Pregraduate Advising Office Pregraduate Advising Office Arts & Sciences and Trinity College Duek University

Academic Requirements

It is important to create a track record that graduate schools can evaluate when you apply as a senior or recent graduate. If you are certain that you will pursue a Ph.D. in your intended or declared major, it is best to declare the major in your first year at Duke and begin upper-level (100-level) courses in that area by the sophomore year. This insures time to develop a substantial history of academic work in the major and also to develop an appreciation for broader theoretical issues in your field.  A graduate program may recommend that applicants have completed a short list of specific courses, but it is more common to state the admission requirements in broad terms, e.g., "The student must hold a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution in the United States or the international equivalent with a record that indicates capacity for graduate work of high quality." There is rarely a long checklist of course admission requirements. 

Many graduate programs specify a degree requirement that students read proficiently in at least one foreign language relevant to the discipline. Students who enter the program without this skill will be expected to learn a language before the doctoral degree will be awarded.  The language requirement may be stronger for programs involving literary and documentary research in other languages. Consider too the many opportunities for international study and collaboration created by good foreign language skills. We strongly suggest that graduate school candidates commit themselves to learning one or more modern foreign languages.

Prospective graduate students often major in the subject in which they will seek advanced degrees, but that rarely is required. (An exception is chemistry, but not biochemistry.) Graduate schools focus on applicants’ quality of courses and academic performance, seeking students who are ready to pursue study at an advanced level. The faculty who review applications may note specific deficiencies in the course content of an applicant’s undergraduate career, but these ordinarily can be remedied with coursework after entering the graduate program.

An applicant’s recent academic record should include some graduate level courses — 200 level courses at Duke. For Ph.D. programs in the arts and sciences, an admissions committee expects to find diverse interests represented in elective choices. Simply put, you should embrace a broad selection of undergraduate courses while studying a defined area in depth. 

Finally, an applicant's undergraduate GPA ideally should be 3.3 or higher. A stronger perfomance in one's major and/or extensive experience in research and scholarship within the field, however, may substitute for a weaker academic record.  GRE scores for Duke students are expected to be above 600 for the verbal and quantitative sections and 5-6 for the analytical writing section.  These sections will change with the GRE modifications to go into effect in fall 2007.  Note that an applicant's GPA and GRE scores should be at the highest levels if the applicant is to be considered for highly competitive distinguished scholarships.