Here’s our guide to worry-free writing for your upcoming SAT essay.
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.
Harvard requires the SAT or ACT to meet its standardized testing requirement.In exceptional cases when those tests are not accessible, one of the following can meet the requirement:
All 11th-grade students will be taking the SAT on April 12th. Did you know that there is an option to add an essay portion to the test? This is optional and not automatically added as a part of the test. Please review this information with your junior student to see if they would like to add the optional essay portion to the test. If so, they will take this portion of the test once the initial test is completed. The essay portion takes approximately one additional hour to complete. The SAT Essay is scored separately from the SAT. A student’s score on the essay will not improve or reduce their score on the SAT. Please review related to the essay portion of the test to see if it is right for your student. Contact your guidance counselor with further questions.
To summarize, your SAT essay should stick to the following format:
Duke is participating with the Common Application’s Student Context Pilot, an optional application question that elicits contextual information about applicants and informs our understanding of their home context. Answering this additional, optional question will allow applicants to share information about family responsibilities that they might not otherwise include among their extracurricular activities but that require a significant commitment.
Maximize your SAT essay score by exploring effective techniques, example prompts, and proven writing tips to boost your college admission chances and overall SAT performance.
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.
The SAT, administered by the College Board, plays a vital role in college admissions, and mastering the SAT essay is key to achieving a high overall score.
Practice with sample essay prompts
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.
Practice different persuasive styles
Do not resend your application in order to make updates. If you need to update your identification or contact information, or send updates, additional information, or corrections, please do so via the .
Does the SAT still have an essay in 2023?
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.
Does the SAT Essay affect your score?
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 scores, you are welcome to submit them, but they are optional.
SAT Essay Score Percentile Rankings
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.
Review the different factors that result in your final SAT score.
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 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.