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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