PERICLES ABLE PROJECT (AMERICAN BUSINESS AND LEGAL EDUCATION) WWW.PERICLES.RU/ABLE

The Graduate AdvisorSPECIAL: FOCUS ON DUKE FUQUA MBA SPRING 2005 ISSUE: 14

Samsung Scholarshipfor MBAs

Samsung Group has just announced afinancial aid opportunity for theparticipants of Samsung-sponsored MBAProgram at the Sungkyunkwan University.

By assisting the participants Samsungis hoping to nurture talents and obtainfuture leaders for the company. The MBAcourse will be taught by fully qualifiedEnglish-speaking professors of theSamsung Graduate School of Business(GSB) of the Sungkyunkwan University.That school was recently launched bySamsung in a strategic alliance with one ofthe world’s top business schools – theMassachusetts Institute of TechnologySloan School of Management. All SamsungGSB students will study at the MIT SloanSchool of Management for one semester.

The Samsung Group offers to cover alleducational expenses, among which aretuition, admission and registration fees.Moreover, each student in the program willget a monthly scholarship of around USD800. At the same time, after completing theMBA, each program member will work for

See ESSAY, Page 5

Duke Fuqua: Schoolthat Teaches TeamSpirit

By Yuri KarginAssociate Dean, Pericles ABLEProject

This issue focuses on one of theyoungest top-ranked B-schools in the US:Duke University’s Fuqua School ofBusiness. Located in the beautiful, tranquilSmoky Mountains of North Carolina, theFuqua School’s attitude is anything butquiet and tranquil. In fact, it’s one of thefastest rising B-schools in the U.S. In lessthan 35 years after founding, Fuqua Schoolof Business at Duke University has becomeone of the leaders in U.S. businesseducation.

The school is actually named after afamed industrialist, philanthropist and

The Failing Essay: OrHow NOT to Get In

By Marian DentDean, Pericles ABLE Project.

Every grad school “how to” guide thatyou read has some section on essays thatworked. They try to show you how, if youemulate their magic formula, you too cangain admission to the top B-schools.

Well, I decided to twist that advice, anddiscuss, instead, essays that don’t work.If you follow this advice, I promise you thateven your 720 GMAT score won’t get youinto business school. Afterall, you wouldreally rather be on a beach somewhere thatcramped over the computer preparing a casestudy, and there are much betterinvestments out there where you can blow$50-100,000 bucks. So pay careful attentionand you will soon find yourself havingthese alternate opportunities.

Seriously though, this is an article onwhat not to do, and how to avoid the killermistakes that will put you at the bottom ofthe admissions pile.

Fox MBA Center-Duke University

See SAMSUNG, Page 6The famous Duke Chapel

See DUKE, Page 2

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continues . . .

statesman, J. B. Fuqua, who granted theschool 20 million dollars in 1969, doubledthat a decade later, and still attends manyDuke MBA events. It is really hard topronounce the name right from the firsttime. As their web site takes pains toemphasize, the right way to pronounce theschool’s name “is [few-kwa]. Whateveryou do, don’t say [foo-kwa] or (shudder)any other mispronunciation.”

The school has about 1,350 personsenrolled annually, but that figure’s a bitmisleading because students and alumni tellus that, with the divisions of the campusworldwide, the actual daytime, on-campusprogram is a reasonable 300-400 studentsin each entering class. As a foreign student,you will probably appreciate this small andmanageable size, which leads to increasedpersonal attention from professors and lessfeeling of being lost in a crowd than youmight get at many bigger top ten schools.

Like any top business school, Fuquatells you that their core values areteamwork, leadership, and achievement.However, Fuqua also emphasizes ethicalprinciples and community involvement,perhaps more than most. As part of that,for example, starting in 1989, a team of Fuquastudents decided to raise money for theNorth Carolina Special Olympics. Theyinvited their friends from other top B-schools to what later became known as“The Fuqua MBA Games” and evolved intothe largest student run event on campus.Every Fuqua student can take part in theannual Games, which include such contestsas swimming (in a business suit), hurling abriefcase into the air for distance, and other

unique B-school sports. Involvement in theGames, as well as other school events andcommittees, provides a great opportunity tocreate relationships with Fortune 500companies, alumni, and local businesses thatsponsor the Games. It’s also great fun.

