why duke kunshan essay

Brodhead: Where Duke Kunshan University Came from and Why It Matters

In a speech Wednesday, the president emeritus encouraged undergraduates to make Duke Kunshan 'the inspiring thing you envisioned when you chose to come'

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Faculty, parents, students, staff, friends:  I have a lot of experience with this sort of occasion. For 11 years I had the privilege of welcoming new undergraduates while I was dean at Yale. For the next 13 years, while I was president at Duke, I greeted arriving students in the splendor of Duke Chapel. As I calculate, in the past 24 years, I welcomed nearly 35,000 men and women to new lives at major universities. But until this week, I have never met first students, the very first freshman class to enter the school. This made me think that I might speak today about topics rarely mentioned at places that have been around a long time. I want to tell you where Duke Kunshan University came from, what hopes led to its founding, and what its history and hopes require from you as students.

I’ll begin by taking a big step back. Higher education is one of the longest-running activities in human history. The oldest universities in Europe -- the University of Bologna, the University of Paris, Oxford, Cambridge -- have been in operation for nearly 1,000 years. A place I once visited in Morocco, the University of Al-Karaouine, has been in business since the year 859, making it nearly 1,160 years older than the college you chose to attend. In China, of course, the Confucius-inspired system of examinations and academies is so ancient as to make these others seem like upstarts. 

In every culture that I’m familiar with, this level of instruction served the double function of preserving a core intellectual heritage and equipping a chosen group for leadership roles. If you were successful in the Chinese examination system, you won a highly honorific career as a public official. Yale was founded in 1701 with the mission to prepare leaders for “church and civil state.” 

Due to this tight link of research innovation to rising living standards, societies wishing the benefits of development have embraced universities as engines of growth and progress. And what is sometimes called the human-capacity-building work of universities has grown in parallel with their research function. As more social sectors require more mental training, higher education has opened its doors far beyond the small populations it was first designed to serve. Meanwhile, training a potential leadership cadre has become a more critical function than ever, but the training required has been radically transformed. It’s no longer sufficient for universities to teach relatively fixed bodies of understanding to people who will play relatively unchanging social roles. It is increasingly recognized that top students need to become creative, versatile thinkers, complex problem-solvers with a range of mental resources who can come up with fresh approaches to new challenges long after their formal education is done. 

Preparing such men and women is a mission universities are now called upon to meet.

I sketch this brief history because without some sense of it, it will be impossible to understand how Duke Kunshan came to be created. Duke Kunshan was born as a set of very different parties considered these developments and asked how they could turn them to their advantage. 

“Joint venture universities are anything but novel. But China is the only country that has ever made it a stated national strategy to enhance higher education through a systematic import of academic models at the institutional level.” -- Richard H. Brodhead

Let me take the parties one by one. First, China. The emergence of China is the most significant new fact in contemporary world history. In maintaining historically unprecedented levels of development since 1978, China has paid shrewd attention to the changing function of higher education. Beginning in 1998, China made expanded access to higher education a critical national priority, and what China plans, China does. In 1998, China had 3.4 million students enrolled in higher education institutions. By 2004, the number had risen to 13.3 million. By 2012, it had hit something close to 26 million. 

A decade later, China identified increasing the quality of higher education as a national priority equally critical with increased quantity. This led to the strategic choice to step up investment in top-tier Chinese universities with the aim of making them competitive with the best in the world. More unexpectedly, the new policy also entailed a government commitment to allow the creation of a limited number of what were termed joint venture universities (JVUs). Under this idea, China would acquaint itself with the best global standards of research and pedagogy by inviting certain foreign universities to establish their models of education in new institutions in China. 

Let me pause here to make two comments. First, in the long history of universities, cross-border borrowing has been the norm, not the exception. The ancient universities of England and France were built from Italian models, and they all imported classical learning that had been preserved in the Islamic world. The first universities founded in what is now the United States imported models the colonists knew from England. Tsinghua was born with critical early involvement from Americans. In a sense then, joint venture universities are anything but novel. But China is the only country that has ever made it a stated national strategy to enhance higher education through a systematic import of academic models at the institutional level. 

Go downtown and visit the museum of the history of Kunshan. The transformation that is documented there is little short of incredible. Clearly, none of this happened by accident. This transformation was driven by a canny entrepreneurial spirit that spotted the way China and the world were heading and figured how Kunshan could seize an early mover’s advantage. Without being officially designated an enterprise zone for international investment, Kunshan went ahead and made itself one. (We have a saying in the U.S. -- do you know it? “It is sometimes better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission.”) Aware that one clever idea does not generate permanent success or security, the municipality has kept a sharp eye out to spy further steps it could take to guarantee a prosperous future. 

It was this spirit that brought Kunshan into my story. Far-seeing leaders of this municipality, and here I will mention in particular Mayor and Party Secretary Guan Aiguo, were mindful that elsewhere in the world, universities have had a special role in igniting the sort of innovative, entrepreneurial culture that sustains economic vitality beyond the life of any single bright idea. So what if Kunshan could develop a major university? 

In China, of course, it was preposterous to think that a city of a mere 1.6 million could host a world-famous school. BeiDa, Tsinghua, these are in Beijing! Fudan, Shanghai Jiao Tong, these are in Shanghai! But creative thinking begins where obvious truths leave off, and was it not at least conceivable that the logic could go the other direction -- that a famous university could build the reputation of a municipality? Palo Alto was mostly farms before Stanford was created there. Stanford’s intellectual energy helped transform its surroundings into Silicon Valley, the epicenter of the new economy. So it was that Kunshan came to the idea that, as a safeguard for future progress, it should start one of the joint-venture entities the national government was newly ready to approve. But Kunshan was not in the higher education business, so for this to work, it would have to find the right academic partner.

This brings us to Partner Number Three. By early summer of 2007, representatives of Kunshan had opened high-altitude discussions with the then-dean of Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, Blair Sheppard. He quickly shared this conversation with Duke Provost Peter Lange and myself. The idea was that Duke and Kunshan could together capture one of the handful of JVU opportunities to be approved by China’s Ministry of Education, with Kunshan providing material support like the land and the buildings and Duke supplying the intellectual capital. To guarantee that Duke Kunshan met the standards of a leading global university, Duke would devise the admissions criteria, we would approve the faculty, we would design the curriculum. Is it a deal?

Sitting here today, it may be hard to realize what a massive weight of presumption there was against Duke or any foreign university moving forward with this offer. All self-respecting U.S. universities have loose partnerships in China, some offer executive MBA degrees, a few even have their own conference centers, but the general perception was that it would be just too complicated to set up a whole new university so far from home, let alone to become guarantor of its academic standards. This is why among American universities, only NYU has “gone deep” in China to the extent of partnering in a JVU. Duke’s prestige and standing made us a desirable partner, but they also made us cautious. The higher the reputation of a major university, the more jealously it guards access to its most priceless commodity: the degrees that bear its name. We were discussing forming a Chinese university that confers a Duke University degree. So the question becomes, how was it that Duke agreed to be Kunshan’s academic partner?

Here you need to know something about the special character of Duke, and since you will one day be Duke University alumni, it’s fitting that you should be acquainted with the history. Structurally, universities are quite conservative institutions. Once customs and procedures are established, the strong presumption is that they will continue, so change comes very slowly.  But most unusually, Duke has been willing repeatedly and fundamentally to reinvent itself to reach to a higher level. 

Founded as an elementary school in backwoods North Carolina, the school reinvented itself as a college, Trinity College, in the 1850s. A generation later, persuaded that it would languish in such a remote location, this college picked itself up and moved to a new campus in Durham, North Carolina, a new city sprouting up in the then-new economy of the American South where it found financial backers, including Washington Duke. 

By 1900 Trinity had become one of the best-known liberal arts colleges in the South. But its ambitions were reignited in the 1920s when the industrialist and Durham native James B. Duke offered funds to transform Trinity College into a comprehensive national university if it would change its name to honor his father. Duke, as it was now called, built a splendid gothic-style campus that gave it, overnight, the appearance of a great university. It then went about building academic strength including in professional schools that surrounded the undergraduate college. 

Some of these became major successes almost instantly: Duke Medical School, started from scratch in 1930, was regarded as a leading medical school a mere 10 years later. But though Duke was now considered a major university, its location in a part of the United States that still enforced racial segregation held it back, consigning Duke to the faint praise of a “major regional university.” After segregation was abolished in the late 1960s, Duke embarked on new chapters of ambition and transformation that led it to be ranked, by the mid-1980s, among the top 10 universities in the U.S. Since 1990 its progress has only accelerated.

Seeing what the world newly requires of universities and finding a way to deliver that new thing -- that’s Duke’s institutional specialty. You’ll grasp right away how this made Duke receptive to the Kunshan proposal. It took no imagination to envision the possible downsides. But the upsides, we reasoned, could be significant, even historic, and strategic to the last degree. At a time when all higher education needs to prepare students for a world where China will be a factor in every possible issue -- economic, diplomatic, climatological and all the rest -- this was a chance for Duke to become far more deeply knowledgeable about China across the board. Instead of a site for transitory gatherings, a Kunshan campus would give a hub for deep research engagement with China. And, most daunting but most tempting of all, what Kunshan and China were seeking gave Duke a chance not to replicate what we already do at home but actually to reconsider undergraduate education from the ground up, to devise a new educational model that would draw on the best of existing practice yet be free to answer afresh the question, ‘What does a student actually need to know in the first half of the 21st century and how can that training best be accomplished?’ A university that could seize those opportunities would have done far more than build a China campus. It would have made itself a far greater university, a shining example of what higher education needs to be. And so, with caution, we took the next step.

After preliminary negotiations, Provost Lange and I came to Kunshan for the first time in January 2010. We started with a visit to the Ministry of Education in Beijing, where Hao Ping, then Vice Minister overseeing international initiatives, gave warm encouragement to the idea. We next met the provincial governor and ministers in Nanjing, since Jiangsu Province shares oversight of university matters. At last we came to Kunshan. I remember vividly what it was like to come to this site. It was a vacant, barren field as far as the eye could see. There was literally nothing there -- but then again, in 1924, there had been nothing but forest and a pig farm where Duke University was soon to stand. And as I stood there considering what was and what might be, improbably, the sun came out and blue sky replaced the day’s early clouds.

Soon, discussions had advanced to the point where Duke and Kunshan could sign a Cooperative Establishment Agreement setting out the ground rules for our work together.  Then began the arduous process of making the idea turn real. No one can have any idea how much work was required on how many different fronts, by people who already had full-time jobs, laboring at tasks they had never done before. 

By China’s regulations, a foreign university forming a joint venture needs a Chinese academic partner. Since Duke is a prestigious school, this had to be a prestigious Chinese university. Since Kunshan is in Jiangsu Province, it furthermore had to be located in Jiangsu Province. We were enormously fortunate that Wuhan University under then-President Li Hongxiao saw the importance of the project for China and enlisted Wuhan as Partner Number Four. Though he had planned to retire, former Wuhan President Liu Jingnan, a distinguished engineer, academician and national leader in Chinese higher education, saw the interest of the Duke Kunshan experiment and agreed to come serve as chancellor. Later, with many others, Wuhan lent us the excellent Feng Youmei, who will become chancellor this fall. 

Then there were the buildings. Like Duke itself, Duke Kunshan was to come to life with an awesomely beautiful campus. But for that to happen, every single structure had to be built from scratch, a massive construction project made harder by the fact that Chinese workers were asked to build a Western design to Western specifications. Meanwhile, as our ever-helpful Executive Vice Provost Jim Roberts observed many times, even a very small bird must have all its parts. So every single business function had to be defined, agreed to by the partners, then staffed and built into a functional team, with the extra challenge of aligning best practices across radically different cultures. 

“By working together through so many massive challenges, the Kunshan, Duke and Wuhan partners began to build the single most critical ingredient needed for success: mutual understanding and growing trust.”

Not a single difficulty could be ducked. Yet by working together through so many massive challenges, the Kunshan, Duke and Wuhan partners began to build the single most critical ingredient needed for success: mutual understanding and growing trust.

Then there were all the academic operations to be created out of thin air. China had the expectation that joint ventures would begin with four-year undergraduate degree programs. This was the case in every other JV institution. But Duke insisted that we would not decide about the undergraduate program until we had grown confident that we could actually mount Duke-quality education in Kunshan. Crossing the river by feeling the stones, in the memorable words of Deng Xiaoping, Duke devised four smaller-scale trial programs: master’s degree programs in global health, medical physics, and management studies, with a Global Learning Semester that undergraduates could come to from other universities. 

With campus construction nearing completion and these programs at last approved by the Ministry of Education, we launched Duke Kunshan University in August 2014. On-campus housing was not quite ready and for a short while faculty and students lived in the Swiss Hotel downtown. But from the first, the venture was met with high enthusiasm. Students made the best of the inevitable challenges of an institution where everything was brand new (I trust that you will too), and they were excited to encounter Duke Kunshan instruction and to live and work in the company of global peers. Students from Chinese universities were delighted with the close personal attention they received from faculty here. Students from the United States, Russia, India and Africa were thrilled to meet their comparably gifted Chinese contemporaries. Duke faculty, who had to completely redesign their teaching plans for this new audience, loved the experience, with several reporting that the term at Duke Kunshan had been among the best in their entire career. Two years later, a fourth master’s program was added in another area of Duke strength of obvious importance to China: environmental policy.

Meanwhile, research centers established at Duke Kunshan began to draw interest and support from the larger world. The research center in global health was recognized by the World Health Organization as its Health Policy and Systems Research Hub in the Asia Pacific Region. Research on environmental topics won competitive financial support from Jiangsu Province and the national research council.  As had been hoped, it was not long before the campus became a magnet drawing talent from China and around the world. Global leaders in business and law converged on Kunshan for a conference on cross-border mergers and acquisition.  Partly though the influence of Executive Vice Chancellor Denis Simon, a leading student of innovation in modern China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Technology chose Kunshan as the site for a conference on emerging patterns of innovation. Conferences on topics from green finance to science fiction quickly followed. The bright hopes for what a university could bring to this region had begun to come true.

