Duke vs. UNC

I flew to NC this weekend to interview at UNC and Duke, and I have to say, I was thoroughly unimpressed by Duke. When I arrived for my interview, it looked like I'd been invited to a disorganized cattle call. There were 50 people waiting to interview, and maybe 7 or 8 student ambassadors to greet prospective candidates. I didn't feel welcome at all. In fact, for the first 10 minutes I was there, I nervously leafed through some papers I brought, because all the ambassadors were talking to other people. I truly felt like an outsider. When one ambassador finally did talk to me, I was disappointed by his demeanor. He was a terrible conversationalist. Every question I asked him resulted in a one or two word answer. I wanted to jump ship from the conversation, but there was really nobody else to talk to. Eventually, I was called for my interview, and I couldn't believe that I flew all the way to NC to get interviewed by a 2nd year student, rather than an adcom. Though the student was nice enough, I felt he lacked in the personality department. Though Duke has a great brand name, I cannot see myself going to a school that runs a disorganized admissions process. And to boot, it seems that many others had similar experiences to me.

On the other hand, UNC was an amazing experience. I got there and was immediately welcomed by a student ambassador. I was swiftly taken in for my interview with an Adcom (not a student), and as soon as that ended, there were four ambassadors waiting to take my group of eight prospective students to lunch. UNC paid for our lunch, and the student ambassadors were laid back, personable, and enthusiastic. I really felt welcomed. After lunch, the ambassadors took the group on a guided tour of the building, and answered each and every question posed by the prospective students. Honestly, it was night and day when compared with Duke.

I know many of you are concerned with brand name, and certainly, Duke wins out over UNC in that category. But for my money, I'd rather enroll in a school with motivated, enthusiastic students than a school filled with "dial tones." Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are plenty of smart people at Duke, but in your journey to find the right MBA program, remember that you have to spend two years of your lives with these people. I encourage anyone considering Duke to fly out and visit the school. You would not want to commit your time, money, and energy to this place (or any other school) without seeing if your fellow classmates are going to be a personality match. Duke was honestly one of my top school choices before I visited, now it's down near the bottom of my list.