Of course, if you are into more serioussports, Duke University is the right placefor you too. In particular, its varsitybasketball team is among the best in thatsport over the entire U.S. Says Fuquagraduate, Maxim Litvinov, “the basketballis wonderful, as long as you are willing tocamp out overnight with your friends to geta ticket.”

But back to academics, the professionalapproach taken by the school is not overlynarrow. Unlike the finance powerhouses likeWharton or the marketing think-tanks likeKellogg, Fuqua does not want to maketightly focused specialists in finance,marketing or some other particular discipline.Instead, Fuqua concentrates on generalmanagement and then allows every studentto tailor the MBA to his own interests andindividual career goals using various courseofferings and student club involvement.One way that many students choose totailor their degree is in lifesciences. Dukehas the strongest healthcare and lifescienceelectives of any top MBA programs.

North Carolina is not that close to thefinancial and business centers of New York,Chicago or L.A. However, it is in one of themajor regions for the FMCG and healthcareindustries. Looking at Fuqua’s hiringfigures, you see almost a quarter of the classgoing into general management andmarketing with these types of companies.The school has its finance and consultinggraduates of course, but not in as highpercentages as in more specialized schools.

But, Fuqua is clearly not just a regionalschool. According to their 2005 admissionsbrochure, only 15% of its graduates stayedin the Southeast. 27% went to the Northeast,and 13% got international jobs. In fact,Duke is huge in the global business arena,with several foreign campus programs andthe Global Academic Travel ExperienceProgram (GATE). This interesting programgives you a focused international businesscourse on campus, culminating in a twoweek visit to the particular area of the worldin which your course concentrated. Recentcourses visited Australia, New Zealand,Southern Africa, and East Asia. (Wow, andyou thought you were just going to see thescenery of North Carolina!)

Always of key importance to Russianapplicants is the school’s career counselingand job search facilities. The CareerManagement Center (CMC) serves tosupport each student’s development andideas about a career plan, workingindividually to develop a strategy, jobsearch skills and networking opportunities.Fuqua has long-standing relationship witha number of domestic businesses andmultinationals, so its students have accessto very good opportunities available in theglobal marketplace. However, saysLitvinov, as Russia is quite a specializedlocation, Russian Duke graduates mayhave to use international headhunters inaddition to the CMC if they plan to returnhome after graduation.

The Russian connection among Fuquaalumni is growing however. Aika Jaxybai,Duke Alumni Club Leader in Russia, is oneof the most active representatives amongthose of any foreign business schools. Shevolunteers her time tirelessly, interviewingapplicants, meeting with other alumni, and

DUKEcontinued from Page 1

guest lecturing for students. Due to herefforts and the efforts of several other Dukealumni here, the Duke community is strongin Russia, and likewise the chances of careernetworking are also strong here.

The Fuqua School offers a variety ofinnovative MBA programs to give maximumflexibility to its students. There are actuallyfour ways to get an MBA from Fuqua. Oneof them is a residential daytime program. Theresidential Duke MBA-Daytime program isone of the top-rated in the world. The otherthree are developed for executives, eachdesigned for a particular stage of life andcareer:

The Cross Continent Program is a unique20-month program for those with 3 to 9 yearsof solid business experience. It combinesweek-long residencies in the Dukeheadquarters at Durham or on its campus inGermany with Internet-enabled distancelearning from anywhere in the world.

The Global Executive Program wasdesigned for more experienced executiveswith global responsibilities, and combinestraditional teaching with Internet-enableddistance learning. The campuses located inall parts of the world thus increaseunderstanding of global business. (Formore information on the Global ExecutiveProgram, see the boxed text on page 8.)

The Weekend Executive Program meetsalternate weekends on the U.S. campus inNorth Carolina. The average work experienceof its participants amounts to over 11 years.But of course, the only Russianbusinesspeople likely to enroll in thisprogram are those with private jets.

Duke Chapel

continues . . .

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The New TOEFL:Preparing Students toSucceed in the RealWorldBy Ryan Hovey Ryan was Pericles AssociateDean and teacher of TOEFL preparationcourses until this December, when hereturned to the US to pursue an MBAdegree. He is still available forconsultation via email. Please contactinfo@pericles.ru for information on howto get Ryan’s advice.

If you are looking to study abroad,you have probably heard rumors about theNew TOEFL. To the worry of thousands ofwould-be test takers around the world, therumors are true, and the new test promisesto add more challenge to the test takingexperience. Along with this challenge alsocomes opportunity for real academicpreparation.