To our further good fortune, Professor Haiyan Gao, a distinguished scientist and chair of the Duke Department of Physics who had spent her childhood in Kunshan, agreed to become Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Meanwhile, 8,000 miles away, a group of Duke faculty led by Professor Noah Pickus began planning the distinctive curriculum that would embody our best ideas about twenty-first century education. Colleagues at leading Chinese universities generously agreed to review the plan and make suggestions. Many more Duke colleagues were engaged in hiring faculty for Duke Kunshan University. This was a wonderful experience, not just because of the exceptional talent that proved eager to join the Duke Kunshan project, but because, most unusually, the faculty was hired with the needs of the whole, integrated curriculum in mind. In U.S. practice and I’m sure in China too, university faculty are generally hired for their narrow specialties with little regard to how they might contribute to the larger whole.

Meanwhile back in China, important negotiations continued about long-term finances and a building plan for Duke Kunshan Phase Two. 

Then came the moment of truth: the day when Duke would need to decide whether we would fully commit by putting our name on the Duke Kunshan University undergraduate degree. This could not be done by simple agreement of Duke leaders. Duke faculty from every school would have to approve the degree through their representatives in the academic senate. Duke’s university trustees have fiduciary responsibility for all consequential university decisions, so they too would have to formally approve. On our campus, the matter could not have been taken more seriously. Everyone understood that this was a once-a-century decision, a venture with grave risks but the potential for extremely high rewards. Informed by a year of intense discussion during which many Duke people came to see Duke Kunshan first-hand, the strategy of proceeding gradually in order to learn from experience paid off. Having asked every question they could think of, the Duke faculty and trustees gave their warm endorsement to the Duke Kunshan program in late autumn of 2016.

So we were done then, right? Not exactly. Only when we had final Duke approval could we make final application for Chinese Ministry approval of the proposed programs and degrees. And only with the ministry’s approval were we able to begin recruiting students. This winter, at long last, we set out in search of applicants, and then came the ultimate suspense. Then and only then would we learn the answer to the existential question: Now that we had built it, would anyone come? Would outstanding students actually apply here from the whole wide world?

As you know, we were thrilled with the admissions result. As I said yesterday, our students have all the qualifications for admission to a world-class university plus a further one highly relevant to Duke Kunshan. You have the spirit of a pioneer. Like Kunshan, like Duke, you were attracted to the project of building some great new thing in the history of higher education, and you were not afraid to venture into the unknown. 

You may not be aware of it, but you, our students, are Partner Number Five. You didn’t just choose to attend Duke Kunshan University. You came to help create this place, to make it live up to its highest potential. But accomplishing this will require thought and effort on your part. You have to take active advantage of all of the distinctive opportunities for this place to educate you as it might.

Let me be explicit about what Duke Kunshan requires from you for the experiment to work. Duke Kunshan is a residential liberal arts college set in a research university setting. The great luxury of this is that while you have access to the intellectual resources of a larger institution, most of your classes will be small, intimate communities. This is for two reasons. First, in a school like this, small class size allows you to be personally known and to receive individual attention from your teachers, a feature not common at all great universities. Second, at a school like this, students do not come to just to learn what the teachers teach. Faculty and students come together to grapple with open questions in an unscripted group exploration that pushes the bounds beyond what anyone, teacher or student, knew when the class began. 

If you have never experienced this, I’m glad you came here. Dynamic, communal inquiry in a seminar setting is one of the most electrifying activities in the entire world. But though we put these things on offer, you alone can make them happen. If you are too timid to seek out conversation with your instructors, you will miss the rich relationships your classes could bring. If you don’t enter into class dialogue and dare to share your hunches even if you are not certain they are correct, you will be a mere spectator, not an active player. So even if these customs seem strange to you and even intimidating, as I expect they will, you need to summon your courage. Your active participation is required for education to happen here. 

The same goes for residential life. There are many universities where students come to campus, take their classes, and then go home. We insist that you live together on campus so that you can spend each day, all day, learning from one another. Scholars have established that where smart people from diverse backgrounds are gathered in dense concentrations, they energize each other and make each other smarter. This is why the record of your official coursework will not begin to capture what you have learned here. 

“With students from China, the U.S., and around the world, Duke Kunshan will be global from Day One. Stick together in national groups and you will miss what your classmates could teach you. Open a conversation with someone in your hall or while you eat or exercise and you can learn how people actually think in other places.”

But again, it takes you to make this happen. With students from China, the U.S., and around the world, Duke Kunshan will be global from Day One. Stick together in national groups and you will miss what your classmates could teach you. Open a conversation with someone in your hall or while you eat or exercise and you can learn how people actually think in other places. When I visited the first Duke Kunshan classes in fall 2014, students told me that by living so closely together, Chinese and American students learned how one another’s languages are actually spoken in daily life, which can be quite different from the way they are taught in school. The Ebola outbreak was a frightening event that year, and I remember Chinese and American students arguing over the rights or wrongs of medical quarantine -- and thus beginning to understand how a single reality can hold very different meanings if you come from a culture that puts highest priority on the individual rights or on the well-being of the larger community. We do not expect you to cease to believe what you came here believing. But if you leave here with some fluency in the ways different cultures compose their ideas of value and some facility in working with others across of cultural boundaries, you will be a well-prepared global citizen. Make it happen. Don’t miss the chance.

Last let me say a word about liberal arts education. I have found this a subject of great interest in China, but the concept is not native here, and once when I gave a lecture on it at Tsinghua, my talk was interrupted while audience members argued over the correct translation. Most obviously, a liberal arts model is based on the idea that breadth of exposure is better preparation for later life than a premature specialization in a single subject. But the value of this education does not arise from checking boxes to prove that you took the prescribed mix of courses. It only works to the extent that studying different subjects helps you learn a variety of ways of thinking about problems -- and it has its ultimate payoff when you become able to integrate, to deploy an idea that arose in one domain to help with an issue that arises in another. 

A difference of Duke Kunshan’s offerings from what is found at even the best liberal arts colleges is that they typically construct a curriculum out of separate departmental offerings and hope students will make the links. Here, the interconnection of knowledge has been baked into the program of study from the beginning, with provision also made for you to encounter problems not just in academic exercises but in their real-world forms. As we have asked people around the world what they really want in college graduates, the answer has been remarkably consistent. What the world deeply wants are people with active minds, people who are always asking questions, always learning; people who have followed their curiosity in enough directions that they can bring disparate bodies of knowledge together in new ways to solve new problems; people who can communicate confidently and clearly and who can work effectively with others, including those from different origins, to come up with a better answer than anyone could arrive at on his own; people who delight to use their minds for personal growth and for the common good. Whatever your special interests or gifts, Duke Kunshan exists to help make you that super-capable version of who you are. That’s the promise that drew you here -- so do not fail to do your part. 

I will conclude with a thought that is at once totally obvious and actually quite stupefying. You are the inaugural undergraduate class of Duke Kunshan University. After you, there will never be another first class. The way people begin a project always has outsized impact on how the work continues.  Starting today, you will help set this school’s character and habits. Make it a place of open, spirited engagement with people and ideas and you will be creating a new thing in higher education; do your homework and keep to yourself and Duke Kunshan will be fine, but not all it could have been. 

Your partners have spent years getting things ready. It’s your turn now, Partner Number Five. Come make Duke Kunshan University the inspiring thing you envisioned when you chose to come. 

Photos courtesy of Duke Kunshan University.

More Stories

• Welcome Messages from DKU Founding Partners
• A Short History of Duke Kunshan University
• Duke Kunshan University Welcomes Its First Undergraduate Class
• Free Trade in Minds: Building the New Global Education Marketplace 
• Students From Around the World Move In at Duke Kunshan University
• Working Together on Opposite Sides of the Globe

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October 23, 2023

A Whirlwind Journey to Duke Kunshan

Ana from Russia 🇷🇺

The Starting Line

Discovering my passion, why duke kunshan, a glimpse beyond the grades - stats and extracurriculars, a note on financials, carving out my path and choosing my major.

• My Journey in Duke Kunshan's Intense Study System

Traversing Virtual Classrooms and Visa Labyrinths

Seizing opportunities in china, duke kunshan: a melting pot of cultures and opportunities, life at duke kunshan: a blend of safety and convenience, charting your path at duke kunshan: words to the wise.

My name is Anastasia and I study at Duke Kunshan University in China (near Shanghai) and Duke University (Durham, North Carolina).

When you picture the typical admissions journey, you might envision months of planning and a meticulous timeline. Mine? Let's just say I'm a fan of spontaneity. I started the entire application process just two months before the deadline.

Coming from a humble public school in Russia, the world of university admissions was an enigma to me. Although the internet overflowed with articles, most seemed as clueless as I felt. I lacked a guiding star or a portal like Borderless to direct me. As a result, I believe I made many mistakes during my journey.

However, here's the thing: I was driven by a vision of becoming an engineering luminary in a place where women in STEM not only faced skepticism but also discrimination. In Russia, pursuing engineering, especially as a woman, was akin to swimming upstream. There was also the widespread belief that one could achieve a master’s degree abroad only, not a bachelor’s one, especially with funding. Amidst all the naysayers, my mom's faith shone like a beacon. "With your determination," she'd say, "you can achieve anything." That unwavering support was my backbone.

Additionally, I really didn't know which specific major I wanted to choose. My passion for math didn't come as a eureka moment. I was torn between computer science and applied math, unaware of the possibility of combining them. That's when liberal arts universities came onto my radar. The freedom to explore diverse fields while emphasizing real-world solutions was exactly what I was looking for.

Thus began my frantic journey. I became a model of discipline, committing to 17-hour study days while balancing Russian exams, school GPA, and numerous assignments. My most intense period? Writing 100 essays in less than two weeks. Looking back, those essays make me cringe, but I can't help but smile at my youthful ambition. A proud 1550 on the SAT and an IELTS score of 7.0 later, my frantic efforts began to feel justified.

My discovery of Duke Kunshan was serendipitous. A chance click on the Common App to send my application to both Duke and Shetland University opened the doors to this dream destination. The lush green campus, a curriculum blending East and West, and the allure of robotics and STEM clubs made my decision straightforward. The cherry on top? Their emphasis on liberal arts and the compelling data science major. Receiving that acceptance notification is etched in my memory: a midnight moment of sheer joy, with my screams echoing in the silent night.

Beyond the scores, my journey wasn't about trophies or extravagant titles. I prided myself on leading my school's student union and gaining work experience at a medical firm. My regional honors and passion for the environment found a place in my 'Why' essay, showcasing a student eager to contribute and grow.

I was fortunate to receive full-tuition financial aid , leaving only my personal expenses to be covered. For those eyeing Duke Kunshan, be aware that they now offer a full-ride scholarship , which even covers textbooks! To retain the full ride, you need to maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher throughout your university years.

Before university, coding appeared to be an enigma. Friends proficient in programming led me to believe it wasn't my cup of tea. Yet, here I am, a data science enthusiast. For beginners, I'd recommend courses such as Harvard's CS50 on Coursera and Andrew Ng's Machine Learning Specialization . It's a masterclass I'd equate to my entire university curriculum!

My Journey in Duke Kunshan's Intense Study System

At Duke Kunshan University, the academic landscape is built on a high-intensity learning experience, where a typical semester is condensed into a dynamic 7-week session. Normally in universities, there are two sessions each lasting 14 weeks, but here we have four shorter semesters. This means that in seven weeks, we cover the same amount of information that others cover in 14 weeks, and we also have exams. While this requires digesting a substantial volume of information and tackling exams in a shorter time frame, it creates a vibrant environment for social science students. Many find the rapid pace invigorating and less conducive to burnout. However, STEM students might feel the pressure of this demanding academic structure. This unique setup encourages a deeper engagement with each subject, allowing students to delve extensively into their courses.

My journey took a virtual turn when the pandemic required online classes for an extended time, making physical interactions rare. Although I had the option to spend a semester at Duke in the USA, bureaucratic delays hampered my efforts to obtain a visa.

Managing passport renewals amidst unpredictable policy changes became a six-month saga of uncertainty. This involved visiting various embassies and navigating overwhelming queues. Yet, with persistence, I arrived in China in April, ready to dive into the rich educational landscape ahead. The process was intricate, and I believe many students haven't yet grasped the extent to which bureaucracy can sometimes be a challenge.

Once I settled in China, the profound commitment to education within the Chinese student community became a powerful motivator for my personal growth. This environment pushes you to study harder and put in more effort, as everyone is involved in projects, studies, or research. Being a minority in a population where 65-70% are Chinese offered a stimulating backdrop to enhance my Chinese language skills and immerse myself in the lively culture.

At Duke Kunshan, we took the lead in establishing a Computer Science club and launched the university's inaugural hackathon, showcasing the ample space for creativity and leadership the university provides its students. With its proximity to Shanghai, a center of endless opportunities and flourishing businesses, there's fertile territory for potential collaborations and a bright future in East Asia.

Duke Kunshan stands as a beacon, encouraging you to immerse yourself in Chinese culture, offering a rich tapestry of experiences that go beyond academia. Here, the fusion of various cultures creates a diverse and welcoming environment where prejudices fade and a modern, technologically advanced China presents itself to the international community.

If you're keen to experience a new culture and explore Asia, you might encounter many people who still hold misconceptions about China, believing it to be an underdeveloped country or assuming it's all rice fields with donkeys instead of cars. For instance, when my mother first visited, she exclaimed, "Is this the 23rd century or what?" Being exposed to such a dynamically evolving environment positions you at an advantageous point in a world undergoing significant technological and economic transformations. Hence, I believe studying here would be an invaluable experience.

Living on campus is more than just a requirement; it's a guarantee of safety and convenience. While the language barrier can present challenges off-campus, within the university's confines, you're surrounded by an environment with all the necessary amenities. Despite Shanghai's limited English-speaking population, its closeness offers a lively area for exploration, providing an authentic glimpse into Chinese life.

For future Duke Kunshan prospects, I'd emphasize the need to carefully plan your academic path, especially if you're entering the STEM fields, known for their rigorous workloads. In contrast, the social sciences offer a more balanced pace.

