Prospective ECE Undergraduates.

This page offers suggestions to Secondary School Students who are thinking about studying Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) in the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University. The general qualities of students Duke seeks to enroll are described on the Admissions page Applying to Duke: Who We're Looking For. See also the suggestions for students in the 7th through 10th grades, and browse the other information on the Admissions site.

Students with specific ECE interests may find the following additional guidance helpful.

Academic Preparation for ECE at Duke

The Duke undergraduate Engineering program is an intense educational experience centered on the Duke campus during the regular academic year. You can best prepare for Duke by taking the most challenging courses your school offers.

We recommend four years of English, four years of mathematics, four years of natural science, at least three years of foreign language, and at least three years of social science. If ECE is a specific area of interest, we encourage you to take advantage of computer programming courses, if they are available to you. We also encourage you to enroll in advanced-level work in as many of these areas as possible.

Students who plan to apply to the Pratt School of Engineering are expected to take calculus, physics and chemistry, preferably at an advanced (e.g., AP, IB, Honors) level, if available at their secondary school. Five academic courses per secondary year would usually be a normal course load.

We expect you to be generally familiar with computers ... and probably more expert than many parents! Being able to write simple programs in a higher-level language such as Pascal, Basic, Fortran, or some variant of C, is an advantage in ECE, but not an entrance requirement.

Extra-Curricular Activities

Duke expects its graduates to become leaders in their chosen profession and community. To this end, students are encouraged to participate and become leaders in extra-curricular activities, interests that can be demonstrated and strengthened at the secondary school level.

If you have interests in engineering, science, and computers, you are encouraged to get involved in engineering, math, and science related activities to learn more about those fields and to test the depth and breadth of your interests. Activities like JETS, Math Team, TEAMS, Science Olympiad, and FIRST Robotics are examples of activities that have engaged some students.