Ask a Duke Fuqua Student

Talk to current MBA students about life in MBA programs (not for app advice/discussion)
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Ask a Duke Fuqua Student

by beatthegmat » Fri Jan 14, 2011 12:02 pm
I'm really pleased to introduce you to Sarah, also known as sv02.

Sarah is an old friend and colleague of mine, and she's currently in her first year as an MBA student at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Please feel free to respond to this thread to ask Sarah questions about MBA life as a Fuqua student.

Welcome Sarah!
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by sv02 » Fri Jan 14, 2011 12:55 pm
Hello all!
I will be trying to get some of my classmates to help out too =)

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by beatthegmat » Fri Jan 14, 2011 4:37 pm
Thanks Sarah! It's a real privilege having you in our community. :)
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by ceepy » Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:07 pm
Hi Sarah - I am actually a potential fiance of a Fuqua candidate, but Duke is our #1 choice! We are waiting to hear back at the end of this month :) My question is about a first year's schedule. My fiance just got engaged this month, and we are trying to figure out when to have the wedding. If we did it in May 2012, would we have time to have a wedding and honeymoon before he started his internships? Also, are there any other recommended times to do it? Would you recommend doing it this summer; I'm stressed just thinking about planning a wedding in 5 months!

Thank you,
Chrystal

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by byokley » Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:04 am
ceepy wrote:Hi Sarah - I am actually a potential fiance of a Fuqua candidate, but Duke is our #1 choice! We are waiting to hear back at the end of this month :) My question is about a first year's schedule. My fiance just got engaged this month, and we are trying to figure out when to have the wedding. If we did it in May 2012, would we have time to have a wedding and honeymoon before he started his internships? Also, are there any other recommended times to do it? Would you recommend doing it this summer; I'm stressed just thinking about planning a wedding in 5 months!

Thank you,
Chrystal
Hey Ceepy,

My name is Brian Yokley, a FY here at Fuqua. Glad to hear Fuqua is your number 1!

Although I have yet to experience the transition from school to internship, the way I understand it is that the students start date would be worked out between him and the job. Further, I do not see any reason why he couldn't request time during the summer for the wedding/honeymoon. I would certainly suggest waiting until after the first year is over. Fall is a killer and the first half of Spring is real busy as FY's try to find internships while also taking classes. Hope that helps!

btw, congrats on the engagement!

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by sv02 » Tue Jan 18, 2011 6:27 am
Hey Ceepy,

Congrats on the engagement!

First year schedule is pretty tough; supposedly we've experienced the WORST part, which was GI (2 classes + stuff in August) & all of Fall 1 & 2 (all core classes and ramping up on extra curriculars). It's supposed to get much better in spring, but unfortunately I don't have first hand experience with that yet either, nor know much in terms of internship timing.

We get out pretty early compared to most schools (first week of May) but many also use that time to got on a GATE trip, which leaves right after finals and takes two weeks, or they start their internship early to get more experience, or to be able to leave it earlier. It depends on what internship you find in terms of how set that start date might be, depending on if they have a class/set program or not.

The two types of engagements I've seen this year are (a) people got married in August during GI [initially had thought schools start in Sept, but not for FY Fuqans!] or (b) I know a few that are waiting until right after they graduate, assuming second year is a much lighter load.

I tried to reach out to some of the girls who are currently engaged or got married before coming to school. I've only heard back from 1 SY so far, who had a low key non traditional wedding she planned in 3 months and married 1.5 months before school, which was plenty of time for a honeymoon as well but they had to move to Durham right after. She said some others in her class married over Christmas Break during their FY, but that required a lot of effort on the future spouse's part given how crazy that time is. She said SY is definitely less hectic than first, so if she had to do it all over during b school, she would probably wait until SY winter break or spring break, or right after graduation. That being said, people did do it FY so it's doable.

I'll let you know if I hear back from anyone else!
--sv

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by ceepy » Tue Jan 18, 2011 6:47 am
Thank you, Brian and Sarah!

I think May 2012 sounds like the best option if we end up in Durham. I was also considering the first break during the first year, but I have completely ruled that out thanks to your insight. Sarah - I don't think we can wait until second year, but I talked to the fiance and he is okay with starting his internship a couple weeks later so we can have a nice wedding/honeymoon. With those thoughts in mind, we hope to get most of the wedding planning done before we move, so that he can focus on school. It seems like a long time, but I think moving to a new city and starting a new life (especially him, with school) will be plenty to distract us from that. I appreciate it and hope I can call you both colleagues in the future! And any other thoughts are appreciated, Sarah!

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by ceepy » Tue Jan 18, 2011 8:00 am
One more question: Are GATE trips offered at any other time of the year? If accepted, I know that my fiance had wanted to take one to China.

Thanks!