Most importantly, take full advantage of the myriad opportunities the university provides, from leadership positions to innovative projects and research pursuits. Approach everything with a curious mind and an open heart, eager to experiment, learn, and develop in a supportive and lively educational environment filled with chances to shape a fulfilling academic experience.

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Duration of Study

Aug 2020 — May 2024

Data Science

Duke Kunshan University

Kunshan, china 🇨🇳.

✍️ Interview by

Nicoleta from Moldova 🇲🇩

High School Student studying Exact Sciences

7 months ago

This interview was done by our amazing ambassador @nicoletacortac 🫶

Your story just inspired me, Anastasia. I didn't realize when a tear rolled down my cheeks. I've felt so pressured recently with the application process because I have to take the Dec SAT again after having 1200 and still need to do my college search and keep my online community going as my strong extracurricular.

If you could do it, then I have some hope.

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Arts & Humanities , Global

The duke kunshan experience.

March 20, 2018

By Eric Ferreri

In creating its new campus in Kunshan, China, Duke University

had the rare opportunity to build a new faculty and curriculum

from scratch. Here’s how they did it.

“We’re imagining a new university in a new country in a new century, and we can take what’s worked in the past and pair it with what’s best for the future.”

-Noah Pickus, associate provost, Duke University, and dean of undergraduate curricular affairs and faculty development, Duke Kunshan University

Noah Pickus

James Miller

Did you hear the one about the religion scholar, the mathematician, the cultural anthropologist and the historian? 

James Miller has. He’s the religion scholar, and as part of the interview process for a new faculty position at Duke Kunshan University , he was paired with applicants from those other disciplines. Their task: Design a new, interdisciplinary major for Duke Kunshan’s new undergraduate curriculum.  

Here’s the punchline: The group had one hour to do it.  

“Could we negotiate all those differences to produce something from the group? This was obviously an exercise no one person could undertake,” Miller recalled recently. “You needed intellectual aptitude and soft skills—people who could work with each other.”  

After 60 minutes, the group proposed a fashion technology program that touches on creative design as well as materials, business and manufacturing.

This hypothetical exercise, unusual by the traditional hiring standards in Western higher education, is a snapshot of what Duke is building at its new campus in Kunshan: A mix of scholars from varying backgrounds and areas of expertise who must be flexible, nimble and forward-thinking as they create a suite of new courses for undergraduates who begin classes this fall. 

Miller is one of 22 new scholars Duke has hired for its undergraduate venture at Duke Kunshan, the first wave of a hiring spree expected to eventually approach 120 full-time faculty members. Visiting faculty from Duke and other universities will round out the teaching corps. About 225 new undergrads are expected to enroll this fall in Kunshan; eventually, each first-year class there will number roughly 500. 

By the Numbers

NEW DUKE KUNSHAN SCHOLARS  

EXPECTED CLASS SIZE IN FUTURE YEARS

EXPECTED FULL TIME FACULTY

EXPECTED UNDERGRADS THIS FALL

These new scholars are in an unusual position. They face a largely blank academic slate, no history or precedent to weigh them down as they create new courses that will look little like the usual courses at an American university. They’ll do it together, with Duke insisting they step outside their academic comfort zones at times.  

Miller, for example, is one of four new faculty members designing an introductory course called China in the World. It will focus on three key themes—science, commerce and conflict—none of which appear to fall squarely within his focus area as a scholar of Chinese religions.   

“We’re not trying only to hire individual faculty to teach individual courses in traditionally defined majors and hope students get an integrated education,” said Noah Pickus, a public policy professor and associate provost at Duke who is leading the Duke Kunshan curriculum and faculty hiring process. “We’ve designed a curriculum completely integrated throughout, and the faculty need to understand its logic, work well with each other, and fit their individual contributions into a larger whole.”  

“We’ve designed a curriculum completely integrated

throughout, and the faculty need  to understand its logic,

work well with each other, and fit their individual

contributions  into a larger whole.”

-Noah Pickus

Consider Duke Kunshan’s plan for chemistry, biology and physics. Most American universities teach those separately: Chem 101 anyone? At Duke Kunshan, students on a math or natural sciences track will take seven courses over two years, four of which will have chemistry, biology and physics instruction woven into them.   

“We usually teach science in a way that nobody actually practices it today,” Pickus said. “We teach it in silos. You learn physics and you learn chemistry and you learn biology, and then you’re supposed to pick one (as a major) and stick with it.”  

But in the real world, Pickus noted, scientists integrate those disciplines—in material science or global health or environmental studies—tapping a vast well of knowledge.

So at Duke Kunshan, the faculty and curriculum are divided into broad areas of expertise – natural sciences, social sciences and arts and humanities, rather than traditional majors or departments. Students can choose integrated majors within one of those divisions or that combine two or more of them. 

“We want the faculty to figure out a much harder task of how to teach all this foundational knowledge as an integrated set of knowledge and tools rather than a set of silos where, by the first semester, you’re one category or another,” he said.  

Pickus and others see this new undergraduate program less as a university exercise and more as something a Silicon Valley start-up might undertake. Each scholar’s hard skills—intellectual mastery in an academic area—is important, of course. But so are myriad ‘soft’ skills and a willingness to embrace something new and somewhat unknown.

“But the key problems the world faces at  the moment can

only be solved by people working across cultural differences,

and across science and the humanities.”

-James Miller

“We have a ‘no jerk’ rule,” Pickus said. “We have the luxury of choosing people who are not only promising scholars and terrific teachers, but who find appealing the idea that they’re taking on something bigger than themselves. We’re looking for people who aren’t primarily focused on benefits packages and teaching loads.” 

Miller, the religion scholar, was drawn to this new paradigm, one he says he hasn’t seen before. The author of six scholarly books, Miller comes to Duke Kunshan from Queens University in Ontario, Canada, where he has directed the School of Religion.  

“This will be different for me,” he said. “But the key problems the world faces at the moment can only be solved by people working across cultural differences, and across science and the humanities. We need people to work together. At a top school like Duke, we’re training the habits for people who may hold influential positions in whatever fields they choose. So as teachers, we have to model those habits we think are important.” 

Yu Wang 

Yu Wang knew Duke Kunshan would be different as soon as the interviewing process began. A newly minted Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin, Wang interviewed at Duke Kunshan and other, more traditional American universities as well.  

“In other job interviews, you never meet all the other candidates,” said Wang, who joins the Duke Kunshan faculty as an assistant professor of social science. “They are rumors. They are secret. You don’t know who they are.  For this one, wow! You suddenly meet people from your own discipline and others. It’s really unusual.”  

Wang, who grew up in China, is now designing an introductory research methods course that she will co-teach with a cultural anthropologist. She’ll handle the quantitative methods, while her teaching partner will take the qualitative side. But it’s far more complex than just layering one thing upon another. Everything needs to mesh seamlessly. 

At Duke Kunshan, 90% of undergrad classes have fewer than 20 students.  

To that end, all new Duke Kunshan faculty this spring are honing their teaching techniques through fellowships that allow them to tap into expertise from Duke Learning Innovation, a campus resource to help faculty improve their teaching.  

It matters because Duke Kunshan won’t have a traditional class schedule either. Students there will take two classes at a time for seven weeks each; By comparison, Duke students in Durham take four or five classes at a time for 14 weeks each. The Duke Kunshan classes will meet for twice the usual time each week and all classes will have fewer than 20 students. 

The format allows for a deep, rather than broad, immersion into a topic and forces faculty members to teach more creatively, Pickus said. 

Like everything else, this format is possible because there’s no red tape, no weighty precedent, no ‘this is how we always do things’ looming over the Duke Kunshan experience.  

“This is a rare opportunity because you almost never create an institution from scratch anymore,” Pickus said. “Universities are among the oldest institutions in the world, and they’re very stable. But because they’re so stable, it makes it very hard to innovate in other than incremental ways. We’re imagining a new university in a new country in a new century, and we can take what’s worked in the past and pair it with what’s best for the future.”  

At Duke Kunshan, the faculty and curriculum are divided into broad areas of knowledge – natural sciences,

social sciences and arts and humanities, rather than traditional majors or departments. Students can

choose integrated majors within one of those divisions or that combine two or more of them.”

DUKE KUNSHAN LAUNCHES A VIRTUAL CAMPUS TOUR

Student voices provide narrative about campus life

DUKE KUNSHAN UNIVERSITY TO LAUNCH UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAM IN 2018

The university will offer a new liberal arts and sciences curriculum.

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION IN CHINA AND BEYOND

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Duke Kunshan Turns 10

Haoming Bai ’23 grew up in the relatively small Chinese city of Fushun. Then he outgrew it.

About 1,000 miles south of Fushun, in Kunshan, was a young liberal arts university that could be Bai’s ticket to graduate school and career options in the wider world. In 2019 he enrolled at Duke Kunshan University, where the data science major was immediately immersed in an international student body. Today Bai is a graduate student at the Fuqua School of Business whose goal, he says with a grin, is to make money.

“I’m an ambitious guy,” he says.

In August 2023, Duke President Vincent Price and a contingent of Duke leaders visited Kunshan to celebrate DKU’s 10th anniversary. Founded in 2013, the campus admitted its first undergraduates in 2018. That group graduated in 2022 with degrees from both DKU and Duke. Already, DKU has produced recipients of prestigious fellowships such as the Schwarzman, Yenching and Rhodes scholarships.

A joint venture between Duke, Wuhan University and the City of Kunshan, DKU is a small campus with 1,447 undergraduates and 227 graduate students as of fall 2023. The student body is about 70 percent Chinese and 30 percent international. While some American students are in this group, the international cohort represents dozens of nations, including some less likely to send students to U.S. universities for various reasons.

Even while relations between China and the U.S. are rocky, this experiment in international education and collaboration grows.

“I have witnessed the whole process, from a vision all the way to today,” says Luke Hanguo Li M.B.A.’06 , dean of DKU’s China Enrollment Management Office and the first person hired by DKU. His enthusiasm is infectious even across 16 time zones and through a laptop screen. “When I retire, when I’ve got gray hair over my head, wrinkles all over my face, I will tell myself, ‘You spent the best part of your life in a very good way.’”

The joint campus’s roots go back to 2005. That year, the Duke University School of Medicine partnered with the National University of Singapore and opened the Duke-NUS Medical School. An inspired Blair Sheppard , Fuqua’s dean at the time, proceeded to travel through Asia, seeking a partner for a similar joint-venture business school. In April 2007, Sheppard met with Guan Aiguo, then Kunshan’s mayor, who had been trying to recruit a university.

“[Kunshan] is actually a small city in China in relative terms, and fairly low in the hierarchy,” says Peter Lange , Duke’s provost from 2004 to 2014 and an honorary citizen of Kunshan for his foundational work building DKU. “This was a very big initiative for a city of that type. And, in some ways, for us.”

Kunshan in 2007 reminded Lange of Durham 40 years ago: scrappy and relatively small, with drive and potential. Lange met weekly with then-Duke President Richard Brodhead , who was especially passionate about DKU. At the time, US-China relations were substantially warmer, and Duke, for its part, followed a vision of international collaboration. By the time Wuhan University joined the effort in 2011, what had been a Fuqua initiative became a broader Duke University project. The idea, however, was not to build a satellite campus.

“We’re not here to take Durham or Duke or the U.S. and implant it in China,” says Noah Pickus , associate provost at Duke and DKU’s dean of academic strategy and learning innovation. “Just look at the history of the world.”

Pickus led curriculum design and faculty hiring in DKU’s early days. The goal was to draw from American and Chinese higher education without cobbling together something that was “one part zebra, one part elephant, one part rabbit,” he says. It needed to be holistic, integrated and modern. Innovating within established institutions is tough, but DKU was young and small – a true blank slate. It could be an aggressively interdisciplinary institution.

“The whole four years there is a continual exploration of other topics and other disciplines,” says Benjamin Bacon , director of signature work and associate professor of media and arts at DKU. “The student is constantly being challenged with new ideas.”

Shortly after Bacon’s 2019 hire, COVID scattered DKU’s students across the globe during China’s first lockdown. Bacon and his partner had traveled to the U.S. for Chinese New Year in early 2020 and couldn’t return to Kunshan until fall. Stuck in a Durham hotel room, Bacon led the development of DKU’s signature work program.

“All students would go through the same short program,” he explains. “It would be basically independent research.”

Signature work, which started with the inaugural undergraduate class of ’22, is an interdisciplinary project of the student’s choice. Experience with faculty mentors is key, Bacon says, and gives DKU undergrads a similar experience to working with a thesis adviser. Signature work can be independent from the student’s major, too: Rhodes Scholar Ege Duman ’22 , for instance, majored in global health and biology, but his signature work was a complex philosophical dive into the Greek myth of Cronus eating his children.

“[These] are some innovations that couldn’t be practiced on Duke’s campus,” says Li. “For any mature university to introduce a lot of innovations is not easy. DKU is a new university – a new platform – and it’s a small campus. This enables Duke to really introduce a lot of innovative ideas into [DKU’s] curriculum.”

Li cites its aggressively interdisciplinary curriculum and its early adoption of signature work for all undergraduate students as reasons DKU is not just distinct as a university in China, but as a university worldwide. And it is an international school, between its global student body and its guest teachers traveling from Duke, which is especially critical in 2023, Li says. His enthusiastic cadence slows a little, matching the gravity of the current political situation.

“Xi Jinping mentioned, in the meeting with Mr. Kissinger a few months ago, that he hopes that non-government exchanges between the two countries serve as the foundation for the relief of Sino-U.S. relationships because he's very disappointed with government relations,” Li says, referring to retired U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s July visit to the Chinese leader.

DKU formed during a honeymoon period between China and the U.S., Li says, yet that relationship has soured. To him, DKU is more than just a university. It’s a bridge between the peoples of two countries, even if governments can’t see eye to eye.

“A lot of the confrontations and problems between the two countries are caused by misunderstandings,” he says. “Chinese people don't understand how the American people think and American people don't understand how the Chinese people think.”

DKU exposes tomorrow’s government and industry leaders to their counterparts from other countries and cultures, Bacon says. When they know each other as individuals they’re less likely to make mistakes, he adds.

