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| Duke University Fuqua School of Business |
OVERALL 1998 RANK: 7 BW corporate rank: 7 BW graduate rank: 10 BW 1996 rank: 11 |
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1999 Profile Update School Profile School Statistics Graduates' Comments: Fuqua attracts an outstanding student body: very smart, balanced, caring people drawn from all backgrounds. There is constant support from classmates. It has been a pleasure to be with them. Over 350 top flight corporations recruited on campus. I would have had several offers had I not accepted Goldman Sachs early. Terrific professors include: Steven Huddard, Accounting & Taxation; Douglas Breeden, Finance; Peter Brews, International Management; Bob Whaley, Finance; Jim Smith, Decision Sciences. --Finance I have had some of the best teachers at the university level here at Fuqua (better than Florida, where I was an undergrad, and Stanford, where I was in the PhD program in history). Additionally, the faculty did an excellent job of bringing their cutting-edge research into the classroom and integrating it into the coursework. Many professors also leveraged their connections to bring in high-ranking executives and government officials to class, which led to fantastic discussions that greatly enhanced the learning experience. The diversity of students also enhanced the learning experience. I now have good friends on 3 different continents whom I will visit with my family. It is one thing to learn business theory, but they were an invaluable resource in understanding just how business theory is applied in different parts of the world. Two additional years at work in my previous job could never have given me the academic experience I received here or better trained me to be a leader in the business world. --Marketing Fuqua is not only a great environment for getting an MBA, but also provides a great support network for the spouses and families of the students (my wife and three children had just as much fun over the two years as I did). Additionally, Dan Nagy (head of career services)is doing an excellent job of bringing all of the top companies to recruit on campus. As a result, I had the opportunity to interview with every firm I was interested in. --Consulting The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University emphasizes all of the positives of the MBA education: teamwork, diversity, and problem-solving. The school fosters an atmosphere of support that touches the students, faculty, administration and community. I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to work with some of the brightest business minds in the world and have gained an appreciation for what the business world can be. --Consulting Fuqua far exceeded any expectation that I had prior to entering and quickly put to rest any prior apprehensions. The school does a great job of welcoming new students into its unique culture. That culture is defined by a sense of community that I don't think exists at any other business school in the world. Fuqua delivered an outstanding business education, a powerful network of faculty and alumnae, and a great bunch of friends with whom I will interact for years to come. To top it all off, attending Fuqua allowed me to double my salary in two years and exposed me to opportunities at an entirely new level. All goals that I had for return on investment were more than met. I don't care what prior rankings have indicated. This is far and away the best business school in the country! --Consulting If, like most of the class, you have a business undergraduate degree or a lot of experience, you will feel comfortable with how the system is designed. However, if you do not fit this description, or you want to make a career change to a nontraditional MBA path, life at Fuqua will be very difficult because the system is not designed for you, and there is little support. The quality of teaching covers a wide range. Many of the professors I had were innovative and tried to connect to students. I was lucky to have many such teachers in my 2nd year electives. But there are an equal number of horrible professors on the faculty, who do not belong in a classroom, and unfortunately I had many such people during the core classes. --Unknown The school puts a lot of emphasis not only on research, but the right research, and too many good teachers in the classroom are lost. The caliber of students is also mixed. Some are incredibly bright, but many others are not motivated enough for an environment so focused on teams. Too much learning and too many assignments are team-oriented, which minimizes the effect of individual learning (not to mention the impact on grades). --Sr. Business Planning Analyst Fuqua was a wonderful school to attend. The friendly, team-focused atmosphere overshadows the breadth and depth of the educational experience offered at Fuqua. We are able to work together, play together, and learn together in an environment that encourages us and pushes us to work hard. It is with this mentality that we can attain great heights while expecting and planning for continual improvement. If you are a gregarios, team-oriented, self-motivated, high-achiever, then Team Fuqua is for you! --Consulting I believe I am more that adequately prepared for a management career. Based on interactions with other B-school students I have encountered over the past two years through seminars, interviews, conferences etc. I feel Fuqua's classroom preparation is equal to or exceeds that of any other graduate business school in the country. I believe that the "Team Fuqua" concept better prepares students to work with all different types of people and as a result allows us to be more effective managers. Finally, the close-knit environment of Fuqua also results in a large amount of community service that I found lacking at other schools and something that I found extremely rewarding. --Consulting I chose Fuqua over Wharton, and I have never regretted the choice. Fuqua is an outstanding institution that succeeds in instilling in its students the value of teamwork, in addition to giving them a solid grounding in business fundamentals. It is a completely noncompetitive atmosphere, and students dedicate themselves to public service -- the largest student organization raised $152,000 for Special Olympics. In addition to Fuqua's excellent educational opportunities, Duke rivals Stanford as the best place to live for two years -- great