Duke (Fuqua) Admissions Deadlines for 2010-2011

A few weeks after announcing its admissions essays for the coming year, Duke University's Fuqua School of Business has announced its application deadlines for 2010-2011 (click on the "When to Apply" tab on the Fuqua site). Here they are, followed by our comments in italics:

Duke (Fuqua) MBA Application Deadlines
Early Action: September 30, 2010
Round 1: November 1, 2010
Round 2: January 4, 2011
Round 3: March 8, 2011

Fuqua's Early Action deadline has crept forward into September, making it one week earlier than it was last year. Note that, while most schools use the term "Early Action" to indicate that the decision is non-binding, Fuqua considers it to be binding. So, we only recommend applying in this round if you're 100% certain that you want to attend Fuqua. The school's Round 1 deadline has moved forward by almost two weeks, and its Round 2 deadline has crept up by a couple of days, so that it's now right after the holiday break. If you're waiting to hear back from some other schools before applying to Fuqua in Round 2, you'll need to get the ball rolling on your Fuqua application before you know your fate at those other schools. Duke's Round 3 deadline is virtually the same as it was last year.

For more advice on getting into Fuqua, download our Fuqua Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools. If you're ready to start building your own candidacy for Harvard or another top MBA program, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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Duke (Fuqua) Admissions Essays for 2010-2011

Duke University's Fuqua School of Business has released its admissions essays for the 2010-2011 season. They've made some pretty interesting changes this year, so let's dig in. Our comments are in italics.

By the way, note that Fuqua doesn't provide specific word limits, but rather asks that applicant limit each essay to no more than two pages, with a font size no less than 10-point and 1.5 line spacing. They ask applicants to "respond fully and concisely" to each essay.

Duke (Fuqua) Application Essays

1. Describe your vision for your career and your inspiration for pursuing this career path.
   
   This question starts off the same as last year's first Fuqua essay prompt, but it strictly asks about you, whereas last year's question also asked about "the role of The Duke MBA in achieving your goals." (That latter part is addressed in Question #3, below.) Overall, your approach to this question will be very similar to your approach to other "Why an MBA?" / career goals questions. While you should save the "Why Duke?" material for Question #3, be as specific as possible about how you see your career progressing over the next ten to twenty years. Do you want to dive right into industry and get your hands dirty? Learn as part of a larger operation and "grow up" as a leader, eventually taking the reins of a division within a large company? This is where you need to show that you've at least thought these things through, even if you know that you may change your mind one day. And by "specific" we don't mean that you must spell out that you will spend exactly four years as a management consultant, then three years as a business development manager, etc. Rather, you must show that you can "tie it all together" and envision a realistic career path for yourself after graduating from Fuqua.
   
   Also, this is the time to discuss the career choices you've made up until now. Even though the essay asks for your "career vision," don't miss the "inspiration" part of the question -- this is Fuqua's way of trying to understand the you've made up until now. Your biggest potential mistake here is to give the impression of an applicant who's applying to Fuqua simply because he's bored or has stagnated in his current job. You always want to look like an applicant who is moving toward something great, not moving away from something bad.


2. How will your background, values, and non-work activities enhance the experience of other Duke MBA students and add value to Fuqua's diverse culture?
   
   This question is new this year, although it's interesting that it's almost identical to one of Tuck's admissions essays from last year. This essay gives you a good chance to specifically highlight any strengths or themes that you want to emphasize more in your application. Everything in your background applies: your work experience, your personal life, and your hobbies all make you unique. Some applicants see this and think, "Oh, it's a 'diversity' question. I'm afraid I don't bring much 'diversity' to the table," but that's simply not true. All applicants have some things in their backgrounds that make them interesting... Discuss them here! And, do it in a way that demonstrates that you "get" the values that Fuqua prizes -- including teamwork, innovation, and a global perspective.


3. Why Duke? (If you are interested in a specific concentration, joint degree, clubs or activities, please discuss how you would contribute to these in this essay.)
   
