SAT scores & admissions · updated 2026

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Duke University SAT scores, admissions & trends

Durham, North CarolinaPrivate nonprofitSAT: considered, not required

Admitted students who enrolled at Duke University typically score between 1500 and 1570 on the SAT (the middle 50%); the 75th percentile, 1570, is a strong target. The school admits about 5.7% of applicants. Reading & Writing runs 740770 and Math 760800. Data: fall 2024 entering class.

Typical SAT scores for enrolled students

Middle 50% · fall 2024 entering class

Total1500–1570
R&W740–770
Math760–800

Duke University admits 5.7% of applicants, so SAT position alone doesn't predict admission.

How your score compares

Slide to set your score
What ABOVE, WITHIN and BELOW RANGE mean
  • Above range — your score beats the 75th percentile of enrolled students (1570).
  • Within range — your score sits between 1500 and 1570.
  • Below range — your score is under the 25th percentile (1500).

Duke University at a glance

5.7%

Admit rate

−0.2 pts since 2021

6,442 undergrads

1,740

First-year class

No change since 2021

59%

Yield

98%

First-year retention

$68,758

Tuition & fees

$29,612

Average net price

97%

6-yr graduation rate

$97,800

Median earnings
Where this data comes from

U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (fall 2024 entering class for admit rate and the SAT ranges; retention, graduation and net price from the latest cohorts in the same release). First-year class size and yield come from the IPEDS Admissions survey for fall 2024; total undergraduates from IPEDS Fall Enrollment. Median earnings are for students who received federal aid, measured ten years after they first enrolled.

How has Duke University's admit rate changed?

Applications are up 4% since 2021, while the admit rate has moved from 5.9% to 5.7%.

Where this data comes from

NCES IPEDS Admissions survey (applicants, admits, enrolled first-time students) for fall 20182024; the admit rate is admits ÷ applicants for each year. Fall 2024 is not yet published by IPEDS, so the latest year shown is 2024; the Scorecard's admit rate in the tiles above (5.7%) is for the fall 2024 entering class. The callout compares 2021 — the last year before test-optional application volumes settled — with 2024. The chart shows 20182024; ten years are stored.

Early Decision & waitlist

Fall 2024 entering class, from the school's own Common Data Set.

  • Early Decision verified

    Applied
    6,013
    Admitted
    1,042
    Admit rate
    17%
  • Regular Decision (derived) verified

    Applied
    45,782
    Admitted
    1,915
    Admit rate
    4.2%

Source: Duke University Common Data Set 202425. Early Action counts aren't in the Common Data Set (it collects Early Decision numbers only), so no EA admit rate is shown.

How to read these numbers

Applied and Admitted are the school's own counts for that plan (section C21 of its Common Data Set). Regular Decision, where shown, is derived — everyone not counted in an early plan — so it also includes Early Action applicants at schools that don't publish an EA count. Waitlist figures come from section C2: students offered a place, those who accepted it, and those eventually admitted. Numbers marked verified were checked against the published document by hand.

Similar schools

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Where this data comes from: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, data release June 10, 2026 — SAT ranges are the 25th–75th percentiles of enrolled first-year students, fall 2024 entering class; total-score ranges are the sum of the section percentiles. Admissions history: NCES IPEDS Admissions and Fall Enrollment surveys. Early Decision and waitlist counts: the school's own Common Data Set. School marks are the property of their respective institutions and are used for identification only.

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