Disclaimer: I dont consider these essays the best examples of college essay-writing, but the most important thing to

remember is that your essay should be tailored to you! Because I love art so much, I decided that I should write my
essays about it, so pick something you love.

If you are applying to the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences as a first year applicant, please discuss why
you consider Duke a good match for you. Is there something particular about Duke that attracts you? (Please
limit your response to no more than 150 words.)

There is a clich that pursuing interests in the arts or humanities often leads to unpaid bills or a struggling
future. It discourages members of my generation from engaging in artistic and creative interests in hopes of instead
becoming the next big-shot CEO. I plan on pursuing degrees in economics, mathematics, and visual arts in hopes
that I will be able to find a way to show the world that it is possible to be an artist, a mathematician, and an
entrepreneur without having to give up one for the other. Dukes growing arts department with classes like Arts and
Markets, offered jointly by the Art History and Economics departments as well as the Innovation and
Entrepreneurship certificate encourages students to produce a Capstone Project, cumulative from a field of study. I
aspire to be a creative entrepreneur and bring fine arts, STEM, and the business world together through Dukes
interdisciplinary studies.

(Optional) Duke University seeks a talented, engaged student body that embodies the wide range of human
experience; we believe that the diversity of our students makes our community stronger. If you'd like to share
a perspective you bring or experiences you've had to help us understand you better-perhaps related to a
community you belong to, your sexual orientation or gender identity, or your family or cultural
background-we encourage you to do so. Real people are reading your application, and we want to do our best
to understand and appreciate the real people applying to Duke. (250 word limit)

Ta men shi wai guo ren, said a middle-aged woman from across the bus aisle with disgust. Theyre
foreigners. My brother and I had been playing a game out of boredom on the drive from the international to
domestic terminal at the Beijing Airport. After losing, I joked with him, in English, about how I thought hed
cheated. Our conversation turned heads from the nearby crowd. Theyre speaking English. Theyre Americans, not
real Chinese people. We were foreigners, children with Chinese parents who had been living internationally for so
long that we were hardly considered Chinese by some. That day on the bus, I turned behind me to ask my dad, Is
there something wrong with being Chinese-American?
In China, I had the impression that there was something wrong with being both American and Chinese,
that it had to be one or the other. Similarly, in the past few years, I have gotten the impression that there was
something wrong with being an artist and a businesswoman or engineer. Throughout the generations of my family,
there has been no such thing as a hybrid career, so I was expected to find a solid career away from art. However,
my experiences with many people affected by my art have led me to believe that I am able to combine my art with
business and STEM. Despite what I have heard in the past, there is nothing wrong with being two things.
Opportunities
Before I start telling you all the good things about Duke, just know that no school is perfect! There are so many
things about Duke that I would change if I could (the heavy academic pressure, social competitiveness, the parking
rules, etc.) but I really do love it here, so take my advice with a grain of salt if you want to. I think a school of this
caliber definitely lends itself to a lot of competition and stress (and many, many all-nighters). Anyways, without
further ado

Extracurricular
If you thought there were a lot of clubs to join in high school, get ready for college, because there is literally a club
for everything. At the beginning of the fall semester, there is always an activities fair where all the clubs go out and
table, and it usually covers the entire East Campus quad. There are tons of club sports, dance teams, philanthropy
clubs, service organizations, music groups, and basically anything you can think of. If there isnt a club for
something youre super passionate about, then you can start one on your own as long as you have ten members! One
of my friends actually started the Starts With Soap (a service national organization) chapter at Duke recently, so new
clubs are formed all the time. A common misconception is that if youre in clubs you dont really have time to focus
on school, which really isnt true. Im in marching band, a sorority, a dance team, a theatre group, I do photography
(professional headshots, and casual photoshoots), and other organizations but somehow I still find the time to be
pursuing majors in econ and math, while trying for an art minor. Lets not forget that BASKETBALL GAMES ARE
LIT AF! Except that might not be something you want to write in your essay, unless its for humor.

