Ambassador Program: Fuqua -- Hear from current students & alumni

Question

Announcing the GmatClub Ambassador Program

Welcome  anupamgupta2112  as your Fuqua Ambassador!

Background:
Looking at the questions we’ve seen over the years here on GC, we know that prospective students and applicants want help in learning about each school and MBA program you’re considering.

To help you with that, we want to leverage the knowledge of our active GmatClubbers who are current first years, second years, and alumni of these programs to answer common questions we often receive and see on these boards. What better to get to know the school than directly from those who have lived it!

There will be 2 parts to this:
1) A compilation of frequently asked questions – and their answers – compiled in a wiki-like format
2) Periodic posts from current students about their experiences in the program (as their schedules allow). These posts will expand on some of the experiences talked briefly about in the FAQs (e.g., more detail around Orientation Week, the class curriculum, recruiting, social activities, etc)

Have additional questions or suggestions about the Fuqua Ambassador Program? Post them here. 
Are you a current student or alumni and want to be a GmatClub Ambassador? Message me or your Fuqua GC Ambassador to get involved.

aerien · Answer

Ambassador Questions  
Answers will be updated as the academic year progresses. Check back for updates.

School & Curriculum 
• Describe your typical day.
• What are some of the best classes you have taken?
• How do you select what courses to take? Is there flexibility in what courses you can take? Are there courses you think are most helpful for students interning or recruiting full-time for your area of study (eg, finance, consulting, marketing, ops)?
• Do you feel the program is a better fit for students looking for a specific career? Do student preferences tend to learn towards a particular area?
• How would you describe the student community?

Internships 
• From what you’ve seen, what types of intern programs/companies were students most interested for their summer internship?
• When does the summer internship search begin and when does it end?
• What support does the school provide for finding an internship and understanding the internship search process?
• How did you prepare for your internship recruiting process?

Recruiting 
• From what you’ve seen, what types of full-time roles were students most interested? Was there a shift in what people were looking for in the summer internship to what they were looking for in full-time roles?
• How did most people find their full-time role (e.g., on-campus recruiting firms, off-campus recruiting, the extended school/alumni network, etc)?
• Describe the networking opportunities available to help you learn more about your career options (e.g., job treks, student club-led activities, company-sponsored events, conferences, etc)

Social 
• What are the “fun” events that you should not miss out on (e.g., happy hours, formals, Olympics, follies, etc)?
• What opportunities are there for students to work on-campus or off-campus while in school?
• What is something not mentioned on the school’s website that an applicant should know?

anupamgupta2112 · Answer

Hi everyone,
Apologies for ignoring this post for so long. Life in B-School can get crazy, even before it starts, so please accept my apologies for not being prompt on this.

Before we dive into some of the questions posted here, I wanted to give a brief background about myself, and also describe my Fuqua story, which might answer some doubts about the application process as well.

I am an Indian, 28 yo Male. I graduated from Mumbai University with a Bachelors in Computer Engineering in 2009. I started my career at Deloitte Consulting in Mumbai and stayed there till 2013, working in the Technology Consulting space and serving Life Sciences clients in the US. I moved to a Digital Marketing consulting firm in Mumbai and stayed there for 2.5 years, leading teams that designed and implemented the digital marketing strategy, based on data and analytics, for multiple clients in India.

I started my B-school application process in 2014, giving the GMAT in September (740 Q49 V41) and then applying to a bunch of schools (9 in total) in the 2015 intake, and getting rejected from all of them. It was, honestly, a major wake up call in terms of where I stood and the work I needed to put in to create a winning application. I did apply to Fuqua for 2015 intake, and traveled all the way to Durham from Mumbai to give the applicant-initiated interview. While that did not convert into an admit, the experience was amazing, and it was easy to see Fuqua as the place I wanted to spend 2 years of my life pursuing my MBA.

I re-applied to Fuqua for the 2016 intake, in the Early Decision round. I worked on the application for close to two months. I am not saying that is how much time everyone needs, I am just saying I took a LOT of time to get through the essays. Since I was a re-applicant, I had another essay to showcase my profile better, and I made full use of this. But, I still did not get an interview call from Fuqua when the calls went out for EA. Obviously, it was a big disappointment and I immediately changed focus to other applications.

