Calling All Duke Fall 2010 Applicants! (MERGED)

I applied - fingers crossed! My essay was <400 words. I just tried to answer the question without being too elaborate. The website says an invitation to the weekend doesn't guarantee admission, so I'd like to think it works both ways. If your message is consistent, I can't imagine it counting against you. Go for it!

aaudetat, do you know if there is any impact on admission?

Quick question for everyone...On the Educational Background section of the app it asks for all college level quantitative coursework. What did everyone use to determine whether a course should be considered quantitative or not?

2. Discuss a person, event, or experience that has significantly shaped your life and explain why.

Can i discuss about a personal experience?
An experience that motivated me to contribute in a higher level for community improvement.
But it has got absolutely nothing to do with my career goals, or my current position in life or my decision to goto Fuqua. In other words, it only shaped my values. Not my life.

Does it still fit into this essay?

My recollection is that they don't compare the two, but I can't swear it. I think it's fine if you are somewhat redundant, but I wouldn't want to be too divergent. I.E., don't say you are really excited about becoming a consultant and then change it to HSM in pharma sales.

If you've got the time to apply to and then attend W4W, DO IT! It's a great experience and the admit rate for W4W attendees is higher than that of non-attendees.

It should be a class that uses a lot of numbers...what is the course you're thinking of?

Hey guys, quick question. I signed up for the Open Interview and have that next weekend. Originally I was planning on applying R1 but dont think my essays are quite where they should be at this point. I was curious if they'll still use my interview this weekend if I were to apply R2 instead? Does anyone know if the Open Interview period is only for those applying EA and R1?

In the past, your interview could be used anytime throughout that application season - so an interview in October would count for an R3 application. I don't know if they would have changed this practice with the new interview process or not. My guess is you're good, but if you can't find it on the site, I'd shoot off an email.

A personal experience is perfectly appropriate. And I would say that your values shape your life. Being inspired to give back to your community changes your life: if nothing else, it's several hours a week where you're not sitting on that couch. But I would guess you are also learning from those experiences and the way you see the world also changes.

Thanks! I initially had the same thought.
But the some admission consultants have analysed by stressing the phrase "Shaped your life".
So i was wondering if that event should be a factor that determined my career path and the personal goals!
However, your reply assures that i haven't grossly misunderstood the question! I'll go ahead with that!
thanks

I am an international applicant planning for Round2.
I totally love Duke. But I am put off by the internship statistics for class of 2010.
Only 54% of the international students could secure an internship by may-09.
Is it not a bit too low? How can career switchers cope with this scenario?
May be it is the same with most of the schools in the same league that haven't released their data yet (say Ross, Darden, Cornell)

Any thoughts?

It seems there might be a few people from this forum at Durham this weekend (Nov6-8). Anyone interested in meeting up ?

Hi All

Does anybody hve an idea of what happens to applicants who were waitlisted for i/w in the EA round. I am an international applicant and hve not heard from fuqua after getting waitlisted.

Duke's essay limit of 10pt font, 1.5 lines, 2 pages is a bit more that I see on some other schools I am looking at. On some of the essays I am having trouble getting near the max.

Anyone submitting under the max limit?

One of my essays was a little under the max as it was probably only 1 and 3/4 pages. I think it's fine to be under the maximum as long as you've still answered the essay question well with what you've written. I didn't want to write an extra 1/4 page of filler information that didn't really add anything or that was extraneous.

How much weight does Duke put on showing interest through a campus visit or other event? I (unfortunately) did not sign up for an open interview in time and will have to settle for trying to be invited to interview. Would it be a better decision to visit the school and submit my application in R2 or to submit in R1 and not worry about it? Some other schools (such as Stanford and Sloan) note that R1 is usually less competitive than R2 based on the # of applicants. Is this true for Duke? I haven't even attended an information session yet though I have spoken with multiple alumni. I'm scheduled for an information session in my home area, but it's not until early December. It apparently gives you the discount to a $50 application fee but is not going to do me much good in terms of showing interest in the school prior to them reviewing my application.

I'm from New England, in case it matters.

Ok, I"m talking just from my experience here, but here's how I see it:
Lots of prospects first visit the school for their interview. I did, lots of my friends did, etc. I really don't think it hurts you, especially if you've done your homework. (And I'm putting aside the whole "your campus visit will provide rich fodder for your essays" argument.) If your app is ready to go R1, then by all means go R1. You will have a better chance for getting admitted for two reasons:
1. Yes, there are fewer apps in R1 than in R2.

2. Duke handles the waitlst in an interesting way. If you are waitlisted in R1, then you will be reviewed against R2 and R3. If you get waitliest in R2, then you are only reviewed against R3.

That's my take. Also, the open-interview process is new this year. THey just won't have the data to make decisions based on when students interviewed.

I'll be in Durham this weekend and would definitely be up for meeting up. I get in late Friday night and then have my tour/interview Saturday morning but I'm basically free after that. Let me know what your plans are.