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by fuqua2012 » Tue Jan 18, 2011 2:03 pm
Hi ceepy,

Congrats on the engagement. Sarah and Brian already gave some great advice. I just want to add that Fuqua has an excellent partner's organization. You are welcome to reach out to Fuqua Partners (https://www.fuquapartners.org/) to get some suggestions on wedding/honeymoon plans. I am sure many Fuquans has had the experience and can share some advice on when/how to plan the big event.

fuqua2012

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by sv02 » Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:25 am
Hey Chrystal

re: GATE... trips are offered 2x, either during spring break (between Spring 1 & Spring 2 terms), or right after Spring2 finals before internships. They last about 2 weeks. If you want to do GCP at all (global consulting practicum), that's only during Spring Break...so for example, I'm doing that this spring, and then doing GATE in summer. The only downside for summer as a FY is you'll miss the SY Graduation if you go on the summer one (and thus if you wait for SY, you can only go in spring!). That said, I don't think partners can go, because it's tied to a class =(

re: wedding planning...I've gotten some other thoughts from girls via email. I'll copy/paste those to u via messaging vs take up this whole thread!

--sv

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by ceepy » Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:30 pm
Thanks again Sarah for this info and the email :)

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by PurpleReign » Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:52 pm
sv02 and byokley, are you still fielding questions?

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by sv02 » Wed Mar 23, 2011 4:06 am
Yes!

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by PurpleReign » Wed Mar 23, 2011 2:54 pm
Thanks, sv02. So here are a few of my questions:

1) Approximately what percentage of students would you say go on a GATE trip each year?

2) How has Duke's increasing emphasis on globalism helped you in your career/internship? I know that you have a 3-week global institute, what was that like?

3) Forgive me if you've answered this, but what field were you in prior to Duke? Do you plan on staying in the same field/function after graduation? If you're making a career switch, what skills and competencies are you hoping to gain from your 2 years at Duke to make your transition successful?

4) What would you say is Fuqua's academic strength? Marketing, strategy, finance, something else?

5) I'm interested in Brand Management in CPG or apparel. Just from the folks you know at Duke, is there a strong contingent of future brand managers there. Are CPGs well represented among recruiters?

6) Does the career services department offer any career treks?

7) Lastly, why did you choose Duke?

I know I've written you a novel, so thank you so much for sharing your insights. I truly appreciate it.

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by sv02 » Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:16 am
Hi, no problem.

1) I don't have hard numbers, but I'd say it feels like at least 25% of the FY's go. It's hard to asses because there are 2 GATES (Spring Break & Summer) as well as GCP during Spring break, so of those who participate, some do both GATE, some do one of each (I did GCP and will be doing gate for summer) and some only do one. It's not something that's little known by any means; what a lot of people grapple with most is the difference between GCP and GATE if they only want to spend the money on one, and/or the trade off of having a class to learn about a country and pay a bit inflated prices for group travel vs just traveling there on your own for cheap. There are some SY's who did Spring break GATE this year because last year they didn't think it was worth it, but changed their mind!

2) Duke's global focus is more about the International student body, the travel opportunities, bringing in companies and speakers from other countries, Int' cases/examples in class, etc. Global Institute is more about getting to know the first year class a month before the SY's get back, easing back into school, as well as taking two courses: Leadership, Ethics, & Organization, as well as Global Institutions. It hasn't directly helped my career/internship per se, but that's because my focus isn't international.

3) I was in high-tech prior to Duke and plan to go back (You can check out my profile https://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/students =) .... I came to Fuqua to explore other possibilities, and hope to return to the same type of function but perhaps in other industries (e.g. there's product management tech jobs at Ford or GE, not just focusing on Microsoft and Apple, etc). I'm not as much as a switch as I'm looking to gain a better foundation because I didn't do business in undergrad, as well as take advantage of the various opportunities I couldn't get anywhere else. For example, I am not part of of a start-up company in the Program for Entrepreneurs, and am also trying out the Health Sector Management program because it applies to what I'm doing with the start up as well as longer term abilities to help my family with health care businesses.

4) I would say it doesn't feel like the goal is to only be known for one thing. We have various centers for a reason to have strenght in each vertical -- we're not a school that only marketing or finance comes to, etc. Fuqua used to get feedback that they develop good team players...the focus is shifting to be more about well-rounded leaders. Even if you focus in marketing, you've had the good grounding in operations of finance, etc. We're not the target school for one thing - I have just as many friends doing consulting as I know bankers and non profit! That said, in terms of classes, every single class has the key professors that you MUST take that are amazing.

5) Definitely! Kraft, Unilever, J&J, P&G, General Mills...they all recruit here. The Marketing Club is strong for or CPG and does interview prep and events like Brand Challenge to get people going. I'm not as connected to apparel - I believe Levi's was on our career center postings.

6) No, the CMC doesn't do treks; that's up to the clubs. Being a very student-run school, new opportunities can pop up every year, as well. For example, this year the High Tech club made a seattle trek as well as an SF trek (the previous year they had only visited the bay area). the Media, Sports & Entertainment club visited LA during both fall & winter breaks, as well as added a New York visit in Winter. The High Tech club also had more than one city as options to visit during winter break.

7) try checking this first but happy to clarify/expand if needed: https://www.beatthegmat.com/stern-v-kell ... tml#327354 ... to my #5 reason I'd also add COLE fellowship & FuquaVision =)

--sv