Duke University
04Duke University admissions

Four routes in, and a free visit or advising conversation before you choose one.

Duke University admissions works through four separate routes: first-year, transfer, graduate and professional. Each reads different documents on a different clock. Pick the right one first, then book a campus tour in Durham, NC or one conversation with an officer. Both are free and booked by inquiry.

Book a visit or advising Check your admission route
Routes in
4, each with its own reader
Campus tour
Free, on foot, about 90 min
Advising
Free, one conversation
Cost
Published each academic year
Paid online
Never
ARoutes in

Which office reads your file depends on where you are now.

Undergraduate files go to the admissions office. Graduate files go to the department. Professional school files go to the school. Writing to the wrong one is the slowest start there is.

  1. R1

    First-year, from secondary school

    For students finishing secondary school who want a four-year bachelor's in arts and sciences or engineering. Read by the undergraduate admissions office. A binding early decision option exists for this route only; if you use it, you apply early to one school and commit to enrolling if admitted.

    Plan 12 months ahead Undergraduate study
  2. R2

    Transfer to Duke University

    For students already enrolled at another college. The office reads your college record first and your secondary school record second. Credit is assessed course by course after admission, so do not plan your graduation date around a transfer credit total you have guessed.

    Plan 9 months ahead Check timing
  3. R3

    Graduate School, master's or PhD

    Decided by the department, not a central office. Write to the program first and ask whether the faculty you want to work with are taking students in your entry year. A strong file sent to a lab with no space is still a file sent to a lab with no space.

    Plan 12 months ahead Graduate programs
  4. R4

    Professional schools

    Law, Medicine, Nursing, business, Divinity, environment and public policy each admit on their own calendar with their own tests and interviews. These cycles open earliest. People who start fifteen months out are rarely rushed; people who start six months out often are.

    Plan 15 months ahead Professional schools
Visiting or non-degree

If you want to take courses for a term without enrolling in a degree, that is a fifth, smaller route with about three months of planning. Say so in the inquiry form and the desk will send you to the right person.

BDocuments

What each route asks you to send.

This is the shape of each file, not the binding list. The admissions office and each department publish the exact requirements for the cycle you apply in, and those win over anything here.

Sheet B.1 · documents by route
DocumentFirst-yearTransferGraduateProfessional
Application formOne, sent onceOne, sent oncePer programPer school
TranscriptsSecondary schoolEvery college attended, plus secondaryEvery degree and collegeEvery degree and college
RecommendationsTeachers and a counselorCollege instructorsFaculty who know your researchSet by the school
WritingPersonal essaysWhy you are movingStatement of purpose, sometimes a samplePersonal statement
TestsCheck the policy for your yearCheck the policy for your yearSet by departmentSet by school
From outside the USEnglish proficiency, financial documents, visa paperwork after admissionSame, plus credential reviewSame, plus funding letterSame, per school
B.2What the office reads

The whole file, in context, by people who read files all year.

A reader looks at what you did with what was in front of you. A transcript is read against the courses your school actually offered. Nobody marks you down for not taking a class that did not exist in your building.

Essays are read for thinking, not polish. The recommendation that helps most describes one specific thing you did in a room. Generic praise from a famous name helps less than a detailed page from a teacher who watched you work for a year.

Send the application once. Do not send it twice to be safe; that creates two files and slows both. And check the box number. The most common mistake is a transcript sent to the wrong box. Ours is BOX 90502.

CCost

We publish the cost of attendance each academic year.

We do not quote it by email, because it changes. Ask on the form and we send you to the current published figure and the aid office that explains it. No number on this site is a quote.

Cost of attendancePublished every year, confirmed on inquiry
Campus tourFree
Advising conversationFree
Payment through this siteNone, ever
DVisit the Duke campus

Two things you can book before you apply.

