<p>I know its optional and it says 1-2 paragraphs, but mine is like 600 words yet 2 solid paragraphs haha (I'll have to narrow that down a lot)</p>
<p>How many words is your Why Duke?</p>
<p>Mine is 350.</p>
<p>Mine is 304. Make sure you cut out redundancies, and make sure you simplify overly complicated sentences. I do those two mistakes a ton, and they add tons of extra words that are not conveying anything new.</p>
<p>Mine ended up being around the same length (3 paragraphs and about 500-600 words), and I’m now a current Duke student. I doubt it will hurt your chances, but if you can eliminate some fluff or extraneous material that doesn’t help advance your argument as to why you want to go to Duke, then do so. It’s always good to be concise and to the point.</p>
<p>Mine was around 430</p>
<p>My daughter took the “optional” statement seriously and did not submit the supplemental essay, assuming that by applying ED she would surely convey her belief that there was plenty of “why Duke” for her.</p>
<p>Worked out fine.</p>
<p>Mine is two long paragraphs and is 579 words, but is very personal and non-redundant.</p>
<p>Ugh… mine is 700 words</p>
<p>eh its not that bad, page and a half should be fine</p>
<p>It’s all very good and while I could consider taking a bit off to make it 1 page, I’d rather not. It’s a 1.25 pages, I hope they don’t just toss it for that reason or not take it as seriously.</p>
<p>They’re all very specific reasons that I know admissions officers don’t see very often that demonstrate exactly why I like Duke, and also what I learned from talking to my colleagues that are alumni from Duke and why I like it/ how I believe I will benefit from it</p>
<p>^ya lots people have good reasons, as long as its 2 paragraphs and not more than 1.5 pages I don’t think they will really care too much. If its 1.5 pages and really repetitive, they might, but if you have legit points I doubt they will really care, I mean, you are paying them $75 bucks for like 10 minutes of work haha.</p>
<p>I write in a very journalistic style so I have about 10 paragraphs, no more than 4 lines each- hopefully makes it easier to read them some giant essay and they are all separated into their individual points. My reasons aren’t like rambling on about one thing, it’s so many points I dedicate a few lines to because there are so many reasons, most of which you can’t find in just a viewbook.</p>
<p>viewbook answers to answer the why college essay aren’t bad though, so don’t be afraid to use them, just don’t list the viewbook</p>
<p>yeah, I talked about things on them that I felt were important regardless, but I made sure whatever I said was truly important and not like “the duke chapel makes the campus beautiful and I love attending basketball games too”</p>
<p>haha alright good. I hate when people’s entire essays are all about the chapel and the crazies. Sure mention them for a sentence or two, as they make Duke unique, but essays that mention them for more than a few sentences are missing the point IMHO</p>