weather, a Robert Trent Jones-designed golf course across the street, and the best basketball in the nation (to which grad students usually get tickets). Lifestyle played a sizeable role in my selection of Fuqua over Wharton. It's too bad that your survey includes no questions about whether or not students found their experiences to be enjoyable. At Fuqua, the answer would be a unanimous and unqualified 'yes.' --Consulting My experience at Fuqua was simply outstanding - I would not go to any other school, even if given the opportunity again today to choose. My experience in the classroom was excellent, my job search was very successful, and my time working and socializing with the other students was outstanding. Fuqua is a terrific institution, and it is the bright, fun, highly involved, and team-oriented students that make it an outstanding MBA program. --Consulting I felt the level of cooperativeness and teamwork among students at Fuqua was stellar. My fellow students were truly engaged in their work and classes, and the breadth of their various career experiences materially enhanced the benefit I received from team assignments and class discussions. I simply cannot imagine having been more comfortable in any other program. Also, I feel I was able to tailor my course mix to meet my needs as an intended entrepreneur, while at the same time establishing a foundation on which to build a lifetime of learning in a general management career. --Entrepreneurship I believe that the school's emphasis on teamwork, communication skills and other "intangibles" is what differentiates Fuqua -- my experience was so much more than just learning how to crunch numbers or put together a marketing plan. It was about building my leadership and teamworking skills using various business tools and technologies that will help me succeed in my career. --Finance Fuqua is a school for team players and leaders. Many schools focus so much on leadership that everyone tries to be THE leader and there is no team. Team Fuqua has found a great balance. We really are a team, and we are in this education together -- we learn and succeed as a team. There is competition among students, however, I have never seen the competitive element displace the team-player environment. --Unknown Faculty rarely panders to the desires of the students to reduce course work but they are EXTREMELY willing to do extra research and preparation to answer student questions or cover topics of interest. One of my professors revised the entire course syllabus after the first class to better address the topics students were most interested in. To his credit, he was able to make an excellent course even better. --Unknown Our placement center is the BEST! I realize other schools get companies because of their name and size. While our school does enjoy some advantage due to reputation, I believe the staff have to work to get some results for the students - but they do a great job. Every student that worked with our placement office has done well. Some students, even after numerous reminders, fail to take the steps prescribed by the placement office then wonder why getting a job isn't a snap. For those students who choose to use the placement office (even for independent job searches) getting a job is a snap. I could have had several more job offers had I not received the offer I wanted so early in the recruiting season. I have truly enjoyed the past two years and will miss the daily association of such a wonderful and diverse group of students and professors! Fuqua is a great school and is only going to get better - I believe in the next 5 to 10 years we will be a Top 5 school, not because that is our goal but simply because that ranking is a natural extension of the quality of education they are providing. --Finance Fuqua offers a very supportive environment. The school truly stands by its "Team Fuqua" motto. Learning was enhanced in every class by interactions with my teammates. This type of team experience is extremely valuable in today's corporate world. Without exception, each of my professors was readily available for one-on-one discussions about class material and other subjects. In my two years at Fuqua, I have been exposed to leading-edge thinking in marketing, finance and operations. I will certainly use this knowledge when I launch my new career. --Marketing Fuqua has made me a better businessperson and more importantly, a better person. Its collaborative culture helps each student to strengthen those skills in which he/she is strong and to nurture those which are weaker. The students make the experience the best I can imagine. We support each other, add to each other's learning, and enjoy a beer or two along the way. As I leave, I have gotten an E-mail from at least 50% of my classmates saying how much they valued their fellow students and the overall experience -- we all want to stay in touch so much. I think this is best demonstrated by the fact that the students took the initiative this year to set up a team leader (student) in each city to work as a contact for all the recent graduates -- so if you go to a certain city on a consulting assignment, you know who to call to contact your friends. --Unknown The best part of Fuqua is the ability of students to lead the administration. Since we are a new school, the administration listens to students and really looks to them to provide internal and external support for the school. This provides unbelievable opportunities for students to leave their mark. Overall, in case you can't tell, I got way more than 100% of my investment out of these two years. --Marketing Overall, a fantastic two years whose benefits greatly exceeded the high costs of attending a full time MBA program. Fuqua is a business school focused on the MBA student experience with excellent career services and superior student responsiveness. Fuqua is also very teamwork focused, maybe even too much so. The quarter-class schedules allow for the opportunity to take many electives but this also requires class teaching and assignments to be compacted into seven-week blocks. A hallmark strength of Fuqua is its alumni network. I was never disappointed in the helpfulness of alumni at companies I targeted for my career search both for summer internships and full time. Fuqua's reputation will only increase as the school continues to deepen its alumni network and reach. --Marketing The overall experience at Fuqua was tremendously satisfying. For those of us who appreciate