Meet Duke Fuqua’s MBA Class Of 2019

Anuj Chourey 

Duke University, Fuqua School of Business 

 Describe yourself in 15 words or less: A sports freak and an introvert trying to morph into an extrovert through Fuqua.

Hometown: Indore, India

Fun Fact About Yourself: At 11,  I started playing Table Tennis for fun on the dining table, using old cassettes as the net, and a year later went on to represent my school in the Nationals.

Undergraduate School and Major: NIT Nagpur, India; B.Tech. (Mechanical Engg)

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation: Indian Oil Corporation Limited

Operations Officer (2010-2014)

Asst. Manager(Ops) (2014-2017)

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far:  Commissioning from scratch and stabilizing the operations for Indian Oil at India’s first Common User Terminal (CUT) to solve the long-term oil crisis in the state of Chhattisgarh in India. Had the pleasure of overseeing the transformation of the downstream operations of the corporation from a heavily constrained manual terminal to a state-of-the-art fully automated terminal, which brought the organization on an even keel with its counterparts, and is expected to bridge the gap in the market share and fetch revenue of $120 million in the coming years.

Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants? I think that it is very important to list and schedule various steps involved in the application cycle and then execute the implementation of the schedule meticulously. Start at least 12 months before the application cycle; be done with the GMAT as soon as possible; and definitely before the essay prompts for the schools you have in mind are out. It is very difficult to handle GMAT and the application process in parallel.

Also, instead of rushing on to the essay prompts, I would advise a long and hard introspection. I felt that the introspection journey with myself was one of the most beneficial outputs from the admission process, as in today’s fast paced world we tend to neglect reflecting upon what we really need to do for ourselves.

Talk to as many current students, alumni as you can, to get a feel of the MBA program which you are applying to as the response from the students will definitely help you understand the culture at the school.

What was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you?

I have always been a team player — be it at work or on the cricket or soccer field. My undergrad institute had mandatory participation from each and every state in India, so I knew that I would thrive in a collaborative cross cultural environment. As I did my b-school research a phrase that popped up time and again was “Team Fuqua.”  I was always attracted to the Fuqua brand and talking to the current Fuqua students only intensified my liking for Fuqua.

It was really amazing as to how each person I reached out to from Fuqua responded within hours. This for me was the standout factor that Fuqua had as compared to some other B-schools that I was interested in. Couple the Team Fuqua effect with the fact that Duke is renowned for its focus on energy (considering my goals and background) and also has a reputation for sports, I felt that the Daytime MBA program at Fuqua was tailor made for me.

What would success look like to you after your first year of business school?  On a personal front, I would like to make life long bonds with fellow Fuquans, be remembered as a perfect team player and work towards developing personality traits that will help me stand out in the crowd and also help me become a leader of consequence.

On a professional front, I would love to engage with a top tier consulting firm in their oil and gas practice. By doing so, I aim to learn more about the skills that I would require to achieve my goal of being an recognized expert in the oil and gas industry.