Six Tips For Getting Into Duke Fuqua’s MBA Program

Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business is routinely ranked among the best domestic MBA programs — #6 by Poets&Quants and #11 (tied with Columbia University) by U.S. News & World Report in 2023. It also has grown into one of the top business schools internationally; Forbes has recognized Fuqua as one of the most globally focused schools in the US, with about 47% of their class being international students.

The school is also known for its extremely close knit and collaborative culture. “Team Fuqua” is more than a slogan on the Durham, North Carolina, campus. it is a commitment that the students, faculty, and staff make to one another.

That team spirit is reflected in student satisfaction rankings. In Princeton Review’s annual survey, MBA students and recent graduates consistently rank the school highly in classroom experience, faculty quality, campus environment, family friendliness, career prospects and administration.

That team-centric culture, a professionally and individually diverse student body, and a highly customizable curriculum with plenty of options help make Fuqua one of Poets&Quants’ 10 business schools to watch in 2024.

If all these attributes resonate with you, you’ll need to know what Duke Fuqua is seeking in an MBA candidate. Below are my top tips for crafting a successful application, informed by my experience as former Duke Fuqua Associate Director and a coach at Fortuna Admissions.

Six Essential Tips for Applying to the MBA at Duke Fuqua

Be courageous.
Fuqua’s first mandatory essay asks for your list of “25 Random things about YOU.” As the prompt suggests, the admissions committee wants to learn about you beyond the professional and academic accolades on your resume. This is an opportunity to have some fun and to highlight memorable aspects of yourself that may not shine through in traditional MBA essay questions.

Because this is an opportunity to connect on a personal level, it is also a moment to be courageous. If assembled with honesty, authenticity, creativity, and flair, your answers will draw the committee in and lead them to advocate for you during the admissions process.

Dig deep and reflect on your values, hobbies, passions and formative life experiences. Your 25 things can and should be a combination of poignant, playful, sad, funny, striking, deep and everything that lies in between. Some can be a paragraph whereas others may be a brief declarative sentence. (See my blog here for more guidance and examples.) Remember that these things should reflect the core values of Fuqua’s community — diversity, respect, integrity, collaboration, and contributing to a cause greater than yourself.
Picture yourself on campus.
The second essay challenges candidates on how they see themselves contributing to the community outside the classroom. Outside the classroom is key. Applicants frequently miss that portion of the prompt and wax poetic about how their experiences will add value in classroom discussions. Going deeper here is crucial.

Fuqua boasts 50 clubs run by students. These clubs and other experiential opportunities position you to act and flex the leadership muscles you’ll be strengthening in the program. Consider the associations you’d enjoy being a contributor to — professional groups but also activity clubs like Building Outdoor Leaders at Duke (BOLD) or Fuqua Hoops and diversity clubs like Fuqua Pride or the Asian Business Club. Then, contemplate your past experiences and how it will position you to make an impact by reinforcing Fuqua’s mission and goals. Connecting with current club members will ensure you’re able to do this effectively by leveraging an up to date understanding of their key initiatives and areas of focus.

Understand what Team Fuqua means to you.
On the surface, Team Fuqua can appear like a gimmicky motto or tagline, but that’s far from the truth. If you invest the necessary time to network with current students and alumni, you can begin to truly recognize what this means. You’ll hear stories about how candidates gunning for the same internship support each other during interview prep and how current students proactively engage across programs (Daytime, Executive MBA, MMS). You may meet or talk with alumni who stay connected with the school far beyond graduation and hear about faculty and staff hosting international students during holiday breaks.

Throughout your application, you’ll need to demonstrate your experience and understanding of this deeply relational value. Also, keep in mind that ‘Tell me what Team Fuqua means to you’ is often a preferred question among current students and alumni interviewers, so you’ll need to be prepared to answer it again.

Offer clear career goals while having a viable back up plan.
At Fuqua, the Admissions and the Career Management Center (CMC) teams are closely connected. If concerns surface about a candidate, their experience, and how viable their goals are, admissions will often receive feedback from the CMC dean. Though you aren’t allotted much space to explain your plan B for your post MBA plans, this is a very important component of your application. While what you write in an admissions essay and what you actually pursue post-MBA may very well change (and at Duke, that was quite common), it’s important that you be clear about the skills you have developed throughout your career thus far and the skills and experiences you need from the Fuqua MBA. That way, if the wind changes (and it will; the MBA is a powerful, transformative experience!), you will be equipped to adjust your sails.
Exhibit an appreciation for diversity.
Fuqua has always placed importance on diversity. The school prides itself on the fact that they have a high number of women in each admitted class and that almost half of its student body is international. Sections and teams are intentionally constructed of students representing different ethnicities, genders, functional and industry backgrounds, and post-MBA goals.

It’s critical that your cultural savvy shines brightly throughout your application. Explore ways to emphasize your experience partnering across functions, levels, and globally diverse teams and why an appreciation for diverse perspectives is essential to you from a personal and professional perspective going forward.

Engage with Team Fuqua for an Application Fee Waiver

Given the collaborative and close-knit culture at Fuqua, engagement with Fuqua students and alumni is highly encouraged, as is participation in information sessions online and on-campus. Connecting with current students is as easy as reaching out to a Daytime MBA Student Ambassador. Alumni can easily be found through LinkedIn as well as alumni blogs linked on the Fuqua website. Not only will this engagement lead to a possible application fee waiver, but it will also be immensely helpful as you navigate the application process.

For more Fuqua admissions tips, see our video here. And if you’re interested in talking with someone about whether Fuqua’s culture is right for you and learning more about targeting your application to optimize your chance of admissions, I encourage you to schedule a free 30-minute consultation to learn how Fortuna’s expert coaches can guide you.

Fortuna Admissions coach Catherine Tuttle is former Associate Director at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, where she worked in the Career Management Center and also served as the liaison to Admissions. For a candid assessment of your chances of admission success at a top MBA program, sign up for a free consultation.