite dissolution in solutions containing organic ligands including EDTA, citrate, and acetate. My tests were largely unique because they were the first to be conducted in alkaline pH regions due to the nature of cementitious systems. I imaged the surface of my samples with a Vertical Scanning Interferometer (VSI) and analyzed the data with the micro-nano software Gwyddion. My results have applications for breaking down calcite in cement to sequester CO2.
During my second summer in the lab, I studied the crevice corrosion of Ti-6A-4V, a titanium-aluminum-vanadium alloy, which has applications ranging from oil pipelines to medical implants.
In order to characterize the corrosion of Ti-6Al-4V due to the breakdown of its passive film, I applied immersion and electrochemical tests. My experiments were conducted in an artificial saliva solution with fluoride and chloride to understand how dental implants respond to hygiene rinses and toothpastes in a simulated human mouth environment. My results help characterize the inition of crevice corrosion due to harmful anions, which has not been previously studied.
In my last two years of high school, I’ve been able to start important work that has important practical applications. My research has solidified my desire to be an engineer and let me understand the teamwork that addressing pressing problems requires. In college and beyond, I want to further develop my engineering skills and continue to work with passionate peers to change the world.
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Tips + Analysis
Don’t be afraid to geek out on your topic. Calcite dissolutions? Harmful anions? Gwiddion? While the reader may not know exactly what this student is talking about, it’s clear he knows his stuff. Using the lingo of your educational experience adds depth to the response, showing this student’s passion for the topic and all-in, can-do attitude that will make him successful in engineering—or whatever he sets his mind to.
Focus on the experience and the outcome. It’s great to be able to show a natural progression of skill development and learning during this one-of-a-kind experience. It’s even better when you can tie that in with how you’ll be an asset to both a college campus and to the future field. This student shows how his initial interest in pursuing a subject (using amazing descriptors like “secured” and “hungry”) landed him right where he needed to be: doing the research he loves. But this response is more than that. It shows how he’s going to leverage that experience to make him a better problem-solver on campus and to be part of a team that changes the world. Signed. Sealed. Delivered. BOOM!
Brag without being braggy. There’s a fine line between highlighting your contributions and just plain old showing off. You don’t want your essay to sound like a LinkedIn profile that’s full of bullet point-style accomplishments. This student walks that fine line by bookending his essay with the idea that he wants to make practical contributions to real-world problems. Then he piles that essay sandwich high with both the proof that he did what he set out to do and the insight to show how what he did mattered.
Showcase your personality. Whether it’s the engineering lingo you use, the visual imagery that burns the story into the reader’s brain, or the sense of humor that makes the essay undeniably yours (check out the next response for a prime example), don’t hesitate to let your voice shine through. Education doesn’t happen in a personality vacuum, and when you bring your story to life in the way only you can, the reader gets to connect with you on a whole new level.
Here’s another nice example that shows these tips in action:
Picture this—an edible tortoise-shaped syringe, spring-loaded with a needle to automatically inject a payload of medicine through the wall of your stomach. Horror movie material? Good guess, but no. It’s actually from a study by the University of Toronto. I was exposed to this wacky, creative side of science through the Summer Youth Intensive Program (currently known as the Science for Youth Intensive Program). This program, hosted by UC Berkeley College of Chemistry, consisted of 9 months of weekly virtual mentoring meetings with a Berkeley grad student. While the 4 week on-campus portion was cancelled due to COVID-19, I was nonetheless able to take advantage of this opportunity to deeply study many interesting fields.
SYIP reinforced my love for innovative science. Our research was full of studies that defied conventions. Like removing brain tumors with a straw (to be fair it was a rather complex straw). Or weaving yarn made of human skin so stitches would integrate after the procedure. Or one of my personal favorites, dipping materials in liquid dopamine so they would become, uh, stickier (that’s actually quite a valuable property). All of these graduate-level research papers covered concepts that initially seemed overwhelming. Nanostructure assembly, cancer vasculature, immunology, rotating pigs at high speeds. Quick note on that last one: no, it’s not a joke; yes, it is hilarious. Swine orientation aside, to better grasp these fields of study, I would heavily annotate the papers and research unfamiliar terms. I also compiled any remaining questions to consult my mentor during our study reviews and took ample notes during her presentations.
In all this research, it was vital that we never compromised on data and testing. After our analysis and critiques, sometimes a brilliant idea would show promise, and other times be constrained by some critical detail. But repeatedly, I found that creativity didn’t necessarily produce pseudoscience. Research can push boundaries in unorthodox ways without ever sacrificing the empiricism that makes science special.
Here's the big takeaway: Sometimes the best solution isn’t the expected one; sometimes it looks more like a tortoise poised to stab your intestines with medicine.
