Duke (Fuqua) 2013 - Calling All Applicants

When I interviewed in October, about half the interviewees were in business casual and the other half, including me, were in business formal. The general rule I have heard about Fuqua interviews is: wear what makes you most comfortable (emotionally, physically, etc.).

I have a question: By being invited to interview at Duke, does that mean we have already crossed all the stats based hurdles? (Gmat, GPA etc). I am a low GPA candidate who's been invited to interview. So was wondering if just demonstrating fit at the interview meant i would get admission.

Sure hope so, I've got a pretty low GMAT myself so I'm hoping at this point it's more about the fit with the school and demonstrating your speaking and people skills.

I think the interview is one aspect of the overall application package - fit is probably one of many evaluation metrics. A stellar candidate may not get dinged just because of a poor showing on an interview. A borderline candidate may get ding with a mediocre interview.

hi, Uhmm... so how does WL work? your interview status changed in the following round and you interviewed. If you don't get final decision by summer orientation, you have to take that as a No and reapply?
I thought if you were wailisted, you would hear the decision in the corresponding term whether admitted or denied.

My previous post on page 19 of this thread (duke-fuqua-2013-calling-all-applicants-134412-360.html#p1135273) gives a fairly detailed overview of the WL process (also reposted below).



Hope that helps!

I'm planning to apply in R2 (January) and torn between visiting the campus in the month of Dec before I submit the application and waiting for an interview invite.

Can anyone (esp. current students and re-applicants) please weigh in on how Fuqua views the campus vists? Do they carry a lot of weight from the adcom's perspective?

In terms of knowing the school, I am in touch with two of my college alums who are current students at Fuqua and I also know few alums who I'm planning to talk to extensively as I frame my essays this month. I know visiting the campus is a different experience but trying to see if that adds value to my application at this point. Suggestions are welcome

Here was my process:

Applied R2
On R2 Interview Invite: Not Invited
On R2 Decision Date: Waitlisted with Interview
On R3 Interview Invite: Invited
On R3 Decision Date: Waitlisted

And then I was on Waitlist until the first day of the Summer Orientation (which for WL applicants, is a good sign because it usually means you are good but there just isn't enough space). I took this signal in hand and then applied EA for Class of 2015. From the time I was taken off the WL (Aug 1 or something), it was only about 6 weeks until EA apps were due on Sept. 19. While on the WL however, I received a significant promotion, raise, and took two classes at UCLA extension (Mathematics for Management and Business Economics) to provide an alternative transcript, I don't know how much that helped though.

Another note is that while I was on the WL, I sent an update letter mentioning the raise and promotion and got another letter of recommendation sent in. All of this was in hopes of getting off the WL and matriculating with the class of 2014 but it didn't happen. It did signal strong interest from me that Duke was my top choice throughout 2012 so it helped with my overall story.

For more information, I followed this thread closely: /forum/calling-all-duke-2011-fuqua-applicants-94420-2440.html (add the gmatclub domain since I cannot post links. Mods, please remove if this is against policy, I am trying to be helpful. Readers, start from page 123 as the posts are now in May and the overall conversation shifts from accepted applicants to waitlist applicants.)

Moki, the answer to this really depends on where you are currently at. If you are already close to the campus, it seems like visiting would be a no brainer and it will just be a matter of timing. If you are much further (such as on the West Coast or even international), it would be really hard to justify a visit "just because". You are already outside the open interview period so if you make a class visit now, you would have to make another one when you get invited to interview.

Also, class visits now might be limited since after Dec. 11, the school is on Winter Break. I'm not sure you will get the experience you are looking for if you visit after then. Even if you visit the week of Dec 3 to Dec 11 (basically this week), class visits may not host non-interviewees since you have to reserve class visits through the system. You might want to double check with the admissions office for this.

However, I know everyone's financial and travel flexibility varies so ultimately it is up to you.

Thanks jontron, thats makes perfect sense. I should have mentioned this earlier but I'm based out of Seattle. I wasn't able to justify a visit this month and hence wanted to get some other opinions on this.

Thanks for the info on Winter break, for some reason I thought that won't be until Dec 20th or so

Moki, check this website out: https://www.fuqua.duke.edu/events/

It shows that the list of Information Sessions that you can attend. For West Coast applicants, this is a more practical way of signaling interest than flying across the country (although it was worth every penny when I made the two trips). It shows that Dec. 10 is the closest one in SF but still, I'm not sure how practical it is. The thing is, RSVPing for the event and attending gets you a discounted application fee (it was $100 off last year, didnt get the discount when I re-applied). More proof that Duke is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to encouraging applicants to experience Team Fuqua!

Jontron, I got the discount when I re-applied. Your reapplication status does not affect the application fee reduction eligibility; to get the fee reduction, you have to register and attend a qualified Fuqua event (e.g., an actual information session as opposed to a generic MBA fair), input your information into the application, and receive confirmation of your fee reduction. I attended qualifying events both last year and this year, so I paid $125 for each application cycle.

Oops, I should have made it clear that I only attended one information session which was held during my first application. I tried to attend another one before the EA deadline as a reapplicant but adcom didn't have any Info Session scheduled for Southern California. Thanks for your added information for everyone!

So I'm interviewing next Monday. Can anyone really settle this whole suit versus business casual debate? For some reason, this is weighing on me, but I know it probably shouldn't.

You aren't going to get dinged if you wear business casual and you aren't guaranteed admission if you wear a suit. Wear whichever makes you comfortable. If a suit will allow your real personality to come out then certainly wear that, vice versa.

For me, this was a business school interview and I dressed in a suit because it made me most comfortable. At the end of the day, the best tip I've come across was "You want to be remembered for what you say and how you conduct yourself, not by what you wear." I think that saying holds true for both suit and business casual.

Check out my post on the previous page. In short, go with your gut.

Can anyone share its interview experience please? I am having mine this Friday!!