“It's these ties between people that really will make changes for the future,” Bacon says. “This family living right next door [in China] wants the same things that my family does back in the U.S. They want a good job. They want good education for the children, they want to see themselves succeed.”

At DKU, Duman saw this in practice. At a larger school, friend groups are more exclusive. They don’t mix. Sure, he noticed pockets of conservatives, liberals, Muslims, LGBTQ students – you name it – hanging out at DKU, yet they didn’t avoid one another. At this truly international institution, the student body formed a single community.

• Application Requirements

Legible, scanned copies of all transcripts are required for each college or university you have attended where you:

• earned (or will earn) a degree;
• studied for one semester or more;
• earned 12 or more credits (note: 4 or more credits if your university awards 1 credit for the typical class instead of 3 credits);
• and/or took a class that relates to your graduate study interests. 

If you took classes at a college or university while in high school, do not list the college or university as a separate school in your application.

For transfer credits:  Follow the guidelines listed above, but please note that for any transferred credits that qualify to be reported, we need to see grades/marks.  If the grades/marks as well as the credits appear on your degree-conferring institution’s transcript, then the additional transcript will not be required.

For student abroad credits:  Please follow the same guidelines as for transfer credits.

Transcripts must include:

• Your name and the name of the institution
• Each course taken and the grade received
• The degree received and date conferred

If your transcripts do not state the degree and date conferred, upload a copy of your diploma in addition to the transcript. If your transcript is not in English, it must be translated, attested, and uploaded along with the originals. Those applying from outside the U.S. should refer to the additional transcript guidelines for international students. For detailed information, please refer to the “Non-U.S. Applicants” section below.

Two options for sending transcripts:

• Electronically to  [email protected]
• Directly by mail in a sealed envelope to:

Duke University The Fuqua School of Business Office of Admissions 100 Fuqua Drive, Box 90120 Durham, NC 27708-0120 USA

If you do not submit your official transcripts on time, or if you misrepresent, falsify, or omit information, we may revoke any offer of admission or financial assistance.

When to submit copies of official transcripts:

Only if you are admitted to the program, will you be required to submit official transcripts from each college or university you have attended for verification. The due date for official transcripts will be noted in your admitted student portal. If you have not yet completed your studies by this date, your official transcripts should reach The Fuqua School of Business no later than one week before your program begins.

The admissions committee wants to learn more about your personal and professional motivations. To help us get to know you better, you’ll need to provide your thoughts on three short answer questions and two essays as part of your application.

Instructions for all written submissions:

• Responses should use 1.5-line spacing and a font size no smaller than 10-point.
• Do not repeat the question in the document you upload with your application.
• Respond carefully, fully, and concisely.
• Length requirements vary by question and are detailed below.
• Responses must be completed before submitting your application.

All submissions are scanned using plagiarism detection software. Plagiarism is considered a cheating violation within the Fuqua Honor Code and will not be tolerated in the admissions process.

Required Short Answer Questions

INSTRUCTIONS:

Answer all three questions. Responses must not exceed 500 characters (the equivalent of about 100 words per question).

• Why are you pursuing the MMS degree at this stage in your professional development?
• What are your immediate career goals after completing the MMS program?
• Life is full of uncertainties, and plans and circumstances can change. As a result, navigating a career requires you to be adaptable. Should the immediate goals that you provided above not materialize, what alternative directions have you considered?

Required Essay 1

Your response to this essay question should be a maximum of 350 words in length.

Question:  For our MMS: Duke Kunshan University class, the admissions team is looking for students who are eager to engage with, and learn from, their classmates. This learning takes place both inside and outside the classroom, as extracurricular engagement is an important part of the MMS experience. Describe how you would plan to be engaged outside of the classroom and how your unique perspective, experiences, and passions will add to the MMS community.  

Required Essay 2

Present your response in list form, numbered from 1-25. Some points may be only a few words, while others may be longer. Your complete list should not exceed two pages.

Question:  The “Team Fuqua” spirit and community is one of the things that set the Fuqua experience apart, and it is a concept that extends beyond the student body to include faculty, staff, and the administration. When a new person joins the admissions team, we ask that person to share with everyone in the office a list of “25 Random Things About Yourself.” As an admissions team, we already know the new hire’s professional and academic background, so learning these “25 Random Things” helps us to get to know someone’s personality, background, special talents, and more.

In this spirit, the admissions committee also wants to get to know you—beyond the professional and academic achievements listed in your resume and transcript. You can share with us important life experiences, your likes and dislikes, hobbies, achievements, fun facts, or anything that helps us understand what makes you who you are.

Re-applicants are not required to generate a new list of “25 Random Things.” The option of resubmitting “25 Random Things” from the previous year’s application, or creating a new list of “25 Random Things” is available.

Optional Essay

Responses must be a maximum of one page.

Question:  If you feel there are circumstances of which the admissions committee should be aware (e.g., unexplained gaps in work, choice of recommenders or lack of a professional recommendation, inconsistent or questionable academic performance), please explain them. Do NOT upload additional essays or additional recommendations in this area. The optional essay is intended to provide the admissions committee with insight into your circumstances only.

Re-Applicant Essay

An additional essay is required for re-applicants. Respond to the following in no more than two pages.

Question:  It is not uncommon for it to take more than one try to achieve a goal. Please share with us the self-reflection process that you underwent after last year’s application and how you have grown as a result. How did it shape your commitment to Fuqua and inspire your decision to reapply?  

Submit your required resume electronically within the online application system. For employment and volunteer positions, include the location, title, date, and responsibilities, starting with your most recent position. The education section should include dates of attendance and degrees received.

Your resume should include:

• Full-time and part-time employment
• Volunteer work
• Internships

One letter of recommendation is required and should come from someone who knows you in a professional context, such as a supervisor at an internship or place of employment. If you are unable to provide a professional recommendation, you may submit a recommendation from someone who knows you through school and can speak to your performance in an academic setting. Please clarify if you select this option in the Optional Essay. You may not submit more than one recommendation.

Other recommendation guidelines:

• Use your recommenders’ work email addresses, rather than their personal accounts, like Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, and so on.
• Recommendations from relatives and friends are strongly discouraged.

Fuqua accepts both GMAT and GRE scores. We recognize that testing centers are not open at the moment, but both GMAC and ETS, the administrators of the GMAT and GRE tests, respectively, have now made available the option to take these tests from a home environment in most countries/territories. Please visit the GMAC or ETS websites for more information. GMAC is also allowing applicants to reinstate canceled test scores without a fee. Typically GMAT and GRE test scores are valid for five years. During this time Fuqua will accept test scores for exams taken more than five years ago.

We also accept SAT or ACT scores for applicants who are unable to take the GMAT or GRE. If you would like to submit one of these scores, you may select the appropriate test in the Test Scores section of the online application.

We do require one of these test scores in order for an application to be considered complete and receive an admissions decision. If you have difficulty accessing or scheduling a test, please contact the Office of Admissions directly to discuss your unique situation.

Admission system test codes:

• GMAT: Duke program code Q13-N5-19
• GRE: Duke program code 5156, and the 4201 Business Administration and Management Department name
• ACT: Duke school code is 3052. The instructions on how to submit official test scores can be found  here . If your test date was before 9/1/2017, ACT provides specific instructions on how scores can be obtained.
• SAT: Duke school code is 5946. The instructions to send recent scores can be found  here . The instructions on how to send older scores can be found  here .

Need more help?

• Information on registering and sending GMAT scores
• Information on registering and sending GRE scores

Interviewers will have a copy of your resume, but no other component of your application. We do not offer open interviews for MMS: DKU candidates. Interview invitations will be extended after careful review of your application materials. Most interviews will occur via video-conference; North Carolina residents may have the opportunity to interview on campus by invitation. Both formats are given equal weight in the admissions process.

On-campus interview fast facts:

• Interviews are only available to North Carolina residents who are invited to interview.
• Interviews are conducted in English and generally last 30–45 minutes.
• Select a time that lets you participate in other campus visit activities.
• Appropriate attire is business casual.
• Arrive 20 minutes prior for parking and check-in.
• Bring a one-page resume to the interview.
• Interviewers will have a copy of your resume, but no other portion of your application file.

VIDEO-CONFERENCE INTERVIEW FAST FACTS:

• Most applicants will interview via video-conference, as on-campus interviews are only available to invited North Carolina residents.

In service to reapplicants, we offer the ability to replicate or “clone” your application from the previous application cycle. If you are reapplying, please create your new application and submit the Reapplicant Request form from the Application Instructions section, to request that your prior year data be transferred over to your new application. You will receive a confirmation email once this process is complete, and can edit all or part of your application after it has been cloned.

When re-applying, you are required to complete/submit:

• Short-answer questions
• Standard application essays
• A special re-application essay
• One new letter of recommendation is required and should come from someone who knows you in a professional context, such as a supervisor at an internship or place of employment. You may also choose to submit an additional recommendation from someone who knows you through school and can speak to your performance in an academic setting.

Re-applicants do not need to resend official test scores to us unless your previous scores have expired.

All applicants are required to complete the core set of application materials; non-U.S. applicants have additional application requirements and instructions.

Application Timing for Non-U.S. Students

Non-U.S. students must apply by the round 2 deadline if they:

• Require an F-1 visa
• Are not already studying in the U.S.
• Are eligible for a transfer

Admitted students in Round 2 need to start the visa application process quickly to ensure it’s received before the program start date.

Transcripts and Diplomas

Transcripts, diplomas, and academic records must be in English and certified by an appropriate university official.

If your transcripts do not state the degree and date conferred, upload a copy of your diploma in addition to the transcript.

If your transcript is not in English, you must have it:

• Uploaded in addition to the originals

English as a Second Language Test Scores

Fuqua does not accept ESL test scores. We will use other aspects of your application to assess language proficiency.

• Class Profile
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Hear from our Admissions Counselor Elizabeth Jones on Tips to Ace Your Admissions Interview

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• Process and Requirements

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The outstanding individuals who apply for admission to Duke each year continually astound us. We are always excited to welcome a new class into our collaborative community of intellectual explorers.

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First-Year or Transfer ? Trinity College of Arts & Sciences or Pratt School of Engineering ? Early Decision or Regular Decision?

Dates, Deadlines, and Checklist

Early Decision applications are due November 1 . Regular Decision applications are due January 2 . Scroll down for additional deadlines. Once we receive the student-submitted portions of your application, you’ll receive an email to access your Application Checklist .

FIRST-YEAR APPLICANTS

When evaluating applications to Duke, the admissions committee reviews several documents that make up each file. As a part of our holistic approach, we consider both your academic and personal interests, what you’ve accomplished, and your unique experiences, perspectives, and background.

The information below represents the 2023-24 admission cycle requirements and deadlines.

For a quick reference of deadlines, click here .

Early Decision v Regular Decision

Early Decision is a binding program for students whose top choice is Duke.

Regular Decision is for students who want to keep their options open.

Visit our FAQs for more information.

Early Decision Deadlines

• Common Application  or Coalition Application made available
• Application for Early Decision
• Early Decision Agreement
• High School Transcript
• First Quarter Grades (submit via Optional Report; will accept through November 20 or when your first term ends)
• Secondary School Report with Counselor Recommendation
• Two Teacher Recommendations
• SAT and/or ACT Scores (optional, last day to take standardized tests is November 6)
• Arts Supplement (optional)
• CSS Profile

November 15

• Additional Financial Aid Documents (like your taxes)

Mid-December

• Decisions released
• Financial Aid: FAFSA due

Regular Decision Deadlines

• Common Application  or  Coalition Application made available
• Application for Regular Decision
• SAT and/or ACT Scores (optional, standardized tests must be taken by January 31)

February 15

• Midyear Grade Report (or as soon as first marking period grades are available)

Late March/Early April

More Information

Click here to learn more about what we look for in applications.

Course Selection

Enroll in the best available and most challenging courses. We recommend four years of English and at least three years of mathematics, natural sciences, foreign language, and social studies. We generally expect students to enroll in five academic courses per year, and if a student does not take four years in a particular subject area, it should be replaced with an academic course of equal rigor. For students applying to the Pratt School of Engineering, we require coursework in calculus and strongly recommend physics. We also encourage students to enroll in advanced-level work in as many areas as reasonable, regardless of your intended major. For some students, this will include AP or IB courses, whereas for others it will include honors, accelerated, or college courses.

First Quarter Grades, Midyear Grades, and Final Transcripts

We look at the courses you’ve taken from what’s available to you, individual grades in academic courses, overall GPA, and class rank (when available). Official transcripts for all academic work completed in high school are required and must be submitted by your school counselor or another school official.

We require first-quarter/marking-period grades for all Early Decision applicants to be submitted with the Common or Coalition Application by your counselor with the application or as soon as they become available. If your school is unable to provide us with first-quarter grades, you should request an unofficial progress report.

We require midyear grades for all applicants by February 15 or as soon as they are available, to be submitted with the Common or Coalition Application by your counselor.

All admitted students must request that a final official transcript be submitted along with the Final Report form with the Common or Coalition Application.

College and Summer School Transcripts

If you have taken postsecondary or summer coursework that does not appear on your high school transcript, please request an official transcript and/or a progress report from the institution that provided instruction.

International Students

• For international students whose transcripts need to be translated into English, students may use an official service, an EducationUSA adviser, or a school official. Please keep in mind that we also expect the original documents to be submitted with the translated documents. School Report forms and transcripts must be submitted directly from an applicant’s school.

What We Look For

College Preparation Tips

• Academics FAQ

Test Optional Policy 2023-2024

Duke University will be test-optional for both first-year and transfer applicants in the 2023-24 admissions cycle.

Students who apply without SAT or ACT scores this year will not be at a disadvantage in our consideration of their applications. Our decisions are based on a student’s comprehensive application materials, with or without test scores. We will continue to consider SAT and ACT scores as part of the application of students who choose to submit them and will accept self-reported scores for purposes of assessing an application. Scores sent from testing agencies will be required from those students only if they enroll at Duke.

How should I decide whether or not to have my SAT or ACT considered?

