Well I am done with my dream school interview - Duke Fuqua. Close to a month's wait and the D-day was finally here. Though I m not much of a morning person, I still scheduled my interview on 14th morning - I believe its the best time of the day for an interview - you are fresh, the atmosphere is bright and for a hotel lobby - there is no crowd to disturb you for one of the most important conversations of your life.
So my interview was at 9.00, and I reached at 8.10. Yes my calculations failed me for traffic and it took me only 10 minutes to reach my destination as compared to the usual 30 mins. I had to meet Dan Mccleary, the Regional head for India at Duke Fuqua.
The interview started at the set time. Dan and I sat in the breakfast area. The ambiance was particularly motivating. Nice cup of coffee, sunlight breaking through the glass walls, fresh watered plants smell - like I said morning seems to be the best time for such things.
The interview was very conversational - Dan first asked me to walk him through my professional life since college. What did I choose? and why did I take those steps?
From here on I started to tell about how I developed an interest in Analytics and how I went on to pursue it in my job. How I was head-hunted by the next firm and why I see it as the perfect field for me. Quite surprisingly he did not ask me standard why MBA, or why now questions? Instead, I walked him through minute details of my resume. What work have I done at clients and what it taught me?
He next asked me how did I chose Fuqua and if I contacted any alumni to get more information. At this stage, I told him about my true revelation-kind of experience. How an exchange student whom I met at Kuala Lumpur, really defined the Fuqua experience for me.
30 minutes and we were done! Wow! But then came the best part. The best I have ever encountered in any B school interview. Dan asked me if I would like to attend one of the Marketing classes for Executive MBA that was being held in the same hotel.
Isn't that amazing? I mean, for a person who has to interview a dozen candidates a day - Dan really took a step more to familiarize a prospect with the class-like environment.
How lucky I was to see it with my own eyes - students gathered around tables to solve case studies. And Mark from the Global Institute classes - not just friendly but also motivated like Dan to familiarize me with the environment. Wow! I was amazed. For the 2nd time, the "Team Fuqua" spirit was really proved to me beyond blogs and websites.
Overall, my experience was simply extraordinary. I came back to my home a very happy person - how I wish I get to interact with the same folks for the next two years, but at the same time, I will never ever forget this feeling.
Fuqua,
You admit me or not - doesn't matter. I am a Fan forever!
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