16 Duke Essay Examples That Worked

Prompt: Why Duke?

Self-healing polymers are as cool as the name suggests: materials that repair themselves using

complex chemistry with applications in spacecraft construction, electronics, medicine, and more.

But how can lifeless plastic molecules used in NASA spaceships regenerate from micrometeoroid punctures? One way is mechanochemical coupling: using energy from material deformation to rejoin structural polymer chains. Duke Professor Stephen Craig introduced me to self-healing

polymers in his hour-long introductory lecture on mechanochemistry.

These self-healing materials are just one of many reasons I want to pursue polymer chemistry with a certificate in materials science at Duke. I hope to build upon my research career with Prof. Stephen Craig, using his distinctive organic chemistry approach to discover new materials and

their properties. Duke’s Soft Matter Center and Materials Initiative would allow me to collaborate with professors and students from different fields toward a common goal: developing world-

changing materials. 

Apart from my scientific interests, my interest in philosophy has grown from preparing for

Quizbowl meets to researching the ethics of scientific innovations. The critical thinking skills cultivated in Duke’s liberal arts curriculum will enable me to expand upon history's greatest

thinkers, ideas, and questions. To learn to express and understand complex concepts necessary to succeed as a scientist, I intend to pursue a minor in philosophy.

Beyond academics, I hope to join Duke’s community of smart, humble, and down-to-earth Blue

Devils by trying out for the Quizbowl team, playing for the intramural tennis club, and engaging in the American Chemical and Materials Research Societies.

Essay by Gavin

Chemistry and CS + Econ @ Yale | Yale & Columbia Likely Letter | Research Email and Brag Sheet Templates!

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Prompt: 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.

My whole life, I’ve attended the same small, Pre-K-12 school. Playing make-believe, the awkwardness of adolescence, finding my passions – it all happened at the same place. The [School Redacted] community, then, has been definitive to who I am.

Growing up at [School Redacted] has changed how I connect with others. My grade consists of only forty people, diverse in interests and backgrounds. I’ve never had any option but to be friends with everyone, and I’m better for it. Whether we have different intellectual interests or political beliefs, befriending a variety of people has strengthened my academic understanding and personal worldview. 

Attending a small, relatively young school has also given me a unique opportunity to have an impact. The lack of established clubs and customs empowered me to be a go-getter and found an organization of my own. As an avid reader, I became interested in starting a literary magazine. The administration supported the creation of the club, but it was up to me to step up and lead. The opportunity to start something inspired me to take action: to recruit editors, form a brand, create a publication schedule, and more. 

As I now look to college and beyond, I know my time at [School Redacted] will continue to define who I am. Surrounding myself with people of all perspectives and being unafraid to lead – these lessons will stick with me.

Essay by Abby

English major interested in creative writing, theater, & film

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