Duke / Fuqua Essay Topic Analysis 2007-2008 » Clear Admit: MBA Admissions Consultants Blog

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Apr. 1: UT Austin McCombs R3
Apr. 2: Dartmouth / Tuck R4
Apr. 3: INSEAD R4
Apr. 4: Oxford / Said R3
Apr. 23: UCLA / Anderson R4
Apr. 28: CMU / Tepper R4
May 2: LBS R4
Jun. 6: Oxford / Said R4

Essay Topic Analysis
Below are links to our comments on some of the top programs' essay topics for the 2007-2008 admissions season.
The Career Goals Essay
Berkeley / Haas
Chicago GSB
CMU / Tepper *
Columbia
Cornell / Johnson
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Harvard
IESE *
INSEAD
London Business School
MIT / Sloan
Michigan / Ross
Northwestern / Kellogg
NYU / Stern
Oxford / Said *
Penn / Wharton
Stanford GSB
UCLA / Anderson
UNC / Kenan-Flagler
UT Austin / McCombs *
UVA / Darden
Yale SOM
* denotes last year's commentary

Categories
Use categories to access all that has been written on each of the topics. We have categorized by school and by subject matter.

Interview Reports
A selection of interview field reports from fellow applicants posted to the MBA Admissions Wiki. Add your reports when you are finished with your interviews.
Chicago
Columbia
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Harvard
Kellogg
Michigan / Ross
MIT / Sloan
Stanford
UNC / Chapel Hill
Virginia / Darden
Wharton
London Business School

GMAT Resources
GMAC
Manhattan GMAT
GMAT Club
Princeton Review
Test Prep New York
Kaplan
Beat The GMAT

Writing Resources
Guide to Grammar and Writing
The Internet Grammar of English
English Usage, Style and Composition
The Economist Style Guide
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant

School Rankings
Rankings are a good way to start your research on various MBA Programs. Keep in mind each uses a different methodology.
Business Week
Economist
Financial Times
Forbes
USNews
Wall Street Journal

Career Guides
The following resources should be useful to those who want to research the careers open to them after (or before) earning an MBA.
Vault.com
Wetfeet

Business School Resources
The following are business resources offered by a variety of leading Business Schools. It's useful to subscribe to these resources, especially for the schools to which you are applying.

MBA Programs: North America
If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it.
Berkeley / Haas
Carnegie Mellon / Tepper
Chicago
Columbia
Cornell / Johnson
Dartmouth / Tuck
Duke / Fuqua
Emory / Goizueta
Harvard
HEC Montreal
Indiana / Kelley
Michigan
MIT / Sloan
Northwestern / Kellogg
New York / Stern
North Carolina / Kenan Flagler
Pennsylvania / Wharton
Queens
Stanford
Texas / McCombs
Thunderbird
Toronto
UCLA / Anderson
Virginia / Darden
Western Ontario / Ivey
Yale

MBA Programs: Rest of the World
As there is some variety in the length of international MBA programs, we have denoted the length of the program next to its name (1 = one year; 2 = 2 years). If an MBA Program is not listed, please e-mail and we will be happy to list it.
AGSM (Australia) 2
Cambridge / Judge (UK) 1
CIEBS (China) 2
Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (China) 1
ESADE (Spain) 1 or 2
HEC (France) 2
IESE (Spain) 2
IMD (Switzerland) 1
INSEAD (France) 1
IPADE (Mexico)
ISB (India) 1
London Business School (UK) 2
Oxford / Said (UK) 1
Rotterdam (Netherlands) 2
University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) 1

Additional Resources
Here we link a host of additional resources available across the web. E-mail info@clearadmit.com to have resources added to this list.
AACSB International
Association of MBAs
Beyond Grey Pinstripes
EFMD
gradschools.com (worldwide)
Infozee
mba.com (GMAT Scores)
MBAInfo
mbaleague.blogspot.com
MBAzone
MBA Jungle
TOEFL
Top MBA

MBA Tipline
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Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Duke / Fuqua Essay Topic Analysis 2007-2008

Though the order of the questions and distribution of subjects has changed slightly from last year, the wording and themes of Duke’s application essays remain largely the same. The topics range from failure to ethical dilemma to what makes each applicant unique - all common inquiries for leading MBA programs. Be sure to read carefully though - many of Fuqua’s essay topics contain multiple questions and prompts, and it’s important to answer each completely.

Short Essay 1: Why are you interested in The Duke MBA program and how will it help you achieve your goals? In answering, please also discuss your career path and state your short and long-term goals. If you are interested in the Health Sector Management concentration or a joint degree program, please address in this essay. (1.5 line spacing, Single-page)
This is your standard career goals essay, with a stringent length limitation. Formerly the subjects of two separate essays, Duke has combined its questions about the applicant’s career path, goals and interest in its MBA program into a single prompt, requesting that candidates cover a good deal of ground in a single page. Brevity will be of the utmost importance as you sketch out the ways your work experience to date has informed and prepared you for your clear career goals, and detail the ways a Duke MBA will prepare you for success.