   As mentioned above, in some respects Duke took last years' Question #1 and chopped it into two questions: this year's Question #1 and Question #3. This new essay prompt wins the award for shortest essay question ever, beating out NYU's "Why Stern?" question by one letter. (Just kidding. There's no such Stern essay!) In all seriousness, Duke, like some other top schools that tend to sit just outside the top ten in the MBA rankings, gets a lot of applications from candidates who also have applied to Harvard, Wharton, etc., and the school is quite savvy at recognizing when an applicant is truly excited about Duke. This is your opportunity to demonstrate that you have really researched the program, understand its core values (mentioned above), and really want to spend the rest of your life as a member of the Fuqua community.
   
   Some applicants will surely rattle of names of classes, professors, and on-campus clubs, to show that they've done their homework. For the most part, while this research is critical for you, "showing off" this kind of knowledge usually elicits a "big deal" from admissions officers. Go deeper, and force yourself to answer the question... Why Duke? Some pragmatic components to your response are totally fine -- it has strong ties to the health care industry, which is what first drew you to the program, for instance. That's a completely real, honest response. Then, starting there, move into how you can see yourself thriving in the Duke community. You prefer the school's teamwork-oriented teaching style since it's consistent with your undergraduate experience... Every student or alum you have met has raved about the program... That's just an example, but it's a more heartfelt, interesting, and effective response than simply rattling off names of clubs, because it's about you.
   

For more advice on getting into Fuqua, download our Fuqua Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools. If you're ready to start building your own candidacy for Harvard or another top MBA program, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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Four Important Characteristics of the Duke MBA Program

Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep's Annual Reports, our in-depth insider's guides to 15 of the world's top MBA programs, this week we investigate a few things that make Duke's approach to graduate management education unique. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free with registration, but we thought we'd share some snippets here to help get you started in your Fuqua School of Business research.)

Like most elite business schools, Duke is focused on providing hands-on learning opportunities, global perspective, and a flexible curriculum. What makes Duke somewhat different is that the school is focused most of all on collaborative leadership. Other than Kellogg and perhaps UCLA Anderson, few business schools can cite that as the program's most distinguishing feature to the degree that Fuqua can.

With that in mind, the following are the key elements of the Duke Approach:

• Collaborative Leadership. Teamwork and leadership are common in every aspect of the Duke MBA experience from inside the classroom to clubs and activities. Each class includes group projects as a learning tool, so the ability to lead and work in a group environment is essential for success at Fuqua. Outside of the classroom, students are encouraged and almost expected to assume a leadership role in a club, activity, or Fuqua-related event. Fuqua is truly a student run program, which generates numerous opportunities to lead projects or even create new ones.


• Global Perspective. "Global" is a major MBA buzzword in this day and age, but few schools boast an international emphasis and flavor that rivals that of Fuqua. Each incoming MBA class begins with "Global Institute," a one-of-a-kind program that runs for three weeks prior to the first term and introduces students to the global business environment and the world economy structure. Students discuss current global business issues and are exposed to diverse backgrounds and perspectives while also gaining exposure to more traditional "orientation" concepts such as leadership and team building. Fuqua also offers study abroad programs and the increasingly popular "Global Academic Travel Experience," a course where students study international business trends from select regions and then travel to designated locations for hands-on experience.


• Diversity of Instruction. As has become increasingly common among innovative business schools, Duke's courses feature a blended teaching approach that includes an almost equal distribution of case studies, lectures, and team projects. Each class is typically two hours and fifteen minutes long, allowing ample time for a highly interactive case discussion, followed by a course lecture. Duke professors conduct leading research and are adept at integrating relevant and topical business issues into every class. Team projects are absolutely an integral part of each course, and select groups are called upon to present insights and strategic recommendations as a way to launch a class discussion. Class participation is expected and is a prominent grading criterion.


• Experiential Learning. While Duke does not boast of an experiential learning program as robust as that of Ross or Tuck, Fuqua does offer numerous courses which help students convert theory into application. These classes provide knowledge and experience by assisting real-world businesses in such areas as consulting, strategic planning, marketing strategy and business plan development. Faculty members guide and participate in strategy sessions with the students to reinforce the translation of academic concepts to real world solutions.

Today's installment was clipped from our Duke (Fuqua) Annual Report, one of 15 completely free guides to the world's top business schools, available on our site. If you're ready to start building your own application for Fuqua or other top MBA programs, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today!

