Hello! My name is Samuel, and I got accepted into the Duke Class of 2029. Come see how I did it!

My Background

I am from São Luís do Maranhão, Northeastern of Brazil. I studied in the Centro Educacional Colégio Azul do Cruz, or COC, as we like to call it.

I think they were very supportive of my journey, but they didn’t know anything about applications, so I had to explain and teach them a lot of things.

Why Studying Abroad?

I think everyone dreams about studying abroad at some point in a more casual way. For me, it started as a teenager. I would watch YouTube vlogs of people doing high school abroad and think, “Wow, these people live abroad, they’re having so much fun, and they have access to a quality of life that’s really inspiring.” At first, it was just a dream.

Over time, though, it became more academic. When I decided I wanted to study international relations, I began participating in Model UN simulations. That’s when I noticed a pattern: many students in MUN shared the dream of studying abroad, so it kinda infected me a little bit.

My parents’ support made a big difference too. Every time I mentioned the idea of studying outside Brazil, my mom and dad would say, “That’s a great idea. You should go for it.” That encouragement gave me the confidence to see it as a real possibility.

But the true turning point came when I got accepted into the State University of Maranhão to study international relations. I was excited, I enrolled and started classes. Then, just one week in, there was a strike that ended up lasting six months. Halfway through my first semester, with no classes and no clear resolution, I dropped out. I realized, I don’t want this. I don’t want to go through strikes and instability when I’m trying to build my future.

That experience made everything click. Studying abroad wasn’t just a dream anymore—it was the clearest, most solid path forward. Between the early inspiration, my academic interests, my parents’ support, and the reality of Brazil’s public education system, I knew: I’m going to study abroad. Let’s do this.

When I started getting my university results, I got a bunch of rejections. So I started thinking about plan B. Like, okay, if it doesn’t work out, where do I go? And I decided to Lithuania. So yeah, if not the U.S., it would’ve been Lithuania.

Why Duke?

Duke was never my dream school — which is kind of funny, because for a lot of people, it is. I actually hadn’t even planned on applying. I didn’t think I had a real shot, so I had my eyes set on UNC-Chapel Hill instead, because they have a higher acceptance rate.

That changed on December 23rd. I was reviewing my supplemental essays with a mentor, and out of the blue, he said, “Why don’t you apply to Duke instead of UNC?” And I thought, “That actually makes sense”. So I decided to go for it and apply.

I wrote my Duke supplements in a day and a half. He reviewed them and said, “Looks good, go ahead and submit.” So I did.

And then—I got in. Which completely shocked me. I wasn’t expecting it at all. In fact, I didn’t even open my acceptance letter for a day and a half because I just couldn’t believe it might be real.

When I finally opened it, I was stunned. How am I going to a Top 5? A Top 6 school? It still feels surreal.

Stats & Tips

My stats are a bit complicated, mostly because my school uses a two-GPA system. We follow the same model of Brazil preparatory courses, so our exams are based on Brazil National Exam (ENEM). Our grades are influenced by TRI, the Item Response Theory model used in ENEM.

For example, if I got a 750 in the math section of a mock ENEM exam, I’d end up with an 8 (out of 10) as my final grade. But if I got a 750 in the humanities section, I’d get a 10. The scoring system is complex.

Taking all that into account, when TRI is applied and converted, my GPA would be a 3.8. But when I sat down to talk with U.S. admissions officers, they said my GPA would be a 3.2.

As for my SAT, I took it three times. It’s funny, actually. My first score was 1350, then the other two times I got lower scores, so I didn’t end up using my scores.

Also, I took the DET, and my final score was 130.

I'm definitely not the most qualified to give advice on the SAT. But if I had to give one, as super cliché as it sounds, it would be: don’t put too much pressure on yourself. I gave myself a lot of anxiety because of the SAT. It was honestly a huge problem in my life. So I don’t want other people stressing themselves out like me.

Extracurricular Activities

I used a risky technique in my activities session, that was: I picked the two activities that shaped my life and worldview the most, and I described them using four entries.

The first one is my volunteer work. I had the privilege of volunteering with refugees in the Middle East, specifically in Jordan, but also in Kenya, Africa. There, I worked with refugees and low-income communities. These were groups facing extreme international segregation, with little to no support from organizations like the UN.

In Jordan, I worked at a Syrian refugee camp, where I helped supervise activities alongside the team I was working with. In Kenya, I supported undocumented refugees from Somalia.

So I took two entries in the Common App: one to talk about the work in Jordan, and another to talk about Kenya.

I also included my work with social media at the organization I volunteered with. So basically, I used those two activity slots to talk about different, but connected, roles within the same organization. It wasn’t the same job exactly, but they complemented each other.

The second activity was my experience in academic research: I got to work with Dr. Amanda Madureira, she holds a PhD from the University of Seville and specializes in international organizations. I met her through my time at the State University of Maranhão, and she invited me to join an independent research group outside of the university. Through that group, I had the opportunity to publish a few pieces — expanded abstracts, peer-reviewed papers, journals.

Over the course of a year, I published four academic texts: one full article, two expanded abstracts, and one paper in a journal.

Personal Statement

I actually used an essay I had to write for another application as my personal statement. I obviously refined it to make it better thought out. My personal statement ended up being about missing home.

I grew up watching YouTube videos of teenagers going to high school in the U.S, and that sparked in me this deep desire… to miss home. And there’s also Gonçalves Dias, my favorite poet, who wrote a famous poem called 'Canção do Exílio', a poem about longing for home.

So I tied those two elements of my life together and shaped the essay around my desire to one day feel "saudade de casa" (missing my home). I wanted to leave Brazil, experience new cultures and communities, and finally feel that longing. I talk a lot about food and community and how it all came full circle during my volunteer work with refugees.

When I arrived in Jordan, that feeling finally hit: I missed home. I had reached that goal. But then I started working with refugees, and they missed home too. Only their longing wasn’t chosen. It was forced. They were forced to leave their homes.

And that’s when I realized: saudade de casa is a romanticized privilege. Because the real essence of missing home is having a place to return to, but refugees don’t have that. They have no home to go back to — their houses were bombed.

So I ended my personal statement with this reflection: Now, as someone who wants to work in international relations and public policy, my mission is to make sure everyone gets to miss home — but with a home to return to. Right now, I’m in my bedroom, in São Luís do Maranhão. These are my books and all the little things I’ve collected throughout my life. This is what makes me miss home. And refugees? What makes them miss home? The goal is to help rebuild that, to make sure that someday, they too can miss their little things.

Financial Aid

I received a full ride to study at Duke University. I only had to send a complete CSS Profile, and as the real currency is low, I was gifted with that.

My full ride covers everything from the normal costs such as tuition, room and board, to my airplane ticket.