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Option 3
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? (250 words)
Part—and really, a big part—of the college experience is being exposed to new people, perspectives, and ’periences (and, perhaps, playing with creative alliteration). This prompt is the perfect springboard for showing your natural curiosity and interest in engaging in lively, productive discussions. Your answer will be a multifaceted one: Whose perspective (or whose approach to taking a stance on an issue) do you respect or admire (and why), what subject are you passionate about (one way or another), and how have you changed because of what you’ve learned from (or discussed with) others?
Here’s an essay written for Princeton that does an excellent job of addressing a similar prompt (and illustrates nicely the idea of a super essay.)
Option #3 Example Essay:
I probably argue with my grandfather more than I do with most other people combined. It’s not because we’re at odds. We just have different perspectives, influenced by our experiences—his as a life-long resident of India, mine as a first-generation American.
One pretty common argument we have is over Eastern vs. Western medicine. My solution to a headache, for example, is to take Advil. His is to rub Tiger Balm on his forehead and coconut oil on the soles of his feet. I try to convince him of the benefits of taking a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory, describing how it can reduce inflammation by blocking the production of certain chemicals. He tries to convince me that the balm creates a cooling effect, distracting the brain from pain and relaxing the muscles. Rather than becoming sore at or resentful of each other, we’ve grown closer through these debates, and I’ve learned how to disagree without letting the situation get acrimonious.
Through these interactions, I’ve learned that a discussion shouldn’t be confrontational. The purpose isn’t to win, but to share my knowledge with the other party and learn from them as well. So rather than saying, “Rubbing balm on your forehead is stupid; you should just take Advil,” I say, “While rubbing balm on your forehead seems to work, I’ve noticed that taking an Advil has a stronger and more immediate effect.” Respecting the opposing party makes them more willing to hear you out.
I’ve also learned there’s a fine line between logic and emotion. I try not to take personally the things my grandfather says in an argument. Just because he doesn’t think taking Advil is the better solution doesn’t mean he thinks I’m stupid. If I take it that way, we begin to move away from what the argument really was about—the facts.
I’ll continue to apply these learnings in discussions and debates I have with others, realizing that having a “successful argument” isn’t about winning. It’s about sharing my opinion and learning from theirs, expanding our perspectives without alienating each other.
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Tips + Analysis
The conversation topic can be anything. You might assume that for your essay to be attention-grabbing, you need to pick a “hot topic” like a recent SCOTUS decision or climate change. And those topics are fine, if they’re really reflective of who you are. Instead, consider challenging yourself to go more obscure. Less cliché. More you. Smaller discussions can be just as lively … just as relevant … and just as revealing. Who didn’t spend time debating whether the Vans tennis shoes were gray/teal or white/pink? Or whether brussel sprouts are great or gross. (Spoiler: The shoes are actually “mahogany rose” and “true white.” The jury is still out on the sprouts.) This student does a great job at finding a unique cultural difference—Tiger Balm vs. Advil—and showing how he’s used that as a springboard to finesse his art of debate and understanding.
But it’s important to show growth or a new understanding. In the tennis shoes debate, perhaps what was most interesting to you was the realization that people truly saw one set of colors vs. another. And they weren’t necessarily wrong: Our brains perceive colors in different ways. So perhaps this argument revealed to you that issues really aren’t black and white (or gray/teal) but that there’s sometimes a spectrum of “right answers” stemming from our backgrounds or even our physiology (e.g., taste buds, eyesight)—and that’s changed the way you’ve approached other, more impactful arguments. The student above uses the last lines in his second and third paragraphs—and the entire closing—to show how his perspective has shifted—all because of headaches.
Be willing to be wrong. We can learn as much from our failures as we do from our successes. In fact, sometimes, it says more about us when we’re willing to be vulnerable enough to admit we’re wrong—or, at least, not entirely right. This student echoes that point, acknowledging it “isn’t about winning.” Instead, having viewpoints that are different from those he respects and admires helped him learn about balancing logic and emotion as well as practice the art of listening.
Option #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.
While many of Duke’s supplemental essay options present students with a chance to reflect on a piece of their identity that may or may not have a loaded emotional journey or vulnerable insights, this prompt might appeal to students who may have interesting idiosyncrasies or personal quirks that aren’t so “deep” (with the caveat that “deep” is obviously subjective). Note that obviously you can dive deep with aspects of ways you’re different—you just also have the option here of leaning in another direction.
One great way to source these personal “isms” is College Essay Guy’s 21 Details exercise, which is a chance to brain-dump random details about yourself that may not seem traditionally “college-y,” but that often can be connected to larger insights or patterns about how you move through the world and how your mind works.
