Admitted Students Day

Exactly one week ago, Fuqua hosted an admitted students day which ran from 9AM until 3PM. Unfortunately, I had to leave around 1PM to record a song for a class project, but the time I spent at Fuqua was valuable and I continued to learn more about the program.

First, I must comment on the energy and commitment of the organizers of this event. There were around 15 or so prospective students in attendance, but there were twice that many current students, administrators, counselors, etc. helping out. I was thoroughly impressed with how the day's events were run, and it was clear that there are a lot of people heavily invested in the success of the MMS program.

Next, a quick comment about the other prospective students: while this year's class has over 60% Duke students, I was pleased to see quite a variety of undergraduate schools represented. There were only 2-3 other Duke students in attendance, with the others hailing from Chapel Hill, UNCG, and a wide variety of schools outside North Carolina, several of which I hadn't heard of. While the group seemed to lack the big name schools like Harvard and Yale, I think a shift away from a heavy Duke population will promote a better social and academic atmosphere and strengthen the program. My guess is also that the admitted students day reflected a regional bias in that those within driving distance were more likely to come, so I expect to see an even greater variety of schools represented when the actual program begins. Additionally, while most students in attendance were current undergrad seniors, several were a couple of years older and were looking to shift to a career in business. Perhaps the most impressive and unique case was a married man in his 20s who recently dropped out of a neuroscience PhD program at Oxford to pursue something more business related.

The day featured Q&A sessions with administrators, current students, and the MMSA president. We also saw a presentation on financial aid and had a buffet lunch at the Thomas Center, which let me tell you, is easily the best food I've eaten on a college campus and rivals the Washington Duke Inn. After I left, students went on a tour and had an academic preview session. Although I thought I had a pretty good grasp of the program already, I did learn quite a bit of new information; I'll stick to a few highlights:
-Students seemed to be on a first name basis with administrators and counselors. This was possibly the most encouraging aspect of what I took away from the day's events. While the program has hit a few bumps in its first year, students have many channels by which to voice their concerns, and the program's directors are eager to make the necessary changes
-The number of applications received is already several hundred more than last year. While I expect the program still won't be extremely selective, it's getting better
-Students now have access to both Fuqua and Duke undergraduate recruiting methods, namely Career Compass and e-Recruiting. This apparently was an issue for this year's students because they didn't have access to e-recruiting until January. Luckily for us, the issue has been resolved.
-Collaboration between MBA students and MMS students has greatly improved over the course of the year

On the negative side, the most common complaint I got from current students (besides the e-recruiting access) is the team-based nature of the MMS program. As I wrote about in a previous post, this seems to be a valuable learning experience but also can be a major source of frustration when team dynamics don't work out.

I also asked a question about how the current student government and club leaders will transfer leadership to next year's class, a potential problem with a one-year program. The current MMSA president said many club presidents will come back for a short period next year to help with the transition, but honestly I am a bit skeptical on this point.

Final projects to work on... perhaps I'll include some more information later. Suffice it to say that the day was very impressive on the whole, and the more time I've spent looking into the MMS program, the more attractive it has become. I've decided to attend for sure, so hopefully I'll be able to provide a lot more information over the coming year.