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kple12
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 22 Jul 2013, 09:41
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Any chance that retention graph is something like this ES? :)

Actually we've seen studies on this and the curve is pretty much totally down and to the right. If anything, you can get a hit right after lunch but the afternoon people all blur together. Thought we'd blahgged about this but now can't find the post. Need to do that...
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Thanks for this!

Scheduled my interview for Saturday, September 28th in the morning~

Just wondering, is there a negative correlation with Saturday interviews? That would be my only fear since it's technically not a work day so I fear interviewers might be like "dam this kid for dragging me out here at 10 in the morning on my day off..."
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 22 Jul 2013, 09:47
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kple12
Just wondering, is there a negative correlation with Saturday interviews? That would be my only fear since it's technically not a work day so I fear interviewers might be like "dam this kid for dragging me out here at 10 in the morning on my day off..."
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With Fuqua you're interviewing with second-years and many of them are likely to be around campus on a Saturday anyway. The only risk is that they might be a little hung over from Friday night. ;-)
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asimov
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 22 Jul 2013, 18:10
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essaysnark
Actually we've seen studies on this and the curve is pretty much totally down and to the right. If anything, you can get a hit right after lunch but the afternoon people all blur together. Thought we'd blahgged about this but now can't find the post. Need to do that...
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The interviewers do not interview all day. They have specific slots. AdCom even attempts to match you up interviewers with similar background when possible. Thus, even if you interview after lunch, it may be their first interview of the day.

Just schedule the interview for the best time for you.
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kple12
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 23 Jul 2013, 05:41
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FYI, the online application is up!
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 23 Jul 2013, 06:46
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asimov
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Actually we've seen studies on this and the curve is pretty much totally down and to the right. If anything, you can get a hit right after lunch but the afternoon people all blur together. Thought we'd blahgged about this but now can't find the post. Need to do that...

The interviewers do not interview all day. They have specific slots. AdCom even attempts to match you up interviewers with similar background when possible. Thus, even if you interview after lunch, it may be their first interview of the day.

Just schedule the interview for the best time for you.
Show more

Thanks asimov - you're right, of course - when we posted that, we weren't thinking of Duke specifically; the advice we offered is instead relevant to schools like HBS, MIT and NYU where they have a core set of interviewers who do back-to-back interviews all day long. It also applies to on-campus recruiting. But thanks for the correction re: Duke, it's a different situation entirely!

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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 23 Jul 2013, 06:53
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kple12
FYI, the online application is up!
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And the essays are identical to last year after all! Which is great, given how awesome these questions are - our informal survey last year put Duke in the winner of the "best essays" contest.

The Duke questions:

DukeAdcom
Required Short Answer Questions: Answer all 3 questions. For each short answer question, respond in 250 characters only (the equivalent of about 50 words).

1. What are your short-term goals, post-MBA?
2. What are your long-term goals?
3. Life is full of uncertainties, and plans and circumstances can change. As a result, navigating a career requires you to be adaptable. Should the short-term goals that you provided above not materialize what alternative directions have you considered?

Required Essays: Answer both essay questions

1. The "Team Fuqua" spirit and community is one of the things that sets The Duke MBA experience apart, and it is a concept that extends beyond the student body to include faculty, staff, and administration. When a new person joins the Admissions team, we ask that person to share with everyone in the office a list of "25 Random Things About Yourself." As an Admissions team, we already know the new hire's professional and academic background, so learning these "25 Random Things" helps us get to know someone's personality, background, special talents, and more.

In this spirit, the Admissions Committee also wants to get to know you–beyond the professional and academic achievements listed in your resume and transcript. You can share with us important life experiences, your likes/dislikes, hobbies, achievements, fun facts, or anything that helps us understand what makes you who you are. Share with us your list of "25 Random Things" about YOU.

Please present your response in list form, numbered 1 to 25. Some points may be only a few words, while others may be longer. Your complete list should not exceed 2 pages.

2. When asked by your family, friends, and colleagues why you want to go to Duke, what do you tell them? Share the reasons that are most meaningful to you.

Your response to this essay question should be no more than 2 pages in length. Please respond fully and concisely using 1.5 line spacing.
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These will be a lot of work for you but they will also let you shine. Good luck everyone!!

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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 23 Jul 2013, 09:20
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Any suggestions on how re-applicants should tackle 25-things essay?
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 23 Jul 2013, 09:43
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jumsumtak
Any suggestions on how re-applicants should tackle 25-things essay?
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I think that's one of the questions where we are not expected to show a significant deviation; I was very satisfied with my essay last year, so I think I will only change 4-5, but keep rest the same. Were you waitlisted last year?
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 23 Jul 2013, 10:07
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hailmary
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Any suggestions on how re-applicants should tackle 25-things essay?

I think that's one of the questions where we are not expected to show a significant deviation; I was very satisfied with my essay last year, so I think I will only change 4-5, but keep rest the same.
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This one is tricky. While we agree with what you're saying in concept hailmary, the fact is that you didn't make it in with that essay last year. Sure, if done well, the 25 Things represent the "core you" - meaning, they are things that would not change in a year. However, this is a new opportunity. Taking a clean-slate approach is always recommended in terms of presenting a fresh pitch. We'd strongly suggest that reapplicants look at this with new eyes and see what might be seen.

