I applied Round 2 for the Class of 2010 and am happy to say that I just received an offer. The experience applying to Fuqua started with the Weekend for Women recruiting trip where the school pays for prospective students to come down to Durham and experience Fuqua. I did this in 2006 and decided to wait to apply; but the weekend really set the stage for what has been – by far – the best recruitment process at any of the schools to which I applied. I highly encourage the Weekend for all prospective female students – even those not immediately applying. It really helped prepare for the interview, even a year later.
I interviewed with a young woman who coincidentally went to the same undergraduate institution as me which was a pleasant surprise. The interview took place on a “Super Saturday” (one of the busy recruiting days, apparently) and there were a dozen or so interviewees waiting in the Fox Center (big open air common space). We chatted casually but everyone was a bit nervous. I ran into a woman who had attended the Weekend for Women with me who was now a first year. We remembered each other and she talked me thru the interview and told me about her first year. Again – a plug for the Weekend. She actually invited me out to a party with her that evening which was a shock considering it had been over a year since we spent 3 days together, but not an unprecedented hospitality considering the rest of my Fuqua experience.
My interviewer met me at the Fox Center and led me to a small room. She set the stage by saying how the interview would proceed (a series of questions that she said should transition like a conversation).
- Walk-me-thru your resume question that lasted, back and forth for about 15 minutes The interview was blind so I was able to highlight similar things that I did in my Fuqua essays and lead into the Why MBA questions.
- Why Duke question which was much easier having had the Weekend – I felt comfortable with the idea of fitting in, especially having just run into that other girl. This lasted another 10 minutes.
- What clubs would you join
Then things transitioned into personal questions.
- Tell me what your boss would say about you if you were not in the room?
- What about your family? These were much harder to answer than the other questions and, to be honest, I don’t think I gave her the level of ‘personal’ that she might have been looking for.
By this point, 40 minutes had passed! It was very conversational and fast. I asked her how the Duke experience differed from our shared undergrad experience and then it was over.
I sent a follow up thank you email to the interviewer and she responded by wishing me luck and encouraged me to contact her with any questions. A month later, I received the offer and on that very afternoon the interviewer called me to congratulate me. It was as surprising as the party invite over interview weekend. The hospitality is omnipresent at Fuqua and I encourage you to visit and take full advantage of the Weekend for Women and the interview.
