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Admission

December 15th is the postmark deadline for receipt of applications for Fall matriculation. Our Admissions Committee begins reviewing applications as soon after January first as we are able; offers usually go out in the middle of February. Our orientation begins in early August--two weeks before classes begin. Please be advised it is mandatory for all new students to attend our Orientation program.

All of the Duke University Graduate School 's information about policies, practices, procedures, and financial aid is online. http://www.gradschool.duke.edu/

The Graduate School 's application page is: http://www.gradschool.duke.edu/admissions/


We are very interested in Writing Samples.

While The Graduate School does not require a writing sample, the Political Science Department finds them very helpful. We strongly encourage students to submit a 10-20 page writing sample. This is generally a seminar paper written for a political science class. If you have been out of school and have written/co-written and/or published/co-published an article, you may submit that article, too.

  • Please do not include the writing sample with the supporting documents for the Graduate School. The writing sample should come directly to the Political Science department, all other supporting documents need to be sent directly to the Graduate School.

Writing Sample
Graduate Studies in Political Science
Duke University
326 Perkins Library Building (or Box 90204 )
Durham , NC 27708 (or 27708-0204)

  • If your paper is no longer than 20 pages, you may send it as an email attachment in WORD, WordPerfect/Corel, or PDF format to knigh021@duke.edu. We are unable to open .dat attachments.


The most important items to remember are:

1. DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS is December 15th . Supporting documents include transcripts, letters of recommendation, GRE scores, English language scores, and writing sample.

  • The Admissions Committee will begin the review process as soon after the first of January as is possible. Incomplete applications will not be considered until all supporting documents are received.
  • Our orientation begins in early August—two weeks before classes begin. It is mandatory for all new students to attend the Orientation Session..

2. Our program is primarily a doctoral program. To that end, all students to whom we offer admission as Ph.D. students are considered for financial assistance. Departmental funding includes tuition, fees, and a stipend.

  • It is possible to obtain a terminal MA from our program, but the department does not fund, fully or in part, the terminal MA degree. All of the above deadlines and application file requirements apply to MA applicants.

3. After entering Political Science in the “Proposed Department,” the computer should offer a menu of sub-fields in the "Special Field" area. Our department has five sub-fields within political science: American politics, comparative politics, international relations, methodology, and political theory. Please enter which sub-field best describes your area of interest.

4. If you are a current undergraduate, your letters of recommendation should come from faculty members, especially political science faculty.

  • If you are not a current undergraduate, not only do we want letters of recommendation from faculty who know you, we also want a letter from you current employer.

5. Successful applicants generally have GPA's of 3.5 or above and combined GRE's of at least 1350. Exceptions to these thresholds are sometimes made, however. Please check with the Graduate School concerning the acceptable GRE exam. The code number for Duke University Graduate School is 5156 . Because you are applying for admission to the Graduate School at Duke University , you do not need a department code.

6. No one factor determines whether an applicant is admitted or not. It is our practice to review all of the information included in admissions files before reaching a final decision. Our Admissions Committee screens each application for several factors.

a. Does the applicant's academic background indicate the applicant's ability to successfully complete the PhD degree (type/number/grade of courses taken as undergraduate, and where applicable, as master's student)?

b. Does the applicant's statement of purpose indicate the applicant's ability and desire to successfully complete the PhD degree (background/field of interest/goals and/or ideas/theories/literature)?

c. Do the applicant's letters of recommendation indicate that the applicant has an outstanding aptitude, knowledge and record of performance?

d. Is the applicant's writing sample of the highest quality?

e. Is there a faculty match?

f. If the primary language of the applicant is not English, does the applicant score 250 or higher on the English test? The Duke University Graduate School requires that any applicant whose native language is not English submit scores from either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the academic modules of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), regardless of whether or not you have attended another U.S. institution or participated in an ESL program. http://www.gradschool.duke.edu/admissions/requirements.htm

Either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International Language Testing System (IELTS) are accepted, but IELTS is preferred.

g. Our Admissions Committee then looks at the needs of the Department (e.g., how many students in a given subfield is desirable) and ranks the applicants accordingly. We typically receive more than 350 applications to our Ph.D. program but can only matriculate 8-12 students a year. Thus we must regretfully refuse admission to a large number of otherwise qualified applicants.

Link to Graduate School Admissions

Link to Brochure


Revised 02/07/2006