Admittedly, not very helpful in terms of what you should actually DO with this essay as a reapplicant... but definitely this will challenge you to show your very best to the school (not that you didn't try to do that last year...).

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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 23 Jul 2013, 10:44
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This one is tricky. While we agree with what you're saying in concept hailmary, the fact is that you didn't make it in with that essay last year. Sure, if done well, the 25 Things represent the "core you" - meaning, they are things that would not change in a year. However, this is a new opportunity. Taking a clean-slate approach is always recommended in terms of presenting a fresh pitch. We'd strongly suggest that reapplicants look at this with new eyes and see what might be seen.

Admittedly, not very helpful in terms of what you should actually DO with this essay as a reapplicant... but definitely this will challenge you to show your very best to the school (not that you didn't try to do that last year...).

EssaySnark
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I agree with what you saying, but the problem is: What if you were a weak candidate and the 25 random things essay is what helped you get on waitlist, and not in the ding pile, early on. Most of my random things were about my childhood, upbringing, adversities and accomplishments - none of those stuff will change or should be changed. Obviously, you can change the wordings, but the actual content will not change.

I think adcom should shed some light on how reapps should approach this essay. This is a tricky one.
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 23 Jul 2013, 17:49
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Great to see essays are out.

I also booked my interview and other things for a visit - super excited!
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 23 Jul 2013, 19:54
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Once Fuqua updates profiles with Class of 2015, it should give a taste of how students answered the "25 random things" question. It is still interesting to see what students not under admission pressure said in their "5 random things."

https://www.fuqua.duke.edu/daytime-mba/s ... /profiles/
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 23 Jul 2013, 21:44
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hailmary
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Any suggestions on how re-applicants should tackle 25-things essay?

I think that's one of the questions where we are not expected to show a significant deviation; I was very satisfied with my essay last year, so I think I will only change 4-5, but keep rest the same. Were you waitlisted last year?
Show more

I'm a reapplicant too. I'm thinking of changing some points to make it current too/provide personal updates on myself since my last application, but a bulk of it will probably be the same.

For the other essays, I'm going to make minor changes to my essays, since I know they can be tighter/more coherent and I've learned a few more things about Fuqua since last time (especially for the "Why Fuqua?" essay).
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 25 Jul 2013, 10:07
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hailmary
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This one is tricky. While we agree with what you're saying in concept hailmary, the fact is that you didn't make it in with that essay last year. Sure, if done well, the 25 Things represent the "core you" - meaning, they are things that would not change in a year. However, this is a new opportunity. Taking a clean-slate approach is always recommended in terms of presenting a fresh pitch. We'd strongly suggest that reapplicants look at this with new eyes and see what might be seen.

Admittedly, not very helpful in terms of what you should actually DO with this essay as a reapplicant... but definitely this will challenge you to show your very best to the school (not that you didn't try to do that last year...).

EssaySnark

I agree with what you saying, but the problem is: What if you were a weak candidate and the 25 random things essay is what helped you get on waitlist, and not in the ding pile, early on. Most of my random things were about my childhood, upbringing, adversities and accomplishments - none of those stuff will change or should be changed. Obviously, you can change the wordings, but the actual content will not change.

I think adcom should shed some light on how reapps should approach this essay. This is a tricky one.
Show more


Agreed. This is weird. The story related questions are the easier ones to tackle in reapps.

It's similar to a resume in the sense that, assuming I thought about my accomplishments exhaustively and included the best from them in my initial application's resume, the job I had 4 years ago and have since left isn't going to change and I'm therefore sending in the same stuff. It sucks but unfortunately, my time machine's broken...
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 25 Jul 2013, 10:16
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hookemhorns612
It's similar to a resume in the sense that, assuming I thought about my accomplishments exhaustively and included the best from them in my initial application's resume, the job I had 4 years ago and have since left isn't going to change and I'm therefore sending in the same stuff. It sucks but unfortunately, my time machine's broken...
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The bulk of the resume is not expected to change in a reapp - maybe that's exactly what you meant, but just in case, thought we should state that. It should definitely be updated and hopefully there's at least a new bullet or two at the top showing new achievements in your current role - but full overhaul, no, not required (provided it was done well the first time of course!!).
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 26 Jul 2013, 13:33
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Just booked my interview and other visit events. I'll be down 9/26 - 9/28.
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 27 Jul 2013, 21:46
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sdd996
Just booked my interview and other visit events. I'll be down 9/26 - 9/28.
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I'm also heading to Fuqua that weekend; I'm sure I'll see you around.
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 28 Jul 2013, 17:43
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I scheduled my visit and Interview for weekend of October 12th. I will be there from Thursday through Saturday and try to experience the life at Duke.

Any suggestions on hotels?

Any one else going the same weekend?
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 28 Jul 2013, 17:55
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kple12
FYI, the online application is up!
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It's not up. Where do you see it?
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Fuqua (Duke) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants! 28 Jul 2013, 19:40
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Our first GMAT Club essay review went up recently - and it's a Duke essay!

In case you missed it:

Duke Essay 2 review

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