Tuck 2013 (Dartmouth) - Calling All Applicants

Hi everyone, I attended the Tuck reception in Bangalore and thought I'd share some pointers. Some of these may already be known to you:

1. EA invites are still coming out, geography no bar. This year, the EA volume is up by 30% and Allegra mentioned that the adcom is stressed out, trying to wrap up everything before the decision day. Her advice to applicants was to wait and not assume the worst.

(Personally, I feel that since they haven't finished reading the apps, you cannot assume that they've covered all apps from country X or Y. I don't think it is correct to assume that if you didn't get an invitation that coincided with a reception, you're scrood.)

2. As str1der previously mentioned, almost 60% of the class is decided from the EA and November rounds.

3. They don't care about multiple GMAT attempts, whether the scores trended up or down. Just have a good score(s) in one of them.

4. Allegra mentioned that she uses a + and - column while reviewing applications. So if your GMAT is low, like in the 500s or 600s, she would put that under the minus column. But this alone does not qualify for a ding. They look for other compensating strengths or evidence that you have worked on these weaknesses. One exception would be military candidates, who have either the GPA or GMAT low, but generally have great profiles. Tuck loves military candidates and recruiters love them too.

5. For those who applied in the November round, expect interview invites to come out 6 weeks from 11/7.

6. The one thing she stressed the most were the career goals. I think she talked about it at least 3 or 4 times. If your career goal is lofty, then Career Services steps in to determine whether they have the resources to place you in that role after your MBA. So it is very important that you state a strong case for your goals.

7. They don't expect Indian candidates to have stratospheric GMAT scores. It's just that they're so used to seeing these scores from India. They don't think 680-710 is bad at all. However they will be concerned if your verbal or quantitative score is low, or if your AWA is below 4.5.

Hope this helps!
Pru

Dood I would just wait for an invite to interview. I got dinged with a self initiated interview, and while I'm cool with it, you should wait to see if they have genuine interest in you before you commit to going all the way up there. I'm glad I did because it was a cool experience, but in hindsight it wasn't worth the $$ or time.

Can't rent a car?

It sounds like you're trying to rush this trip - have you considered just biting the bullet and staying overnight?

Hanover is out of the way and isn't for everyone. That's why Tuck wants people to come to interview - they don't want applicants who view it as a peer school to Wharton/Columbia and simply apply based on reputation only.

Yeah, I might not apply since my heart is just not in it. I mean if HBS or Wharton were in Hanover, NH, I will move heaven, earth, and the stars, to figure out a way to get there and do the interview. I agree that Tuck is very unique among the top 10 programs and is not for everyone. If I drop tuck, i might do stern, but from what i heard, stern also wants applicants who have visited since one of their essay questions asks about what steps you took to figure out if stern is the right fit for you.

Are Tuck students hosting coffee chats again during this winter break? Attended one last year, but haven't heard anything this year...

are waitlisters allowed to send in updates like other schools?

Yeah, I might not apply since my heart is just not in it. I mean if HBS or Wharton were in Hanover, NH, I will move heaven, earth, and the stars, to figure out a way to get there and do the interview. I agree that Tuck is very unique among the top 10 programs and is not for everyone. If I drop tuck, i might do stern, but from what i heard, stern also wants applicants who have visited since one of their essay questions asks about what steps you took to figure out if stern is the right fit for you.