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a baker-holic, choc fanatic, dessert-freak.. yeah and i'm south asian :). A happy member of the Fuqua Class of 2011.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Fuqua - first month!

So , I finally found a free half hour in between events and thought I'd update y'all (apparently y'all is a very Durham/N.Carolina/ Southern-ish phrase, so i'm going to use it!) on life at Fuqua.

To all prospectives, hopefully this should give you a better idea of what b-school is like just as you're approaching your early-D or other deadlines.

So, after orientation, we all had a compulsory 1 month pre-term called "Global Institute" - which basically consists of two courses: Leadership Ethics & Organisations (LEO), and Global Institutions & Environments (GIE). So primarily, we had classes of LEO and GIE every weekday from Mon- Fri (at least thats what I can remember - seems so long ago!)

In a nut shell, what do you learn from the Global Institute?
Well, it's one of the only times when you pretty much get to see the WHOLE of your batch i.e. 450 people, so you can interact with people from other sections as you're all on similar schedules and courses.

In LEO, we learn about basic concepts that managers / employers consider when building organisations such as decision making, motivation, organisational culture, how to have constuctive discussions etc - it's a great course to build up your skill set prior to the "real" b-school classes/ world. We had some fun activities in this, such as Triangle training day - a day where you get to go to an outside resort of sorts, do rock climbing, role playing, balancing on ropes, and other physical activities that really build your knowledge of how working in a team is. e.g. in rock climbing, you (4 people) are all linked to one another from a rope, and so the leader can't move on, because he's limited by the people beneath him (his team) - lesson learnt? one person can't move ahead while others lack, you need to develop as a team. it was also a great opportunity to get to know your team members i n a non-academic setting.

GIE course is more macro- and teaches you concepts of efficiency - how to view different ideas, markets and economies based on their institutions, the level of efficency of institutions etc. i found it quite interesting.

So after the Global Institute, we had a few days break (not really, they had some compulsory career days in between!!), and what ensued was the blur, haze and speed of life, i like to call "B-School".

let me just say one thing - it is SUPER fast. I mean i thought i knew what a hectic life meant, what it means to be busy all day long, but honestly, this is a new level :) it's fun though - as we're just now building onto the summer internship recruiting/company presentation/ student clubs info sessions.

We have team assignments due almost every class, so make sure you have / build a good rapport with your 6/7 member first year team during the Global Institute. This team is the one you will work on for ALL courses and ALL team assignments until Jan of your first year. The teams are formed randomly, and they try to ensure there is diversity of background, work experience and academic experience in each team.

e.g. in my FY team of 6 people, there are 3 Americans and 3 Internationals. Our cumulated work experiences and backgrounds span the US, Latin America, Japan, Europe, China, S. Asia and parts of Africa as well - now that is what Fuqua really is all about - diversity.

So that's me for now - i'm off to run an info session with Second Years to learn more about what their summer internships were.

By the way - in case any of you prospectives have any specific questions on Fuqua or life at Fuqua, feel free to write a post and I'll reply to your queries.

Adios!

11 comments:

KT said...

Hi,

I will be applying to Fuqua next year. I am quite confused by the concentrations offered by Fuqua. How are they diff from Electives?
Also, how is fuqua for strategy? And can you please help me with notable strategy faculty at Fuqua?

I would really like to hear your Fuqua Experience in detail..Is it possible for you to share your contact id? You can drop me the same on my id braveheart4mba@gmail.com

And are you from India by any chance??

Regards

Amherst04 said...

Great blog. I'm a prospective student planning to apply Early Action to Fuqua. I'm thinking of switching careers to either finance (private wealth management most likely) or consulting. From your limited experience so far, how do you think Fuqua prepares career changers to jump into these competitive fields?

Choc Heaven said...

Hey Amherst04,

It would be interesting to know which background you are from right now to assess how big the jump is to consulting/finance. However, despite having said this, I think Fuqua has some really good resources to help you transition to whatever career path you want - granted it may be challenging given the economy's condition, but it is still definitely do-able. So one of the ways to get into consulting e.g. is to join Fuqua's Consulting Club - some of the things they do is host seminars, give consulting case prep sessions, give you mock interviews/ help you prepare for consulting interviews etc. Also, you will interact with NUMEROUS second years who did their internships in consulting, and ask them how to approach various companies, how to show you have a passion for consulting. So even if say you never had any consulting work experience, if you have a skill set they are looking for based on your prior work experience, if you show a passion to work there, are good at case interviews, network with the companies at the numerous sessions at Fuqua, and get on a leadership position at a consulting club - you have a good chance!

I'd also like to point out, that even if you are a career changer, Fuqua has various resources / networks to support you in that . Some of these are:
1) Career Management Center (CMC)
2) Network of Fuqua alumni
3) Student clubs - such as Finance, Consulting club, which host career opportunities
4) Symposiums, company presentations, conferences and interaction with various people from the companies you are targeting
5) Week-in cities trips (hosted by clubs) : you get to spend winter break in various cities, visiting and networking with prospective employers.

Bea said...

Hi Choc Heaven,

I'm new to the blogging world and find your blog to be really great. Fuqua sounds extremely diverse from your description, which I believe is really important to foster and maximize a good learning environment. Anyway, just wanted to drop a note and say "hi"! I look forward to your upcoming posts!!

--Bea
p.s. Growing up in the south, I love saying "ya'll!"

august rush said...

Hi Chocheaven!
Im applying for the EA round this year and faced with a dilemma on one of the essays. Describe an event, experience or person who has shaped your life. I was hoping to go with a person. How do you think the adcom views this. Are they looking for a professional story? It would be helpful if u cna shed some light on this.
and def gona try the celebratory chocolate cake. bn readin ur blog bt never left a comment. the cake sounds yummmmmmmmy!

Tazeen said...

Ah this post reminded me of good ol' early uni days ... life was soooo easy back then

Diep said...

GREAT BLOG! Btw I was just wondering what is the minimum GMAT score for Fuqua?

Choc Heaven said...

Hi Diep,
I wouldn't say there's a minimum score for Fuqua - it really is a whole package: they look at your GMAT, essays, whether you will be a fit in the culture, interview etc etc. So, even if your Gmat is not that high, if you are strong in other aspects, its worth a shot!

Having said that, I have noticed that for international students GMAT score is typically higher (or at least expected to be higher) mainly because its so competitive.

Dreamer said...

Hello Choc Heaven,

I am applying to a few B-schools in R2, and althhough there are numerous good blogs on other Schools, there are not that many on Fuqua.So your blog is really helpful! I have a few questions on Fuqua myself, could you share your email ID (on raina.saboo@gmail.com)so that I can send you an email?

Thanks a lot and Happy Holidays!

_gags said...

Hey really nice blog..It really provides great insight into life @fuqua. Since you have graduated now, I wanted to know how do you see brand Fuqua among recruiters compared to other schools. Also, is school considered among core for consulting firms.

Choc Heaven said...

Hi Gagan,

Well - from what I'm seeing Brand Fuqua's pretty strong (particularly in the US) - it depends what recruiters are looking for though, fuqua really stresses it's team approach, so companies that value that are more likely to value brand Fuqua..

Consulting recruiting from the big 4 is pretty limited; however if you want to get into tech consulting at say deloitte, and you have an IT background from before, thats pretty popular. again, though, everything varies..