The decision of whether or not to have your SAT or ACT considered is entirely yours. Choosing not to have SAT or ACT scores considered will not impact your admissions decision. You may wish to consult our  ADMISSIONS PROFILE  for students admitted to Duke in previous years as a guide. If you’re still uncertain, you may wish to opt-out of having your scores considered when you apply because you will be able to opt-in later.

We do not require SAT Subject Tests, but we will consider those scores, along with other scores like AP and IB, if you choose to report them. Please note if you choose to not have your scores considered, we will not suppress SAT Subject Test scores or AP scores if they are already on file with Duke.

Visit our FAQs for more information about our Test-Optional Policy.

Duke CEEB Code: 5156

STANDARDIZED TESTS

Duke will consider official scores as well as scores that are self-reported on the application. Submitting essay scores from the ACT and/or SAT is optional.

For students who submit both ACT and SAT scores, Duke will consider your best score.

Students must submit at least one full set of scores from a single test date but may also submit scores from subsections taken individually on different test dates. Duke will consider the highest scores on each section, regardless of the test date, and will create a new composite score by averaging those scores. We do not require the optional essay.

Duke will consider the highest scores on each section of the SAT, regardless of the test date. SAT with essay and SAT Subject Tests have been discontinued. If you have SAT essay or SAT Subject Test scores, you are welcome to submit them, but they are optional.

ENGLISH PROFICIENCY TESTS

If you are a non-native English speaker or if you are not currently studying in an English-medium curriculum, we recommend but do not require that you take an English proficiency test. If you take the test more than once, we will use your highest score, and we do not have any preference among English proficiency tests.

• Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency (Minimum score expected is 180)
• Duolingo (Minimum score expected is 130)
• IELTS (Minimum band score expected is 7)
• PTE Academic (Minimum score expected is 70)
• 100 on the internet-based TOEFL
• 75 on the revised TOEFL paper-delivered test

PLACEMENT POLICIES

Duke University awards a limited amount of course credit and advanced placement on the basis of scores earned on Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) and pre-matriculation college course work. However, course credit and advanced placement are not granted until the student has been admitted and until the official reports are received and evaluated by our Registrar’s Office. Since this process is handled outside the Admissions Office, a credit evaluation cannot be made until the student arrives on campus. Click here for more information.

REQUIRED RECOMMENDATIONS

We require three letters of recommendation for each applicant: one from your school counselor and two from teachers who have taught you in major academic courses (English, mathematics, social studies, sciences, foreign languages), preferably within the last two years of secondary school.

If you are applying to the Pratt School of Engineering, at least one recommendation should be from a math or science teacher.

Ask your recommender to submit the letter through the Common Application or Coalition process. We will also accept letters by email, fax, or postal mail .

OPTIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS

You can submit one Personal Recommendation from an employer, mentor, or anyone else who knows you well and can give us a better idea of who you are. Ask your recommender to submit the letter through the Common Application or Coalition process. We will also accept letters by email, fax, or postal mail .

The application includes space for up to ten extracurricular activities. Use as few or as many spaces as you need. Be sure to include school, community, family, and work commitments on your list. Keep in mind that we are more interested in seeing sustained commitment rather than a long list.

Duke does not accept separate resumes. You may include extra honor and accomplishments in the “additional information” section of the application.

Both the Common Application and the Coalition Application include a one-page personal essay as well as short essay questions specific to Duke. You can submit the supplemental essays with or after the other student portions of the application, no later than the application deadline.

LONG-ESSAY PROMPTS

• All applicants who complete the Common Application will respond to one of seven essay prompts for the 2023-24 admissions cycle.
• All applicants who complete the Coalition Application will respond to one of six essay prompts for the 2023-24 admissions cycle.
• For transfer students, we would like to understand more about you and your academic path. Why and how did you choose your current or most recent college or university? What has changed since then, and what has led you to consider transferring? Please respond with an essay of between 250 and 600 words.

SHORT-ESSAY PROMPTS

• 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)
• 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.
• Tell us about an intellectual experience in the past two years that you found absolutely fascinating .
• 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?
• 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.
• 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.
• The Common and Coalition Applications will also include a section for students to disclose if they were impacted by community disruptions such as natural disasters and COVID-19.

Submitting Payment

You must send your nonrefundable $85 application fee or fee waiver request along with the Common Application or Coalition Application. Both applications accept online payment via credit card or electronic check.  Please note that we do not accept credit card payment by telephone.  If you pay by check, please make the check payable to Duke University. Checks must be for payment in U.S. dollars and must be drawn on a U.S. bank.

Fee Waivers

We offer fee waivers for qualifying students, which means under many circumstances we will waive the $85 application fee for students with high financial need. Through your Common Application or Coalition Application you may request an application fee waiver online, and your school counselor will receive an email invitation to endorse your request.

Alumni interviews are an optional component of the Duke application process. Due to the volume of applications to Duke, we regret we are unable to interview all applicants. The Admissions Office will prioritize interviews for students for whom we need additional information. Not being offered an interview does not affect your chances of admission. After students submit their applications, those offered an interview will be matched with alumni volunteers who will contact them via phone or email to arrange a virtual interview. Students may expect the interview to last 30-60 minutes. We do not offer on-campus interviews with admissions officers, nor can students request an interview.

Applicants are welcome to record a Glimpse video. Glimpse is an opportunity to share a 60-90 second video helping us to get to know you better. For more information about Glimpse please visit the Glimpse website here . Currently, Glimpse is only available for students attending high school in the United States. For consideration in the Duke Admissions Process, Glimpse videos must be submitted by November 6 for Early Decision and January 16 for Regular Decision.

For international applicants, Duke will also consider interviews from InitialView. Students attending schools in China are particularly encouraged to arrange an interview with InitialView. Applicants interested in an InitialView interview are encouraged to make a reservation here as soon as possible in order to secure a timely appointment.

ARTS SUPPLEMENT

If you have exceptional talent in dance, music, photography, film/video/digital, or theater, you may submit optional arts supplement(s) to be evaluated by a Duke University faculty member in that program or department. Typically, such submissions should demonstrate extraordinary talent beyond standard high school level accomplishment. Arts supplement applicants have often received significant awards and honors at a state, national, or international level. Consider carefully whether your supplemental materials demonstrate unusual talent before submission. For more information about what we look for, you may reach out to the departments directly.

For the 2023-2024 admissions cycle, we are unable to accept visual art supplements (including photographs of artwork).

Learn more about art supplements

RESUMES, ABSTRACTS, ETC.

We hope to get to know you through the documents we require as part of our application process. Therefore, Duke does not accept resumes, research abstracts, and media files. We are happy to accept artistic supplements. We will accept one additional letter of recommendation should you choose to submit it.

If you have information that you need to share with us that will not be reflected elsewhere in your application, you may add it to the Additional Information section of the application.

TRANSFER STUDENTS

Every fall, approximately 50 students transfer into Duke from another college or university. Most will enroll as sophomores, although the selection committee will also admit a small number of juniors. While transfer students are new to the Duke community, they bring with them the same characteristics of talent and engagement as the rest of their undergraduate peers.

The application deadline for transfer admission is March 15.

ELIGIBILITY

• If you have attended any college or university in the past four years and will have successfully completed at least one full year of transferable college work by the August in which you hope to enroll, you qualify to apply to Duke as a transfer applicant.
• All transferable college work should be completed at an accredited degree-granting institution. College work completed at a vocational, technical, performance, or professional program will not be considered.
• If you are a high school student in an “early college” or dual-enrollment program earning an associate degree while finishing high school, you should apply as a first-year applicant.
• If you have already completed an undergraduate (bachelor’s) degree at a four-year college, you cannot be considered for transfer admission.
• Students who attend Duke Kunshan University and wish to transfer to Duke University are not at an advantage in our admissions process.
• A high school diploma or GED is required for admission to Duke.
• Unfortunately, you may not apply for transfer to Duke as a part-time student.  Instead, we encourage you to contact  DUKE CONTINUING STUDIES  for information on taking courses on a non-degree basis.
• The admissions committee seeks applicants who can provide evidence of academic preparation within the past four years. If you have not recently attended high school or college, we strongly encourage you to do so prior to applying for transfer, either through  DUKE CONTINUING STUDIES  or an accredited degree-granting institution in your local area.
• Transfer admission to Duke is highly selective, with the admission rate ranging from 3% to 7% over the past five years. Transfer applicants are expected to have demonstrated a high level of academic talent, both at their current higher education institution and in high school.
• The most successful applicants will have a minimum college GPA of 3.7 in a challenging academic program.
• Please note that Duke will be test-optional for transfer students for the 2023-2024 cycle.

2022-2023 Transfer Student Application Cycle

• Applications: 2,126
• Admitted Students: 89
• Matriculated Students: 56
• Admit Rate: 4%

2022-2023 Admitted Transfer Student Profile

• GPA average = 3.90
• Mid-50% range = 3.85 – 4.0

REQUIRED MATERIALS AND DEADLINES

• Your application must be submitted electronically through either the  COMMON APPLICATION  or COALITION APPLICATION by March 15. The Transfer Admissions Committee begins to review applications after the application deadline. We will notify applicants of admissions decisions by mid-May.
• Required materials for transfer admission include an application for transfer admission, College Report, college transcript, final high school transcript, two instructor evaluations (at least one evaluation must be from a college instructor), and required financial aid forms.
• Duke University is test-optional for transfer students who plan to apply during the 2023-2024 admissions cycle for enrollment in the fall of 2024 . If you choose to submit ACT or SAT scores, they must be completed within the past five years.
• If you intend to apply through the Common Application, please visit their website for a TRANSFER APPLICATION GUIDE .
• Both the Transfer Common Application and the Coalition Application include a one-page personal essay as well as short essay questions specific to Duke.  The transfer application has a character rather than a word limit. If your essays exceed the character limit, you may email the essay to [email protected] . Please ensure that you include your full name, date of birth, and current college so that we match it with the correct application.
• If your current college/university does not allow the submission of recommendation forms through the Common Application portal, you can find printable Duke-specific PDF versions on the Common Application portal. These forms should be either mailed or faxed to our office.
• If you have exceptional talent in dance, theater, art, or music, you may submit supplementary material to be evaluated by an appropriate faculty member. LEARN MORE ABOUT ART SUPPLEMENTS
• Alumni interviews are offered on a very limited basis, based on the availability of our volunteer alumni.  Unfortunately, we are unable to interview every applicant, every year. If we are unable to assign you an interview, please don’t worry . It will not hurt your application in any way. There is nothing that you need to, or can do, to request an interview. If we were able to assign you an interview this year, you will be contacted by the interviewer to coordinate.  All interviews will be conducted virtually.
• Transfer Applicants are welcome to record a GLIMPSE video. Glimpse is an opportunity to share a 60-90 second video helping us to get to know you better. For more information about Glimpse please visit the Glimpse website HERE . Currently, Glimpse is only available for U.S. Citizens and permanent residents. For consideration in the Duke Transfer Admissions Process, Glimpse videos must be submitted by March 22. Glimpse videos are not required as part of the transfer admissions process. For international applicants, Duke will also consider interviews from InitialView. Students attending schools in China are particularly encouraged to arrange an interview with InitialView. Transfer Applicants interested in an InitialView interview are encouraged to make a reservation HERE as soon as possible in order to secure a timely appointment.

TRANSFER OF CREDIT

• Duke does not offer a preliminary credit evaluation to prospective transfer students.
• We are unable to connect prospective applicants with an advisor to discuss credit transfer. However, there is a good chance that credits will transfer if coursework taken at the applicant’s current/previous accredited college is comparable to courses offered at Duke in areas such as natural science, math, foreign language, literature, social sciences and the arts.
• Duke will grant credit for no more than two years of coursework completed elsewhere, regardless of the number of credits a student has previously earned. In order to earn a Duke degree, a transfer student must spend at least two years at Duke.
• At least half the courses of all majors, minors, and certificates must be taken at Duke, although individual departments and programs offering majors may require that a greater proportion be taken at Duke.
• Please see the  DUKE UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE BULLETIN  for more information on how transfer credits are evaluated.
• You may find a list of courses offered at Duke by searching our online course catalog .

FINANCIAL AID

• The number of semesters of aid eligibility for students transferring to Duke is based on the policy of up to nine academic semesters less the number of semesters studied elsewhere. This also includes financial assistance for one summer term, if needed.
• Duke admits transfer applicants who are U.S. citizens, permanent residents, undocumented or DACA students without regard to financial circumstance or aid eligibility and meets 100 percent of each admitted student’s demonstrated need throughout their undergraduate enrollment.  Unfortunately, need-based financial aid is not available for international transfer student s.  In addition, Duke does not offer merit-based scholarships to transfer students.
• Submit a fee waiver via Common Application, or
• Sign and submit the NACAC Transfer Fee Waiver Form, or
• Provide a brief statement attesting to receiving a Pell Grant from your current college.
• Provide a brief statement describing why you are unable to pay the application fee.
• Fee waiver requests should be directed to  [email protected] .
• For detailed instructions on how to apply for financial aid, please visit the  OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE FINANCIAL AID

Other considerations

Every year, we receive a diverse array of extraordinary applicants from around the world with varied backgrounds and situations. 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.

Please refer to the FAQs for additional information .

Have more questions?

Resources + Tools

Frequently Asked Questions

INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS

Students from more than 100 countries have found a home at Duke. Innovative, restless, and driven: these are qualities not confined by geography.

There is no separate application for international students.

STANDARDIZED TESTING CONSIDERATIONS

• Testing policies are the same for all applicants; there are no additional requirements for international students.
• While we do not require any English proficiency scores, we are happy to consider them for non-native English speakers who want to demonstrate their English ability beyond the materials in their applications. We accept the Cambridge C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency Tests ,  Duolingo English Test ,  the IELTS Academic (International English Language Testing System) , the  PTE Academic (Pearson Test of English) , and the  TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) . Since official submissions of the Duolingo English Test are free, we suggest the official submission of those results; applicants can self-report all other English proficiency test scores.