Originally, the TOEFL was just theTOEFL, until ETS, the organization thatdevelops the TOEFL, decided to getcomputer savvy. ETS developed a versionof the test on computer, which becameknown as the TOEFL CBT (computer-based-test). The old test was then referred to asthe TOEFL PBT, or paper-based-test. Now,with the advent of the internet and its usein the testing process, ETS is proud topromote the latest version of the test, theTOEFL iBT, or internet-based-test.

The PBT and CBT had a number ofweaknesses the iBT aims to correct. First,

There’s a downside to executiveprograms of course: they are expensivetuitionwise and they require a lot of travel.(Although, as Aika Jaxybai points out, formany applicants, the executive programsare less in terms of lost wages andopportunity costs.) For those with moremodest budgets and the desire to stay inone place, the daytime regular MBAprogram in North Carolina is a better choice,and the travel bug can be satisfied with theabove mentioned GATE program. In fact,Duke’s full time program is a great one forthose who are budget minded. It has agood price-quality ratio says Litvinov. “InNorth Carolina you can rent a three roomflat for the same price that you would payfor a one room hovel in New York,” heexplained, and for students with a family,there are excellent public schools whereyour child can get a good and freeeducation.

But for all Duke MBAs’ excellent loanprograms are available. Fuqua pioneeredthe idea of no-cosigner, no-credit-historyloans for international students. Studentsin the Cross Continent Program can get upto $60,000 in loans to defray the cost. Anda recent Pericles student just admitted toFuqua’s day time program was pleased andsurprised to be offered very favorablestudent loan terms upon acceptance.

For more information check the DukeMBA website, www.fuqua.duke.edu.

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TOEFLcontinued from Page 3the PBT and CBT do not test speakingability. As a result, many students whohave poor oral communication skills are stillable to do well on the test and get acceptedby a university. These students findthemselves at a big disadvantage in theirfirst semester of study. This is especiallytrue for MBA students, whose successdepends on orally communicating in theclassroom, in group work, and in interviews.Pavel Marchenko, a Russian who holds ofan MBA from Michigan and an MA fromHarvard, recalls many Russian studentsstruggling with the intensive Englishacademic environment in their first semesterat Michigan Business School. The Russianstudents, he says, performed very poorlyin first-year internship interviews, which arepivotal to landing a job after graduation.ETS has added a speaking section to thetest that will force students to build thesecommunication skills before beginningstudy. The addition of this section will alsogive universities a better tool with which togauge a foreign student’s ability to functionin an English speaking academicenvironment.

Second, the PBT and CBT test formatsare geared more towards how much astudent knows about English, notnecessarily how proficiently a student canactually use English in real world situations.The Structure and Written Expressionsection, which will not be on the new iBTtest, is one example of testing “know about”instead of the ability to use the language.This section requires only that studentsrecognize formal grammatical structures. Inmy TOEFL classes, it was not uncommonto see a student excel on this section of thetest, and at the same time have greatdifficulty performing even the most basiclistening and speaking tasks. Furthermore,

TOEFL students would spend hoursstudying grammar rules which will have littleuse for them once at university in the US.In contrast, the iBT focuses on testing astudent’s ability to use the language byusing integrated tasks. Integrated tasksincorporate different combinations oflistening, reading, speaking and writing intoone task, which will more accuratelysimulate real-life situations. The integratedapproach challenges the student’s abilityto use the language, in addition to testingthe student’s knowledge of vocabulary andgrammar.

ETS changed each section of the test toutilize the integrated testing approach. TheReading Sections will include a glossary.Vocabulary-haters however cannot resteasy. Test takers will still need a broadvocabulary, as only a few select words canbe looked up in the glossary. This featurecan also result in wasted time if not usedefficiently. Unfortunately, the readingpassages will contain the same boringsubject matter, so the biggest challenge forsome will still be staying awake! Passagesare reported to be slightly longer, averaging700 words, and I did notice an increase inthe complexity of the passages. Studentsare, however, allowed to take notes. Thereare a few new question types such as thoserequiring the test-taker to fill in a table orparaphrase parts of the passage. ETS claimsthe new question types will challenge thetest taker’s ability to analyze the passage inmore depth than what is required on thecurrent versions of the test; but I noticedno significant difference.

