How can you write essays that grab the attention of MBA admissions committees? With this thorough Duke Fuqua School of Business essay analysis, our friends at mbaMission help you conceptualize your essay ideas and understand how to execute, so that your experiences truly stand out.

Unlike a number of the top U.S. business schools, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business has made no changes at all to its application essay questions this year, meaning that it is again posing its rather unique “25 Random Things” prompt. This decision will likely make some candidates happy but dismay others. If you are among the dismayed, we encourage you to view this submission as the generous opportunity it is to provide a comprehensive picture of yourself as a well-rounded candidate. Few application essays provide such a broad platform through which to share your most meaningful values, experiences, interests, and accomplishments. Fuqua’s second required essay focuses on candidates’ expectations of their role within the school’s MBA program. You must discuss how you anticipate engaging with and being a benefit to others in the Fuqua community. The school also poses a few short-answer goal questions concerning the basic professional elements of the applicant’s profile. In our Duke Fuqua School of Business essay analysis, we offer our advice for approaching each of Fuqua’s prompts for this season… Read more

It’s application season, and our partners at mbaMission have been working hard to give you the best chance at your MBA applications. As essay questions come out, they have been systematically writing analyses of each question for each school. You can find more on their blog, and you can see the latest essays they have analyzed below. Just click on the name of the school for the analysis:

• University of Michigan (Ross) Essay Analysis, 2011“2012: questions include, “introduce yourself,” “what are your career goals” and “what are you most passionate about?”
• Duke University (Fuqua) Essay Analysis, 2011-2012: questions include “what inspired you to take your career path,” “how will your background and values enhance other Duke students’ experience” and “why Duke?”
• Dartmouth University (Tuck) Essay Analysis, 2011“2012: questions include “why are you getting an MBA,” “discuss a meaningful leadership experience,” and “describe a failure you have experienced.”
• University of California Los Angeles (Anderson) Essay Analysis, 2011“2012: questions include “what event/experience has shaped your character,” and “what are your career goals?”

With the national number of GMAT test-takers rising to 267,000 last year, India is clearly a big source of b-school applicants. We wrote about the GMAC’s new office in the country a couple of months ago, but that’s not the only US-based institution looking to India for expansion. According to this article, several American business schools hope to build campuses on the subcontinent.

Why now? Historically, foreign schools haven’t been allowed to operate in India. Instead, they’ve had to partner with native institutions. But the Indian parliament is currently considering a bill that would open the country’s educational system to outsiders. American institutions including Duke’s Fuqua School of Business are marshalling forces to open new Indian outposts as soon ASAP if the legislation goes through. They’re talking to local officials, shopping for land, and drawing up building schematics.

The bill comes in response to ever-increasing demand for spots at the nation’s top universities and business schools. Application rates are simply too high for existing schools to accommodate, and many students don’t want to go abroad. The numbers are staggering. One figure estimates India will need 600 more universities and 35,000 more colleges over the next 12 years. India has 14 million enrolled students; the Parthenon Group, an educational consulting firm, estimates economic growth will boost that number to 22 million by 2014. “The volume of students looking for education is just unbelievable,” says Eileen Peacock, VP for the Asia office of the Association to Advance Collegiate Studies of Business.

Lots of details aren’t clear yet, like the tuition and fees schools could charge and how the admissions process will work. Plus, universities will have to cough up an $11 million fee to enter the country. And there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to attract Indian students in large enough numbers, especially the less well-known institutions. But they’ve certainly got plenty of demand to work with.