This is a new prompt for Duke this year, but the example below (sourced from another college) illustrates how you can tackle it.
Example:
I'm a long-suffering insomniac. There’s nothing like the alarm going off after finally drifting off. For a minute.
That’s a normal night.
Yet, I’ve come to appreciate my alone time.
1:02 a.m.: This is when my most complicated questions come to life. How do we conquer partisanship? What are the benefits of alternative medicine? Next thing I know, I’m down an internet rabbit hole, finding articles, books, videos to answer my questions—then sharing them with other insomniacs roaming the internet.
4:04 a.m.: My search history now contains one important question: How to fall asleep? I’ve tried hundreds of methods, from progressive muscle relaxation to essential oils. My most recent strategy: tricking my brain by trying to stay awake. (It’s not working great.) Still, I share it with my unsleeping friends, posting a few more tips (calming music and breathing techniques) with a Facebook group of never-sleepers, my insomniac community. Here, problem-solving meets helping others.
6:30 a.m.: BUZZZZZZ! I didn’t get much sleep but I got answers on the definition of consciousness, and more sleeping tips to try.
Being an insomniac has become an important part of my world, offering unique experiences that give me comfort in knowing that, no matter where I am, or what time it is, I have a support system to help answer my burning questions—whether it’s if humanity is heading in the right direction, or how to cope with only a few hours of sleep—that’s just a mouse click away. (250 words)
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Tips & Analysis
It doesn’t have to be that deep (...sleep 😴). As noted above, this prompt can really appeal to students whose main points of difference may not fit neatly on a demographics questionnaire. Are you a lover of the arts in a school that’s dominated completely by athletics (or vice versa)? What about someone who spends their Friday nights birdwatching with grandma versus “traditional” teenage social activities? (Not sure how many birds you can find at night beyond owls, but hey, that student might know 😉). All of those points of difference have helped influence your skills, qualities, values and interests in some way. This student’s insomnatic identity is, objectively, not something that an onlooker (or admission reader) would be able to garner by looing at the student, or reading a basic fact sheet about them. BUT there is often such beauty to be found in these idiosyncrasies. Embracing them unabashedly communicates to a college that you’re someone who is open-minded and accepting of differences—both tangible and intangible.
Marry the effect AND the meaning 💒. Duke gives students permission to write about how their area of difference has either affected them OR what it means to them—but this student wisely provides a lens on both angles, which really helps the reader get a better sense of their skills, qualities, values and interests. While the first 3/4ths of their content describes how it has directly affected them (irregular sleep schedule, ample time to explore their intellectual curiosities online, a unique community who understand this disorder), they wrap up their response with a concluding “so what” sentence with the “meaning” side of the coin. This makes it much easier for the reader to envision how the student’s unique difference (insomnia) may actually benefit Duke’s campus.
The glass is half full (... of warm milk 🥛😉). Many students (falsely!) think that challenged-based topics are preferred by admissions officers. While talking about how you’ve overcome challenges in your life can certainly demonstrate useful skills like resiliency, that’s only one of many values that make us who we are. This student could have very well focused their entire response on how difficult being an insomniac is (because, think about it… chronic sleep deprivation? HARD pass). Yet, instead, they chose to center their response on the values that insomnia has helped them live out more fully with each timestamp: a sip of curiosity at 1:02am, a gulp of open-mindedness and flexibility at 4:04 am, and an aftertaste of optimism at 6:30am. Ask yourself: what values have I already shared with my colleges in my personal statement and other essays, and which ones do I feel are less clear? Highlighting a personal difference that helps give air-time to these additional values helps fill up the admissions officer’s cup—and hopefully yours. 😁
And here’s another example, without analysis, that demonstrates a fairly different approach, just so you see that you’ve got options for how you explore here.
As a light-skinned, soft-spoken, empathetic, and analytical Black woman, a lot of times I have felt that I am not a part of my own community. Many of my family members ask me why I relate so much to the East Asian community and culture. This, of course, has led me to question whether or not community is only skin deep.
I became engrossed in the East Asian community at a young age. My dad, an international pilot, often brought movies home from China. One day he brought home Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki. He described it as something similar to Alice in Wonderland. I could truly see myself in the Miyazaki’s heroines: from how they transcended their roles in life to how they met obstacles with resilience and bravery, these heroines helped me feel less alone.
I evolved from watching Miyazaki movies to joining anime clubs, to reading East Asian philosophy, and eventually studying the works of Japanese author Haruki Murakami. This culminated in a trip to Japan last summer as a People to People: Student Ambassador. Immersed in the culture, I visited a Japanese high school, hiked Mt. Fuji, soaked in an onsen, and experienced a deep connection with my homestay family, the Mishimas.