However, and this is where the happy part of my story finally begins, I got a call to interview within the EA round. The call came in really late, only 3 days before the interview deadline, and I had very little time to prepare. Nevertheless, the admit did come through in the EA round, and for the past 9 months it has been some sweet anticipation.

While my experience was unusual, I haven't heard anyone else going through the same thing, so far, it was also surreal. I am glad I am at Fuqua, and it has been less than a week since the first day of orientation. The energy and camaraderie in this place is unbelievable, and as I discover new facets of this school, I am sure I will only love it more. I have a great section, a great C-LEAD team (More on what this is in a later post, you can also ask other students/alumni), and an amazing community which is just making me happier every day.

As I go along, I will share more tidbits about life here. I hope to put up at least one post every week, to give an idea of what orientation was like and how the classes are progressing. Look forward to a post this weekend about Orientation.

Thanks,
Anupam Gupta.

P.S. I know this post sounds like a marketing pitch, but trust me, a couple of hours in the Fuqua campus and you will KNOW what I mean. If you are in the US, I would highly recommend making the trip for the interviews in Fall.

anupamgupta2112 · Answer

Hey, Apologies, again, for not keeping my promise of posting over the weekend. B-School can get unbelievably hectic, unfathomably fast, and it has taken me a while to find my rhythm. But, without further ado, here's the post on Orientation. Orientation for the Daytime MBA program at Fuqua is a three day long, AM-to-AM event that will sweep you off your feet, in some cases literally (more on that later), and leave you with a true sense of what "Team Fuqua" culture is. It involves a lot of information sessions, addresses by the various deans of the school, sessions with second years (O-Team!) who generously take time out of their summer internships to help plan and execute the wonderful programming, and a myriad of opportunities to connect with the 450 odd classmates you are going to spend the next two years getting to know, and hopefully make friends with. The structure of the program at Fuqua divides the batch of (approximately) 450 students into six sections of 75 each. And these sections are a big deal, believe me. One of the highlights of the entire orientation program are Section Olympics, a competition between sections for bragging rights. There are a lot of events that contribute to the section Olympics, and without divulging too much information and ruining the surprise for incoming students next year, the section cheering competition is the absolute HIGHLIGHT! I typed that in caps because the energy in the room is unbelievable when the sections are cheering! It can get really REALLY loud and rambunctious! My section won the cheering competition this year, and believe me, I have never shouted myself hoarse over the course of three days as much as I did here. The other "fun" aspect of the orientation are the theme parties that are organized by the O-team. We had a "nerd" and a "dress your decade" party this year, and they were the perfect place to unwind after a day of, well, fun. :lol:

The second day also featured a "carnival" complete with activities and games for Fuqua Partners and families, a bouncy castle (hence the sweeping of the feet) and other fun events with classmates and their families. Aside from the fun part, orientation is also an amazing opportunity to connect with your section mates. These 75 people will spend a lot of their time together throughout the Fall terms in core classes, and it is amazing just how diverse the backgrounds are. There are walk-throughs of the different administrative processes around Fuqua, and while all the information can seem overwhelming, it is important to relax and take everything in. The more critical aspect of orientation is to break out and start talking to a lot of people, and while I was a little reluctant on this the first day, I was comfortable starting Day 2. I also met my C-LEAD team (more on this in a later post) on Day 3, an incredible group of 7 people I will spend time with on assignments and studying. For me, the biggest learning out of orientation, and this was a vindication of my decision to choose Fuqua, was the incredible happiness I could sense in the air. I know, that was cliched, and I might sound like I am on a high right now. But trust me, Fuqua is a happy B-School. The community will welcome you without a moment's hesitation, and the incredible support you get here is exactly what you need to get through B-school. While these are early days, and cynics might encourage me to "give it time", I firmly believe Fuqua is the place to be for anyone who finds the support of a community to be vital to their growth. Since I have always valued collaboration and team work over everything else, I could not be happier here! I hope this incredibly long post about orientation helps to give you all a sense of what life at Fuqua is like. I will try and post something next week (If I can't, please blame the upcoming mid-terms, an India party, and then pending assignments and finals :D) As always, please ask any questions you want to and if I can't answer them, I will get help to answer them.