TRANSCRIPTS 

VISA INFORMATION

• To obtain an F-1 visa for study in the United States, a foreign citizen must furnish his or her home country’s U.S. consulate with proof of ability to meet educational expenses, along with a certificate of eligibility for a visa application (the I-20 form). I-20 forms for incoming foreign students are issued only after a student has accepted an offer of admission at Duke and returned a completed Certificate of Financial Responsibility.
• Visa services and advice on federal regulations concerning non-U.S. citizens are available through  Duke Visa Services .
• While not required for admission, interviews provide an opportunity for the applicant to learn about Duke and for a representative of the university to learn about the applicant’s strengths. We have alumni volunteers conducting interviews in forty-two countries worldwide.
• Because of the high volume of applicants we receive from China, Duke will accept admissions interviews from  InitialView for students attending school in China. These interviews will serve in lieu of alumni interviews. We encourage interested students to arrange an interview with InitialView as soon as possible in order to secure an appointment. All interviews must be submitted by December 1 for Early Decision and March 1 for Regular Decision.
• Duke offers need-based financial aid and merit-based scholarships to US citizens and to foreign citizens following the different policies outlined below.
• For U.S. citizens and eligible noncitizens, an applicant’s need for financial aid, or the fact that a student has applied for financial aid, will not disadvantage a student in the admissions process. Students needing financial assistance are strongly encouraged to apply for aid at the same time as for admission. Please go to the Financial Aid website for more information.
• Foreign citizens must apply for need-based financial aid in the original first-year application in order to be eligible for need-based funding from Duke at any point . You can find the comprehensive costs for attending Duke in 2023-2024 here . You can find more information about financial aid for foreign citizens at Duke here .
• The admissions process for foreign citizens is more highly selective: the admit rate for foreign citizens seeking financial aid is usually less than half of the overall admit rate. We consider admissions applications from foreign citizens requesting need-based financial aid in this more competitive pool no matter how great or small the family’s financial need may be.
• Duke offers a small number of merit scholarships for which all applicants to Duke are automatically considered. Applying for need-based aid does not have any negative effect on merit scholarship selection. You can find more information about merit scholarships at Duke  here and  here .
• We do not require applicants to submit any financial forms as a part of the admissions process; the financial aid application is simultaneous with but separate from our admissions consideration. The amount of need-based financial aid for which each student/family qualifies depends solely on financial calculations and not on the strength of the admissions application.
• If you have more specific questions about financial aid, please feel free to contact the Karsh Office of Undergraduate Financial Support at  [email protected] .

UNDOCUMENTED OR DACA APPLICANTS

We welcome applications from undocumented and DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) students. DACA applicants apply in the same way U.S. citizens and permanent residents do, and your application will be considered the same way U.S citizens and permanent residents are, by the regional admissions officer responsible for where you attend high school.

When you apply, you should be honest about your current citizenship status. You do not need a social security number to use the Common Application or Coalition Application; that field can be left blank.

Beginning with students who are applying for admission for Fall of 2021, Duke will review undocumented and DACA students using the same “need-blind” process as applicants who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents .

• Undocumented or DACA students who wish to apply for financial aid should fill out the  CSS Profile by the appropriate Early Decision or Regular Decision deadline.
• Information about the financial aid process for undocumented students can be found  here , and answers to frequently asked questions can be found  here . For general instructions on how to apply for financial aid, please visit the  Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid website .

DUKE’S SUPPORT FOR UNDOCUMENTED AND DACA STUDENTS

• Duke University’s goal is to provide access, inclusion, and support to all of our students and their diverse backgrounds and needs.
• We encourage you to read more about how this support applies to undocumented and DACA students in this  message from the Duke University President .

If you have questions or concerns, please  contact our office .

HOMESCHOOLED APPLICANTS

Duke welcomes applications from students who are educated in alternative ways such as homeschooling and online-schooling. While we do not have any additional application requirements for these students, there is some benefit to providing supplementary information to help us better understand the context, the rigor, and the students’ achievements in their chosen educational path.

Below are some suggestions for homeschooled or online-schooled students to better elucidate their academics and involvement in our application process.

• In general, students should take the best and most challenging courses available. We recommend but do not require four years of English and at least three years of mathematics, natural science, foreign language, and social studies.
• For students applying to the Pratt School of Engineering, we require coursework in calculus and strongly recommend physics.
• We understand that each individual family best decides the choice of curriculum. Whatever path a student chooses, we would like information about the student’s homeschool experience and environment that would be helpful for our committee.

TRANSCRIPTS

• In addition to the courses and grades, we are interested in knowing how and why the student and family chose an alternative means of schooling and the philosophy behind the education provided.
• For courses that are taught at home, we would like an explanation of the grading scale or other methods of evaluation.
• When a student indicates that he/she is homeschooled, the Common Application generates supplemental questions on the School Report that should be completed and submitted to provide this information.
• Students are also welcome to share their insights into their educational choice, especially their thoughts about the benefits they have gained and how the experience will allow them to contribute to the community at Duke.
• If the student has taken courses from a distance learning program, traditional secondary school, or any institution of higher education, we require official transcripts from these institutions. Applicants are not required to present a GED or proof of accreditation.

STANDARDIZED TESTING

• The standardized testing requirements are the same for all Duke applicants.
• We encourage homeschooled students to submit AP test and/or additional SAT subject results in the absence of grades to demonstrate additional evidence.

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

• Although a parent may complete your school report to provide context for your academic choices, we encourage students to provide two additional letters of recommendation from non-relatives and preferably from individuals who have worked with the student in an in-person academic setting.
• Employers, religious leaders, sports coaches or other adults can write these recommendations if all academic instruction takes place in the home.
• Letters from online instructors are less helpful if they have not had direct contact with the homeschool student.

Duke offers military veterans a high level of support as they transition to our campus community. For more information about the resources available to veterans, please visit Student Affairs or the Office of the University Registrar .

APPLICANTS WITH DISABILITIES

Duke University is committed to the equality of educational opportunities for all qualified students. Students with disabilities (including learning disabilities, hearing or visual impairments, mobility impairments, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders, psychiatric impairments or chronic health disabilities) who apply to Duke can choose whether or not to disclose their disability to us.

• Our office is prohibited by law from making inquiries about a student’s disability in the admissions process. We will not require you at any point in the admissions process to disclose if you have a disability.
• We evaluate a student’s accomplishments within the context of any opportunities or challenges presented to that student. We do not use information about a disability to deny admission to a student.
• There is no separate admissions process at Duke for students with disabilities. All students who apply to Duke, including those who have a diagnosed impairment/disability, are evaluated using the same criteria.
• If you have questions or require additional information, please contact the Admissions Office at (919) 684-3214 and ask for the admissions officer responsible for students with disabilities.

ACCOMMODATIONS AT DUKE

• All students have the right to request reasonable accommodations at Duke.
• Students requesting consideration for accommodations must have an impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities and should contact the  Student Disability Access Office .

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 4 tips for duke essays that will get you accepted.

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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2 Strong Duke Essay Examples

With a very low acceptance rate, Duke is one of the most competitive U.S. colleges to get into. Alongside killer stats, extracurriculars, and letters of recommendation, admissions officers are looking for engaging, concise, and thorough essays to put you over the top.

In this post, we’ll share a Duke essay written by a real student and analyze what it did well and where it could be improved. Hopefully, you can take away some insight that will help you write your Duke essays.

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. 

Read our Duke essay breakdown to get a comprehensive overview of this year’s supplemental prompts. 

Duke Pratt School of Engineering Essay Example – Why Engineering?

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 (250 words).

One Christmas morning, when I was nine, I opened a snap circuit set from my grandmother. Although I had always loved math and science, I didn’t realize my passion for engineering until I spent the rest of winter break creating different circuits to power various lights, alarms, and sensors. Even after I outgrew the toy, I kept the set in my bedroom at home and knew I wanted to study engineering. Later, in a high school biology class, I learned that engineering didn’t only apply to circuits, but also to medical devices that could improve people’s quality of life. Biomedical engineering allows me to pursue my academic passions and help people at the same time.

Just as biology and engineering interact in biomedical engineering, I am fascinated by interdisciplinary research in my chosen career path. Duke offers unmatched resources, such as DUhatch and The Foundry, that will enrich my engineering education and help me practice creative problem-solving skills. The emphasis on entrepreneurship within these resources will also help me to make a helpful product. Duke’s Bass Connections program also interests me; I firmly believe that the most creative and necessary problem-solving comes by bringing people together from different backgrounds. Through this program, I can use my engineering education to solve complicated societal problems such as creating sustainable surgical tools for low-income countries. Along the way, I can learn alongside experts in the field. Duke’s openness and collaborative culture span across its academic disciplines, making Duke the best place for me to grow both as an engineer and as a social advocate.

What the Essay Did Well

A strength of this essay is how it grows in specificity as it progresses, and in college-essay-writing, specificity is key. In the first paragraph, there’s a smooth yet concise transition from a general childhood fascination with engineering to a more mature and specialized field of interest. We learn more and more about this student, almost in layers; first we learn they loved math and science, then engineering, and then biomedical engineering. In every sentence, each of this student’s personal qualities and traits builds off of the one before it, adding more dimension and nuance to their character.

In shifting from her past experiences to Duke’s academic offerings, this student uses their similarly interdisciplinary natures to connect the two. This penchant for smooth, concise transitions is an especially important asset when working with a sub-300 word limit. This applicant chose Duke-specific opportunities to discuss, giving no generic desires for “great professors,” a “top” program, or empty appeals to emotion (“The campus just felt like home!”)

The final sentence serves to nicely tie the essay up, re-affirming the student’s personal qualities and how they suit the student for Duke, personally and academically.

What Could Be Improved

This essay could be made stronger with some improvements to the second paragraph. When including Duke opportunities they want to take part in, this student tells us “ I am fascinated by ,” and it “ interests me ,” but this is fairly basic writing. The reader shouldn’t have to be told about your interest and excitement over something; it should jump off the page.

Rather than telling us they are fascinated by interdisciplinary research, they could write something like this: “ I’d take the thrill of finding connections between two seemingly unrelated topics, knee-deep in library archives, over the drop on the Kingda Ka rollercoaster.”  Notice how this sentence doesn’t explicitly say anything about how they find research fascinating, but by describing it as a more thrilling experience than a rollercoaster, the reader gets a strong visual of the student’s passion.

Another thing missing from this essay is the  why behind this student’s interest in helping others. They clearly flush out their motivation for pursuing engineering, but they never explain what draws them into being a social advocate. Throwing in how they want to “ improve people’s quality of life “, “ create sustainable  surgical tools for low-income countries “, and be a “ social advocate ” has little impact if we don’t understand the importance. A sentence or two that provides background on this student’s compassionate side and where it originated from or what it looks like in action would help bring more weight to their claims of becoming a social advocate.

Duke Essay Example – Why Duke?

In the last six years, my community has been disconnected from the national grid. The result? I watched my mother spend so much money on fuel and patronizing nearly every generator technician in town so we could access electricity. I developed the habit of going to my tutorial centers with my phone charger, hoping that by some streak of luck, the generator would be on. However, with Duke’s minor in Energy Engineering, all these could become things of the past. I especially look forward to courses like ENERGYER 310: INTRODUCTION TO ENERGY GENERATION and ENERGYER 490:RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES, which will equip me with the knowledge I need to design cheap and environmentally friendly energy systems.

Outside the classroom, I hope to contribute to Duke’s mission of supporting positive change worldwide by participating in some of Duke’s signature programs, especially the Duke engage gateway program. I am a big fan of math competitions and math in general. As a result, I worked with some of my friends in 2019 to set up a math enrichment organization for high schoolers. I plan to someday have the Duke engage program work with our organization to help provide STEM classes and encourage hand on design projects among Nigerian high school students. I look forward to the academically challenging classes, interactions with strangers, and all the other things that come with being a blue devil.

This essay, which is responding to a textbook example of the “Why This College?” prompt, does a nice job of clearly explaining this student’s motivation for pursuing the specific opportunities at Duke they mention. Because of the story at the beginning about what this student and their mother went through to access energy, the reader understands the personal connection this student has to energy engineering. That personal connection, coupled with the fact the student names specific energy engineering classes at Duke, proves that their interest in the subject is genuine.

The student’s discussion of the Duke engage program is also backed with a personal story that deepens the connection between their past experiences and the things they hope to accomplish at Duke. Rather than just saying they want to join the engage program because they like creating positive change, their description of creating a “math enrichment organization” in high school shows Duke admissions officers that they have already embodied that value of making the world a better place.

One way this essay could be improved would be to more empathetically drive home the theme of making the world a better place. Between this student’s passion for bringing energy solutions to their community and helping Nigerian students access STEM resources, they clearly have a genuine desire to be a force for positive change. Right now, however, the essay feels somewhat like two distinct anecdotes stuck together, rather than a cohesive story focusing on this aspect of their personality, with Duke-specific opportunities woven into that story.

Centering the essay on this quality would shift the focus from the programs at Duke, and how the student fits into them, to the student’s personality, and how Duke aligns with it. It might seem like a subtle difference, but the result would be an essay that both flows naturally and highlights the student’s admirable character.

How would the student go about making this change? The essay could start with a sentence that shows us their passion for helping others in general, rather than in the context of their local power grid of the math organization they cofounded. This line could be quite simple, for example: “ ‘To help others!’ That’s how I answered my mom every year when she asked what I wanted for my birthday. ” 

Then, the student could move into talking about the helplessness they felt not being able to fix the power grid, and how that feeling motivated them to pursue energy engineering. Their story would continue by transitioning into a discussion of how they hope to help people in a variety of ways, not just by improving their access to electricity. They could cite their math organization as an example of another way they’ve worked to make people’s lives better, and demonstrate their commitment to that organization by describing how they hope to grow it with the skills they learn from the Duke engage program.

This version of the essay, by centering on their personality from start to finish, would feel more cohesive, while still incorporating why the student wants to attend Duke specifically.

