Everything you need to know about Duke premed, including premed requirements, the best extracurriculars, and the Duke premed acceptance rate

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: Duke premed requirements

Part 3: Duke premed extracurriculars

Part 4: Getting into medical school as a Duke premed

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: Duke premed requirements

Part 3: Duke premed extracurriculars

Part 4: Getting into medical school as a Duke premed

Sample Duke premed two-year course plan

How to maintain a high GPA as a Duke premed

What’s the best premed major at Duke?

When should you take the MCAT?

Duke premed clinical and community volunteering

Duke premed shadowing

Duke premed research

Duke premed acceptance rate and admissions statistics

Getting into Duke Medical School as a Duke premed

Final thoughts

A smiling medical school student wearing a white coat and holding a laptop while colleagues chat behind her — LEARN HOW TO GET INTO MEDICAL SCHOOL AS A DUKE PREMED

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While Duke University may be heralded as a basketball powerhouse, it also consistently ranks among the ten best universities in the country and one of the top schools for premeds. With n early 300 students applying to medical school each year, Duke’s student body has one of the highest percentages of premeds in the nation, given its intimate total enrollment of under 7,000 undergraduates.

Located in Durham, North Carolina, Duke is well-known both for its liberal arts education and engineering focus, which are complemented by a variety of top-tier graduate programs, including the Duke University School of Medicine. It is no surprise, then, that Duke also offers a robust premed program. Students get plugged into pre-health advising and hands-on research experiences as soon as they walk on campus.

Yet, the journey is not for the faint of heart. Many first-year students who intend to become a healthcare professional quickly change their minds. Even so, approximately 25% of each incoming class will eventually apply to medical school. Students who stay the course face fierce competition from other top-notch students.

Being a premedical student at any school can be challenging. You’ll be taking classes in many difficult subjects, including physics, biology, biochemistry, and even statistics. Your time will be split between studying, volunteering, and clinical exposure. Duke offers a myriad of opportunities—with hundreds of student groups, study-abroad programs, clinical shadowing, and domestic and international volunteer experiences available, students often feel overwhelmed by the prospect of being a Duke premed student.

Taking advantage of the full breadth of a Duke education, while also maintaining a high level of excellence, requires insight, planning, and hard work. In this guide, we’ll provide advice from current Duke premeds and alumni, using their insight to create a resource for success both in and out of the classroom. Using this four-year map, you’ll be able to cultivate a diverse resume of volunteer activities and extracurriculars by identifying the most high-yield experiences, allowing you to develop an outstanding application to medical school.

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Duke offers a full breadth of interesting classes and majors! As a student, you could pick areas of study ranging from engineering to evolutionary or cultural anthropology to public policy to literature.

As an entering student in any major, it can be intimidating to select your coursework. However, as a premed, you will have a little more structure than many of your peers since you will need to complete specific series of science courses in order to satisfy the requirements for medical school admission. Duke’s pre-health advising office provides a full list of the premed courses, which can be found here.

Most freshmen and sophomores focus on completing the introductory science classes. As a result, early premed schedules are usually very similar. This helps underclassmen generate an informal network of premed students who help support each other in and out of the classroom. However, you can still be flexible when arranging the order of courses used to fulfill the premed requirements.

Different medical schools may look for slightly different academic courses, either in the sciences or in the humanities, but most schools follow the guideline above. It is important to periodically check the websites of medical schools in your home state and any others you are interested in to monitor any changes.

Additionally, some upper-level science classes may differ according to your specific major requirements or interests, so the flexibility and diversity of your schedule often increases as you become a junior or senior. Once you declare a major, you will also need to complete major-specific requirements in addition to your premed coursework. In the end, students in non-science disciplines, such as English or public policy, may have significantly different schedules. Choosing to be premed and declaring a major early can help lessen the burden of scheduling constraints.

High-achieving high school students always have questions about using AP credits. At Duke, students can subtract a total of two AP credits from the 34 needed for graduation, so students with at least two credits will only need to complete 32 credits at Duke to graduate in four years.

However, while most medical schools will accept at least some form of AP credit, many look for additional coursework in a similar area of study to demonstrate success at the college level. Additionally, the content taught in these AP courses may not always match perfectly with the material taught in the equivalent Duke courses. Plus, medical schools can change their mind at any time about accepting AP credit, so as always it is prudent to check requirements each year for medical schools that you are interested in.

