As students pack their bags to prepare for Spring Break trips, many have even larger ambitions to see the world.
More students than last year have submitted applications to study abroad through “Duke-in” programs, according to the Global Education Office for Undergraduates. As of Wednesday, a total of 520 Duke students have applied to go abroad this summer and Fall, Margaret Riley, the office’s director, wrote in an e-mail.
“A number of Duke programs have experienced increased applications,” Riley said.
Duke-administered programs experienced a larger increase in applications than non-Duke programs. Overall, 255 students applied to Duke summer and academic year programs this year, a significant increase from the 191 students who applied last year. Non-Duke programs, however, did not see much of an increase. This year, 363 students are applying to Duke-approved programs—up three students from last year.
Applications for Fall “Duke-in” programs were due March 1, and applications for many “Duke-in” summer programs—which were initially due Feb. 3—have been extended and are being accepted on a rolling basis.
This year’s application pool breaks down into 316 female and 204 male students. Most applicants were rising juniors and seniors, with just four rising sophomores applying to study abroad for the Fall semester.
The most popular choice among students was the Duke in Madrid program, which received 81 applications—up from last year’s 56.
Riley said that the popularity of the Madrid program is not surprising because nearly half of the undergraduate student body meets their foreign language requirement with Spanish.
“[The program]... allows students to take a broad range of courses, to have an intercultural experience living with host families, has an excellent staff, is in a dynamic city and includes excursions that complement the curriculum while exposing students to various regions in Spain,” Riley said.
For programs such as Duke in Madrid, which can accommodate a large number of students, a waitlist will be formed if the number of eligible and qualified students exceeds the targeted enrollment.
Other programs have experienced similar increases in applications. Duke in Florence received 58 applications for this Fall, compared to the 33 it received at this time last year. Duke in France had 19 more applicants this year—for a total of 47—and Duke in the Andes received 13 applications for the Fall, up five from last year’s figure.
Some students choose to apply to both Duke-administered and non-Duke programs, Riley said. She also noted that not all students who currently have an application in the database will complete the entire application process and make it to the review stage.
Junior Mia Lehrer wrote in an e-mail that she applied to the Duke in Oxford summer program for both academic and personal reasons. For Lehrer, the Oxford English program will give her an opportunity to finish her English minor and allow her to see places in Europe that she has only read about.
Sophomore Kelly Kang, who will be heading to Cape Town, South Africa this summer for a program that focuses on global health issues, echoed similar reasons for going abroad. Kang, a biomedical engineering major, said her abroad program will allow her to take humanities courses.
“There were even more reasons to utilize my time in the summer to step out of my comfort zone,” she wrote in an e-mail. “I wish to become more aware of the problems out there and the social systems in which they are born, so that I will be able to make not just a change, but the right change in the future.”
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