Where to Get Your Duke  Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your Duke essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Linda Zhang

Linda Zhang, from Tianjin, China, is pursuing a master’s degree in business administration at Stanford Graduate School of Business. She graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with highest distinction in public policy and received the Forever Duke Student Leadership Award and the Duke Cornerstone Award. Linda aspires to support and develop innovative education systems globally. She helped launch new universities where she served as the chief of staff at Nigerian University of Technology and Management, and advised on the launch of Duke Kunshan University in China. She also worked at the Ministry of Education in Sierra Leone, where she focused on international partnerships and data strategies to improve foundational literacy rates. Linda has worked with Siemens on apprenticeship programs, and was a world-traveling private teacher. She started her career at McKinsey & Company, where she served education clients across the United States, Middle East, and Africa.

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Admissions Video Supplement

• Post author By Ting Su
• Post date August 24, 2023

International undergraduate applicants have the opportunity to submit a supplemental video from their DKU Applicant Portal. This is an important part of the DKU application and gives applicants an opportunity to further demonstrate their fit for DKU’s unique community through a response to a randomized question or statement (a prompt). This Video Supplement, while not required, is highly encouraged and allows the admissions team to get to know applicants better.

Applicants – Log in to your portal and click on the Video Supplement link to view detailed instructions. Please read them thoroughly! You will first test your audio and video. When you are ready to proceed, you will be given a randomized prompt. You will have 1 minute to prepare, and up to 2 minutes to record your response.

We realize this is a timed exercise and your response will not be perfect. That is OK! During the 1 minute of preparation time, write key points or words if that helps you to remember what you want to say. You do not have to memorize your response. The goal is for the admissions team to learn more about you and your fit with DKU.

Before you can record a video, you must first submit your application. The video link is available to all applicants. Early Decision applicants must submit their video by  November 15 . Regular Decision applicants must submit their video by  January 15 . Any videos submitted after these dates may or may not be reviewed by the admissions team.

DKU also accepts recordings from InitialView. If you have completed an interview or glimpse recording, select Duke Kunshan University within your InitialView account. Applicants can also choose to share their Duolingo video and essay prompt with DKU.

Watch a short walk-through of the recording process

Why Submit a Video Supplement, Plus Tips

01 • Is a video required?

Submitting a video response is optional, but highly encouraged.

02 • What are the technical requirements?

• A computer, tablet, or phone with a microphone and camera. • The latest version of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari browser. • A strong internet connection. • A well-lit space with minimal background noise.

*You will be able to test your equipment before recording your video.

03 • Is there a fee to submit my video?

There is no fee to record a video response within your DKU Applicant Portal. If you would like to also submit a video through InitialView, their fees may apply.

04 • When can I submit my video? Where do I submit it?

You may submit your Video Supplement once we have received your application. Log in to your DKU Applicant Portal and click the link to the video recording platform. If you also choose to send any videos from InitialView, select Duke Kunshan University within your InitialView portal.

05 • What is the prompt or topic?

After you complete a test recording, you will receive a randomized prompt (topic). It will be in the form of either a question or a statement. For example, “In what way(s) did your high school experiences prepare you for college in China?” or “What skill or skills are you most excited to develop at DKU?” or “Tell us about your favorite family custom.” This is not a test! These topics are intended to inspire a spontaneous answer that offers insight into you – there is no right or wrong answer.

06 • How much time will this take?

The entire process can be as short as 4 minutes! In your DKU Applicant Portal, click the link for the video supplement, and read the instructions carefully. Record a short 10-second test to ensure your audio and video are working. After testing your equipment, you will receive your prompt, and have 1 minute to consider your response . Recording then begins automatically. You will have 2 minutes of recording time . You may use as little or as much time as you like; you are not required to use the entire 2 minutes. If you choose, you may record a new video only one additional time . You will receive a different prompt if you choose to record again.

07 • What if I want to record my video again?

If you are unhappy with your first video, you will have the option to record a new video only one additional time . If you choose to start over, you will receive a different prompt . Your first video will be deleted and cannot be recovered. Your second video will be automatically submitted – you can play it back, but you will not be able to delete it or record another one.

08 • What if I want to delete the video I recorded?

You cannot delete or “unsubmit” a video. Remember, your response is not expected to be polished or “perfect”!

09 • Can I edit my video or upload a pre-recorded video?

The video response is meant to be spontaneous and it is not possible to edit the video. There is not an option to upload a pre-recorded video within the portal.

Video Supplement Tips

  • Formulate your response during the 1 minute of prep time.

  • Write key points or words to help you remember what you want to say.

  • You do not need to memorize your response and it’s ok to glance at your notes.

  • If your response is shorter than 2 minutes, that’s ok!

  • If you don’t finish your response within 2 minutes, that’s ok!

  • Relax and speak from your experience. We want to know about you!

Frequently Asked Questions

before you go

Help us keep in touch — it won’t take long, fuqua professor says artificial intelligence needs human brainpower.

Critical thinking is key to harnessing AI’s game-changing power, says Professor Saša Pekeč

AI-powered machines are already better than humans at performing certain tasks, but human judgment will make the difference in artificial intelligence's most critical applications.

“AI will help you in your decision-making. It won’t replace your brain,” said Professor Saša Pekeč of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business .

In a talk on Fuqua’s LinkedIn page , Pekeč explained why the limitations inherent to AI make the critical thinking of managers and end-users all the more necessary to avoid the pitfalls of “binary outcomes” and “algorithmic bias,” while making the most of a technology that may revolutionize businesses and consumers’ digital lives.

Why machines are more efficient

The key to AI’s leap to the mainstream is the exponential growth of available data and processing power, Pekeč said. This, combined with scientific innovation, has allowed generative AI to bring artificial intelligence to the masses, “similarly to how Google search disrupted how people access content available on the Internet,” he said.

Computers have been more efficient than humans in “narrowly defined optimization and prediction tasks for at least a quarter of a century,” Pekeč said.

Consider targeted digital advertising. Machines can decide which ads to display to a particular user in milliseconds. “No human can do that, but machines are very good at it,” he said.

Further, advances in machine learning and AI allow for significant improvements in settings that rely on qualitative assessments, such as human resources, Pekeč said.

“Traditionally, the HR success rate in selecting the right candidate for a job opening had been close to 50%,” he said. “But in the last ten years, HR analytics tools that leverage unstructured data have significantly improved quality of HR decisions in hiring, career planning and talent management.”

How AI is empowering managers

“Staying away from AI is not an option,” Pekeč said. He added companies must embrace the technology to stay competitive.

While some access barriers remain — for example high startup costs for data access and processing — Pekeč said the technology has democratized the way managers can understand processes and manage people who have the technical expertise.

“Generative AI is now bypassing the technical lingo and expertise barriers,” Pekeč said, leveling the playing field between managers and their tech team.

Managers can utilize generative AI to understand what can and cannot be done and can better communicate with their software engineers and data analysts, he said.

Generative AI’s biggest improvement might be in coding, Pekeč said. As long as managers know how to ask the right questions, they can generate the code to solve a particular problem.

“The hottest programming language is English,” he said.

Risks and limitations of AI

AI is “eager to please,” Pekeč said. The machine will always come up with an answer, no matter how confident its algorithm is about it, he said, and the answer is binary, oblivious to nuances.

“It will never say, ‘I am 55% confident’ this is the right answer,’’ Pekeč said. “This could lead to AI amplifying extreme outcomes, which could be particularly problematic if you couple this with AI’s inability to assess the veracity and quality of the training data.”

This is particularly worrisome when the wisdom of the crowds becomes the vehicle of misinformation, he said.

“Just because content is produced en masse, doesn’t mean it is reliable,” Pekeč said.

Another limitation of AI is that it is backward-looking, limited by the data it has access to. “Let's say we are in 2019 and we have today’s AI tools,” Pekeč said. “Which AI tool would forecast that a global pandemic would occur within a year? With all its impacts for the global economy and for humanity? You can see how AI, by default, has a blind spot when it comes to ‘unknown unknowns.’”

Pekeč said another risk of relying on AI tools is algorithmic bias. All data analytics methods reduce uncertainty in their conclusions with more patterns and similarities in the data, he said, so the system aiming to minimize risks might go for more “ordinary” recommendations—for which there is a lot of similar data--and discriminate against less ordinary ones.

“This could lead to bias and discrimination against exceptional but ‘unusual’ candidates in hiring, for example,” Pekeč said.

People should be aware of such risks, and critical thinking is essential when relying on AI recommendations for decision-making, Pekeč said.

AI will support decision making, not replace critical thinking.

Pekeč said that like with any other “new shiny objects,” people need to know what they are trying to achieve with AI.  

“You don’t use a technology just because everybody else is using it. This would be a recipe for disaster. You need to understand limitations, blind-spots, and pitfalls,” Pekeč said.

Further, understanding the reasons behind any AI recommendation is critical to be able to rely on it.

“Suppose you go to your annual physical and your physician — based on an AI analysis of the data — tells you, ‘look, you need to have brain surgery right now.’ You would probably want clarity on why the machine is recommending a particular course of action.”

Pekeč believes AI is “a game-changer,” the latest and powerful manifestation of the benefits of the digital revolution.

“However, a distinguishing characteristic of good decision-making is the ability to think critically, recognize nuances, and identify true expertise, resulting in actions that sometimes go against the common wisdom,” Pekeč said. “That ability is more important than ever, and remains critical when leveraging AI to supercharge our decision-making.”  

This story may not be republished without permission from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Please contact [email protected] for additional information.

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For more information contact our media relations team at [email protected] .

Election Updates: R.F.K. Jr. challenges Trump to a debate at the Libertarian Party convention.

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Chris Cameron

With 81 percent of the vote counted, Donald Trump has won the Republican primary in Indiana in a landslide, but Nikki Haley has over 20 percent of the vote , or about 120,000 votes, despite dropping out two months ago. Indiana is not a swing state, but the Biden campaign, which went uncontested in the Democratic primary there, has been quick to highlight the anti-Trump resistance that still lingers in the Republican Party .

Michael Gold

In an interview with a local Pennsylvania television station, Donald Trump reaffirmed that he did not regret challenging the results of the 2020 election. “If you couldn’t challenge elections you wouldn’t even have a democracy,” said Trump, who faces federal charges related to his effort to subvert his loss in 2020. “You wouldn’t have elections anymore.”

Emerging from his felony criminal trial in New York, Donald Trump falsely said that the vast majority of pro-Palestinian protesters were outside agitators, and described those convicted of crimes in relation to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack as “hostages.” The statement, made in televised remarks, reinforces a recent Trump strategy: downplaying violence from the far right while distorting recent protests on college campuses.

Neil Vigdor

Six months before the presidential election, Milwaukee, the largest city in Wisconsin, a battleground state that was decided by less than 21,000 votes in 2020, is replacing its top election official, Claire Woodall, with her deputy, Paulina Gutiérrez. A spokesman for the city’s mayor cited issues with Woodall’s management style and said she was offered another position in city government.

Nicholas Nehamas

The Biden campaign released a digital ad about former President Donald J. Trump’s policy separating migrant families, interspersing Trump’s criticism of immigrants along with images of crying women and children. The ad, aimed at Latino voters in battleground states, also highlights Trump’s promise of mass deportations in a second term.

Neil Vigdor and Rebecca Davis O’Brien

R.F.K. Jr. calls for Trump to debate him at the Libertarian Party’s national convention in Washington.

The independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. challenged former President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday to debate him this month during the Libertarian Party’s national convention in Washington, where both men are set to deliver remarks.

With Mr. Trump escalating his attacks on him on social media, Mr. Kennedy, who is seeking ballot access and voter support in all 50 states, issued his challenge in an open letter on X . Mr. Kennedy cited his performance in two national polls, saying he was “drawing a lot of voters from your former supporters.”

“They are upset that you blew up the deficit, shut down their businesses during Covid, and filled your administration with swamp creatures,” he said. “So I’d like to make you an offer,” he said, adding that their campaign schedules made for a logical showdown. “It’s perfect neutral territory for you and me to have a debate where you can defend your record for your wavering supporters.”

A spokesman for the Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the Libertarian Party did not immediately provide a comment.

The party’s convention is set for Memorial Day weekend in Washington. Mr. Kennedy is set to speak on May 24, his campaign said on Tuesday; Mr. Trump is scheduled for May 25. Both candidates are trying to appeal to a broader base of support in the election, but neither is expected to be on the party’s ballot line in November.

Mr. Kennedy previously ruled out running as a Libertarian, though he has courted party members since he became an independent last fall. The party is among the more established third parties, and as of last week was on the ballot in 37 states; Mr. Kennedy is mounting a state-by-state effort to get on the November election ballot.

As for Mr. Trump, Angela McArdle, the chairwoman of the Libertarian party, said last week that it was “not possible” under the party’s bylaws to nominate him.

Several candidates seeking the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination have condemned the group’s decision to invite Mr. Trump to speak at the gathering. One of them, Jacob Hornberger, called it an “ abomination .”

The gamesmanship by Mr. Kennedy, a liberal scion and environmental lawyer who has recently become better known for his anti-vaccine activism and promotion of conspiracy theories, appears to have added to growing hostilities between him and Mr. Trump.

The former president has sharpened his attacks on Mr. Kennedy as more polls show signs that his candidacy could take votes away from Mr. Trump. For many months, Democrats had argued the opposite: that Mr. Kennedy could wind up playing the role of spoiler for Mr. Biden.

Last week, Mr. Kennedy proposed that his campaign and Mr. Biden’s jointly conduct a poll in October to see who would do better against Mr. Trump in a hypothetical two-way race; he suggested that the underperformer should drop out.

Mitch Smith

Senator Mike Braun clinches the Republican nomination for governor in Indiana.

Senator Mike Braun of Indiana won the Republican nomination for governor of his solidly conservative state, The Associated Press said on Tuesday, positioning him as the strong favorite in this fall’s general election.

Mr. Braun defeated several other candidates, including Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, in the primary. Mr. Braun, who received the endorsement of former President Donald J. Trump, has presented himself as a fiscal conservative and has pledged to take a tough stance on crime.

Indiana’s current governor, Eric Holcomb, a Republican who has occasionally bucked the right wing of his party on public health and cultural issues during his tenure, was barred by term limits from seeking re-election.

