Calling All Duke Fall 2010 Applicants! (MERGED)

And here's the outside of the party....

When does Rush Week start? I hope I can get a bid to pledge a good house.

Just so I'm clear on this - you can schedule an interview for a date prior to when you actually apply?

I had planned on visiting Fuqua in Sep/Oct just as a normal campus visit, since I did not have the chance to visit this past spring. I'm tempted to wrap an interview in there as well, but then again, I wouldn't be able to adequately respond to any questions similar to "Why Fuqua?" Are these open interviews of a different format? Would it be looked down upon if I came and visited but did not schedule an interview, expecting/hoping to be invited back in December? Is it the norm for first time visitors to come and interview?

Oh Lord, if I end up at Duke, I hope the Toga party doesn't become an annual tradition. I think Toga parties should be reserved for Animal House.

About the interviews - The only dates that are available for self-selecting interviews are prior to the deadline. I don't know what to think about the interview process. I've already visited and didn't really want to visit again, but I didn't anticipate this invitation interview policy when they announced alumni interviews. Now I'm thinking I should probably just bite the bullet and go there for an interview.

For people that haven't looked at it yet, do! There are very few days available.

mba12tech - one other thing i forgot to say. Fuqua has Saturday interviews, so you could do the whole class visit thing on a Friday, try to develop a quick friend to invite you to Fuqua Friday and then interview on Saturday. If you did it that way, you'd have good momentum for your interview.

So, the application was supposed to go live today. Now the site says it will be ready by 4 SEP. No big deal I guess, but if you're applying early, that gives you just about one month for your recommendations. That's kind of tight considering these folks are doing you a favor and Fuqua has, in the past, not wanted a normal letter of rec...

Hi all,

I’m trying to decide whether or not to apply to Duke this year. For those current students and those set on applying to Duke, I was wondering if you can share why you decided on Duke? What kind of advantages does Duke have over other similarly ranked program?

Also, how important is the self initiated interview in to the application process?

tia

Lame. I realize that things come up, but it seems like especially as a business school they should meet their own dates (or not post them). I'll let it slide since I love Duke

It really is a tight timeline for the EA'ers. Good luck to you guys!

The application is finally available.

I'm in the same boat... trying to decide whether to apply to Duke. I'd also be very interested to hear current students' or prospective applicants' "why duke" answer. Particularly, why Duke over Michigan? Thanks!!

I had a very specific set of criteria, but most of my reasons are specific to me. So I don't know how much help I'll be, but wanted to at least provide you guys with some answer. Maybe if you provide for specifics about what you're looking for in a school, people can offer better advice. For a comparison, Duke felt a lot like Kellogg to me.

My first criteria was that it have a health care program, so this was one of the main differentiators for me. In addition, I looked at employers websites and Duke was a targeted campus (because of their health care program).

Here's kind of a run down of my why from my essays.
Duke seems to have a really tight student body and really does seem like a family atmosphere. Of all the schools I visited (I haven't visited Ross yet), I thought Duke students were the most willing to go out of their way to help you (again, Kellogg is probably a very close second in this regard).

The faculty seem pretty involved.

Duke seems focused on how business helps the community around it, which is pretty important to me.

They really do have a student run culture (again, really similar to Kellogg in this regard I think), administration definitely seems very reactive to student needs.

Duke lets you take a lot of electives (especially in the first year).

How strong would you guys say is Duke's Alumni network overall? Have any of you actually heard grads or second year students speak about their experience with the Duke alumni network being a strong component to their career success?

Thanks,
Disco

The Duke network is obviously not as large as that of some schools: we've only been around a few decades and we also don't have especially large classes - we've only been over 400/class for the past few years.

However, I have found Duke alum to be helpful. There are a few where I work, and they helped a lot as I was on my way in.

How strong is Duke in finance vis-a-vis UNC.
I noticed that in the Current year employment stats - Investment management & Equity research have zero placements.

snipertrader,

I was wondering the exact same thing but cannot find an answer to it. Please let me know if you find any insight.

Sure thing. Have you tried looking through 2008/7 placement stats. Maybe they could shed some light.
2009 has been an outlier of sorts

Booked my interview for Saturday, November 7th. Figured I should take advantage of the guaranteed interview. Anyone else going to be around that weekend. I'm scheduled to get in late Friday night, tour in the morning and then interview late morning. Should have some free time after that.

The dress code says business casual for both the tour and the interview, but I'm not sure I totally feel comfortable with that. Would prefer to dress business attire, but don't want to come off as snooty. What is your advice?