The listening section will also see somechanges, though not as significant as theother sections. Test takers will be veryhappy to hear that note taking is againallowed, but gone are the days of the “shortconversations.” Both lectures anddiscussions are significantly longer on the

new test, so test takers will need to usethose notes. ETS claims to haveincorporated more realistic material, but itmay still seem out of context for studentspursuing an MBA or LLM, as the targetaudience remains the 18-22 age group.Different accents from England andAustralia will be mixed in as well,eliminating the need for TOEFL studentsto prepare with North American teachersonly. Questions types are generally thesame, except fewer multi-choice questionsand more of the matching type.

The new writing section will includetwo tasks instead of one. The first task isidentical to the current test. An additional,integrated writing task will involve reading,listening, and writing, and again, notetaking is allowed. The new task, I feel, willbe a relief for many test takers, since materialto write about is provided. Scoring will begenerally the same, and performed byhumans, most likely from North America.The North American audience must,therefore, be taken into account.

The biggest change and what will proveto be the most stressful for test takers isthe new speaking section. Of the six tasksrequired in this section, the two“independent tasks about familiar topics”will, in my opinion, be the most difficult.For these tasks, test takers will read a topic,have 15 seconds to prepare, and then berequired to speak for 45 seconds. This isdifficult in one’s own language, much lessa second or third language. The other fourtasks are integrated. Two require reading ashort passage, listening to a lecture basedon the passage, and then speaking aboutwhat was read and heard. The other two

continues . . .

5continues . . .

require listening to a lecture, and speakingabout the lecture. Again, note taking isallowed throughout the entire section, andthe humans will score this section of thetest.

The iBT will affect the test preparationapproach for both students and teachers.Students will no longer be able to just cramvocabulary and grammar rules to ensure agood score on the test. Instead, studentsmust now learn academic skills such as notetaking, efficiently using a glossary, andspeaking. Speaking preparation is thebiggest change. A test taker’s speakingscore will be based on delivery, languageuse, and topic development. Language usesimply tests one’s vocabulary and grammarusage. The other two categories howeverare more complex. For delivery, a test takeris expected to speak clearly, fluidly, andsustained. This will, regardless of one’slevel of English, be very difficult for thosewho experience anxiety during tests, andthose who are more introverted. On theother hand, students who have inferiorEnglish skills may score high simplybecause they are confident. A good scoreon topic development requires “a clearprogression of ideas.” A test taker versedin the art of giving presentations will scorewell, while a test taker who is fluent maynot score well if his thoughts are not wellorganized. As you can see, success is afunction of not only a test taker’s knowledgeof English, but also his ability to organizethoughts and present them clearly. This isa difficult skill to master, regardless ofwhether it is performed in one’s nativelanguage or second language. TOEFLteachers will therefore need knowledge ofboth effective communication and thefundamentals of English.

Fortunately for test takers, teachers, andETS profits, there are a number of resourcesalready on the market. ETS provides freepractice tests, as well as paid resourcessuch as LanguEdge CourseWare, TOEFLAcademic Speaking Test (TAST),ScoreItNow!, and Criterion Online WritingEvaluation. These all provide goodassessments of a student’s level, but theydo not provide the learning tools needed tobuild language and communication skills.Teachers will therefore need to developprograms to fill this need. Unfortunatelyfor TOEFL takers, it may take some time foreducators to make the transition.

Now for the good news. Contrary toformer announcements that the iBT will starton September 1, ETS will not start to offerthe iBT in Russia until sometime in 2006!So there is plenty of time to prepare. Forthose eager beavers, ETS is scheduled to

1) The Machine Gun Essay

First and most importantly, if you reallywant to fail in your essay, you should scanyour memory for every possible workplaceor personal success, and try to include atleast a line or two about every one of them.When you look at yourself you seenumerous facets about your personalityand achievements. You are not a onedimensional person and you have hadmany successes, so it’s only natural towant to include a bit of everything. Afterall,you want to show the admissionscommittee the whole picture about you,don’t you? Well, actually, no you don’t.

The above mentioned machine gunapproach to all your personality traits andachievements is one of the most commonways to write a failing essay. Whenconfronted with numerous facts about youthe reader has a hard time getting a realpicture. Think of it this way, if you try todescribe someone you have met a fewtimes and admire, it is probably pretty easy.You can sum up the person’s mostimportant good qualities and highlight thefew achievements you know about. Butwhen you try to do the same for an intimatecoworker, your spouse or best friend, it’smuch harder, because you are too closeand want to explain too much. This is whatyou are doing when you are writing themachine gun essay. Instead, try to look atyourself as distant friends or colleaguessee you. What is the big picture—thetheme—that you really want to present?

