Still Rolling

Two things to talk about... this is going to be a long post, so brace yourself.

First, I had my London Business School interview. I loved it! I'm not even kidding. I went to my interviewer's office in the city. The interview lasted... get this... over 1.5 hours! It was a marathon, but the last 20 minutes or so were mostly comprised of answering my questions. The interviewer was very personable, and we started by talking through my job... what I do in an average day, what responsibilities I hold, what my career progression has been, what I like/don't like about my role. We went over my strengths and weaknesses and that segued into a series of questions where I was asked to give examples of leadership, dealing with challenging situations, etc. Because the interviewer had already reviewed my entire application, I had to come up with different stories to illustrate these points. We didn't necessarily cover more ground than in my other interviews, but we dived much deeper (lots of follow-up questions). At one point, the interviewer referenced a sheet that had been provided by the admissions committee with specific questions they wanted answered (man, did I want to see what was on that sheet)!

At the end of the questioning, it was time for the presentation. My interviewer had picked a very interesting topic, but it was a little difficult because it was something I could have thought about for days. Nonetheless, I had 5 minutes alone to prepare my response and then I presented my position on the topic. I chose to present sitting down b/c it just felt weird standing up with only one other person in the room. I structured my presentation with an introduction to re-state the issue, introduced my recommendation, presented three salient points to support my position, and finished with a conclusion that re-capped the strength of my argument. The interviewer was smiling by the end of it, which I took as a good sign. I asked a LOT of questions, and I felt like I got a good sense of the school and the people who go there (I mean, you can only get so much from a conversation, but the comments were very honest and thoughtful).

I also went to Duke's Weekend for Women, which was held last week/weekend. They put us up in the Washington Duke Inn, which was amazing. I was impressed by the spirit of this whole event. Certainly one of the best displays of commitment to getting women to come to b-school that I've come across. The weekend was comprised of many activities. I went to a class visit on Thursday afternoon and then we had a dinner, where we were paired with student liaisons who could answer our questions about... well...anything. We also had a party, of sorts, at a local bar after that.

The next day was packed with activities. We were welcomed by some Deans and got a nice surprise from the Director of Admissions (not guaranteed admission but something almost as good!), we heard from alumnae about the value of their MBA experience, we were taught a representative class, and went to special interest panels. We got to experience Fuqua Fridays, too, which included dinner and drinks (we all had to show ID!!!). Saturday was another packed day with discussions on careers and life at Duke/Fuqua/Durham. We also had a chance to mingle with more students at lunch, where they had set up tables with specific topics of conversation. Lastly, we had a final dinner, which was nicely arranged.

Some thoughts on my time at Fuqua.
- It's an older crowd, for sure. This wasn't a surprise since I knew the average age of the student body was a bit higher than some other schools I am looking at.
- The class I attended was not conducive to participation, so it was more of a lecture. I got a different vibe (less energetic) than at some other schools, but that could have been the class or the professor.
- I noticed that they really emphasized the various ways that students could get involved in leadership positions on campus.
- Even though most people love their school, the Fuqua people really love their school AND each other. It really did seem like a family... and this includes not just the students, but the administration as well.

I'm starting to realize that IF I am lucky enough to get more than one acceptance, it is going to be a very difficult choice! Still, I wouldn't be upset if I had the "problem" of choosing between multiple schools. :)

Well, apologies if any readers fell asleep half way through, but I hope the post at least contains some good info. for other applicants!