Ok, this is my recollection of a conversation I had with Liz Riley Hargrove last summer:
1. Is about your career. Where are you going, and why? How will Duke get you there?
3. Is about YOU, as a person. How will you fit into our community? Why do you want to be there? How will you contribute? How will you grow?
I can definitey see that there might be some overlap. For example, the very team-oriented, consensus-driven culture of Fuqua resonated on a personal level. At the same time (and in hindsight), I see that that culture really prepared me to succeed in my current job, where the culture is similar to that of Fuqua. Some arbitrary line-drawing is probably necessary.
Does that help?
2012dreams
any thoughts on attacking question 1 vs question 3? of course question 1 is the typical "career goals" but the second part seems to be asking "why Duke" and question 3 is all about fit/why duke. seems like i'm answering the same question twice. should i leave the second part of question 1 more generic and just make it "why an MBA"?
questions posted for reference:
1. Describe your vision for your career, your inspiration for pursuing this career path, and
the role of The Duke MBA in achieving your goals (
this seems like why Duke). If you are interested in a specific concentration or joint degree program, please discuss in this essay.
3. Individuals choose a business school for many different reasons. Through your research, what attributes or characteristics of The Duke MBA program have most resonated with you and why? (
this is definitely why Duke) How do you plan to contribute to the strengthening and enhancement of those attributes and characteristics during your time at Duke and beyond?