Duke has a detailed structure of college course equivalents for AP credits that you can find here.

Duke Premed Requirements
Medical school requirement	Required courses	Optional courses
Biology: Two courses with lab	One of the following sequences: Biology 201L + 202L Biology 203L (AP score 5) + another bio lab course (Bio 212L, 329L, or other)
Chemistry: 1. General chemistry: One year with lab 2. Organic chemistry: One year with lab 3. Biochemistry: One course	One of the following sequences: Chemistry 99D, 101DL, 201DL, 202L, 210DL, Biochemistry 301 Chemistry 101DL, 201DL, 202L, 210DL, Biochemistry 301 Chemistry 20 (AP), 110DL, 201DL, 202L, Biochemistry 301 Chemistry 21 (AP), 201DL, 202L, Biochemistry 301 Chemistry 21 (AP), 201DL, 202L, 210DL, Biochemistry 301
Calculus: One course	One of the following: Math 21 (Calculus I by AP credit) Math 105L + 106L (Calculus I spread over two semesters) Math 111L (Calculus I in one semester) Math 121 (Calculus I by transfer)
Statistics: One course	Statistics 101, 102 or higher, Biology 304, Psychology 201, or Sociology 333	Psychology 204 & 205 (need to take both)
Physics: Two courses with lab	One of the following sequences: Physics 141L + 142L (Trinity students) 151L + 152L (Pratt students) 161L + 162L (Physics majors) Physics 25 (AP) and 142L/152L/162L Physics 26 (AP) and 141L/151L/162L Physics 25 and 26 (AP) – enroll in 141L or 142L (Trinity) (Pratt students follow Pratt guidelines)
College-level English/writing: Two courses	One of the following sequences: Writing 101 and 2 W courses for the curriculum (Trinity students) Writing 101 and one more English course, writing course or AP English (Pratt students)
Psychology: One course	Psy 101, Psy 106/107 (cross-listed Neuroscience 101) or other course that addresses the behavioral determinants of health care
Sociology: One course	Sociology 110D or other course that addresses the social determinants of health care

As you can see from the requirements above, certain subjects offer several classes that will satisfy medical school requirements. For example, for your first semester of biology, you can take either Biology 201L or 203L (depending on your prior high school experience).

Don’t forget that premed courses will only comprise a fraction of all the courses you take. You’ll also have to fit in your major requirements, as well as elective or advanced classes that you find interesting.

Duke’s schedule is divided into semester-course units, where one unit is the equivalent of four credit hours. To be full-time, most students take four course units (or 16 credit hours) per semester. Ideally, there will also be space for 1–2 elective classes of your choosing to balance your premed coursework. A full course catalog can be seen on Duke’s website. Don’t forget to have fun and be creative when choosing your classes!

Here's one example of how you might arrange your first two years as a Duke premed:

Commonly, premeds will complete introductory courses in biology, calculus, and chemistry with the associated labs during their freshman year. This will be followed by Organic Chemistry I & II with lab and General Physics I & II with lab during sophomore year, as seen above. Others will complete physics during their junior year.

Duke students considering spending a semester abroad often study overseas during the fall of junior year so as not to miss basketball season in the winter and spring. However, many premed students find this difficult to accommodate and will choose to spend a summer semester abroad instead.

As you can tell from the premed requirements listed above, as well as the sample schedule, you will have to contend with notoriously difficult and time-consuming courses from day one. No matter how you space your schedule, you will at times be juggling multiple premed courses and their associated labs all at once.

Not only will you be developing new skills, like synthesizing chemical formulas and visualizing a 3D chemical reaction in space, you’ll also be learning new exam formats. Consider the “multiple multiple choice” exam in biology, where any or all of the A–E answers could be correct for a single question.

These courses will push your critical thinking skills to the max and ultimately help distinguish those who can succeed in the rigors of medical school. Walking into a 250-person introductory premed course can be daunting, but walking across the graduation stage with a medical school acceptance is worth the long wait. So, how exactly do you succeed as a Duke premed?

First, it is important to know your relative strengths and weaknesses when you start college. Take time to reflect on your study habits and time-management skills prior to your first midterm exam. Set a study schedule and stick to it!

Here are some important things to specifically consider when creating your initial premed schedule:

Avoid taking too many premed required courses in one semester.
Plan out the requirements for your major early.
Balance heavy science classes with easier elective courses or courses with fewer out-of-classroom requirements.
Allow adequate space between classes for studying and extracurriculars.
For students who want to go straight through to medical school, plan your sophomore and junior year schedules around preparing for the MCAT (we’ll discuss MCAT timing more shortly).
Consider whether a gap year(s), which will provide more flexibility in your schedule, is within your goals. This will allow you to stretch out your premed coursework, which gives you more time to study for each individual course.
If you need to space your classes but don’t want to take a gap year, consider summer terms to complete some of your premed coursework.

Finally, follow these foolproof tips for academic success. While they may seem obvious and straightforward, they really work!

Schedule dedicated study time without other distractions. Don’t just squeeze in studying in your spare time. Rather, make it a priority.
Avoid procrastination. Instead, stay up-to-date on required readings and assignment due dates, even if you have several weeks to complete those assignments.
Manage expectations. Your college courses will likely be more difficult than your high school classes.
Join study groups and attend TA sessions. Group studying can both improve your understanding of a topic and help you make friends! Similarly, talk to a pre-health advisor early. They will not only guide you through the process but can also be an advocate for you later on.

It’s a common misconception among incoming students that there is one premed major. However, you cannot graduate from Duke with a degree in the “premedical sciences,” for instance.

Instead, being a premed student simply means completing all of the courses (listed earlier) that are required in order to apply to medical school. Premed students should round out the rest of their coursework with classes that intrigue or inspire them and choose a major (or multiple!) in that area of interest.

This begets the question of what exactly is the best major to choose as a premed. Again, there is no one perfect major that will blow medical schools away, just as there is no major that completely prepares you for medical school—that’s what the MCAT and premed courses are for!

Different majors can bestow different advantages. While majoring in the sciences may give you an edge when it comes to preparing for the biological and chemical sections of the MCAT, students majoring in the humanities often have more developed critical reading skills.

Another benefit of a science major is that some classes will count both towards your premed and major requirement credits, which can make it logistically easier to plan your schedule, especially over the first two years. Traditionally, these majors have been very among premed students as a whole.

Among all Duke students, the most popular major is usually a toss up between computer science and public policy. Every year, however, economics, biology, and psychology are also consistently in the top five. While premeds often select majors in one of these categories, the most popular premed major is biology.

Here is a full list of majors and minors. It is important to select the right major from you instead of following the crowd. Your major should ideally be something that you’re interested in and that makes you excited to learn!

If you’re deliberating between majors, we encourage you to take a variety of classes in addition to the premed requirements. You should also talk to your advisor, as well as older students, to learn more about individual major requirements. Remember that at Duke you can declare your major any time during and before the end of your sophomore year.

In a traditional schedule (in which a premed student starts medical school right after graduation), most students choose to take the MCAT sometime during their junior year.

Understanding that luck favors the prepared mind, we like to build in extra time for unforeseen circumstances. As such, we recommend taking the MCAT during the fall of your junior year. This gives you space to retake the test before applying if necessary.

When planning to take the MCAT, the most important thing to do is to give yourself ample study time. This means plenty of dedicated time, not just impromptu study sessions squeezed in between other obligations.

Suggested study schedules often combine MCAT-specific classes with independent, self-directed learning. You should also take several practice tests (the more the better!). This not only prepares you for the real day but also allows you to better predict where your score might fall.

While you should always give yourself enough time to study, it is also imperative to build an appropriate knowledge base before the test. We recommend completing the following premed courses prior to signing up for the MCAT:

General Chemistry: Chem 101DL and Chem 210D
General Biology: Bio 201L and Bio 202L
General Physics: Phys 141L and Phys 142L
Organic Chemistry: 201DL and 202D
Biochemistry 301

(Note: If you’ve had little exposure to psychology and sociology, you could also consider completing Psych 101 and Soc 110DL prior to taking the MCAT.)

Due to relatively recent changes in the MCAT, the test now has a heavy emphasis on biochemistry in addition to the basic sciences principles covered by the general biology and chemistry courses. In addition, the test has new sections incorporating psychology and sociology. These classes are of course recommended before taking the MCAT, but in general their content can also be learned independently during MCAT prep.

In contrast to the traditional schedule, more and more students are taking a gap year(s) following graduation, during which they focus on gaining real world and hands-on clinical experience. This type of elongated schedule also enables more flexibility in taking the MCAT.

In any case, students should plan to have their MCAT scores back before the start of the application cycle. Official scores are usually released 30–35 days after an exam date. Thus, students often take the MCAT at least one to two months in advance of the start of the application cycle. AMCAS generally opens the first week of May.

Looking for MCAT practice questions? Check out our proprietary MCAT Question Bank for 2000+ sample questions and eight practice tests covering every MCAT category.

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At Duke, it can be difficult to know which activities to get involved in, especially considering the sheer amount of opportunities available to the ambitious premed student. When it comes to extracurricular activities, it is important to both diversify your experiences and make a longitudinal commitment. In this regard, quality not quantity is often preferred by admissions committees.

Premedical extracurricular activities fall into three distinct domains:

Clinical experiences (which includes healthcare shadowing and EMT work)
Volunteer and service work
Research

Medical schools would also like to see positions of leadership, which can fall into any of these categories. Most importantly, medical schools look for humanism and service to others. Find experiences where you can actively engage with patients and those with basic health care needs. Take time to observe the health profession you are contemplating. Medical school, residency, and a career as an attending is a long, arduous path. Make sure you like the field you will be entering!

While there is no rush to do these things, students who do not want to take a gap year will need to fit in all of these activities around their course work. However, it is equally important to remember that preparing for a health career will take you several years.

Duke has 400+ student organizations. These range from more traditional premed societies, Greek life, and club sports to things you’re likely to only find at Duke, like DukeEngage and BassConnections. First, to hear about these opportunities, sign up for the pre-health listserv on day one, which will send weekly emails about jobs, research opportunities, volunteering, and much more.

As already mentioned, the Office of Health Professions Advising at Duke will be your go-to for finding almost any relevant premed experience. It is a great resource for finding opportunities for volunteering, both clinical and non-clinical. They maintain a searchable list of potential upcoming opportunities for community and hospital volunteer work.

In brief, here’s a short list of organizations at Duke that offer opportunities for volunteering that many students love:

Bull City Fit looks for volunteers who would like to receive hands-on experience working with children in a community-based wellness program setting. Associated with the Duke Children’s Healthy Lifestyles Program, you help promote weight loss and healthy life-styles and have lots of fun while doing it!
DukeEngage provides fully-funded service opportunities and civic engagement experiences nationally and internationally. Most programs are eight weeks over the summer and may give you experience in global health, education, social justice and community volunteering. Students must apply for DukeEngage and can only enroll in one program throughout their undergraduate experience, if selected.
Duke Partnership for Service: This website includes a conglomerate of student organizations focused on engaging with the Durham community. They include Duke Adopt-a-Grandparent, Global Brigades, Innoworks, Harmonies for Health, DukeHAND, GANO, FEMMES, ArtsConnect, ScienceDay, Duke Red Cross, WISER, Know Your Status, Duke Splash, Duke PAWS (animals), and many more.

All premed students should obtain at least 150–200 hours of shadowing experience. In fact, it is practically impossible to be accepted into medical school without some sort of physician shadowing on your resume.

Shadowing throughout the year and in several different specialties can provide a realistic view of medicine, an understanding of patient care, as well as a familiarity with different roles in healthcare. At Duke, the Office of Health Professions Advising provides training for current Duke undergraduates (sophomores through seniors) who wish to shadow at Duke Hospital.

Here’s a list of hospitals in the area that often have shadowing experiences available:

Students can also arrange shadowing experiences at home by calling their local hospitals and outpatient clinic providers.

(Suggested reading: How to Ask to Shadow a Doctor)

One of the easiest aspects of being a premed at Duke is that you’re surrounded by incredible research opportunities from world-class faculty and graduate students. In fact, as of 2019, fifteen Nobel laureates have been affiliated with Duke University!

To get involved in research as an undergraduate student, first visit the Undergraduate Research Support Office (URS), either through an in-person appointment or visiting their website online. URS supports students through workshops, symposiums, funding independent research, assistantships and conferences, and by providing support for summer research programs.

Not only does URS supply a consolidated list of summer and semester research opportunities, both at Duke and at other universities, they also support scholarly endeavors with summer research grants.

Duke students can also explore projects with a team of faculty through Bass Connections. Many of these projects specifically address pressing global issues involving society, energy and global health.

However, despite these resources, some students still find the prospect of obtaining research intimidating. If you are still looking for a position, here are some tips:

Talk to faculty. If you’ve made close relationships with a professor in class or office hours, discuss research opportunities with them. They can often refer you to other colleagues as well.
Talk to upperclassmen. Your friends, and especially older premeds, may know of positions in labs that may be opening up as other students graduate. This gives you a quick in to a lab that otherwise may not be listed at the formal Undergraduate Research Support Office.
Take an upper-level course. Many majors offer courses with formal research components with a smaller number of students. These upper-level, capstone courses can turn into a senior thesis and may even let you graduate with distinction at Duke!
Cold-call PIs (Principal Investigators). After using up other options, this can be an unexpected way to find research opportunities. Look at the websites of departments you are interested in and send emails to faculty that you think have interesting research. You will likely need to send quite a few emails before getting results, but with determination this method can find you an opportunity unique to you.

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Although many Duke students apply to medical school after the end of their junior year, more and more are taking at least one gap year after graduating from college before attending medical school. You should choose the timeline that is best for you!

Before applying to medical school, you’ll need to take time to prepare the rest of your primary application. During the year that you’re applying, you’ll begin to work closely with the Duke Pre-Health Office to prepare your primary AMCAS application, which includes your personal statement and Work and Activities section.

In particular, you’ll need their help to draft the committee letter. The Duke Committee Letter is a formative summary of your time at Duke and does not include your individual letters of recommendation. It is highly recommended to obtain a committee letter from your home institution, as many medical schools require you to submit one if your school offers it.

Once you’re ready to apply, we suggest you follow our ideal medical school application timeline.

(Note: The Duke pre health committee has historically been conservative when it comes to encouraging students to apply during a given cycle. We’ve heard numerous stories from students with high GPAs [e.g., 3.8] and strong MCAT scores [e.g., 516] who were told they have low stats and advised to take an additional year to bolster their application before applying. In comparison, our team has helped many students with these same profiles achieve success in past cycles. If you’re concerned about the advice you receive, make sure to seek a professional’s opinion.)

In many ways, Duke is a mecca for premed students as you will have access to a wide variety of resources to help you get into medical school. Duke’s excellent pre-health advising office offers support for premed students during all four years on campus. In addition to this personalized advising, Duke students never struggle to fill out their resumes with impressive experiences, from research and internship opportunities to clinical exposure provided by Duke’s prestigious medical school to fully-funded service opportunities supported by Duke’s generous endowment.

In light of all of these resources and opportunities, how do Duke students actually fare when they apply to medical school?

At a minimum, Duke students accepted to medical school have a science GPA and total GPA of at least 3.4. However, students accepted to top-ten medical schools generally have much higher GPAs than this.

The med school acceptance rates for Duke undergrads are remarkable. In 2017, 70–80% of Duke premeds got into medical school; in contrast, the national average was around 40–45% (it’s currently even lower at 36%). Duke students applied to, on average, 22 different medical schools and had an average science GPA of 3.6.

Many premed students, including Duke undergraduates, vie to attend Duke’s prestigious medical school, currently ranked sixth among academic research medical institutions.

Like its undergraduate counterpart, Duke School of Medicine is highly selective. Approximately 10% of applicants receive interviews, while applicants have a roughly 4% chance of admission overall. For students offered admission, the average GPA is a 3.9 and the average MCAT score is 520.

Understandably, Duke premed students often wonder if their odds of receiving an acceptance or even an interview are higher given their existing connection with the university. Anecdotally, this seems to play out; however, Duke does not share interview data based on applicants’ undergraduate institutions.

Sample Duke Two-Year Course Plan

Semester

Courses

Freshman Fall

Chem 101DL
Writing 101
Math 111L

Freshman Spring

Chemistry 201L
Psychology 101
Stats 101

Sophomore Fall

Chem 202L
Bio 201L
Phys 141L

Sophomore Spring

Chemistry 210L
Bio 202L
Phys 142L

Duke University is well known for producing strong premeds who become top-tier applicants, gaining entrance into premier medical schools across the U.S. (including many who choose to stay at Duke for medical school). Although navigating the Duke premed landscape seems daunting, by following this guide’s advice you’ll be able to pick a navigable schedule, maintain a high GPA, and develop a unique resume of extracurricular activities. By using this as a map throughout college, you too can find success as a Duke premed.