aerien · Answer

Awesome! Are you a "table banger" now? What are the rest of the sections? (Or is this a secret only reserved for the special few

) Sent from GMAT Club Forum mobile app

anupamgupta2112 · Answer

aerien  not a "table-banger", thank God! :D

Other sections don't really have too much of a fixed identity, table bangers are (in)famous through history, I see. :D

charanus44 · Answer

Hi Anupam! This is Charan from Columbus, Indiana. I went through some of your posts about your Fuqua application experience, and your life in Fuqua so far. It sounds like a really fun place to be in. Also, thanks a lot for taking some time out, and helping us through our application process! Anyway, I am applying to Fuqua in the EA decision round. I have a couple of questions and may be it is too early in your Fuqua experience to answer them, although I would really appreciate your comments.

1) MBA Association - How early or late in the program do you get to involve in the association? Also, how is the association connected with the rest of the student clubs(if it is)?

2) Did you get to join any clubs yet? If so, which ones, and how has your experience been?

Thanks once again for taking the time out!

anupamgupta2112 · Answer

Hi Charan. Thanks for the kind words. It really is a fun place! Happy to help!

1. You can get involved with MBAA as a FY cabinet member. In fact, that is true for all clubs. They all take in FY students onto the cabinet who help the club with various activities. We had a Club Information fair yesterday where all the clubs gave out information (and goodies :D) and we have cabinet position information sessions going on, which detail how you can get involved, what are the positions and responsibilities, and the selection criteria. As for the MBAA, each VP in the MBAA has a sub cabinet where they recruit FY students as well, which is a very early way of getting involved with the MBAA.

2. I have one responsibility right now, which is of Admissions Ambassador. This group manages the campus visit program throughout the year for the next class, so any of you visiting campus for the interview or just a visit over the next few months will probably see me around. I am also going to apply for either the Consulting Club/Tech Club/MBAA FY cabinet positions. I am still deciding between these but will definitely apply to at least one of them.

I hope this answered your question. Let me know if you any more.

Regards,
Anupam.

charanus44 · Answer

Thanks Anupam! That definitely answered my question. One more question:

Is there a formal portal where current Fuqua students share their industry insights from a pre-MBA perspective. I understand that there are a bunch of avenues where companies and alumni share a lot of information. But I was curious as to whether there was a formal portal like a 'Talk' event. The reason I ask is since Fuqua has such a distinguished student base with rich experience, the student community is as powerful a resource as anything else.

Best,

Charan

anupamgupta2112 · Answer

CHaran,
I am not sure I understand your question. Is it about the industry experience that current students have pre-MBA? If yes, I don't think there is a current portal that does that.

If I haven't understood your question well, maybe give me an example and I can comprehend it better?

charanus44 · Answer

Sorry. I think you did correctly understand a part of my question, and I was not very clear with the rest. So, my question is do the current clubs, say the Tech club or Consulting club have events geared towards current students presenting about insights or their experience? So for example, in the Consulting club do the current students with a background in Consulting be given a chance to share their insights?

anupamgupta2112 · Answer

Yes. All clubs host a lot of events where current students, mainly SYs who interned in the particular industry, share their experience from both a recruiting standpoint and the actual work during their summer. We have career symposiums happening over the next few weeks, where each club is essentially hosting 3-4 hour long sessions about the industry and providing a road map of how they will help with recruiting. I sincerely hope I answered your question this time.

charanus44 · Answer

That definitely answers my question. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer it in great detail!:)

cyberjadugar · Answer

Hi,

Is there a way to reach out to core team for public speaking and design & innovation clubs at Fuqua?
There is no contact listed on the website.

- cj

bb · Answer

Ambassador Program: Fuqua -- Hear from current students & alumni

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards