How this South African Lawyer-Filmmaker won a $40k Scholarship to Duke Fuqua MBA

Arno was born and raised in South Africa, where he went to law school and majored in film and law. His professional background uniquely combines different pathways, spanning law, business, and filmmaking. For six years, he worked as an attorney, and then joined a family business where he worked as Director of Operations for a portfolio of franchises and shell gas stations in South Africa focused on strategic growth and operational efficiency. And as for his film career, he used his time outside work to produce award-winning short films. Now, Arno is a first-year MBA student at Duke Fuqua, having been admitted with a partial merit scholarship worth USD 40,000.

In this interview, we talk to Arno about applying as a South African MBA candidate, his unique background and career goals, why he made the decision to apply to a US business school, and life at Duke Fuqua. 

Watch the interview below.

Q1. Tell us about Duke.

Arno: When I set foot here in July, I was obviously nervous. I've never lived abroad. I left my life as I knew it in South Africa behind, and was thinking: what if I don’t like it? What if it’s not for me?

But ever since I've gotten here, it's just been the best experience. I think it's got to do with Team Fuqua, which is our collaborative culture. And it's not just a tagline, it's really something that we emphasize because that's something that's unique to all the applicants. We all bring different uniqueness to the table and putting us together in one class, it's beautiful to see.

Sam: All the admissions officers always talk about Team Fuqua. It’s all over the website. Can you give an example of how Team Fuqua really raised its head? 

Arno: In my experience, the main thing about Team Fuqua is having collaboration amongst your peers. We all go out of our way for each other. It's just about having a certain integrity, a certain friendliness, a certain commitment to diversity and your team, and being able to work with others. That's really what we emphasize here. And you have to be able to fit into that mold, otherwise Duke's not going to be the right place for you. It's more of a cultural thing – the vibe and the people that you're surrounded by.

Q2. What’s it like being at Duke as a South African?

Arno:  I believe we've only been about four South Africans that have studied here! There is actually another South African who's a year above me. We’ve grown really close. 

It’s been a unique experience for me because there isn't really a history of many people from my country having studied here. I feel like Christopher Columbus. Now, I'm just building a new network for South Africans at Duke. 

But I’ve been loving it! I love North Carolina. The cultures are very similar to the culture that I'm used to in South Africa. It has quickly become my new home.

Q3. What is the academic curriculum and extracurricular scene at Duke like?

Arno: Well, as we say here, it's impossible to fail. You have to work really hard to fail.

If you go to class, if you participate actively in team projects, engage with the class and ask questions, you're going to pass. You need the right mindset and work ethic. Of course, if your goal is to be on the Dean's list or if you want to be part of that percentage of academic overachievers, then you have to put in the extra work.

As for extracurriculars, there’s a big student club scene. I’m in the first-year cabinet for the Management Consulting club. I’m also in the first-year cabinet for the Media Entertainment Sports Club. In addition to these, I’m also part of the cabinet of the Entrepreneurship through Acquisition club.

Being in the States, I'm also exploring entrepreneurial ventures on the side. And as a personal hobby, I’m part of the first-year cabinet for the Ski club too. I’m arranging a trip to France in March!

Besides these, I’m part of Fuqua Vision, which is a unique thing that only Duke has. It's sort of based on SNL style skits. Every semester, we have a show night where we do different skits based on life here at Duke with inside jokes. You have to be part of Duke to understand it.

I didn’t come to Duke with a family or other commitments, so I have the time to be involved in so many different things. When I got accepted to Duke, I told myself that I was going to get involved in its community as much as I can and really just enjoy this experience, because you're never gonna have your MBA again.

And that’s something we did bring out in the application process. My ability to bite off as much as I can. 

Q4. Walk me through your thought process as you were looking at business schools. How did you make your decision?

Arno: The first time I applied to MBA programs in the US, I wasn’t successful. I thought my MBA journey was going to be over; it's done, it's finished.

But taking a break from the application process for a few years and setting my mind on an MBA did me really well. This time around, I wanted to broaden my horizons a bit more by applying to a school in the UK and being more realistic about which schools in the US to apply to.

Previously, I applied to Harvard and Columbia. I didn't get in, so this time I wasn’t a re-applicant at these schools. I just wanted to focus more on places that I thought I had a better chance at this time. It’s just about broadening your perspective a little bit more. I ended up applying to about 7-8 schools. 

But the more you apply to, it doesn't mean the better your chances are. It's just that you get one or two acceptance letters within those eight schools instead of just applying to two schools and then being rejected.

