2022-23 Duke Transfer Acceptance Rate, Requirements, and Application Deadline

In 2023, Duke University is as difficult to gain acceptance into as an Ivy League school. This school’s combination of world-class academics, a picturesque campus, and passionate sports scene is hard to match. Therefore, it’s little surprise that 50,000+ teens apply each year and 94% of that group is ultimately turned away. However, if you were part of that 94%, the dream of becoming a Blue Devil still has a heartbeat. This blog will share the Duke transfer acceptance rate as well other essential pieces of information like the Duke transfer deadline, the requirements/checklist for applicants, the Duke transfer decision date and much more.

Duke Transfer Acceptance Rate

Below we present the most current available Duke transfer acceptance rate as well as historical data.

In the fall of 2021, there were 1,679 transfer applicants and 81 individuals were accepted. This means that the Duke transfer acceptance rate is 4.8%. If we break this down by gender, the acceptance rates are as follows:

• Male transfer applicants: 4.5%
• Female transfer applicants: 5.2%

When trying to get the complete picture on how difficult it is to transfer into a given school, it is important to also look at historical data. Many schools have wild fluctuations in transfer acceptance rate from year to year. Yet, this is not the case here. As you can see, the Duke transfer acceptance rate has been consistently under 7% for the last five years.

Historical transfer rates are as follows:

Duke Transfer Deadline

The university offers only a fall transfer option. The Duke transfer deadline for fall applicants is March 15. If you are submitting supplemental art materials they can be submitted between February 15 and March 20.

Duke Transfer Requirements

The Duke transfer requirements are as follows:

• Completed Common App for Transfer
• Final high school transcripts
• College transcripts
• SAT or ACT scores (optional in 2023)
• College Report
• Two letters of recommendation (third letter is optional)
• Alumni interview (optional and available on a limited basis)
• Supplemental materials for dance, theater, art, or music

Students who have the best chance to gain admission to Duke have the following attributes:

• In the process of completing at least one full year of credits.
• Most new students will be rising sophomores. They will admit a limited number of rising juniors as well.
• Earned exceptional grades in their first year at a community college or 4-year university.
• Possess special talents inside or outside of the classroom that set them apart from other high-achievers.

Duke Transfer GPA & SAT/ACT

The minimum recommended GPA by the university is 3.7. However, in our experience, you will need a GPA of 3.85 or above to be a truly competitive applicant to Duke. Those admitted in 2021 possessed a GPA middle 50% was 3.75 to 4.0. The mid-50% ACT was 33-35 and the middle 50% of SAT was 1460-1560.

Duke Transfer Writing Supplement

All transfer applicants must respond to the following four essay prompts.

1. We would like to understand more about you and your academic path. Why and how did you choose your current or most recent college or university? What has changed since then, and what has led you to consider transferring? Please respond with an essay of between 1500 and 3600 characters.
2. What is your sense of Duke as a university and a community, and why do you consider it a good match for you? If there’s something in particular about our offerings that attracts you, feel free to share that as well. (1500 character max).

You can also answer between 0 and 2 of the following optional prompts (up to 1,650 characters each).

1. 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.
2. We believe there is benefit in sharing and sometimes questioning our beliefs or values; who do you agree with on the big important things, or who do you have your most interesting disagreements with? What are you agreeing or disagreeing about?
3. What has been your best academic experience in the last two years, and what made it so good?
4. Duke’s commitment to diversity and inclusion includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. If you’d like to share with us more about your identity in this context, feel free to do so here.

Duke Transfer Decision Date?

The Duke transfer decision date is in mid-May. They sometimes notify applicants earlier than this date.

Final Thoughts – Duke University Transfer Acceptance Rate

Duke allows you to list your top three academic programs as part of the supplemental application. You can apply to programs in the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences or Pratt School of Engineering.

If you are dead-set on leaving your current college, you’ll want to apply to other schools in addition to Duke University. Even if you have a 4.0, admission into Duke is far from a guarantee, so you’ll want to create a balanced list of institutions that include safety schools.

If you are looking for information on how to apply to Duke as a first year student, you may find the following blogs to be of interest:

• How to Get Into Duke
• Duke Supplemental Essay Prompt and Tips

Those searching for application info on other institutions may wish to visit our Dataverse pages/blogs:

• Transfer Admissions Deadlines
• Transfer Acceptance Rates
• How to Complete the Transfer Common App