Naresh Vissa, Fuqua ‘12, recently published a book titled “Everything You Need to Know About the Duke Fuqua MMS: A Guide of Memoirs for Applicants and Students.” Half of the book’s profits will be donated to the Fuqua School of Business. The Chronicle’s Emma Baccellieri sat down with Vissa to discuss the new publication.
The Chronicle: What inspired you to write the book?
Naresh Vissa: While I was a student, I received several inquiries from international students who wanted to apply to the MMS program, and I also received several inquiries from students who attended my undergraduate institution, which was Syracuse University.... Because so many people were reaching out to me, people obviously had questions and the best way to answer these questions was to write a book—to really explain what Fuqua is like, what the MMS is like, how the professors are, what student life is like, what Duke is like and Durham—to have the entire picture for these students and to give access to this high-quality information at a relatively cheap price.
TC: Is there a part of the book you think readers might find particularly interesting?
NV: Not only does it have good information about the application process—most of the questions that I’ve been getting from the applicants have been about what is the admissions interview like, what will I need to prepare—but I think the most beneficial part of the book actually targets current students, as well. I have several chapters devoted to interviewing, getting a job, what industries to look at when you’re looking for jobs, how to be more entrepreneurial. The benefit of these chapters is that they draw specific questions for anyone, it doesn’t even have to be an MMS student—it can be any Duke student, it can be any student around the world—I address these questions.
TC: Is the book intended to be more for applicants or for students, or geared towards these audiences equally?
NV: The first part of the book is dedicated to the application process, so that includes who to look for when you’re getting a recommendation but the other half is geared more towards students, the current MMS students who are looking for jobs or are wondering what they are going to do with their lives... A lot of a students are a little confused as to what they want to do professionally. It’s really half and half, I think both applicants and current students will find it pretty beneficial.
TC: Why did you decide to donate half of the proceeds to Fuqua through Duke Forward?
NV: I knew when I was writing this that it wasn’t going to set any best-selling records. Donating made sense because I’m basically writing about my experiences as a Fuqua student and telling people about Duke, about Durham, about Fuqua. It made sense to give back to Fuqua because of what Fuqua gave me.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.