Application Instructions

Applicants must hold either a US bachelor's degree or its equivalent from a regionally accredited institution. If the degree was granted by an institution outside of the US, the institution must be accredited by the governing educational body of the country (such as the ministry of education). We recommend that candidates who did not receive a 4-year bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university have their credentials evaluated by a third-party service, such as WES (https://www.wes.org) or ECE (https://www.ece.org). This evaluation will confirm if your degree is equivalent to a US 4-year bachelor's degree.

Review the application requirements carefully before starting the application. If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge, and you encounter an error saying that your browser is not supported by the application, please try logging in on a different browser, such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

Note: If you plan to apply to more than one program, DO NOT open multiple applications in the same browser. Your application data could be corrupted. If you want to work on two different applications, please close out of one before you open the other, or have them open in different web browsers (Safari, Chrome, or Firefox preferred; the application does not work properly on Internet Explorer).

Apply

Applications for 2025 admission to The Duke University Graduate School are now being accepted.

• Application deadlines
• Application review process
• Admissions FAQs
• The nonrefundable application fee is $95 (payable by Visa or Mastercard).

Required Documents and Information

• Transcripts
• Letters of recommendation
• Statement of purpose
• Life Experiences Statement
• Resume
• GRE scores
• English language proficiency test scores (if English is not your first language)
• GPA
• Supplemental application requirements

The data you enter in the online application, including the contents of all attachments, is subject to verification. It is your responsibility to ensure that all the information provided in the application is accurate.

Per Graduate School policy, the graduate admissions staff is required to verify the application credentials of any student who receives and accepts an admission offer. This verification process includes contacting educational institutions to verify degrees earned. U.S. degrees are verified by the National Student Clearinghouse. Chinese degrees are verified by the Chinese Higher Education Student Information and Career Center (CHESICC). Degrees from countries outside of the U.S. and China are verified by a third-party vendor, Re Vera Services. U.S. and Chinese degrees that cannot be verified through the National Student Clearinghouse or the CHESICC will also be verified by Re Vera. Incoming students will not be charged for these degree verification services.

Duke University reserves the right to withdraw an offer of admission or to terminate enrollment if there is any discrepancy between the submitted application data and the subsequently verified data.

You are required to notify The Graduate School immediately and in writing of any new charge, violation, or suspension filed against you after application submission but prior to enrollment. Your failure to do so may be grounds to deny or withdraw your admission or to dismiss you after enrollment.

• Take required standardized tests early to ensure that official scores arrive by the application deadline.
• We support ONLY PDF file formats for uploads. Uploaded documents may contain no more than 75 pages. We support files as large as 5 GB, but please be advised that larger files will take longer to upload from your internet connection and may stall if you are on a wireless connection or one that cannot sustain a connection for the necessary period of time.
• Be sure that your full name, as given on your application, appears on all documents submitted on your behalf (e.g., GRE scores, letters of recommendation). Please call our attention to variations of your name that might appear on submitted materials.
• Submit all application materials electronically. Do not send materials by mail unless we ask that you do so.
• To prevent application processing delays, do not send required application materials to the department to which you are applying, unless the department specifically requests that you do so.
• Do not submit extra or unnecessary documents, such as secondary-school records, awards/certificates/commendations that are not strictly academic credentials as stated in our requirements, or letters of recommendation beyond the required three. Excessive amounts of unnecessary information can actually hurt your chances of admission.
• The graduate admissions office does not alter submitted applications. If you would like to add an updated CV listing new awards, appointments, or publications, you can do so from your applicant portal. Log in and use the upload materials button beneath your Application Checklist to upload a .docx, .pdf, or .jpg file. To add a more recent transcript, please email a .pdf copy of the document to grad-admissions-center@duke.edu. Any new documents will be appended to your application, and will not replace any existing documents.
• Applicants holding Ph.D. degrees or their equivalent are generally not eligible for admission to Duke University for a second Ph.D. The dean of The Graduate School will consider exceptions only if the department or program demonstrates that the proposed field of study is unrelated to the field of the first Ph.D., and that the educational experience afforded by the proposed doctoral field is essential for the applicant’s long-term research objectives. Please note that applicants who have not yet had the opportunity to benefit from a doctoral education will be prioritized in the admissions and financial aid process.

Students who have discontinued study in a Duke graduate degree program and who wish to be readmitted must follow the instructions below.

If you discontinued study prior to completing a Duke graduate degree program and wish to reenroll, you must submit a written request to The Graduate School. Your request should include an explanation and should be e-mailed to John Klingensmith, associate dean for academic affairs, at john.klingensmith@duke.edu.

If you discontinued study after earning a master’s degree and wish to pursue a doctoral degree, you must submit a new application for the doctoral program.