2) The Suck-Up Essay

The next step to writing a failing essayis to be sure to suck up to the admissionscommittee.

Don’t forget to tell them how you havealways dreamed of going to their particulargrad school, and be sure to throw in a fewbuzz words from the school’s website, andmention the stimulating environment of X-small town in the middle of nowhere where

ESSAYcontinued from Page 1

announce the world implementationschedule in November this year.

For more information about the new iBTTOEFL, check online at www.toefl .org.

the school is located. If you really want tofail, it also helps to harp on name of aprofessor you admire but whose books andarticles you haven’t actually read.

Seriously, having verbal orgasms overthe school only works if you really areexcited. Have you gone to visit? Can yoube talk about comments from friends whohave gone there? Are there some particularprograms you have read about that reallydo interest you? Go beyond the glib lookthat the web gives you. Admissions officersget so many words from their websites spatback at them that they practically have thewhole site memorized. If you haven’t readthe professor’s book, well the problem isthat probably your interviewer has read it.In short, faking enthusiasm is a bit like beinga prostitute faking sexual excitement—somehow both parties know it isn’t quitereal love.

3) The Fiction Novel

Another failing strategy: Write youressay like a best selling fiction novel. Inother words, write what you know theaudience wants to read, even though it’snot true. They want to know about thesatisfaction you get from your charity workfeeding smelly homeless people at the soupkitchen. They want to read about how yousinglehandedly led the office football andhockey teams to double victories on thesame day, how your ideas made yourcompany an extra $100 billion last year, andthe great personal satisfaction you get fromyour job pouring over unintelligible reportsfor 12 hours a day.

How stupid do you really think thoseadmissions officers are? Afterall, they haveonly spent years evaluating pages ofbullshit in applications, so why would youthink they can spot yours?

You are correct, the conventionalwisdom, and all the “how to” books adviseyou to show the school your human side,tell them about your charitable and sportsactivities. But these things only work if theyring true. Admissions officers can seethrough faked charitable, sports or workenthusiasms in a minute. If they can’t tell itfrom the essay, then they surely will findout in the interview. So if you don’t want tofail, focus on the aspects the admissionscommittee wants to hear ONLY when theseare truly key parts of your personality andachievements.

3) The Mystery Story

The fourth way to ensure your essayfails is to write a mystery story—an essay

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SAMSUNGcontinued from Page 1

Samsung in South Korea for 2 years andthen in Russia for the following 2 years,which is a mandatory requirement.

Russian citizens may apply for theprogram. The application deadline is March15, 2005. However, if anybody sends in anapplication after that date, the programselection committee will do its best toconsider them.

In order to apply, one should meet thefollowing selection criteria:

- B.Sc. or M.Sc. in Marketing,Economy, Finance, Management,Banking, Accounting, International Law,or Mathematics, Physics, andEngineering;

- GMAT (Graduate ManagementAdmission Test) Certificate;

- TOEFL (Teaching of English asForeign Language) Certificate;

- Grade Point Average more than 4.5;- Some working experience desirable;- Reference letters.

For more information, please, visit http://http://www.edu.samsung.ru/mba/

that twists and turns and doesn’t unveil theplot until the very last line. So what if theapplication asks you a very specificquestion? Who cares. In the mystery storyyou don’t want to give them the answer butwant to hint around about it, not revealingyour plot until the very end.

For example, suppose the applicationasks you to describe your career ambitionsin 500 words. A good essay might start witha straightforward, concrete and specificstatement such as “After receiving my MAin finance from your university I would liketo work as a financial analyst in the CentralBank of Russia’s Department of InternationalFinance.” Boom. It’s specific, concise andbusinesslike. It’s just what the admissionscommittee wants. Already the reader knowswho’s the victim and how the crime will becommitted, so all you have to do is elaboratefrom there to explain why.

But mystery writers don’t use the aboveapproach. The mystery writer instead startswith something like “A degree at youruniversity offers a broad range of courseoptions and a diverse curriculum . . . goodtheoretical basis . . . leverage my current workexperience . . . with learning from professorswho have financial expertise . . . takingoptional courses in finance . . . stay in thebig city . . . my prior university studies . . .interesting opportunities for growth . . .challenge.” Toward the end of the essaythe mystery writer will finally admit that hewill probably seek work as an analyst at someunnamed bank.