D.1 · 36.00 N Plate 04-A
A student guide leads prospective students and parents along a stone path on a campus tour
Fig. 1The guide walks backwards so the group can see the buildings. Questions are taken on the move.
Campus tour, Durham NC

Campus visit and tour

A current student leads a small group on foot for about ninety minutes, through the quadrangles, past residence halls and into at least one teaching building. They talk about their own classes and their own mistakes. It is not a sales walk and they are not scripted to be.

Tours leave on foot. Wear shoes you can stand in for ninety minutes. If anyone in your group uses a wheelchair or needs a shorter route, say so on the form and we plan the route before you arrive rather than on the path.

Led by
A current undergraduate
Length
About 90 minutes, on foot
Group
Prospective students and family
Booked by
Inquiry form or (919) 684-5600

Price basisFree; booked by inquiry.

Book a visit or advising
D.2 Plate 04-B
An admissions officer talks through a course planning sheet with a prospective student and her parent
Fig. 2A course planning sheet on the table. The officer explains the route; nobody grades the student.
Duke application timeline

Admissions advising conversation

One conversation with an admissions officer, in person on campus or by phone. You bring the situation: a gap year, a transfer mid-degree, a professional school you are unsure about. The officer tells you which route fits, what that route reads and when its clock starts.

It is not an evaluation of your application. The officer will not read your essay and will not say whether you would be admitted. People ask every week. The answer is the same every week, and it is the honest one.

With
An admissions officer
Format
On campus or by phone
Covers
Route, documents, timeline
Does not cover
Reading or scoring your file

Price basisFree; booked by inquiry.

Book a visit or advising
EProcess

From the first question to a published decision.

The months below count back from the term you want to start. Fall terms start in late August, spring terms in mid-January.

  1. 01

    Check your route

    Two minutes in the checker tells you which of the four routes you are on and whether your lead time is comfortable or tight.

    Today
  2. 02

    Visit or talk to an officer

    Book the tour, the advising conversation, or both on the same day. The desk confirms a time by email.

    12 to 15 months out
  3. 03

    Gather documents

    Ask recommenders early. Order transcripts to BOX 90502. International applicants start financial documents now, not after admission.

    9 to 12 months out
  4. 04

    Submit once

    One application per route. If something changes afterwards, write to the office with your name and date of birth; do not resubmit.

    By the published deadline
  5. 05

    Decision

    Released by the office or department on its own published date. Graduate decisions often arrive in waves as departments finish reading.

    Published by the office
FBefore you ask

The questions the desk hears most.

01Does a visit or an advising conversation help my application?

No. Neither is recorded as a factor in the decision. They exist so you can choose a route with better information. Families who cannot travel lose nothing by not coming.

02Can you tell me my chances?

No. Nobody at the university predicts a decision before the file is read in full, and we do not publish outcomes as promises. We also do not rank ourselves against other schools.

03Where do I send a transcript?

To BOX 90502 705 BROAD STREET, DURHAM, NC 27708, or through the electronic route your school uses. The most common mistake is the wrong box number.

04Can I pay a fee or deposit through this website?

No. This site takes no payment of any kind. If anyone asks you to pay through a link that claims to be us, write to [email protected] before you do anything.

05Who is this page not for?

Anyone looking for an admission decision by phone, a pre-read of an essay, or a promise about aid before applying. The desk cannot do those things, and a conversation that pretends otherwise wastes your time. If you are already a graduate applicant, the graduate page and your department are the better first stop.

GBooking

Book a visit or advising.

Tell us who is coming, roughly when, and which route you think you are on. A staff member writes back to confirm a time. If a date is full, they offer the nearest open one instead of leaving you waiting.

Postal address
BOX 90502 705 BROAD STREET
DURHAM, NC 27708
United States
Open the address in a map service

Phone (919) 684-5600 · [email protected]

Also see campus life and where visitors stay in Durham.

Form 04 · visit and advisingFree
Only if you want printed material posted.

Nothing is charged. No reply time is promised; replies go out in the order received.