Access the form here: Link

Submit your required resume electronically within the online application system. For employment and volunteer positions, include the location, title, date, and responsibilities, starting with your most recent position. The education section should include dates of attendance and degrees received.

Your resume should include:

• Full-time and part-time employment
• Volunteer work
• Internships
• Education

As part of your online application, you must upload a Statement of Purpose. The statement should be one to two pages and single-spaced. It should briefly discuss:

• your purposes and objectives in pursuing graduate study;
• your special interests and plans;
• your strengths and weaknesses in your chosen field;
• any research projects or any independent research in which you have actively participated and how they have influenced your career choice and desire to pursue graduate studies; and
• any particular reasons you may have for applying to Duke Kunshan University (e.g., you would like to work with a specific faculty member).

We require two letters of recommendation. Request letters of recommendation from people best qualified to attest to your capacity for graduate work. Your recommenders must submit their letters of recommendation electronically via the online recommendation system.  

How to Submit:

In the Recommendations section of the online application, choose “Add Recommender” to enter the contact information of your recommenders, including their e-mail addresses. Each recommender will then receive an e-mail that includes a link to an online recommendation form. This is the form the recommender will use to upload a letter in support of your application. We ask that you provide professional email addresses for your recommenders if possible.

As part of your online application, you must upload one copy of the scanned unofficial transcript from each undergraduate and graduate institution where you

• Earned (or will earn) a degree;
• Studied for one semester or more;
• Earned 12 or more hours of credit;
• Took classes that relate to your graduate study interests.

If you are unable to upload your transcript to the application because your educational institution does not issue transcripts directly to students, please follow the instructions at the end of this page.

You do not need to mail official paper copies of your transcripts before receiving an offer of admission. If you are admitted, you will be required to submit official transcripts from all institutions listed in the Education section of your application, regardless of the number of credits earned.

Duke Kunshan University reserves the right to rescind any offer of admission if any discrepancies are found between your uploaded and official transcripts.

How to Submit

Upload electronic copies of your unofficial transcripts via the online application. Do not submit secondary school records. If your Social Security number appears on your transcripts, mark out all except the last four digits of the number before uploading the transcripts to your application.

Transcript Requirements

Each transcript must provide a year-by-year listing of all courses taken and the grade or mark received for each.
If the transcript is not in English, we need both the transcript in its original language and an English translation of the transcript. If your institution does not issue documents in English, you must have the transcripts translated by a professional translation service.
If the grading scale of the institution is available, be sure to include that information.

Before uploading an electronic transcript issued by your school, make sure it can be opened without passwords or other security information.

We do not accept web page screenshots from a student information system in place of transcripts. Uploading screenshots instead of transcripts will delay the processing of your application.

Acceptable Transcript Formats:

1. Scanned copies of paper transcripts produced by the institution
2. Electronic transcripts produced by the institution

*What To Do If You Have Trouble Uploading Your Transcript

If you are having trouble uploading your transcript, the following tips may help:

• Make sure your file is in Word (.doc) or PDF format and does not exceed 1.5 MB (1,500 kb) in size.
• Do not scan in color. Use grayscale if possible; otherwise, use black and white.
• Optimize the PDF in Adobe Acrobat by following these instructions:
  Select PDF Optimizer under Advanced menu options.
• On the PDF Optimizer screen, go to “Image Settings” and select “Compression: JPEG”.
• On the same screen, go to “Grayscale Images” and select “Quality: Low”. Click OK.
• Scan your file at the lowest DPI that produces a legible image (usually less than 200 DPI).

Once you have uploaded your file, click the “View Document” button to ensure that the document you uploaded is legible throughout. If your document is not legible, the processing of your application will be delayed.

If you have followed the above guidelines and still cannot upload your transcript to the application, email each transcript as a single PDF attachment to dku-grad-admissions@duke.edu. Do not send more than one PDF attachment unless you are emailing more than one transcript (i.e., one transcript=one PDF attachment, two transcripts=two PDF attachments, and so on). Do not send Microsoft Word documents or JPEG files. In the body of the email, include your name and the name of the department to which you are applying.

What To Do If Your School Does Not Issue Transcripts to Students
If your school does not issue transcripts directly to students, ask them to either send a secure, electronic copy of your transcript to dku-grad-admissions@duke.edu or mail a paper copy to

Duke University Graduate School
Graduate Office of Admission
2127 Campus Drive
Durham, NC 27708
USA

Note: This address is both a physical location and a mailing address. If your mail service will not deliver to a post office box, delete “Box 90065” from the address and use the postal code 27708-0065.

The Environmental Policy IMEP program does not require applicants to provide GRE (Graduate Record Examination) or other graduate entrance exam scores, but does allow you to provide test scores if you feel they enhance your application.

Ask Educational Testing Service to send an official copy of the scores to Duke Kunshan University, using institution code 7554. You do not need a department code. If ETS requires a department code, select any one of the department codes listed. Regardless of the department code entered, the scores will come to Duke Kunshan University as long as you use institution code 7554. Be sure to alert us if the name on your application is different from the name on your score report. Your scores must not be more than five (5) years old from August 1 of the application year regardless of when you submit your application during that timeframe. If you submit your application between August 2023 and May 2024, your score report must be dated August 1, 2018, or later.

TOEFL:  Ask Educational Testing Service to send an official copy of the scores to Duke Kunshan University, using institution code 5156. You do not need a department code. If ETS requires a department code, select any one of the department codes listed. Regardless of the department code entered, the scores will come to Duke Kunshan University as long as you use institution code 5156. TOEFL Mybest Score is accepted.

IELTS: IELTS is administered by Cambridge ESOL, British Council, and IDP: IELTS Australia. Please send scores via IELTS Results Service E-Delivery to:

Duke University Graduate School Graduate Office of Admission
2127 Campus Drive
Durham, NC 27708
USA

Duolingo English Test: There is no institutional code for Duolingo, but applicants will need to select Duke University Graduate Programs: Graduate School; Divinity; Engineering; Environment; Public Policy; Duke Kunshan as the institution to send scores to. Please Note: Make sure to include subscores when you select your institution. Score reports without subscores will not be accepted. If you are not sure how to include subscores in your score report, please contact Duolingo English Test support on the Duolingo English Test website.

Score Requirements: 

Your scores must not be more than two years old from August 1 of the application year. For example, if you submit your application between August 2023 and May 2024, your score report must be dated August 1, 2021, or later.

We do not accept personal copies, attested copies, or notarized copies of test scores.

Minimum TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo English Test:

The Duke Graduate School generally seeks scores no less than: 90 for the Internet-based TOEFL, 7.0 for the IELTS test, or 125 for the Duolingo English Test.

TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo Waiver Policy: To be eligible for a TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo English Test waiver, you must have studied full time for two years or more at a college or university where the sole language of instruction is English and in a country where English is the primary spoken language. The two years of study must be completed prior to the start of the program.

If you believe you qualify for a TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo English Test waiver based on the above criteria, indicate your eligibility in the Additional Academic Information section of the application under the Test Score Instructions for the TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo English Test exam. Due to the volume of applications we receive, we will not examine, confirm the status of, or grant any waiver requests prior to extending an offer of admission.