Short Essay 2: How will your background, values, and non-work related activities enhance the experience of other Duke MBA students and add value to the diverse culture we strive for at Fuqua? (1.5 line spacing, Single-page)
The subject of contribution to the diversity of the Fuqua community stands alone as the topic of an entire essay this year (it was previously bundled into the long “background” essay), suggesting an increased interest in exactly what each candidate has to offer the school. The prompt is fairly broad, covering just about every dimension of one’s candidacy, experience and perspective, and inviting the applicant to imagine how his or her unique characteristics might map onto involvement in Team Fuqua. This response is a great place to showcase specific knowledge of the culture at Duke, as well as introduce information that will help you stand out from the applicant pool.

Long Essay 1: Please respond fully and concisely to one of the following essay topics. Clearly identify which question you have selected. **Though there is no word limit on the long essays, applicants typically use between 500 and 750 words.
a. To be a good team player, one needs to be an effective individual leader and vice-versa. Describe an example of where you were challenged to become a leader in a team-oriented context. What was the challenge you faced, how did you address it, and what did you take away from the experience for your future development as a leader?
This essay presents a great opportunity to showcase a leadership success that includes the angle of personal or professional growth as a result of a challenge. In addition to a detailed description of the situation, an account of your thoughts and actions throughout and a discussion of the lessons you learned, it would also be great to comment on the outcome of the situation and the impact you were able to have on the team and whatever larger context the story might involve. To distinguish this response from an answer to the classic “impact” essay posed by many schools, though, applicants might consider building this desired outcome into their introduction rather than the conclusion as an explanation of the importance of their ability to rise to the challenge.

b. Describe a situation in which your ability to perform ethically was challenged. What was the issue, how did you handle it, and what did you learn from it?
Questions of this sort are designed to gauge an applicant’s ability to see two sides of a situation and appreciate the merits of both - and ultimately choose the best possible solution. The “challenged” detail in the question indicates that it’s not enough to simply discuss a situation where you chose to do the right thing; you need to be able to show that there was a compelling reason for you to have acted otherwise. The question lends itself to personal experiences as easily as professional ones, but it’s nice to give an example of how you view and handle ethical complexity in the workplace. For instance, there are often instances of conflicts between people and profit that work well in this context.

After setting the scene in your essay, you should explore the dilemma in depth, analyzing each of your options and explaining the potential positive and negative consequences of each. Once you’ve acknowledged the difficulty of the situation, you should lead the reader through your decision-making process, explaining the reasons behind your ultimate decision. Ideally, your strong grasp of leadership and of problem-solving will be displayed by this analysis. Finally, you should present the results of your decision and the lessons you learned as a result.

c. Describe a significant leadership failure in your life. What did you learn from this failure? How has it impacted who you are today and the kind of leader you would like to be?
When responding to a question about a time when you performed less than optimally, it’s best to select a story from which you have some distance; a college extracurricular could be a viable topic, as could an early professional experience. This question is a challenge in that it does not only ask the applicant to discuss a failure, but a “significant” one. To lend some weight to the question, you’ll need to explain what your objectives were or what was riding on the situation before commenting on what ultimately went awry. Fortunately, Duke sets you up for a recovery by explicitly asking what kind of leader you are today - providing an opening for you to talk about a subsequent success and really illustrate that you’ve internalized and applied the lessons you discuss. That is, the key will be to summarize the situation as briefly as possible in order to allot a good number of words to a discussion of the lessons you learned from this experience, how they have served you since that time, and how they will continue to influence your leadership style.

Long Essay 2: How has your personal history and family background influenced your intellectual and personal development? What unique personal qualities or life experiences distinguish you from other applicants? Note: The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are, rather than what you have achieved professionally.
Though somewhat simplified now that the question about what the applicant would add to the Duke community has been pulled out as a separate question, there’s still a good deal of ground one could cover here. The key will therefore be spending a fair amount of time reflecting on the question and identifying the most important and interesting aspects of one’s personality to cover in this response. One approach might be to identify two or three characteristics that have influenced your activities and interactions and to trace their development from your early days. Another might be to share an anecdote about a significant experience and reflect retroactively on the priorities and qualities at play, commenting later on how you derived these from your development over the years. Whatever the focus, be sure that the person you are presenting is engaging and dynamic: someone the adcom would want as part of their community.

# posted by Clear Admit @ 10:50 am in Essay Topic Analysis, School: Duke / Fuqua

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