The mystery novel essay is often a poorattempt to disguise the fact that the writerdoesn’t know the answer to the question.Instead of putting in the intellectual strainof thinking it through carefully, the mysterywriter lets the plot unfold as he writes.Alternately, the mystery writer mayconsciously plan to give the answer nearthe end of the essay, thinking that this willkeep the reader engrossed in the plot, waitingfor the solution to unfold. In either case, theresult is not the effect you want in anapplication essay.

Think of it this way: Have you ever reada mystery book for the second time or seena mystery movie for the second time? Didyou notice how much more detail youunderstood that second time when youalready knew where the plot was headed?We have all had that experience. So if youwant the reader to really pay attention toour words—as of course you do in anapplication essay—you should answer to

the question first and then elaborate, ratherthan saving the answer for the end.

4) The Non-Failure Failure Essay

To end our discussion of the failureessay, it’s fitting to discuss the essay aboutfailure.

Practically every business schoolapplication, and many other grad schoolapplications, ask for some variation on theessay about failure. Some of the blunterschools might ask you to describe yourweak points or to describe a failure in yourlife. The more subtle ones might say:“Describe an occasion where teamwork atyour workplace broke down.” “Explain asituation in which you did not reach yourgoals.” “Describe an area of your life whereyou think you have room to do better.”However the schools explain it though,they are all trying to see how you overcomefailure.

Taking an MBA, J.D., LL.M. or othergraduate degree can be a stressful, life-changing experience. Not everyonesucceeds. You can look at it like a steppyramid—at each level higher, the numberof people who can fit on the pyramid getssmaller, and some people drop off. Inbusiness school and law schoolparticularly, you are getting near the top ofthat pyramid and their challenging mentaland physical demands are designed to seehow many people can stay on to the nextstage—an executive career. So even if youhave been at the top of your class and thetop of your employment circle up to now,graduate school should push you a lot tostay there. Those who do well in graduateschool are not those who face their firstfailure while already there. Instead, thepeople who do well are those who havelearned, over their lifetimes, to cope withchallenge and even severe failures, andwho have learned to bounce back fromthem.

The non-failure essay, however, doesn’tunderstand that purpose. The non-failureessay is an attempt to show the school thatyou don’t really have any weak points, andnever fail at anything. So you decide towrite something like “I have a tendency topush myself too hard and to demand a lotof my team members,” or “I tend to be toomuch of a perfectionist.” Come on, youdon’t really think these are failures. Insteadyou think that you can look humble whileonly showing a “weakness” that the schoolwill really think is a strength.

Knowing the purpose of the essay,however, you can see how the non-failure

essay will not help your admissionsapplication.

5) Conclusion

I wish I had a dollar for every applicationI have read that follows one of the abovementioned failure techniques. I would be arich woman by now and wouldn’t be writingfor this newsletter.

But, not wanting to retire just yet (andnot actually receiving the aforementioneddollars) I would strongly advise you toavoid the techniques above. Don’tmachinegun your essays with thousandsof bullet-point achievements, don’t flatterthe admissions committee with falsecomplements, don’t lie, don’t hide theanswer to the questions, and don’t pretendyou have never found anything in life to bedifficult. If you don’t do these things, thenchances are you also won’t be spendingnext winter skiing and will instead be slavingover books in a top university library. I’llbe thinking of you.

But in the mean time, if you need somehelp on what TO write in those essays,Pericles has several advisors ready to helpyou.

Notes from theUnderground: Advicefrom our students

This issue, we decided to reprint theextensive and very useful comments of onePericles alumnus, Sergei Chugunov, on hisexperiences with taking the TOEFL examin Moscow. Sergei received a TOEFLScore of 260 in late January of this year.Thank you Sergei, for the helpfulinformation.

Sergei Chugunov

My TOEFL preparation started in July2004. As a first step I took tutorials with aprivate instructor twice a week untilNovember, when my Pericles coursestarted. While taking tutorials I have spenta lot of time to repeat the grammar andexpand my vocabulary using EnterpriseIntermediate textbook and MacmillanDictionary for Advanced Learners. I wouldadvise that everyone install the latter ontheir PCs. Of course, I had numerousEnglish tutors before, and worked for amultinational. However, I am not analumnus of either a special language schoolor a linguistic university.

