See the Deadlines section of our website.
The nonrefundable application fee is $95. For more information regarding the application fee, click here.
There is no specific minimum GRE or GPA requirement. GRE scores and GPAs are considered alongside several other factors during the application review process. See the Statistics section of our site for the average GRE scores and GPAs of previously admitted applicants.
The visa process begins after a student has been offered admission. The I-20 or the DS-2019 is issued by Visa Services only after a student has been offered admission, has accepted the offer online, submitted the Request for Temporary Visa online form, has provided verification of the necessary funds, and sent in all required paperwork to The Graduate School. Only one visa eligibility form will be issued per student.
Yes. You will need to create and complete a separate application for each program. Each separate application requires an application fee. Standardized test scores need only be reported once, even if you are applying to multiple programs.
Admission to the Duke University Graduate School is a competitive process, and your chances of being admitted will differ from year to year depending on the strength of the applicant pool. In recent years approximately one in six applicants has been offered admission; however, admission rates vary significantly by department. Admissions and enrollment statistics for graduate programs can be found in the Statistics section of our site.
So that your application presents the most updated information, please submit a full application with supplemental materials. You can, of course, resubmit unofficial transcripts; simply upload them to your new application. You should also review essays and other supplemental documents to ensure that you are presenting an updated and accurate picture of yourself. Valid official test scores should be sent to Duke University Graduate School directly from the testing agency, if they have not been sent already.
We require that you list recommenders in your new application. You may certainly select the same recommenders from the previous application, if you feel these contacts remain the best evaluators of your skills and abilities. The recommenders may submit the previous year’s letters if the content is still relevant.
Consult the Admitted Students section of our site for details on how to proceed. Pay special attention to the items mentioned in the checklist.
If you have a technical problem with the application, click the Technical Support link on each page of the online application.
If you have a general admissions question, please use the Contact Admissions form on our website.
If you are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident seeking a master’s degree and you wish to receive financial aid from the federal government, you should complete the FAFSA. The form is available on the Federal Student Aid website. It is also available at any college or public library, as well as from the Department of Education. PhD applicants do not need to complete the FAFSA.
Yes. Submit your application as soon as you have completed all the sections, sent recommendation requests to your recommenders, and requested that your official scores be sent to Duke. After you submit your application, the graduate admissions office can add recommendation letters and official test scores to your application file as they are received. It is critical that your recommendations and official test scores arrive by or before the application deadline.
The Graduate School no longer prints admissions catalogs or program brochures. Detailed admissions and program information can be found on our website.
No. All application materials should be submitted electronically. Supplemental documents can be uploaded to the Additional Information section of the online application. Do not mail paper copies of application materials or supplemental documents unless we specifically request that you do so. Mailing materials will create duplicate records in your file and delay the processing of your application.
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.
Consult the Application Fee page for information regarding application fee waivers, including eligibility and how to request them. At this time, we are only able to offer application fee waivers to US citizens or permanent residents.
Yes, in many cases we do provide exceptions to our citizenship requirement for DACA and undocumented applicants as long as all other criteria are met. Please contact our office directly at grad-admissions@duke.edu for more information.
It’s possible that our programming list is not exhaustive so if you think a program you participated in may qualify you for a fee waiver, and as long as all other criteria are met, then please contact our office directly at grad-admissions@duke.edu for more information.
No. Please proofread your application carefully before submitting it. We do accept transcript updates, new test scores, or updated CVs listing new awards, appointments, or publications. To submit any updated CVs or unofficial test scores, log in to your application portal and use the upload materials button beneath your Application Checklist to upload a .docx, .pdf, or .jpg file. The new document will be appended to your application, but it will not replace any existing documents. To submit an updated transcript, please email a PDF to grad-admissions-center@duke.edu.
First, make sure the file you are uploading is not larger than 1.5 MB. To reduce the file size of your document, do not scan in color and make sure your scanner is on a low-resolution setting (less than 200 DPI). Next, confirm that your document is in PDF format. If you still have problems uploading and viewing a legible document, submit a help ticket via one of the Technical Support links in the online application. If technical support is unable to assist you, contact the graduate admissions office via the form on our site.
No. The Graduate School only accepts online applications. Do not send paper copies of your application documents unless we ask that you do so.
The academic record that we call a transcript should provide a year-by-year listing of all courses taken and the grade or mark received for each one. Do not submit transcripts from secondary schools. If your Social Security number appears on your transcripts, please mark out all except the last four digits of the number before uploading the transcripts to your application.
See the Transcripts instructions page to determine whether you need to provide a transcript.
