Calling All Duke (Fuqua) 2011 Applicants

i think it was due to going for grad degree which took a big chunk of my time. I did try to apply for teaching but i needed teaching degree/cert and I tried to get into red cross here but the guy never got back to me... Plus i had 2 jobs in 5 years too..

I'm just riffing here but why not spin it in your favor by saying you haven't had a history of community activity because of time (school/work) pressure but are looking forward to contributing to Fuqua in a number of ways. Perhaps you could say something like..."the amount of hours I worked really showed me the importance of taking advantage of the short time I have. I chose to spend that time with my family and building a relationship with my long lost father"

Ok thats not a good one, unless it truly happened to you, but get creative. the point is there is always something you can say that is honest and will be more mitigating than "I was lazy"

Remember this is a marketing project.

At this point tell them what you want to add to TEAM FUQUA and how you will do it. Clubs, interests etc

I wouldn't mention the excuses you just wrote, they are pretty weak (the guy never got back to you? no offense but thats BS, please don't say that!)

Dear Prospectives,

If you are visiting Fuqua and are doing class visits this term (ending 10/15), I recommend you NOT sign up for the Finance tour. It is highly unrepresentative of our classes or the Finance department. Feel free to visit after this terms, since professors only teach once per year.

Sincerely,
asimov

That sounds like a story...

how long did you guys speak per question? like "tell me about urself", "goals" etc? With my practising i find my time being about 2 mins... i speak kinda fast though. Is this too low?

It was very conversational, so I feel like they'll dig down on something in a follow-up if they want to know more.

For the goals - is it OK to say i was planning to do xyz but zyx happened so it "rekindled" my interested in zyx industry instead of saying "i always wanted to do zyx"

^^^ of course, as long as its plausible. Shalesi calm down! you're gonna do great.

Just tell the truth - it's easy to remember and it will come across as genuine

where did you guys park? from the googlemap i see west circle parking lot the closest or the parking lot near the law center... hope not too crowded 8am
and did you guys brink drinks?

Just off science drive, visitors parking lot. Fuqua entrance (and admissions check-in) is a 1 minute walk. Use the following, just substitute recruiting with interview.

https://www.fuqua.duke.edu/mba_recruiting/recruit_now/campus_visit/

As everyone else mentioned, conversation was very casual.
I was initially asked default questions like(15 mins):
- why mba, why duke, why now and go through your resume.
(started story from childhood )
Second set were more specific (10 mins):
- How do u deal with conflict
- Leadership style
(I explained with examples even though not asked)

then more like(5 mins):
- toughest time in life
- achievement in life (i split it into personal and professional while answering)

some random questions i do not recollect now (10 mins)

then it was time for me to ask questions!

total : 45mins

she took about 1.5 pages of notes, not sure is that good or not!

This question is similar to the "walk me through your resume" type of questions. It basically gives you time to pitch yourself. 2 minutes is the right amount of time to spend on this questions. Most people find it hard to condense it down to 2 minutes, but it's encouraged to keep the pitch short and sweet. Any longer, you may lose the interviewer's interest.

The approach for this type of question is:
1) Introduction - "I graduated from XXX, and move into XYZ for my first job"
2) Job
...a) Description
...b) Skills gained
...c) Lessons learned
3) Transition
4) Job --> repeat step 2-3
5) Goals
...a) Why business school?
...b) Why Fuqua
......i) Reason #1
......ii) Reason #2
...c) Other information

Disclaimer: I'm not involved with the admissions process, this is the just general interview pointers given to us, adapted to b-school application.

Asimov,

Any details on why the finance tour is not representative? Thanks

OK. Back from duke... Was kinda a rollercoaster ride with plane delay and getting to Durham like 1am and getting 5hr sleep but 5 hour energy saved the day
Anyway, got there first at 8am for 9am interview - was gonna review but one of the students came and started chatting...basically chatted for 1hr till my interview time. Interviewer was a female and she was pretty nice. She asked the typical questions listed with some different ones like:
1. What would you do if your team member doesnt communicate with others.
2. give a 30 sec reason to adcom why Duke.
3. what type of leader are you.

For some questions I gave examples and she say "that's a good example" - not sure if she was being sarcastic or not though since i drew some examples from undergrad. At first I thought I was gonna have trouble getting timing right but the whole interview took ~1hr so i guess i talked enough to last that long . Overall I think i did fine although I did get a bit flustered on one question - kinda scattered some examples around. I did mention gmat club a couple of times

Hi fellow Duke EA applicants,
I sent my application during the Early Round. Today, many questions started flying in my head, because I have not heard from the school by now.

I know that the school sends the interview invites by October 25th (I did not sigh up for the self-initiated interview). But do they notify everyone, even you are NOT invited for an interview (and thus, the application will not be further considered)?

Has anyone from the Early Round already heard back from Duke regarding the interview?

Thanks!

I'm trying to get a feel of the schools i'm going to apply next year,
and found this funny video. Made by Duke MBA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCF4fm0Fuzk