Duke's brand name

When choosing among business schools, the criteria most cited as most important were usually the alumni network (size, industry concentration, and geography) and, to a slightly lesser degree, brand name recognition. I ended up choosing Fuqua because it was simply a good personal and professional fit for me; I felt at home at Duke, wanted to spend two years of my life with these people (as opposed to other schools where I might have had to "suck it up" a bit more just to get a more prestigious degree), and was attracted to Duke's social entrepreneurship center.

But brand name matters, especially when you're looking for a job in a new region, such as California. I was unsure of how Duke's name would be accepted in California, but I guessed that it would be received positively. After living here for 7 weeks, I can say that I've been pleasantly surprised by Duke's brand. One small example - I attended a workshop last week on SFUSD's new school choice formula, and the presenter proudly declared that they've been working with economists from Stanford, Berkeley, and Duke to ensure that the system works. In a world in which Stanford is the undisputed top dog, this was a pretty big signal to me that Duke's brand name has legs. I've got many more stories like this.

Overall, I feel very proud and confident to have the Fuqua and Duke names on my resume. We're not Harvard Business School, but I'd say that in terms of reputation, Fuqua is just a cut below - in line, and in some cases better than, reputations of NYU, Dartmouth, and Michigan business schools. When I tell someone I'm a "Duke MBA", I can see their reaction, and it's almost always a positive one. People want to know more about me because I go to Fuqua, which gives me a lot of confidence when applying to jobs.

I attribute our brand recognition to a few factors"

1) Quality of graduates. Fuqua's reputation of producing graduates from the "Team Fuqua" culture is a known quantity. The arrogance and elitist attitude of other schools' graduates is much less so at Fuqua. In a business world that values communication skills above all else, Fuqua acquits itself well.

2) Dispersed alumni. Because few alumni stay in the Durham area, Duke sends its alumni to geographically diverse areas. We still don't have a good pipeline to Europe, though.

3) Research. I have always been skeptical of the overall value add of "research" to a school's success, but when I see in national press that "researchers from Duke University conclude that...", my degree is slightly more valuable.

4) Duke basketball. It's undeniable.