Pericles was recommended by my formercolleagues who had passed TOEFL withgood grades, and are now students ofleading Western B-schools. I know that atsome TOEFL schools they spend more timeto repeat the rules of English. My adviceto anybody who wishes to take TOEFL isto get 100% sure that your command of thelanguage is sufficiently good. Only afterthat one can soundly choose between thevarious prep schools. I should warneverybody against repeating my mistakeof taking a GMAT prep coursesimultaneously. GMAT is a morecomplicated test that requires separatepreparation, and it is better to take the prepcourse after one has passed TOEFL with agood score.

At the best schools you will be trainedfor taking the test with all of its specificrequirements. You will also practice testtaking and essay writing. The instructors,however, suppose that you have a verygood command of the English languageand average or better vocabulary, cansufficiently quickly read and write simpletexts, can understand the English languagewhile listening and express yourself freely,although possibly with some errors. Theability to speak is particularly important forPericles, where the teachers are native

speakers of English. The same ability willalso become a part of the new TOEFL testreplacing the old one later in the year.

Your independent work with thetextbooks and training CDs is even moreimportant than the prep coursesthemselves. My choice of Pericles wasdetermined by the fact that Pericles employsexpatriate teachers who teach in English(which has good implications for theobjectivity of essay checking), but alsobecause Pericles provides an opportunityto repeat the course for free within one yearof completion, which is particularlyimportant given that the test format is goingto change soon.

As for the test itself, myrecommendations are as follows.

· Register for the test immediatelyafter you feel you are ready, since you willhave at least a month of time to refine yourknowledge and skills. It is better to registerby phone. A call to the Netherlands ismore effective than registering online: youwill know your test date and timeimmediately and it is actually preferable toprovide your credit card information bytelephone. Some people told me thepayment for the test was written off theircredit card twice. The money will bereturned to the account in some time, butit is better not to bear any risks. Spendsome time to spell your name and e-mailaddress to which confirmation will be sentand do not forget to find out the name ofthe officer you talked to. I had to use thepossibility to postpone the test, since Icaught cold and decided not to risk. Thiscosts only $40 and the phone call toHolland, which is better than paying $130again for repeated registration. Therepeated test under those conditionsextends the time of waiting since the finalresult will only be made available in threeweeks if you write your essay on acomputer, and even more time will berequired if you write it on paper. So do itall once and for sure!

· The testing in Moscow takes place ina small room close to Oktyabrskaya metrostation. The test taking procedure isarranged perfectly, so one has no reasonto worry about it. The only advice is tocall the testing center a couple of daysbefore the test to confirm registration. Theother must is to know by heart the exactnames of the four universities and/orschools to which your score should besent (do not forget the names of states forU.S. universities).

· I regretted not having trained more onmy computer for the Listening section and

setting the loudness on the medium level.The recording was played with somenoises, and someone who sat next to meat the exam hit the keys with full force (hemust have been writing the GMAT essay).I guess it is better to learn to hear andremember what is said at greater loudness,because the headphones are of almost nohelp against the noise. In the other testsection I would recommend replacing themwith the special noise suppressingheadphones which are attached to everydesk – these are really of great use.

· The Structure section surprised mewith twice less questions than expected(20 instead of 40) and their highcomplicacy.

· If you are nervous, use your unlimited‘computer acquaintance’ time at thebeginning of the test and each section tothe maximum extent. Try to sootheyourself. Using the 5-minute break to restwith maximum efficiency is an absolutemust: make some physical exercise, drinksome water, let your eyes rest, go to therestroom.

· Reading Comprehension, on thecontrary, surprised me with the ease of thequestions checking the knowledge ofsynonyms and words. I find this type ofquestions most difficult since thevocabulary is always limited, and most ofmy mistakes while I was preparingbelonged to this section

· The essay was no surprise. A simpletopic and some effort to remember theuseful phrases and templates gave a goodand predictable result matching my usualresults at Pericles. The quicker you typethe better, as you have to invent and writeup five paragraphs (introduction, 3 mainparts and the conclusion, which is the totalof 12-15 sentences). It is advisable to learnby heart all of the templates for the maintypes of subjects as well as other usefulwords and phrases. Please, write shortsentences and avoid complexpunctuation. Write down only thosewords that you know how to spell andavoid unknown words. After thinking ona topic for 2 to 3 minutes, pursue thefollowing algorithm: first you write theintroduction, then you write theconclusion, then write up the introductorysentences for each of the paragraphs,develop the topics and invent theexamples, and use the last two to threeminutes to check your text for grammarand spelling errors. So first you write a‘skeleton’ and then you ‘fill it up withflesh’. This algorithm is effective when youhave limited time: you get a high score

7

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even if you had no time to make out theexamples as it happened in my case.Forget your school compositions sinceTOEFL tests are completely different:other topics, time limits and yourvocabulary, the necessity to adducearguments and examples, simple andlogical essay structure.

