2021 MBA Essay Questions: Duke Fuqua

For the Class of 2023 admissions, Duke again kept its application requirements mostly the same as they’ve been for years and years, with some differences in their short-answer questions. That’s kinda good…. because these are solid questions, and they’re excellent opportunities for you to share something meaningful with the adcom! But it just feels that Fuqua has stagnated.

Not changing stuff is kinda disappointing, given how all the other schools have been working so hard to innovate. It could be said that Duke was an early adopter of the more innovative form of bschool essay, with their 25 Random Things list, and we do concede that that’s a great question which applicants tend to have fun with, and which can reveal a lot about a person. But…. keeping the status quo is kinda communicating that Duke is fine with how things are going, and it just seems like they’re a little bit stalled out right now. Granted, they hit #3 on the BusinessWeek rankings in 2016, so who is the ‘Snark to say?

One short-answer question:

What are your post-MBA career goals? Share with us your first choice career plan and your alternate plan.

Two essays

1. Essay 1: 25 Random Things [A very involved preamble, then:] [T]he Admissions Committee also wants to get to know you—beyond the professional and academic achievements listed in your resume and transcript. You can share with us important life experiences, your likes/dislikes, hobbies, achievements, fun facts, or anything that helps us understand what makes you who you are. Share with us your list of “25 Random Things” about YOU.
2. Essay 2: [Another paragraph, then:] Based on your understanding of the Fuqua culture, what are 3 ways you expect to contribute at Fuqua?

Duke now has length limits: No more than 750 words for the 25 Random Things, and no more than 300 words for Essay 2. They say no smaller than 10 point font but hey, we say live a little, you can even go to 12-point right?!?

Coronavirus Impacts
They actually did a whole bunch of switcheroos in policies around coronavirus in the midst of summer 2020. Originally they announced that they’d have on-campus in-person interviews as always for Fall 2020 (whu??).

UPDATE: On July 15, they apparently switched gears (recognized reality) and announced that all interviews would be remote. We’re keeping this here because, well, we believe that history is important, and seeing how a school has responded to this crisis can be instructive in learning about who they are and how they operate from the leadership on down. The other big change, besides that interviews will be conducted virtually for now: The Open Interview period begins on September 10 (a month earlier) and runs through October 28 NOW OCTOBER 17! [Duke is changing stuff around a lot!!] If you’re considering Duke — in any round!! — go for the Open Interview!!!!!

OLD POLICY – now superseded:
As of June 2020 when Duke has announced its application requirements for the Class of 2023, they apparently are sticking with their standard requirement for certain Early Application applicants to travel to campus for the interview. This is really hard to defend. 🙁

We’re listing out the information below that we understand to be in place for the coming MBA application season — but this policy is nuts. Duke seems to be concerned about declining application volumes, and yet they are holding fast to these policies? Not really sure what’s up with this.

Duke has two phases of interviews: the Open Interview Period when they make in-person student interviews available to applicants who come to campus, and the By-Invitation Interview Period where only adcom-invited applicants are interviewed. In the era of reduced travel due to coronavirus, then with the Open Interview Period and Early Action admissions, Duke won’t be requiring anyone come to campus, so it’ll be up to you if you want to have an in-person interview. [EssaySnark was apparently wrong about that. UPDATE! THEY’VE CHANGED THEIR MINDS! THIS IS NOW HOW THE POLICY WILL WORK AT DUKE.]

So basically: If you’re interested in Duke, you’ll need to plan for an in-person interview, either on campus in Durham, or with an admissions rep when they travel the world at designated times during the admissions round. <-- NO LONGER TRUE (WHEW!) Duke now will accept the Executive Assessment for any applicant to the Daytime MBA (no prior approval required, as was previously the case here). Does it make sense to submit with the EA instead of the GMAT or GRE? Well sure, if you already took the EA, then especially right now in the complicated environment of trying to complete a standardized test during a pandemic... go with the test you have! Typically we see the GMAT as being a preferred test for many applicants still, but it's very much dependent on the entirety of your profile and what the test score does to highlight strengths for you.

 

[end discussion of 2020 info]

Duke Previous MBA Essay Questions

There’s a lot of writing with a Fuqua MBA app! But good news: Duke’s long essays should actually be FUN! If there is such a thing as “fun” when it comes to writing essays. 🙂 That doesn’t mean they’ll be easy but at least you won’t feel like you’ve been stifled, as is a common experience with BSers struggling to fit in answers for many other schools. Our 2019 SnarkStrategies Guide for Duke is a smart place to begin.

FIRST: Two straightforward short-answer questions — only 500 characters each though, and they’re asking for 3 separate things in only 1,000 characters!! Ugh, this is not the type of change we were hoping for. 🙁

1. Why is pursuing an MBA the right next step for you?
2. What are your post-MBA career goals? Share with us your first choice career plan and your alternate plan.

