school culture, housing, weather, traffic, and beautiful campus if not the largest in U.S

it seems fuqua is good at every aspect, but not best at any one. Consulting is good but not best. finance is good but not leading.

culture fit is important. duke is a good school for those with families.

Yes

Access to top tier firms, consulting and investment banking. Mid-sized, get to know most of your classmates. Excellent location - low cost of living, easy access to the Northeast, Midwest, and the South. Duke name is strong.

Heavy influence of the social sector. Not a fan of several of the core classes.

Sports scene is awesome. Faculty is top notch. One of the best groups of finance faculty I've seen.

Yes

Duke was a fantastic experience for business school. The faculty is routinely ranked the best amongst business schools and your fellow students will come from a diverse range of business/industry backgrounds, which is a refreshing change from other top 10 programs such as Wharton where everyone is from Finance, or Kellogg where everyone is from marketing... Additionally, the school as a whole does a great job of integrating its grad schools and students into the overall campus experience so you really feel like you're a part of the larger Duke community, and not just the business school. Plus, hard to beat floor seats at Cameron!

If you're from a coastal city, Durham can feel a bit small and removed from the action, and its not the easiest place in the world for spouses to continue their careers, if you have one. The Triangle is continually getting better in this regard, but its still not Boston, Chicago, The Bay Area, etc. That said, its a nice change of pace from the big cities.

If you're expecting a "southern" experience, look elsewhere. Duke is located in the south, but not of the south - the majority of your peers will be from the north east or west coast, which mirrors the undergrad student body as well, which is over 90% out of state students.

Yes

2

2011

Terms are six weeks long, so your core classes are nearly done within the first semester. Summer Global Institute is excellent. GATE and GCP trips are great international opportunities. There are always options for independent studies with companies, etc. Faculty is overall very good, and classes balance cases and lecture well.

Most students live at one of a few apartment complexes in Durham. Fuqua building is beautiful, has great facilities, food, computers, team rooms, etc.

2010

GMAT, essays, interview, undergraduate GPA & coursework

2

2011

2

2011

Good classes, case based; no academic advisors, rely on second years for advice on classes; classes typically between 25-60 people; Found that school has great professors in Accounting. Many opportunities to travel, and study abroad for credit. School has parternships with many other schools around the world.

Cost of Living is very reasonable; campus is beautiful and the facilities are very good; housing is easy to find and there are many great restaurants; Crime and Community Relations are struggling at times, but I believe it is getting better; Overall, I'm very happy with the quality of life at Duke.

2011

Core classes are all kept to a reasonable size (about 70 students or less) and the majority of electives are even smaller so it's really easy to participate often in class and get to know the professors well. Even the most prestigious professors are all extremely accessible to students and I've had more than one go out of his way to get to know the names of all students and the backgrounds before the term even started!

I've had the opportunity to complete two independent study projects in my first year. The first with a Fortune 100 company and the second with a smaller firm that allowed international travel at the end of the term. The school's ease of approval process for these alternative methods of learning helps us get "real world" experience even while taking classes in Durham, NC.

Being on a quarter system makes it really easy to study abroad. It is unfortunate though that the acceptance process is a lottery rather than merit-based (on grades, desire to potentially work in the region one day, proficiency in the language, etc).

I attended a competitive high school, started at an Ivy League undergrad, finished at a different top 25 school, got a 750 on my GMAT and yet I've never worked so hard in my life. The 6-week terms and the curved grading when many students have already taken classes like this during undergrad, is all very tough for a non-business undergrad major. Students are not competitive with others, per se, but they are competitive with themselves and there are a number of students who are all books all the time. This makes it tougher for the more well-rounded students to receive the highest marks.

Core classes are all kept to a reasonable size (about 70 students or less) and the majority of electives are even smaller so it's really easy to participate often in class and get to know the professors well. Even the most prestigious professors are all extremely accessible to students and I've had more than one go out of his way to get to know the names of all students and the backgrounds before the term even started!

I've had the opportunity to complete two independent study projects in my first year. The first with a Fortune 100 company and the second with a smaller firm that allowed international travel at the end of the term. The school's ease of approval process for these alternative methods of learning helps us get "real world" experience even while taking classes in Durham, NC.

Being on a quarter system makes it really easy to study abroad. It is unfortunate though that the acceptance process is a lottery rather than merit-based (on grades, desire to potentially work in the region one day, proficiency in the language, etc).

I attended a competitive high school, started at an Ivy League undergrad, finished at a different top 25 school, got a 750 on my GMAT and yet I've never worked so hard in my life. The 6-week terms and the curved grading when many students have already taken classes like this during undergrad, is all very tough for a non-business undergrad major. Students are not competitive with others, per se, but they are competitive with themselves and there are a number of students who are all books all the time. This makes it tougher for the more well-rounded students to receive the highest marks.

Comparatively high GMAT score. Required interview for addmissions. Must display qualities associated with teamwork and have demonstrated experience of leadership.

Cost of living is extremely low. I have an enormous luxury apartment that is much, much nicer than my pre-MBA NYC apartment and less than half the cost.

The school is very up-to-date in its facilities including computer labs, classroom technology, CISCO video teleconferencing, etc. The building management office goes out of its way to make sure students have everything they need.

Dining options at Fuqua are pretty lame. I bring bag lunch and dinner and keep it in a fridge at school.

There is a "Leaders of Consequence" essay in which you need to explain how you fit into the school's leadership philosophy. It's really just a reworking and merging of other applications to other schools.

For the year I applied, anyone who applied had to sign up for an interview, either in person or otherwise. I believe this policy is changing due to increasing application numbers.

The professors are great. They really care about the students learning. ON top of that, we have great access to some amazing professors and they are there because they like to teach. Students and classmates are always well prepared. To me, the academic side has been such a pleasure to learn in this environment. The world load is tough, but not busy work at all. you feel like you are learning something.

2

2011

Incredibly talented, available and engaging faculty.

Range of classes.

Half case and half lecture/discussion.

Numerous study abroad opportunities and travel classes.

Range of practicum classes.

Many other opportunities to participate in corporate life.

Many opportunities to give back to the community.

nothing too unique

2011

Quality of classes varies widely by professor. Despite a reputation for marketing, Duke's marketing classes have been very disappointing. Marketing class discussions rarely include quantitative analysis and the majority of courses are little more than exercises in intuition. This contrasts with the accounting/finance professors and classes, which have been very impressive.

Increasing class sizes inhibit in depth class/case discussions.

2011

Extremely research oriented faculty, that melds its research with the coursework to give us insights onto what is going to come in Future. Classes are a right mix of Cases and Theory, and class participation is highly encouraged via class participation grades.