I have a bad impression of the threeweeks of waiting and the vague system ofcalculating the final score. After the test thecomputer gave me the total range of 210-263. I never thought that having 5.0 for theessay I would get 260 final points given 12points for grammar. It looks like the morerelative points one gets for each part ofStructure/Writing, the more will be one’stotal score for the entire section.Unfortunately, I could not find an accurateformula for counting the final scores.

Aika Jaxybai discusses Duke’s Global Executive MBA

I graduated from Duke’s Global Executive MBA program in 1998. I am happy thatI went to Duke and my enthusiasm only grows every day because of what I learntand what I am learning now. I think these three differentiating factors about theGEMBA program, Fuqua and Duke: global, strategic, team-orientated are the keyones for why I would choose Duke if I were to go to the business school again.

Global. Case material included many Asian, European, Latin American and evenRussian companies. In my class 36 students came from 17 different countries, out of15 professors all had global teaching or consulting experience and about a thirdwere non-US. During the course of 5 terms we studied in 7 different countries andon 4 continents where we met with business elite, politicians, statesmen, visitedlarge local and global companies and even had time to get a glimpse of local cultureand life. And this is true for all MBA and executive education programs that Fuquaruns: truly global in every aspect taking the diversity to the next quality level.

Strategic. Course curriculum and study materials were all about the big picture.My classmates were all senior executives responsible for multi-millions in moneyand thousands in people who on average had 14 years of work experience. Ourprofessors are among the best in their respective fields in US and in the world, manyof them are renowned authors of books and expert consultants that work with thebig names in business and government. It all allowed us to poise over basics andget down to the most complex issues that face global companies and organizationstoday. Strategic approach of Duke and Fuqua’s management and administration isalso responsible for amazing results that Duke and Fuqua has achieved in the last 10years: ratings went up dramatically.

Teams. Over 19 months we switched teams 3 times, they were truly diverse incultural and functional background, location geography, career goals, let alone ageand sex parameters of team members. Because we had to deliver on time while wewere all different and dispersed all over the world we had to learn quickly how toovercome our dashing egos, opposing views, differing approaches, to recognizeeach others’ strengths and cover for each other’s weaknesses when one of us wasslacking for any reason including personal matters. We learnt to play together likein sport: no matter what happened, which role you played in this particular task,how stressful life around us was and how impossible the ever-changing goals werewe brought the common victory.

Announcing the 2005Jessup International

Moot Russian NationalChampions

On February 12, 2005, two teams oftalented law students faced off in theRussian National Rounds of the JessupInternational Moot Court Competition. Eachteam argued for 45 minutes on opposite sidesof a case involving internationalenvironmental law and piracy. At the end ofa very tough round of competition, before areal judge from the International Court ofJustice, a law professor from Columbiauniversity, and the Dean of RUDN lawfaculty, the winning team was St. PetersburgState University Law Faculty. This wasafter two days of preliminary competitionagainst 22 other Russian teams.

The winning St. Petersburg teammembers were Sergey Goloubok, Irina

Sergeeva, Sergey Usoskin, AnastasiaPavluyk and Olga Te. The runners up, fromMGIMO, were Anastasia Putilova, andYakob Werberstaedt, Ksenia Kokareva andPolina Tulupova. Next the winners andrunners up will go to Washington, D.C. tocompete in the international rounds.

The Jessup Competition was foundedin 1959 and is administered in nearly 100countries by the International Law StudentsAssocation, a non-profit organization. It isthe largest and most prestigious moot courtcompetition in the world. More that 1,700students from over 500 law schoolsparticipate every year. The Russian NationalAdministrator of the competition is the lawfirm of White & Case, Moscow. For moreinformation about the competition please seewww.whitecase.ru