Mr. Braun, a businessman and first-term senator, will face Jennifer McCormick, the former state superintendent of public instruction, in November. Ms. McCormick, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary, was elected to her prior position as a Republican but fell out of favor with that party.

Indiana was once politically competitive. Barack Obama carried the state in the 2008 presidential race, and Mr. Braun’s predecessor in the Senate , Joe Donnelly, was a Democrat. But Republicans have dominated elections in Indiana over the last decade. Mr. Trump carried the state by 16 percentage points in 2020.

Republicans have used their control of state government to outlaw abortion in almost all cases, to ban gender transition treatments for transgender minors and to impose “intellectual diversity” requirements on public universities. State leaders have also cut income taxes and worked to attract business investments .

Mr. Braun, a former state legislator, defeated two Republican congressmen in the 2018 Senate primary before beating Mr. Donnelly by six percentage points in the general election.

In early 2021, Mr. Braun indicated that he would object to the certification of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s presidential election victories in contested states. But after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol that Jan. 6, Mr. Braun reversed course and voted to certify the results.

Mr. Braun’s decision not to seek a second Senate term leaves an open seat that Republicans are widely expected to hold in the chamber. Representative Jim Banks, a former chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, is running unopposed for his party’s nomination and will face the winner of the Democratic primary in November.

From a dead dog to a made-up meeting: Four takeaways from Kristi Noem’s book.

In one sense, Kristi Noem has had a wildly successful rollout of her new book: America can’t stop talking about it.

But all the chatter is not for the reasons Ms. Noem, the conservative governor of South Dakota, might have expected when she finished “No Going Back,” a memoir that recounts her political career. The book appears aimed at raising her profile as a MAGA loyalist while former President Donald J. Trump weighs his choices for running mate . Just a month ago, Ms. Noem had been widely seen as a contender.

Instead of talking up her conservative bona fides, however, Ms. Noem has spent the last week on national television defending a grisly account in the book in which she shoots her dog in a gravel pit. The killing of the dog, a 14-month-old wire-haired pointer named Cricket, has drawn bipartisan criticism and scrutiny.

The book, published on Tuesday, includes a number of other noteworthy details, some of which Ms. Noem has discussed in recent interviews. Here are five takeaways.

Noem has a lot of criticism for other Republicans.

Ms. Noem’s account of her time in office — first as South Dakota’s sole House representative and then as governor — includes many stories that broadly criticize Republicans for their electoral failures, while also targeting figures who have drawn the ire of Mr. Trump.

She describes a phone conversation she had with Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who dropped out of the Republican presidential primary race in March, claiming that Ms. Haley had threatened her because they were both prominent Republican women. Chaney Denton, a spokeswoman for Ms. Haley, has said Ms. Noem’s account of the conversation was inaccurate, and “just plain weird.”

Ms. Noem also blames Ronna McDaniel, the former chairwoman of the Republican National Committee , for the poor performance of Republican candidates in the 2022 midterms, and criticizes her for not supporting Mr. Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen — though Ms. Noem herself writes in that section that “Trump lost in 2020.”

“We got lazy, and no one was held accountable,” she says, adding that Mr. Trump was wrongly blamed for Republicans’ underperforming. She also called out the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of House Republicans, though she says she has hope for 2024 and is “willing to help.”

Ms. Noem devotes a section of the book to RINOs — Republicans in Name Only — a favorite pejorative of Mr. Trump that he has deployed against critics within the party.

“In many ways, these political creatures are worse than some donkeys,” Ms. Noem wrote, referring to Democrats in that section as “donkeys.”

But Ms. Noem also takes a swipe at some Republicans on the far right in her party, saying that they have contributed to recent election losses.

“Losing sucks. But Republicans happen to be great at it,” she writes in one section, adding: “Candidates talk like crazy people, make wild claims, and offer big promises. And they lose. Of course, there are some crazy candidates, but I’m not talking about them. This is about good folks who choose the wide path of bomb throwing and parroting whatever’s on social media, as opposed to speaking rationally and humbly offering solutions.”

Noem says shooting her dog was a “difficult” choice, and suggests one of President Biden’s dogs should be put down, too.

Ms. Noem has repeatedly defended her decision to kill her dog , Cricket, and her politically baffling choice to include the anecdote in her memoir.

In the book, she describes an incident where Cricket killed a neighbor’s chickens and says the dog tried to bite Ms. Noem as she sought to restrain her. After taking Cricket home and shooting her, Ms. Noem writes, “I realized another unpleasant job needed to be done. Walking back up to the yard, I spotted our billy goat.”

The goat, Ms. Noem writes, “was nasty and mean,” smelled terrible and often chased her children around. So she dragged him out to the gravel pit, too — but didn’t kill him with the first shot, and had to go back to her truck for more ammunition to finish the job.

In an interview with Sean Hannity last week, Ms. Noem said she had included the story in the book to illustrate the “tough, challenging decisions that I’ve had to make throughout my life.”

In an interview on “Face the Nation” on CBS on Sunday, Ms. Noem called attention to another part of the book in which she suggested that one of President Biden’s dogs, a bite-prone German shepherd named Commander, should also be put down.

In a section of the memoir discussing what Ms. Noem would do on her first day in office as president, she wrote that “the first thing I’d do is make sure Joe Biden’s dog was nowhere on the grounds (‘Commander, say hello to Cricket for me’).” Ms. Noem made a similar suggestion in her interview on Sunday.

“You’re saying he should be shot?” asked the CBS host Margaret Brennan.

“That what’s the president should be accountable to,” Ms. Noem replied.

The print edition of the book includes a false anecdote about Noem meeting Kim Jong-un.

Ms. Noem writes in the memoir that she met with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator, while serving on the House Armed Services Committee.

“I had the chance to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders — some who wanted our help, and some who didn’t,” she writes. “I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all). Dealing with foreign leaders takes resolve, preparation, and determination.”

This was an error, according to Ian Fury, the chief of communications for Ms. Noem. Ms. Noem has said in later interviews that she takes “responsibility for the change,” but has not explained why the anecdote was included or whom she could have been referring to, if not Mr. Kim. She has also pushed back when the false anecdote has been characterized as a mistake.

“This is an anecdote that I asked to have removed, because I think it’s appropriate at this point in time,” Ms. Noem said in her interview on “Face the Nation.” “But I’m not going to talk to you about those personal meetings that I have had with world leaders.”

Noem gives a glowing portrait of Trump, and alludes to her future aspirations.

Ms. Noem heaps praise on the former president in her memoir, describing him as “a breaker and a builder,” writing, “He was relentlessly attacked for personal failures — and fictional ones — but stayed in the race and never wavered.”

She also reminds readers that she defended Mr. Trump in a speech the day after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, “regardless of the fact that what unfolded on January 6 was undeniably ugly.”

At one point, she also says that Mr. Trump, “in some funny ways,” is similar to her young granddaughter.

“I see similarities between Trump and my granddaughter, Miss Addie (that’s what I call her),” Ms. Noem writes. “She’s almost three years old and, in my unbiased view, one of the most brilliant human beings I’ve ever met (tied for first place with my grandson, of course!)”

But while Ms. Noem may be angling for a place at Mr. Trump’s side as his running mate, she insists in the memoir that if she is picked, it should not be because she’s a woman.

“I’m often asked by the national media if I think Donald Trump should pick a woman to be vice president,” Ms. Noem writes. “My answer is always about choosing the best people for the job.”

The final chapter of the book focuses not on any vice-presidential aspirations, but rather on what she would do on “Day 1” if elected president herself. It begins with a quote from Mr. Trump saying in December that if elected as president, he wouldn’t be a dictator, “except for Day 1.”

Along with putting federal property up for sale and convening a bipartisan working group on immigration, Ms. Noem writes, she would invite the Obamas and Bidens over to the White House for a screening of “The Grey,” a Liam Neeson film about battling wolves that she describes earlier in the book as among her favorites.

Noem offers a somewhat exaggerated account of protests outside the White House in 2020.

In the book’s introduction, Ms. Noem writes that a chaotic protest outside Mr. Trump’s 2020 nomination for re-election , held at the White House in August, was a pivotal moment for her — and inspired her to “live a life of significance — no matter where that commitment took me.” She wrote of a Washington under siege.

“We could hear explosions and screams in the distance,” she wrote. “On the other side of the fence, sounds of shouting and chaos. I smelled what we guessed was tear gas. We were trapped.”

But her account of a “massive and, at times, violent protest” doesn’t align with contemporaneous reports.

There was a significant demonstration outside the White House during Mr. Trump’s renominating event — one that tried to disrupt his acceptance speech by making noise . Reports from the time described the demonstration as “generally peaceful” and “significantly smaller” than the demonstrations that were forcibly dispersed by Mr. Trump earlier in the spring . There is also no evidence that tear gas was deployed that night.

Charles Homans and Neil Vigdor

Gaza isn’t the source of Biden’s struggles with young voters, polls show.

Young Americans’ outrage over the Israel-Hamas war has dominated the political conversation for weeks. Democratic and Republican lawmakers have made pilgrimages to Columbia University and other campuses to offer support to demonstrations in solidarity with Gaza or to denounce them, and President Biden addressed the upheavals in remarks on Thursday.

But these headlines are not reflective of young voters’ top concerns this election year, according to recent polls. Surveys taken in recent months show young voters are more likely to sympathize with Palestinians in the conflict, but few of them rank the Israel-Hamas war among their top issues in the 2024 election. Like other voters, young people often put economic concerns at the top of the list.

And while young voters are cooler to Mr. Biden than they were at the same point in 2020, there is little evidence that American support for the Israeli invasion of Gaza is a critical factor in their relative discontent.

“When you have two presidents that have the same stance on one issue, that automatically puts that issue — I hate to say lower down the list, because it’s obviously an important issue, but it doesn’t make it an issue where I’m going to choose Donald Trump over Joe Biden,” said Devon Schwartz, a student at the University of Texas at Austin.

A student of both Muslim and Jewish descent who is active in a campus group promoting interfaith dialogue, Mr. Schwartz, 19, thought the protests at his college, which have drawn police crackdowns , were “a historic moment.” And he said he would have liked the opportunity to vote for a candidate who is “more progressive on Israel” than Mr. Biden in November. But he plans to vote for him anyway.

“I want to see policy changes from Joe Biden,” he said. “I don’t want to vote for Donald Trump and then just see the same exact policies.”

American sympathies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have shifted modestly toward Palestinians over the past decade. Although 51 percent of Americans remain more sympathetic toward Israelis, 27 percent now sympathize more with the Palestinian people, up from 12 percent in 2013, according to Gallup .

The shift is substantially generational, most likely reflecting not only changes in the conflict itself, and a rightward turn in Israeli politics, but also a decade in which pro-Palestinian activists have worked to connect the cause to domestic movements in the United States like Black Lives Matter and campaigns to divest from Israel have gained ground on college campuses.

The latest polling from the Pew Research Center finds 18-to-29-year olds three times more likely to sympathize with Palestinians in the conflict than those over 65, and twice as likely as adults as a whole.

“Not necessarily everyone is as fired up about it as we see from those out protesting,” said Laura Silver, the associate director of global research for Pew. “But 18-to-29-year-olds are far and away different from older Americans.”

Recent polls suggest these sympathies have yet to translate into prioritizing the war as a voting issue in 2024.

In the Harvard Institute of Politics’ Youth Poll conducted shortly before the past month’s wave of campus demonstrations and crackdowns, 18-to-29-year-old Americans overwhelmingly faulted Mr. Biden for his handling of the conflict in Gaza, with 76 percent disapproving and 18 percent approving. But only 2 percent of them rated it their top concern in the election, compared with 27 percent who said they were most concerned about economic issues.

In an Economist/YouGov poll taken more recently, in late April, 22 percent of voters aged 18 to 29 listed inflation as their most important issue. Two percent named foreign policy as their top concern. (The poll did not specifically ask about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.)

“My friends and I, we all are very concerned about the war in the Middle East, and we disagree with the Biden administration’s agenda there,” said Coral Lin, 20, a student at Duke University. She said she had one friend who had voted “uncommitted” in a Democratic primary in protest over the issue.

“But I still know a lot of people who hold that view and still are voting for Biden,” she said, noting that her own concerns about the climate and her belief that Mr. Trump poses a threat to democracy have led her to continue to support Mr. Biden.

Clara Getty, 21, a student at the University of Virginia and a Biden supporter, said she saw parallels with Lyndon B. Johnson’s woes in the 1968 Democratic primary while facing outrage over the Vietnam War — and a cautionary tale. “He made so much progress on domestic issues that I think could’ve greatly benefited from a second term,” she said. “And I think so much is similar for Biden.”

Others argued, however, that even if the Gaza conflict didn’t lead to a mass exodus of young voters to Mr. Trump, it could pose problems for Mr. Biden if young people don’t vote.

“You hear from a lot of people who are just increasingly apathetic about voting for Joe Biden,” said Cameron Driggers, a 19-year-old University of Florida student and member of the youth council of the state Democratic Party.

An Israel divestment campaign organizer on his campus, Mr. Driggers noted that Mr. Biden would need not just votes but youth organizers to win in 2024, including many who had become active in the protest politics around Gaza.

“He continues to basically spit in the face of youth organizers around the country,” he said. “He’s especially enraging the people who turn out votes.”

In a statement, Mia Ehrenberg, a Biden campaign spokeswoman, pointed to the campaign’s investments in its own campus organizers and youth groups, and its intention to “continue to show up and communicate with young voters on the issues they care about,” including climate change, gun laws and student loans.

The Biden administration has recently announced more changes to student loan repayments and Mr. Biden directed his administration to consider reclassifying marijuana as a less serious drug. His campaign promoted his stance on X at exactly 4:20 p.m. on April 20.

Mr. Driggers said he had broadly supported Mr. Biden before the Gaza invasion, citing his steps liberalizing marijuana policies, support for labor rights, and withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. But his support had been tested by Gaza.

“I do recognize that Trump is almost certainly going to be worse than Biden on all of these issues,” he said. “But at a certain point, you know, there has to be a line” for Biden. “And I believe he’s close to crossing that.”

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