Duke Fuqua MBA Admissions Interview (cont'd)
Do you have any specific
instructions for applicants who wish to visit the campus?
We have a wonderful campus
visit program where the students really get involved in
showcasing their school. We have approximately 100 student
volunteers who help manage this program. We recently opened
a new 50,000 sq. foot student center called Winter Gardens,
which is the family room of the business school. Within
about half a day, you can take a tour of our facility, have
lunch with our students, sit in one of our classes, and
interview. This can all be organized and scheduled on our
web site.
Other than the FAFSA, is
there any other financial aid process applicants should know
about?
There is a difference between
financial aid and scholarship at Fuqua. Financial aid is
completing the FAFSA form to be considered for all types of
loan programs and grants that might be available. Fuqua has
a merit-based scholarship system, which means that it is not
based on need but based on the merit of your application.
About 1/3 of the students who come into the program receive
some type of merit-based scholarship that can range anywhere
from 1/4 of tuition to our most prestigious scholarship, the
Keller Scholarship, which is full tuition and fees plus a
small stipend. Both domestic and international students are
eligible for all merit-based aid. The applicant's
undergraduate record, GMAT score, work experience, essays,
recommendations, extracurriculars, community activities, and
the interview are all considered when deciding who receives
the merit-based aid.
Could you talk about the
services provided by the Career Management Center at your
school?
We have a host of programs
and services designed to help students get their dream
jobs. We have several career fairs a year, some of which
have a demographic theme for students who want to work
nationally or internationally. We also have a large job
fair for all students every year. The Career Management
Center also has Career Fellows, which are the same as
Admissions Fellows but they help students with the job
search process.
Can you briefly describe the
housing options for Fuqua students?
One of the best things about
living in the research triangle area here in North Carolina
is that the cost of living. That is one of the biggest
surprises that people find. So in addition to getting a
top-tier MBA, you can also live in a wonderful part of the
country with a really low cost of living. Most of our
students live off campus in apartments. There are maybe 20
apartment communities that cater to graduate students in the
area. They are very affordable, with nice amenities for
students. One of the things we send our students when they
are admitted is a book called "Life at Fuqua." We ask our
students to survey apartment communities in the area to find
out which have pools, washer and dryer hook-ups, tennis
courts, which are closer to Duke, and have playgrounds for
children if you have a family coming with you.
What do you think
distinguishes Fuqua and its students?
What distinguishes Fuqua
students from our peer schools is that in addition to being
team players, our students also know how to be leaders. So
it's a community of people who come together with one common
goal and that is to study and work together, but our
students also know how to lead teams and come up with great
ideas.
How did this year's
application pool compare to previous years? Has anything
changed in the demographic makeup of the applicant pool?
This was a tough year for
everyone. We were down about 24% in applications. I
honestly believe that applications for all schools will come
back this year. As applicants feel more confident with what
is happening in the economy, I think we are going to see
that things will get back to normal. We had a slight
decrease in the international pool. But even though we had
a decrease in applications, we definitely saw a spike in the
quality of our applicant pool.
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