Duke (Fuqua) 2013 - Calling All Applicants

Just had my interview over Skype with an adcom member. I think he got the time mixed up so it ended up being 1 hour later than what was communicated earlier, so by the time it started it was 11 PM where I was ^^; I wore a suit, but my interviewer was just wearing a sweatshirt.

The questions I got were basically why MBA, why Duke, strengths & weaknesses, and getting to know me as a person, but they were phrased differently so some of them kinda threw me off a bit. For example, he started with something like "tell me about where you are in life right now" so I answered with what I typically would with a "walk me through your resume" question. But I was mentally scrambling for a second or two there. He didn't have a question list (as far as I could tell), and made some notes.

He seemed to have a 45-min time limit because as soon as we hit the mark, he rushed to end the interview abruptly. Overall, it was more like a question & answer and less conversational than what I had expected.

are R2 decisions released on the same day?

My understanding is that they're released on Mar 18 via system/email. With phone calls typically coming that or following days.

New tuition rates for Duke's graduate and professional schools in 2013-14 have been set:
-- Fuqua School of Business: $55,300 (daytime MBA), up 4.5 percent.


ouch

Guys' does anyone know anything about Duke's scholarship stats and when do they inform of scholarship decisions?

something like 1/3rd of the class gets some sort of a scholarship. They inform you within a few days of your acceptance by phone call, and also a letter in your admit package.

For those who interviewed in Durham, what was the dress code that you adhered to? Just trousers and dress shirt? No suits, no tie?I know the emails they sent out mentioned business casual, but I'm just taking an informal survey anyway. Appreciate it!

When I was there about 50% were wearing suits and 50% were wearing either shirt/tie or shirt/sports coat. All depends on what you feel more confident in.

ahh don't remind. Is MBA really worth it? Well, I am not going to worry about the tution until I get in somewhere.

When I was there, none of the interviewers were wearing a suit but all of the interviewees were in suits

I think I was probably the last to interview for R2 today at 4:00, I feel like I had a good interview and everyone else I talked to seemed to have a good interview as well, so I have no idea what that means about how they are going to select. There's no question I received during the interview that has not been previously mentioned on this thread. Good luck everyone.

They will review our app again and try to connect it with our interview responses. The countdown begins. I can't wait to put on my Duke T-shirt.

I just had my interview in SF. Very conversational, no curve balls - standard questions. Why MBA? Why Duke? How will you contribute? What do you like to do for fun? Good luck everyone!

Just completed my interview in Shanghai. My interview lasted exactly 45 minutes, and most of the questions (at least early on) were on the list on page 56.

I was a bit surprised that I wasn't asked more about my strengths/weaknesses, though we discussed in some detail the challenges I have faced in my career to date. I could have done a better job of explaining why I am changing industries, and nearly referred to Durham as Darden (oh noes!). Fortunately I caught myself.

My interviewer was a recent alumna, and I was frankly quite impressed. She is in my target industry, so I hope that my explanation of what I expected post-Duke were on-track.

There are a few hours of activities in Shanghai this afternoon, and I hope to gain a bit of further insight/leave a bit of an impression.

Zomba, it was nice meeting you at the Fuqua session today. We'll have many things to share on "how to raise a baby" in the future if we are both lucky enough to make it to Fuqua. Good luck, man.

Likewise, omnivorous. Quite a few impressive folks this afternoon at the networking event. Best of luck!

Of the ~25 applicants that I met today, nearly all would be solid admits. I was more impressed with this group than many of the others I've seen (even from schools that may be more 'prestigious'). The extensive networking time was a nice touch, as I wasn't able to spend time with fellow applicants at other hub interviews. Such an event really gave me a brief glimpse of 'Team Fuqua' in action. We are all stuck in the same waiting game now, I guess. Best of luck to all!

Everything sounds good except this piece of advice. I know my situation in NYC will be different than somebody at Duke but still... With the stress of classes, clubs, job hunting and massive piles of debt the last thing my wife and I would want right now is to add kids to that mix. Having a baby during b-school would be terrible. Don't get me wrong, we want kids eventually but ~5 years from now sounds much better!