Calling All Duke Fall 2010 Applicants! (MERGED)

I am also applying to Duke in R2. I visited Duke yesterday and attended a class. It was quite good. Students were very friendly.

Im in for R1.

Had my on campus interview today. Went well, was pretty straight forward:

Walk me through resume.
Why MBA/Duke?
Goals?
Give me an example of a time you lead a team and it didnt work out?
Give me an example of a time it DID work out - or something you are proud of?
How would you deal with someone in a group who wasnt contributing at a high level?
If you were a second year student and were interviewing an applicant and could only ask one question what would it be? How would you answer that question?
How will you contribute to Duke?
If admitted what will be your biggest challenge at Duke?

I think thats about it. It lasted about 45 mins with about 10 mins of me asking questions. Good luck to all.

I just submitted...it's officially out of my control. I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing yet. Either way, here begins the two month waiting game.

It sounds like there was lots of GMATClub action in Durham this weekend - let us all know how it went!!

I interviewed today as well.

All the applicants wait in a giant room, and talk amongst themselves or with current students while they wait for their name to be called. The students are extremely personable, and they do a great job putting people at ease (well, that was my experience at least).

My interviewer came to pick me up, and we made small talk as we walked. Once we arrived at the interview room, he explained the process – blind interview, he doesn’t see my application, focus on reasons behind my decisions (not necessarily decision itself), etc. etc.

1.) Walk me through your resume.
2.) Why would you leave your company NOW to pursue a full-time MBA? Why not pursue a part-time MBA?
3.) Why Duke?
4.) What’s your most significant career accomplishment? You most significant personal accomplishment?
5.) How have you influenced/motivated a team where you had no formal authority over its members?
6.) What clubs interest you? What else about Fuqua excites you?
7.) Businesses are becoming much more globally distributed and successful leaders must interact with individuals who come from all sorts of backgrounds. Tell me about a time when you experienced this kind of diversity.
8.) What’s your leadership style?
9.) Tell me something about yourself that’s not in your application or resume.
10.) Any questions? I asked four (he surprisingly left plenty of time for questions at the end, so we just chatted for awhile before we wrapped up).

Overall, a great experience. Duke’s campus is beautiful and the facilities are top-notch. One student mentioned that Fuqua loves when applicants visit because, for many, it’s the first time they actually see how amazing the student body is and how spacious the facilities really are. Now I just need to cross my fingers and hope for some good news on January 18th! Best of luck, all…

Hey guys, also had my interview/campus tour today. I was blown away by the facilities and the campus. I had visited the main campus when touring schools for undergrad and was impressed, the business school was even better. The students that I talked with were extremely friendly, grounded and extremely welcoming. Like the above poster mentioned we all waited in a side room and had plenty of opportunity to mingle with each other (I was there at 8:30 for my 9:00 tour which then turned into 10:00 tour because the first was so full). Following the tour I had my interview which I believe went pretty well. EXTREMELY laid back. Interviewing with a 2nd year student was extremely refreshing and turned very conversational. In fact, I'm pretty sure I only got 6 questions over the span of about 50 minutes:

1). How have your current career choices placed you where you are today, at Fuqua?
2). What do you hope to gain from a Fuqua MBA?
3). 3 strengths/weaknesses
4). When have you overcome an obstacle?
5). Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult team member/leader?

Obviously then we took some time to discuss my questions and then spent about 10 minutes just talking about her experiences and back and forth about various things.

All in all a great time, and I can say that honestly. I really enjoyed my interview, the campus tour, and the opportunity to talk with other applicants before hand. Fuqua has now moved into my Top 1a, 1b, 1c with Kellogg and Darden.

I just came back from Durham..and it seems a lot of folks beat me to posting the experience here !!
I attended a class, took the lunch tour and had my interview. As everyone else has mentioned- it was very relaxed and conversational.
- Walk me through ur resume
- why mba? why fuqua?
- 2 things u want to improve upon while at fuqua
- how would u engage with the community outside of the classroom
- one obstacle/failure
- what kind of a leader are u
- experience with a diverse team
- conflict resolution experience

Lasted 45 minutes including about 10 mins at end for my questions.
If any of you guys visit on a Friday, def check out Fuqua Friday. Campus and facilities are top-notch.

There is no mention about the number of words anywhere.
If i use Times new roman size 10, i can write upto 1200 words. If i use Verdana, i can get only 800!

Is a 1200 word essay going to be acceptable?

I hope so, because mine are in Times 10 point font 1.5 spacing, two pages!

If you have an interesting essay and can write 1200 meaningful words, go for it. No need to fill out the 1200 if you can get it done in less, but I dont think you should be afraid to use all the space because they have provided the guidelines that allow you to do so.

Good luck!

I got about 1050 words for each of them. Arial, 10 pt ft. 1.5 spacing. (R1 app here). Submitted this morning (Sunday). Good luck to all!

Hi
I am filling the application for Duke. There is space for only 5 jobs. I have one more job to mention. I thought I would mention it in the additional information section. But I cant see any place to submit additional information. Could anyone tell me where I can write about the 6th job. How did everyone else submit additional information that does not fit anywhere.

Hi,

Im going to submit my application for R1 tomorrow. Just wanted to confirm one thing from the guys who have already submitted it - Do i have to submit the resume in word or pdf form? They have specified that the transcript should be in PDF but I dont seem to be able to find any instruction regarding the resume format. Which format have you uploaded it in?

You can upload it in word. The system will convert it to pdf.

If anyone was curious about App Volume at Duke this year, our tour guide casually mentioned that volume was up 31% this year over last year, and last year was up 20% over the previous year! He also mentioned, quite casually, that they were investigating the option of adding a 7th section. We should all probably pray that actually comes.

Wow...

Interesting, why would they have offered discounts on application fees this year?

Thanks for the info - any mention of the split between EA & R1 to this point?

Heartbreaking! If anything, I would have imagined applicant volume to be down. It looks like Duke is going to be waitlisting a lot of EA applicants if this is accurate.

I'm an EA applicant and now I'm getting even more nervous for the 24th. Sigh.