No, as long as the study abroad credits are listed on the transcript from your home educational institution. If you list a study abroad institution in the Education section of your online application, the system will require you to upload a document. If the study abroad credits are listed on the transcript from your home educational institution, upload a document stating that fact. If they are not listed, you must upload a transcript from the study abroad institution.
No. We do not accept webpage screenshots from a student information system in place of transcripts.
If you are offered admission and accept, we will contact you to request that you send your official transcripts to The Graduate School. Do not send your official transcripts until you are contacted.
Unofficial transcripts: Transcripts uploaded to the online application are unofficial. An unofficial transcript is also one that
- has been opened by the student,
- did not come directly from the school,
- is an uncertified photocopy of the original,
- was not produced by the school, or
- was translated by the student or a nonprofessional translation service
Note: Notarized transcripts are unofficial unless they are mailed directly from the educational institution and bear the institutional seal.
Official transcripts: Transcripts are official if they are sent directly by the institution to The Graduate School. Transcripts must bear an official signature in ink of the appropriate official at your institution, such as the registrar or recorder of records, and must bear the institutional seal. Certified true copies must be stamped and signed by the institution.
Note: Official transcripts are only required if an offer of admission is made. When you accept the offer of admission, we will contact you to request your official transcripts. Do not send your official transcripts before you are contacted.
Yes. Provide both the original transcript and a translation from either the school issuing the transcript or a professional translation service.
Save a scanned copy of the updated transcript and e-mail it as a PDF attachment to grad-admissions-center@duke.edu. Include your first (or given) name, last (or family) name, and date of birth in the body of the e-mail.
Yes, you may submit a credential evaluation from a third party (e.g. WES or ECE), but you must also submit the transcript from your institution.
Yes. Submit your application as soon as you have completed all the sections and sent recommendation requests to your recommenders. After you submit your application, the graduate admissions office can link recommendation letters as they are received. It is critical that your letters of recommendation arrive by the application deadline.
First, click on the Technical Support link in your application and submit a help ticket. If technical support cannot assist you, contact the graduate admissions office using the form on our site.
Yes. To submit a recommendation through Interfolio, please fill out the recommender section of the application with your recommender’s name and professional information. Please use the email address Interfolio provided instead of your recommender’s personal email address. Interfolio will be able to upload the recommendation on your recommender’s behalf.
You cannot change a recommender that is already listed in a submitted application. If you have already submitted your application and need to add a new recommender because one of your original recommenders is unavailable, please contact the graduate admissions office using the form on our website. In your message, be sure to specify your name, your date of birth, the program(s) to which you applied, and the name of the new recommender. If you have more than one application on file, you should also specify which application requires the new recommendation. We will then reply to you with detailed instructions for submitting the new recommendation.
We strongly discourage you from requesting more than the required number of recommendations unless the department to which you applied has asked to see additional recommendations. Rather than improving your chances of admission, an excessive number of recommendation letters may actually cause application reviewers to view your file unfavorably.
If you waive your right to examine a letter of recommendation, you will not be able to view the letter at any time. This gives the recommender confidence that the letter will remain confidential.
If the recommendations arrive late, we will still forward them to the appropriate department. Try to facilitate timely submissions by communicating with your recommenders at least two months before you plan to submit your application.
You will receive an e-mail message that includes a link to our online recommendation form soon after the applicant enters your information in their Duke Graduate School application. This message will be sent from grad-admissions@duke.edu, but may be caught in your email client's spam filter. When you click the link to the recommendation form, you will open a webpage that displays the information the applicant entered for you, several simple questions about your relationship to the applicant, and space to upload your recommendation letter. Please note: if you find that the applicant has misspelled your name, you are welcome to correct that, but all other information fields are marked as read-only. If you find any errors with your title, position, phone number, or anything else, please contact us at grad-admissions@duke.edu and we will correct that for you. We can make this correction before or after you submit your recommendation letter, so for the applicant's benefit, please submit your recommendation letter before contacting grad-admissions@duke.edu for assistance with these corrections.
If the applicant is admitted, you will receive a second message from grad-admissions@duke.edu asking you to verify that you wrote the recommendation letter we received as part of the applicant's application. This is part of the Graduate School's standard enrollment verification process. The message has a link to a simple form with a single yes or no question. Please complete this form at your earliest convenience to avoid jeopardizing the applicant's enrollment at Duke University.
Certain programs require the GRE, but others do not. If a program does not require the GRE, you can still submit your scores if you believe they will enhance your application. You can see a complete list of which programs require the GRE, and which are GRE optional.