Through being a part of the East Asian community, I have explored answers to metaphysical questions, prayed at a Shinto shrine, and realized that community is a state of mind, much more than skin deep.
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Option #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. (250 words)
We dive pretty deep into the topic of “coming out” in your college writing in this blog post, so if you’re planning to write this optional prompt, you can find a bunch of do’s, don’ts, and examples there. Just note that those tips are for a 650-word essay and this prompt asks for just 250 words, so you’ll need to get to the point more quickly. In short, value information over poetry.
One quick note for this prompt specifically: This is a supplemental prompt and not your personal statement. Consider including more “Why Duke?” content—How do you see Duke as a place where you’ll belong? What resources do they offer? What work might you do while at Duke to engage with and elevate the LGBTQIA+ community?
If you’ve already addressed your LGBTQIA+ identity somewhere else in your application, there’s no need to repeat things here. This is truly an optional prompt, so only write a response if it will add something new to your application.
Here’s an example essay we love.
Option #5 Example Essay:
I grew up in a society where discussing sexuality was taboo. Teachers deliberately skipped the chapter on genitalia and childbirth in biology class. So I’d secretly educated myself about sexual health, tiptoeing to fetch my laptop after bedtime and watching YouTube videos under my blanket. Becoming knowledgeable about sexuality and health both excited and humiliated me. Though I knew such education was essential, I often felt like an outcast.
My struggle to find belonging escalated when I perceived my queerness. In China, employees can be legitimately fired for their sexual orientation and gender identity. Scared of being expelled from school, I forced myself into conversations about attractive actors and pretended to admire the opposite, sex just like everyone else. But I was lonely.
It was first watching the feminist play The Vagina Monologues in high school that provided me comfort and widened my perspective. Knowing that female sexuality can be discussed – even championed – in public productions amazed me. I came to realize that I was, after all, not alone in the journey of self-exploration.
More importantly, The Vagina Monologues opened the door to a wide range of queer media and organizations that offered me a sense of belonging. I finally found my home volunteering at the Beijing LGBT Center. It was the only place I’d seen in China where rainbow flags are hung high and proud, where the house pet is a cat named Duo Yuan (“diversity”), and where the usual response to “I am queer” is “that’s awesome.” From watching Call Me By Your Name with my co-workers to pulling all-nighters collaborating on an interview project to fight stereotypes, I had found my “politically incorrect” salvation.
Using free time to navigate online queer resources and explore my identity, I did not let this challenge impact my academic achievement, but rather to inspire it. The Vagina Monologues and my work at the Center spurred my interest in Gender Studies, altering the direction of my later academic career.
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Tips + Analysis
Share what you’ll offer … and receive. As mentioned above, consider adding some “Why Duke” to your response. What is it about Duke’s allyship that appeals to you, and how will your experiences, skills, and personality build on its inclusivity? This student might’ve tied in her past experiences with how she’ll volunteer with one of the LGBTQ student groups on campus, or even how she’ll expand the Program in Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies.
Explore the unspoken. The first part of the prompt says, “Duke’s commitment to diversity and inclusion includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.” Includes is a pretty big word here. Diversity and inclusion encompass a wide range of experiences, and “includes” gives you permission—even beseeches you (if you don’t mind going all William Shakespeare for a moment) to share the other identities that, when combined, make you, you. Your LGBTQIA+-ness may be one part of the essay, or it may be all the essay. In this essay, we see a firm focus on her journey of self-exploration, which started with her sexuality but evolved to embrace multiple communities: LGBTQIA+, activism, and student.
Embrace the vulnerability. Exploring diversity and inclusion is inherently vulnerable, but acknowledging your vulnerability in your story forges a personal connection between author and reader. Sentences like, “Becoming knowledgeable about sexuality and health both excited and humiliated me,” and “I came to realize that I was, after all, not alone in the journey of self-exploration” allow readers to accompany the author on her journey–empathizing with her struggles and emphatically agreeing that “no, you are not alone.”
Special thanks to Tom for contributing to this post.
Tom Campbell (he/him) is an eternally extra Gemini who has spent the past seven years helping students and families navigate the college admissions process—one alliterative/assonant aphorism at a time. Prior to joining College Essay Guy, he worked as a college counselor at Lakeside School and an admissions officer at Pomona College and College of the Holy Cross (his alma mater). He stans em dashes and semicolons, Kacey Musgraves (all eras, not just star crossed and Golden Hour), superior breakfast burritos, and complaining about space tourism.
Top Values: Authenticity | Fun | Vulnerability