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Duke (Fuqua) Introduces Its Fee Reduction Program

Duke University's Fuqua School of Business made an interesting move over the weekend, announcing a new application fee reduction program for applicants who schedule a campus visit or register to attend a local information session. Applicants who do one or the other before they submit their applications will only pay $50, rather than $200, to submit their applications.

Why would Fuqua make such a move? The announcement gave a nod to the rough economy, but here's the real meat of the announcement:

We feel strongly that visiting with Duke admissions officers, students, and alumni in person is incredibly helpful in understanding the Team Fuqua culture.

So, basically, Duke is putting its money where its mouth is, and is saying, "We're so convinced that you'll love it when you visit that we really want you to come visit or at least meet with a Fuqua admissions representative." Of course, a visitor may also decide that Fuqua is in fact NOT the place for him, which isn't necessarily a terrible thing -- better for the applicant to realize that sooner rather than later.

Although there's a lot that we like about Fuqua, its place in the business school rankings means that every year its draws applications from some people who really have their eyes set on any ranked school, and they apply to Fuqua although they're really hoping that they get into a higher-ranked program. Fuqua's move not only encourages applicants to get to know the school better (which is always a good thing), but also sends a subtle message of, "If you're not interested enough to come visit or meet with us, then we're raising the bar a little more for you."

It's an interesting strategy... If you can't be bothered to visit the school or meet with Fuqua representatives when they visit your town, then can you credibly claim that Duke is where you want to be? If you still want to apply, then fine, but know that you'll be going up against lots of applicants who have visited Fuqua or met with someone from the school.

We've read some speculation that Fuqua made this move to "slash prices" and attract more applicants, but we suspect that this is really more of a quality play than a quantity one. We don't know if it will work, but it sure will be interesting to see.

For more advice on applying to Fuqua, visit Veritas Prep's Duke (Fuqua) information page. And, be sure to follow us on Twitter!

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Duke (Fuqua) Application Deadlines for 2009-2010

Duke University's Fuqua School of Business hasn't yet released its application for the coming year, but the school did recently release its application deadlines for 2009-2010 (click on the "When to Apply" tab on the Fuqua site).

Here they are, followed by our comments in italics:

Duke (Fuqua) Application Deadlines
Early Action Round: October 6, 2009
Round 1: November 12, 2009
Round 2: January 7, 2010
Round 3: March 9, 2010

(Note that, unlike most other schools' Early Action rounds, Fuqua's is binding; schools normally call it "Early Decision" when it is binding. We only recommend applying via Early Action if your heart is set on Duke. If you are admitted, you must submit a non-refundable $3,000 deposit by December 10, 2009. Interestingly, you only need to submit an official transcript once you are admitted.)

For more advice on applying to Fuqua, visit Veritas Prep's Duke (Fuqua) information page, and be sure to follow us on Twitter!

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Duke (Fuqua) Introduces New Nine-Month Masters Program

Duke University's Fuqua School of Business has just announced a new master's program designed to provide basic entry-level business skills to recent college graduates and advanced degree holders with no prior full-time work experience.

Called the Master of Management Studies in Foundations of Business (MMS) program, the new initiative includes 12 business courses taught over four six-week terms. MMS coursework will cover all of the basic areas of business training: finance, accounting, marketing, strategy, operations, decision analysis and management. All courses will be taught by the same Fuqua faculty that teaches in the core MBA program. The first MMS class will enter Fuqua this fall.

The program requires no previous business studies, although a basic knowledge of calculus, statistics and computer skills is required. For those who enter the program with no training in these areas, "boot camps" in statistics and computer skills are available. It's noteworthy that, while the majority of the MMS program's students will be recent college grads, it is actually designed for anyone with little or no work experience, including Master's degree and PhD holders.

Is the MMS program right for you? While there is no single rule that can be applied to everyone, we've usually told our MBA admissions clients that they will get the most out of their business training if they have at least a couple of years of full-time work experience under their belts. We still believe this to be true, although there may very well be a place for programs such as MMS in the education market.

If you are just graduating from college and think you will one day want to earn an MBA, then we recommend getting two to five years of work experience before applying to business school. However, if you don't plan on pursuing an MBA and want a basic level of business training in order to get your professional career started, then the Master of Management Studies program may be a good fit for you.

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