Academic Resources
Academic Guides Program
Academic Guides work to promote the academic excellence and well-being of undergraduates in the residence halls on West Campus. By collaborating with campus partners, we offer one-on-one meetings, quad-based programming, and broader community engagement opportunities that provide a context for deeper engagement with the issues that matter to students. We embrace the idea that true academic success comes from overall well-being, which means we listen to students’ concerns, support students in and out of the classroom, and connect students with any and all resources needed to thrive at Duke. For more information, visit academicguides.duke.edu.
Academic Resource Center
Being a Duke student can be inspiring, rewarding, and demanding. There are challenging classes and many exciting opportunities in and out of the classroom. The Academic Resource Center (ARC) offers resources to maximize students’ capabilities so they can cultivate successful academic experiences at Duke. ARC services are free to all Duke undergraduate students, in any year, studying in any discipline.
Learning Consultations give students an opportunity to meet one-on-one with a professional staff member to enhance their academic skills and learn strategies tailored to how they learn and to their specific courses. Consultations can address many of the challenges students may face, including time management; procrastination, and motivation; how to balance study, work, and co-curricular activities; effective note-taking; exam preparation; and more.
Peer Tutoring offers group tutorials for select courses. Group tutorials provide one-hour, sessions for groups of two to five students with an assigned tutor.
STEM Advancement through Group Engagement (SAGE) learning communities provide opportunities for students to enhance their course experience, build community, and develop scholarship and leadership skills in certain STEM courses. Students work in small groups facilitated by upper-level undergraduate students. Currently, SAGE learning communities support introductory chemistry, biology, biochemistry, economics, mathematics, and computer science courses. See the ARC website for current courses.
Study Connect facilitates connecting students with their classmates to form course study groups. Students can also find other students interested in study groups for the GRE and MCAT.
LD/ADHD Support for students with learning and attention challenges provides course specific and tailored learning strategies through learning consultations, ADHD coaching, and tutoring.
For more information, call the ARC at (919) 684-5917, visit arc.duke.edu, or email ARC@duke.edu.
Duke Testing Center
The Duke Testing Center provides a secure, comfortable, and minimally distractive testing environment for Duke undergraduates who qualify and are enrolled in a course with an instructor who uses the Testing Center. Students who qualify include those granted testing accommodations by the Student Disability Access Office, or who need to complete make-up exams due to an approved absence. Students will schedule in advance to take their Duke course exams in the proctored environment at the Center. For more information about the Testing Center, visit testingcenter.duke.edu.
Undergraduate Research
Undergraduate Research Support Office
Duke University encourages connections between the academic experience and the research endeavors of its faculty scholars and investigators. The Undergraduate Research Support (URS) Office in Trinity College promotes student involvement in research by advising and by providing financial support for research engagements in many disciplines. The office provides research assistantships and grants through the academic year, research grants and fellowships for the summer, and travel grants for presentations at professional conferences. The URS Office also organizes symposia of undergraduate research and it administers summer research programs. For detailed information, visit undergraduateresearch.duke.edu.
Research Laboratories
Duke researchers on campus and in the medical center perform about $1.2 billion a year in research, most of it in clinical medicine and discovery science. Their work consistently places Duke among the top ten research universities in the nation. More than half of Duke undergraduates complete faculty-mentored research projects, working with professors from every department across campus. Students can pursue collaborative or individual research in programs and campus facilities. These include but are not limited to the medical center; the Levine Science Research Center; the Fitzpatrick Center for Engineering, Medical and Applied Sciences; the French Family Science Center; the Humanities Labs at the Franklin Humanities Institute; the Media Arts + Science Complex; the Duke Collaboratory for Classics Computing; and the Social Sciences Research Institute, as well as the teaching and research laboratories throughout Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, the Pratt School of Engineering, the Nicholas School of the Environment, and the Sanford School of Public Policy. Undergraduates also conduct research at the Duke University Marine Laboratory in Beaufort, NC; Duke Forest, adjacent to the campus; and the Duke Lemur Center.
Preparation for Graduate and Professional Schools
Students planning to enter a graduate or professional school should consult published information from the relevant advising programs or offices at advising.duke.edu/preprofessional-advising. For specific information regarding courses and curriculum choices, students should seek input from their faculty advisors and pregraduate or preprofessional advisors where appropriate.
Engineering — for careers in engineering, consult the associate dean of Pratt School of Engineering or the director of graduate studies in one of the engineering departments
Prebusiness — for careers in business, finance, and entrepreneurship or innovation
Pregraduate — for advanced degrees in the arts or sciences
Prehealth — for careers in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and other health care fields
Pre-Law — for careers in law
Theological Study — for theological study, contact the Duke Divinity Office of Admissions at admissions@div.duke.edu or divinity.duke.edu