Duke University optional essay. Do i do it?

SomeOldGuy
Thu, 09 Oct 2014 14:51:36 +0000

That’s interesting. Gender/orientation issues may have motivated the question, but the actual prompt is much broader and could be taken by applicants in about 100 different directions relating to “community” or “culture” defined very broadly. I had been interpreting it as being fairly similar to a question that Michigan has used for a number of years.

For comparison, here’s the one U of M uses:



Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it.