being surrounded by high-caliber MULTI-FACETED individuals, Fuqua provides an ideal MBA atmosphere. The more friendy personality of the school actually offers its students an advantage in the dog-eat-dog recruiting game by encouraging 2nd year students to help out first year colleagues. Recruiters appear to respond favorably to motivated and intelligent MBAs who regularly display kindness and consideration for others. --Finance Next to my marriage, going to Fuqua is the second best personal decision I have made. The culture of the school is to learn with and from your fellow students. An example of the collaboration at Fuqua is best seen during recruiting. The second years pass down a tradition of polishing off the first year class before recruiting starts. Club members get in on the act by educating each other on different career paths in their field. During recruiting season, the team rooms and halls are filled with Fuquans grilling each other with mock case questions, brand management strategies, or on what the market is going to do tommorow. --Unknown Classes also stress working with others. Team projects are the norm. Because of the emphasis on team work, the biggest faux pas is to be dead weight on a team. One quickly learns how to effectively (stress on effectively) run meetings. Back in the class room, the course load is difficult. There are also plenty of opportunities to shine as an individual. The core classes effectivley prepare students for the electives. The electives are superb. Professors covered cutting-edge techniques and information and encouraged individual investigation on current affairs. Outside the classroom was great. All in all, a great place, great people, and a great environment. I wouldn't change a thing. --Finance Fuqua far exceeded my expectations. The administration is very receptive to students' concerns, and has actively pursued change in order to keep up with students' changing needs. Dean Rex Adams has brought innovative and active leadership to the school. The Career Services Office is one of Fuqua's greatest assets and they continuously go out of their ways to help students any way they can. Fuqua's focus on teamwork is unparalleled from the day we arrive for orientation all the way through to graduation. Their commitment to creating a diverse and multi-cultural environment for students is well noted. I have learned so much from my fellow students. --Marketing The Career Services department does a fantastic job getting students prepared and bringing lots of companies on-campus. I felt that I ended up getting the job that I wanted. From talking with my classmates, I think most of them did too. The students make Fuqua special. It is a very supportive atmosphere where people work together and are willing to help one another. The diversity of backgrounds provide an opportunity to learn from others. I felt classmates were very involved in student activities. --Finance The importance of having an international education can not be overstated. Fuqua has an excellent representation of students in our school, hanging flags for the country of each individual. These students, as well as exchange students are very integrated into our course. Further, I studied on exchange with IESE, one of the leading business schools of Spain (and all of Europe). This experience as been a crucial part of my MBA experience. People sometimes understate the quality of Finance at Fuqua. Our professors are incredible. They take what could be a very dry subject, and make it real and interesting. I have studied Finance, Corporate Finance, Derivates, Corporate Restructuring, and Advanced Applied Finance. All of these courses have been remarkable. The level of teamwork at Fuqua could be no greater. Time and again, people have gone out of their way to help each other (and, of course, always in an ethical manner). This is true for classes as well as recruiting (such as collecting and practicing questions for case interviews). --Consulting For a young school, Fuqua has developed an outstanding program. I had some exposure to the school while I was at Duke during my undergraduate studies. The finance department offered courses that undergrads could participate in. That was my first experience with the excellent professors and students at Fuqua. That was what convinced me to return for my MBA. And I was not disappointed. When people ask me why I chose Fuqua, the answer is always the same, the people. The professors and their talented teaching skills never ceased to amaze. True, the school has had difficulty attracting "top name" faculty that other comparable schools in the Ivy league have. But, this fact has built a spirit of determination that I believe most schools lack. This determination also applies to the students. Fuqua has fostered a healthy degree of competition in the program while building teamwork among the students. Without a doubt, the students I became close friends with will be lifelong friends and business associates. --Finance I had a really strong pre-business school background in finance, and I knew prior to going back to B-school that I would definitely return to finance. As such, I really was not excited at all to have to get my MBA. I was a huge cynic, and repeatedly remarked to my parents who were urging me to go that I thought B-school would be a waste of time. That's how I entered the process. Well, I was wrong. Real wrong. Business school ended up being an extraordinary experience for me and many of the friends I made there. Fuqua provided a learning environment that was unbelieveable. My classmates were bright, young, and totally unpretentious. --Unknown What impressed me most was that professors really respected your analysis of a problem so long as your assumptions and logic were well founded. That wasn't always the case for me as an undergraduate. It was so refreshing not having to figure out exactly what opinion they wanted to hear and spit it right back to them. They wanted to know what you thought and they had no hidden agendas. It was a phenomenal intellectual experience. --Finance Teamwork is always mentioned as a priority at every business school, but at Fuqua it is absolutely critical to the culture and learning environment. Also, the Individual Effectiveness courses on public speaking are an excellent, yet difficult, addition to the curriculum. --Marketing Back to Top 1999 Profile Update School Profile School Statistics |
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