Take a close look at the Fuqua's website including the video Higher and Higher which you can find here. The video will give a general sense what Fuqua takes pride in and an idea of some the core characteristics of the school that you need to understand. You should also look at the video Community Service Day because it relates directly to Fuqua's slogan "We Educate Thoughtful Business Leaders Worldwide." You want to show to Fuqua that you have the potential to be a thoughtful business leader.
First let's look at the essay topics as well as the complete instructions:
Two short essay answer questions and two long essays must be completed before submitting your application. Prepare your essays carefully. The Admissions Committee considers your responses to the following questions important in the selection process. Please respond fully and concisely using 1.5 line spacing.
Applicant Essays
Short Essays - Answer both short essay questions.
- Why are you interested in The Duke MBA and how will it help you achieve your goals? Please also discuss your career path, including your short and long-term professional goals. If you are interested in the Health Sector Management concentration or a joint degree program, please address in this essay.
- How will your background, values, and non-work activities enhance the experience of other Duke MBA students and add value to Fuqua's diverse culture?
- Please respond fully and concisely to one of the following three essay topics. Clearly identify which question you have selected.
- Describe an example of where you were challenged to lead in a team-oriented context. What was the challenge you faced, how did you address it, and what takeaways or lessons learned have you successfully applied in other leadership situations?
- 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?
- 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?
- 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.
Short Essay 1. Why are you interested in The Duke MBA and how will it help you achieve your goals? Please also discuss your career path, including your short and long-term professional goals. If you are interested in the Health Sector Management concentration or a joint degree program, please address in this essay.
You should at minimum provide a very direct answer to Duke's question:
1. Clearly state how a Duke MBA will help you achieve your short-term goal(s).
2. Clearly state how a Duke MBA will help you achieve your long-term goal(s).
3. Briefly discuss your career path, but given the length of this essay, don't overemphasize it. This essay should be focused on the future, not the past. Simply explain why now is the right time to pursue an MBA making brief analytical reference to to your career path.
Ideally you should really dig into the Duke MBA program to figure out what parts of it really attract you. They know you want an MBA, but why a Duke MBA? Convince them that your goals are best met by attending Fuqua.
Short Essay 2. How will your background, values, and non-work activities enhance the experience of other Duke MBA students and add value to Fuqua's diverse culture?
I have already analyzed this question in my previous post on contribution questions.
1. Please respond fully and concisely to one of the following three essay topics. Clearly identify which question you have selected
All three of these questions, each in their own way focus on the theme of leadership. Note the request to respond concisely, which means don't write much more than about 10% over the 750, they recommend as typical. Try to limit yourself to about 825 words maximum.
a.Describe an example of where you were challenged to lead in a team-oriented context. What was the challenge you faced, how did you address it, and what takeaways or lessons learned have you successfully applied in other leadership situations?
Please see my post about leadership questions because much of what I suggest there applies here, especially in terms of how to structure your essay. Also see my analysis of MIT's essay questions 1 and 2.
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?
The structure of this essay is actually stated in the question:
1. Clearly state what the ethical issue was. Provide sufficient context for doing so, but really begin with the issue so that your reader will understand it clearly. If you are having difficulty understanding what ethical issues are, I suggest taking a look at at the Institute for Global Ethics. Also see Business Ethics Research - Knowledge@Wharton.
Another good site to look at is CasePlace.org, which I discussed in an earlier post.
2. Describe how you handled it. You may want to structure your answer using the method I provide for answering leadership questions. By the way if you think, I am emphasizing the idea that this is a leadership question, you are right.
3. State what you learned. As with failure essays, the learning aspect is very important. The most concrete demonstration of learning is application to another situation, so if that is possible to include, I would do so.
Keep in mind that Fuqua itself experienced a scandal in 2007 involving 34 MBA students (all members of the Class of 2008) who cheated on an exam, the largest such episode ever in the history of Duke University. Therefore if you write on ethics, you should certainly show that you have achieved an understanding of ethical issues consistent with the Fuqua Honor Code.
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?
Beyond being about failure, this essay is about the development of your leadership skills and leadership self-image from the past to the future. That said, this is partially a standard failure question except that the failure must relate to your leadership. As with other failure questions what you learned is critical. Additionally, how you applied this lesson afterwards is something you should must certainly explain in detail. Beyond that lesson, think about the future and the kind of leader you want to be. I suggest reviewing my analysis of both leadership and failure questions.
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.
I have already analyzed this question in my previous post on contribution questions.
All applicants have the opportunity to submit an optional essay to explain any extenuating circumstances of which the Admissions Committee should be aware.
Extenuating circumstances would be things like not being able to use your direct supervisor as a recommender, gaps in your employment record, and/or a weak GPA, TOEFL, and/or GMAT. This essay is thus no different from Chicago GSB's Optional Essay.
Question? Comments? Email me at adammarkus@gmail.com
-Adam Markus
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