Duke Fuqua School of Business Admissions Interview
The
Duke Fuqua School of Business offers four distinct MBA programs and it is
very important for applicants to carefully consider which of these is best
suited for their particular needs.
The school boasts very high rankings for both its full-time and executive MBA
programs. It's supportive team culture, strong Career Management Center, and
continued ability to attract top faculty from rival business schools should help
it continue to do well in the rankings and, even more importantly, in the eyes
of its students and alumni.
Below is the four-page transcript of our interview with
Liz Riley, Director of Admissions.
At Fuqua you have four MBA
program formats, Full Time MBA, Executive MBA, Global
Executive MBA and Weekend MBA. How do these programs
differ?
The four different formats of
our MBA programs are really designed with the customer in
mind. For instance, the Full-time MBA program is a program
for someone who has 3 to 5 years of work experience and
wants a career change. The Duke Global Executive MBA
program has a different type of manager in mind. This
program was designed for someone who can not necessarily
quit their job because they have established themselves
within an organization as a senior manager. It is designed
with flexibility in mind, allowing immersion in the MBA
program without interfering with responsibilities at work.
The Duke MBA Cross Continent Program is designed for someone
who might be looking at a traditional daytime or Full-time
MBA program but they are on the fast-track within their
career. These candidates wish to do the MBA without
quitting their jobs to go back to school, so it is the same
demographic pool of candidates that we would look at for the
Full-time MBA program. This program is offered here at Duke
and at Duke's campus in Frankfort, Germany using an electronic
campus accessed by computer. We have pioneered what we call
"place in space" which is the perfect combination of
residential experience where you actually get to meet face
to face with your cohort and then space being the computer
mediated learning environment. The Weekend and Executive
MBA programs cater to individuals who are living in the
area.
How do you see the MBA
program at Fuqua evolving or what changes are occurring at
Fuqua now?
Duke University has an
extremely innovative and forward thinking community. We are
a relatively young program compared to our peer
institutions. We just recently celebrated our 35th
anniversary for the MBA program. We try to capture the
strength of being a young and forward-thinking school. I
would definitely say that is one of the strengths at Fuqua
because students have the opportunity to contribute to the
environment here which makes it a very exciting place to
study.
What general advice would you
like applicants considering Fuqua's MBA to know?
At Fuqua, we want students to
develop their leadership skills, to be innovative, and to
challenge themselves. We have a great low-risk environment
here so students can comfortably practice developing these
skills. This program is for students who want an education
from a top-tier program with a smaller learning environment
and a very collaborative atmosphere where leadership is
respected and encouraged.
When is the best time to
apply?
You should apply as early in
the process as you can without sacrificing the quality of
your application. You should apply when your application is
ready. We admit students from all four decision rounds. It
is not to your advantage to apply early just to get your
application in early. If you really need to take time to
sharpen your essays or get the best recommendations, then we
encourage you to take that time to put the best possible
representation of yourself together.
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