NEXT, two long-form essays

1. First required essay: 25 random things about yourself [A very involved preamble, then:] [T]he Admissions Committee also wants to get to know you—beyond the professional and academic achievements listed in your resume and transcript. You can share with us important life experiences, your likes/dislikes, hobbies, achievements, fun facts, or anything that helps us understand what makes you who you are. Share with us your list of “25 Random Things” about YOU.
2. Second required essay: The Fuqua community and you [Another preamble about Fuqua, then:] Based on your understanding of the Fuqua culture, how do you see yourself engaging in and contributing to our community outside of the classroom?

To speak of the obvious:
They’re really generous in what they allow – but that does not mean you should take advantage of that generosity in what you submit!

We recommend not going more than perhaps 750 words at the most for each of these essays. And please please please don’t go down to 10-point font, even though they say that you can!! You can absolutely share everything you need to in a compelling fashion with a 750-word essay written in 11-point font (or heck, even 12-point!).

Duke’s second essay question is quite similar to what Wharton is asking, and it’s also got a lot of parallels with Columbia essay 2 as well as with the MIT pre-interview “mission” essay. Duke was the first to start with this type of question, so you can see how they’ve put an emphasis on culture for a long time. In 2016, Duke cleaned up the wording of the “culture/contribution” prompt, which made it easier to tackle for Class of 2019 applicants compared to what previous crops of BSers had to deal with.

Tuck also puts a very high value on community engagement. So, a similar approach may work for some of these but you’ll be writing each essay from scratch!

We’ve done lots of posts on the Duke essays over the years, so that’s an advantage, too!

[end discussion of 2016-2019 info]

2015 Duke Information

Duke kept its same questions for 2015 except that they’re giving you more space in the important Career Goals short-answer questions. YAY DUKE!! Our Fuqua strategy guidecovers everything you need to know on tackling these questions and the essays.

Three short-answer questions – just 250 characters each — NOW 500 CHARACTERS EACH! THAT’S HUGE! You’ll be able to actually pitch a complete career path now.

1. What are your short-term goals, post-MBA?
2. What are your long-term goals?
3. Life is full of uncertainties, and plans and circumstances can change. As a result, navigating a career requires you to be adaptable. Should the short-term goals that you provided above not materialize what alternative directions have you considered?

Two essays, up to two double-spaced pages each:

You really need to read the full questions as posted on their website .

1. [T]he Admissions Committee also wants to get to know you—beyond the professional and academic achievements listed in your resume and transcript. You can share with us important life experiences, your likes/dislikes, hobbies, achievements, fun facts, or anything that helps us understand what makes you who you are. Share with us your list of “25 Random Things” about YOU.
2. Choose one:
   • When asked by your family, friends, and colleagues why you want to go to Duke, what do you tell them? Share the reasons that are most meaningful to you.
   • [A very involved question asking you to understand the 6 Fuqua Values and then:] At the end of your 2 years at Fuqua, if you were to receive an award for exemplifying one of the 6 Principles listed below, which one would it be and why? Your response should reflect your knowledge of Fuqua and the Daytime MBA program and experience, and the types of activities and leadership you would engage in as a Fuqua student.

Very minor changes to the wording of that option #2 question: They deleted the phrase “should reflect the research you have done.” Hmmm. Interesting, Duke!

For the career goals, Duke is pretty much the only school that invites you to present a “Plan B.” For most other applications you’ll want to stick with just ONE set of goals. It’s tough enough to convey those in the limited space the schools allow!! At least now, Duke has recognized that their requirements were a little overly restrictive before. You have a fighting chance this year, Brave Supplicant! You’re applying at like the best time ever. 😉

Also, that second question sure does have traces of Berkeley-Haas lingering around it! Unsurprising. Both of these schools have a distinct focus on culture, and both want you to understand what that culture is about before applying. The risk with the second option for essay 2? You could come across a little stilted if you try too hard. Check out the Duke Essay Guide to learn more.

Duke 2015 Deadlines

• Early Action (binding): September 15, 2015 (two days earlier than 2014)
• Round 1: October 14, 2015 (almost a week earlier than last year)
• Round 2: January 5, 2016 (same day as last season)
• Even though Round 3 is closed, they’re accepting apps on a rolling basis until April 25 (with decision coming on May 6 – are they saying that they would really be able to admit you in that little time?!?? we don’t suggest trying now)

[end discussion of Fuqua’s 2014 questions]

2014 Duke Information

Duke won our informal Best MBA Questions contest for two years in a row (2012 and 2013) – their essay questions are awesome! We’ve therefore been thrilled that they’ve kept them exactly as they are for so long – including this year! They keep resisting the urge to make changes just because all the other schools are changing. Bravo, Fuqua! 😀

[end discussion of Duke’s 2014 application]