No. GRE scores must be reported if the department requires them. Some programs permit the use of alternative tests, while other programs are GRE optional. You can see a complete list of which programs require the GRE, which offer alternative tests, and which are GRE optional.
We accept the following test versions:
- GRE General Test (iBT)
- GRE General Test at Home
For programs that accept GMAT scores instead of GRE scores, we accept scores from the following test versions:
- GMAT
- GMAT Online
Any scores reported by an applicant—including paper copies of score reports submitted by an applicant—are considered self-reported and are not sufficient to complete an application. Scores sent directly from ETS (or other testing agencies) to The Graduate School are considered official.
Use institution code 5156. A department code is not needed. If ETS requires you to enter a department code, select any one of the department codes listed on their site. Regardless of the department code entered, the scores will come to The Graduate School, as long as you use institution code 5156.
TOEFL, IELTS, and Duolingo English Test scores expire after two years. GRE scores expire after five years.
Yes. We will look at the scores from multiple test attempts and take the highest score from each section of each test.
No. Be sure to have your official test scores sent to the Duke University Graduate School by or before the application deadline. Please note: it will take 2-3 business days for your official test scores to link to your application after submission.
We will continue to add official test scores to applications after the application deadline. However, if your scores are received late, it may negatively affect the review of your application. You should contact your department of interest to determine how a late score may affect the review of your application.
Some departments do require a subject test. See your department’s requirements.
There is no specific minimum GRE or GPA requirement. GRE scores and GPAs are considered alongside several other factors during the application review process. See the Statistics section of our site for the average GRE scores and GPAs of previously admitted applicants.
If your first language is not English, you must submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test, or the Duolingo English Test. If you believe you may qualify for an English language test waiver, please review our waiver eligibility and process outlined in our Application Instructions here.
We accept the following test versions:
- TOEFL Internet-based Test (IBT)
- TOEFL Internet-based Test (IBT) Home Edition
- TOEFL Internet-based Test (IBT) Paper Edition
- IELTS Academic
- Duolingo English Test with Subscores
Please note: We do not currently accept TOEFL Essentials or IELTS Indicator scores.
The Graduate School generally seeks scores no less than: 90 for the Internet-based TOEFL, 577 for the paper-based TOEFL, 7.0 for the IELTS test, or 125 for the Duolingo English Test. Some departments may desire a score that exceeds the Graduate School’s score guidelines. Contact your department of interest to determine their requirements.
Please wait three to four weeks after requesting scores from the testing agency before contacting The Graduate School. If the scores still have not been received after four weeks, please contact The Graduate School using the form on our site.
The Duke University Graduate School is registered to receive electronic IELTS scores using the IELTS Results Service E-Delivery. Please send scores via e-delivery by selecting the "Duke University Graduate School" option.
Duke University Graduate School Graduate Office of Admission
2127 Campus Drive
Durham, NC 27708
USA
If you do not see an option for electronic scores when using "Duke University Graduate School " as the Institution on the request form, try using "Duke University" as the Institution and "Graduate School" for the Department. The process for selecting e-delivery recipients may be slightly different depending on the organization administering the IELTS test. Please refer to the IELTS website for information regarding testing policies.
Official test scores will link to your application 2-3 business days after application submission.
The actual in-depth review of your file is conducted by the admissions committee of the department to which you are applying.
This is up to the individual programs. For fall admissions, the earliest decisions may be made in January, with the review process continuing into February, March, and April (particularly for those on waiting lists). Spring admission decisions are typically made beginning in early November.
See the Application Status page.
You will receive an e-mail stating that a decision has been made. That message will provide instructions for accessing the online decision letter.
The Graduate School does not mail paper decision letters. Follow the directions in your e-mail notification to access the online decision letter via your Applicant Self-Service account. If you are admitted, be sure to print a copy of the decision letter for your records.
Spring admission offers are valid for 15 days. Fall admission offers are valid until April 15 or within 15 days of the receipt of the admission letter, whichever is later.
Upon accepting your offer, you should receive or have already received an "Important Message from Duke University Graduate School" email with information about official documents (ie. transcripts, visa documents) we require before you can be matriculated and enroll in courses. Once we receive those documents, it takes around 3-5 business days to matriculate and issue a NetID.
For comprehensive guidelines regarding The Graduate School's deferral process and timelines, please visit our Deferring Your Enrollment webpage.
Contact the department to which you applied.
See the Admitted Students section for details on how to proceed. Pay special attention to the items mentioned in the checklist.