Academic
I guess the most important part of college is, after all, what youre getting out of school. Given Dukes huge
endowment and cutting-edge research in a lot of areas, there are tons of academic opportunities. There are
pre-professional organizations (like a business society, for example) that always bring in people thatll help with
networking. A vast majority of professors at Duke have done research or are currently doing research, so if you have
something that really interests you, then youll have to opportunity to potentially work in their lab. One of my good
friends is majoring in biomedical engineering and this semester shes working in a biomed lab. A great way to get to
know your professors is through the FLUNCH program, where Duke gives every student $100 per semester to take
their professors out to lunch. Theres a career center thatll help you plan your future and an academic advising
center if you need help figuring out what you want to study. If you are into cultivating the spirit of service,
DukeEngage is a great way to learn about what it means to contribute to the world abroad. For example, some of my
friends went to Zhuhai, China and taught middle-schoolers for two months. One of my closest friends went to
California and designed an entire STEM curriculum for girls at a summer program. Studying abroad is also a great
opportunity, and most students will go abroad at some point; I went to Beijing summer 2017 for an intensive
language/internship program. Honestly, the academic opportunities are endless, and it really depends on what you
plan on studying. At Duke, because there are so many options, you really do have the freedom to customize your
education.
Why I love Duke!
To be completely honest, I didnt love it at first. For a while, I was debating on Cornell, Duke, or UVA, with each school offering
me something the other two didnt. Ultimately, I chose Duke because of the academic benefit. I knew what I wanted to major in,
and Duke had the number one economics program in the country. I came to visit during Blue Devil Days (accepted students day),
and that was the only true exposure I had of Duke before choosing to come here. So my first few months of freshman were pretty
miserable. Not knowing anyone right off the bat (an issue I wouldnt have had if Id chosen UVA) made it hard, but I found
many friends pretty quickly from band and other organizations I decided to join. So this is a good segway into what I love about
Duke. There are many things, so Ill give you them all in list form, in no particular order, and both significant and insignificant
things:

The library is open 24/7. Pro-tip: Dont do homework in your room because your bed will tempt you with all sorts of
things. There are so many libraries on campus, but Perkins (the main one) is open 24/7 Sunday through Thursday,
which is honestly a blessing. I guess another thing is the abundance of study spaces too. You can literally study
anywhere you want to: at the dining hall, empty classrooms, on the chapel steps, on the roof of any building, etc.
The campus is beautiful. I have tons and tons of photos that Ive taken around campus during the different seasons. Im
actually doing a photo series on what Duke looks like from the top of the chapel during the different seasons. In every
season, every day, Duke is beautiful. Sometimes when Im having a bad day, it makes me feel better to think about
what a beautiful school I go to.
Everyone has their own quirks. To be honest, Duke has a pretty toxic social atmosphere; people really live by the motto
Work hard, play harder but that doesnt by any means mean that theyre bad people. The issue with Duke is that there
are more people from the top 1% of the income bracket than the bottom 60%, but this also means the most of the
student body is aware of disparities and are willing to speak out about it. People are very, very different here, and as
someone who really appreciates individuality, thats something thats important to me. Its amazing to hear about the
lives that people lived before college and what kinds of stories that they have to tell.
The faculty here is world-renowned for a reason. Pretty much every single professor Ive had so far is so accomplished
that I can only think about how many years it took to get to where they are. For example, my Econ 101 professor is a
full time professor at Duke but somehow also manages to travel around the world working with the International
Monetary Fund (IMF); my art professor will have her work displayed in the Smithsonian. There are so many amazing
professors here, and you really do feel like youre getting the quality education that you work so hard for.
Its relatively close to home. Of course, its nothing compared to UVA distance-wise, but a three-hour drive is really
nothing compared to some of my friends. My roommate lives in California, so she always teases me when I complain
about having to sit through the drive home. Now that Ive been here for a year, three hours seems like the perfect
distance away from home.
DUKE BASKETBALL! Okay, lets be honest, this had to be on the list somewhere. I didnt care much for sports in
high school, and only went to football games because I was in band, but Duke basketball is another level of crazy.
Where else do people sleep in tents for two months just to get into a basketball game? Where else has a bonfire
celebration after we WIN against UNC? Which other schools basketball coach is the HEAD COACH of the Olympic
basketball team? Nowhere but Duke. Basketball is lit, basketball season is lit, and the hype really does not disappoint.
The campus is fairly condensed. The main thing I dont like about UVA is that everything is pretty spaced out. Duke
isnt a closed campus, but its pretty obvious which property belongs to Duke and which is public. The only complaint I
have is that all freshmen have to live on East Campus, which isnt the best place to live. It fosters great community, but
having to shuttle to class every morning is a hassle (there have been many memes made about this). Living on west
campus though, is a whole other story. I love my dorm, my full-sized bed, and my proximity to everything. Its at most
a 10-minute walk to class now that I dont have to take a bus everywhere. Honestly, the living conditions are wonderful
and the layout of west campus is wonderful.
FREE THINGS! Yeah, who doesnt love free things? There are so many resources that Duke provides you with. For
example, I love art, so I love going to the arts annex and using the supplies that theyll give to students for free. If you
do a DukeEngage program, Duke will pay for your plane ticket/travel expenses, and there are so many state-of-the-art
technological resources that are open to students (hundreds of 3D printers, screen-printing workshops, etc). Theres so
much you can do with what the school gives you!