March Updates

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So as expected, March was a month that moved SO FAST. I can’t believe how quickly the time passed from March 15th and onward. Admittedly, I was torn sharing how everything ended up, but I figure that's what readers want to know huh? Also, for people applying next year maybe I can provide some advice??   So just for the record, this is here was my rundown:

Ross – Admitted
Fuqua – Admitted
Kellogg – Admitted
Wharton – Admitted
HBS - Waitlisted

I’m so blessed to get through this process with great schools as options.  Thank you God!  I’m still torn and wish I could divide myself in many pieces to go to all my schools. I’ll be attending two admitted student weekends and ultimately deciding at the end of the month.

Congrats to all the admits!! Good luck to all the waitlisters! And to those that were not admitted keep trying!
-Motown

P.S I LOVE the Tiger Woods fist pump...not to mention the Masters just started (when I wrote this post)

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Recap of Fuqua Visit

Honestly this was a tough entry to write.

Not because of the visit itself, but moreso on how to make it NOT sound like a book report lol.

Anyways, the main takeaway from Ms. HR and I’s visit to Fuqua is this: GO VISIT SCHOOLS

I know that sounds trite.  But until last weekend, I held school visits at an arm’s length.  I would love to have the money and time to visit alllll the schools I am interested in, yet I never really mapped out that plan nor narrowed down my list of schools I’m dying to visit.  An Alum said it best.  He said, “Your business school education roughly costs 150 to 200K which is the cost of a house.  Would you buy a house without seeing it?”

Nuff said.

There’s nothing like being on a school campus.  It totally outweighs any interviews, website visits or Facebook stalking.

::steps off soapbox::

Lets get to the visit.

First thing, the Fuqua students and Alums were really open and honest about their experiences. which was great for all of us prospective students.  Luckily, it was a small group of us, so we got to really interact closely with the admissions directors and alums…which was AMAZING.

Furthermore, we attended a conference intended for MBA students but honestly, it was extremely engaging and interesting regardless.  It really made me realize that in a year, that will be us.  Yes….ALL OF US.

Thus, another takeaway I had was to start to think NOW about what I want out of business school.  Yet another somewhat obvious takeaway.  Tons of questions were going through my head throughout the weekend.  What organizations do I want to be in?  How can I be a leader amongst leaders in Bschool? Where will my internship be? Are there any other experiences I should be having NOW before I go back to school? What alums should I connect with? Etc…etc…etc…

Also last takeaway, Business school is tough.  Yes, another duh moment.  But between listening to speakers, networking,  panels, bar nights, etc.  I was literally exhausted by Sunday and looked forward to going home to just sleep….and that’s how it will be once WE…yes all of us….Go to business school.

So get used to it.

::shrugs::

Has anyone else visited schools and learned anything surprising?  How did it influence your goals and ideas?  Ms. HR…anything you would like to add? Anything I missed?

-Motown

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Current Student Interview: Fuqua School of Business @ Duke University

This weekend I spent a few moments talking to a current first year student at Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. The student is a first year concentrating in Health Care Management and Marketing.  Previous to business school, he was a Pharmacist.

First, we started off playing phone tag all last week.  So Sunday afternoon, groggy from my afternoon coma nap, I decided to text him first.

I first texted “Hi XXXXX” and accidently pressed send before I could write the whole text.  So I scrambled to write out a full paragraph text that kinda made sense in order to redeem myself.  He immediately called me back, before I could set up my laptop, notebook and pen for our conversation.  Sooo I may have missed a few notes here and there….but the main points are below:

• Compared to other business schools he was interested in (other top schools), the students were more authentic and have dynamic personalities
• The courses are extremely fast paced due to the way Duke schedules their classes.  Duke is split into 6-week courses with 2 -week breaks in between.  Although it is really demanding, it does allow for students to take more courses.
• He told this story about how his classmates all helped each other for an interview for a job that they were all competing for; it was really inspiring
• At the same interview, he competed against other MBA students from top (Wharton, HBS, Columbia) schools

He was on the way to a birthday celebration…so I missed some key questions like “What is life like in Durham?”,  “How is student life?” etc etc.  But we both said that we would stay in touch and that he can connect me to people who are interested in social enterprise.

In a nutshell, Fuqua sounds like it’s great for the person who is looking for a fast paced curriculum and collaborative environment. Also as a sidebar, I’ll probably be visiting Duke in a few weeks with Ms. HR, So we will both be giving our own spin on the program.  The verdict is still out for if it is a good fit for me…more to come on that.

Has anyone else visited/researched Fuqua?  Have any thoughts?

Want to know more about Duke?

Check out:

Official Site

Business Week Profile 

-Motown

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