And one of the benefits of working with a consultant is that of those eight schools, you can make sure that you've got the right breadth and you're applying at the right level.

Q5. How do you think your unusual film and entertainment background affected your MBA experience and your career goals? 

Arno: This is the fifth degree I’m doing! Duke offered me a partial merit scholarship, and I think it has to do with the uniqueness of my background. There’s more to me than just one career path. 

I’m fortunate to have a law background, but also my filmmaking education, where I’ve been both in front of the camera and behind it. When I was at film school, I was on South Africa's most popular soap, which is also a very unique thing that Duke really loves. I was involved in South Africa’s local film community, and executive produced an award-winning short film where we gave a woman of color, a first-time female director, an opportunity to direct a story about an indigenous community in South Africa that a lot of people have not heard of. We ended up having a world premiere at an Oscar-qualifying film festival, and the short film has gone on to win various accolades.

And my legal background was very important in all this, negotiating contracts, doing my own entertainment law contracts, and more. Also, my business background helped me work with the budgets and negotiating and leading a crew of a hundred people.

That's why, as a filmmaker, the MBA helps me fine tune my business acumen when it comes to creative storytelling. It’s taking the filmmaking experience, the negotiation experience from law work, and combining them together with the MBA to be a well-rounded candidate for management consulting, which is what I’m currently recruiting for. I’d love to focus in the media and entertainment industries in consulting. 

I’m also recruiting for the entertainment industry. During our Fall break, I went with the Media Entertainment Sports club on a track to New York. We visited the headquarters of the NBA, the NFL, the New York Yankees.  I'm actually applying to the NFL now; they've got NFL films where there's a role as a creative producer, which is also something that I can explore. So I'm not just sticking to one recruiting process. It is tough out there, so I'd like to not just put all my eggs in one basket.

Q6. Tell me more about the US job market at the moment. 

Sam: As somebody currently in an MBA program, what are you hearing about the industries that are recruiting, the ones that are still sponsoring, and the areas that have gone really dead?

Arno:  Well, a lot of my friends are recruiting for investment banking, something I know nothing about. And it's been a brutal three or four months for them. It's all about networking and balancing your school life and business events that you have to attend.

It’s the same with consulting. We have office presentations, coffee chats, case prep, and more networking events. It’s all about finding the right office fit. Duke is not a feeder for New York necessarily. We're more a feeder for offices in Atlanta, Washington, Miami in consulting. So if you're going into consulting and you want to be in New York, it’s better to go to Stanford or Harvard. It’s not impossible to get into New York with a Duke education of course, but we're not a feeder school historically for New York when it comes to consulting.

Q7. Looking back at your application journey, what's one thing that you would do differently if you could do it all again?

Arno: I'd have more confidence in my unique background.

The first time when I applied, I failed, So I lacked confidence the second time around. I thought because I'm older, I'm in my thirties, that I would maybe miss this boat. But it was actually a better time for me to apply versus when I applied in my late twenties. 

I'd also say not to stress as much about having the perfect application. I don't believe that really exists. I was also really worried about my test scores. It's important to just get your test scores first and not try to keep improving your test scores during your application. Because you’re going to then fall behind with applying to different schools in terms of working on essays. I was lucky enough to take the executive assessment, which is where I did much better versus the GMAT. It was actually fine, and didn’t count against me at all. 

Q8. What advice would you give a South African who's looking at MBA programs, particularly in Europe and the US?

Arno: I would say that you should get involved in your local community as much as you can. It’s important to display strong leadership skills from an early age, like your early twenties, once you graduate and you're in a new corporate job. And definitely focus on diversity, community, and leadership. 

Don't just be doing one thing. Pick multiple things and be good at all of them! Try something

different, something that's going to make you unique.

If I take myself for instance, I flew all the way to America for my interview. I was here for just four days and I flew back. And it really paid off because it showed my commitment to the program.

When I got that phone call from the admissions committee that I’d gotten in and got a partial scholarship, that really changed everything for me. 

Q9. Is there anything you'd like to share with the South African community to encourage them to pursue MBA programs in the US?

Arno: The biggest pro of doing an MBA in America is the summer internships, and that usually leads to a full-time job offer. It's easier to enter the US job market that way than sitting in South Africa applying for a job without a green card.

Some people prefer Europe, but there are a lot of South Africans that have done their MBAs in America. If you’re a finance person, you might want to be in New York. If you’re in entertainment like me, LA is the place to be. More generally, it's great to see South Africans being represented. If Duke's not for you, there will definitely be a school that's for you, although I highly encourage everybody to apply to Duke!

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