Calling all Tuck (Dartmouth) Applicants: (2017 Intake) Class of 2019!!

FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Working for a Nonprofit, with an MBA Lens

By Marshall Wallach T’17 When I first engaged with CEO Doug Price about a brand strategy internship at Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting Service (RMPBN), I was a bit taken aback at how perfect the opportunity was on multiple fronts. In the planning stages of a $30 million capital campaign, station leadership had decided it was time to refresh their brand, a process which would include a logo redesign and revisiting the “language” through which they communicated their value to stakeholders. Given my interest in both brand strategy/management, previous experience as an advancement professional, and my desire to work at a Colorado-based non-profit in the long run, it was the perfect gig. As “icing on the cake,” the Center for Business & Society agreed to support me with a generous TuckGIVES grant to pursue the opportunity.          It has been a privilege to watch such an exciting chapter unfold for a reputable Colorado brand. I am also proud to have played integral roles in various facets of the project over the past nine weeks. Beginning with the process of hiring an award-winning, Denver-based creative agency and more recently, working with RMPBN’s CMO to design a brand rollout schedule, the experience has been a great lesson in project management and long-term strategic thinking. With an organization-wide rebrand also comes the opportunity to revisit departmental roles, responsibilities, and strategies. One of my favorite parts of the summer has been the opportunity to help lead RMPBN’s marketing team through the process of creating strategic imperatives for the new fiscal year. In the early stages of the process, I worked with our marketing manager to design and facilitate group exercises that would ultimately yield key insights for this work. After three weeks of group work and framework development with station leadership, I presented five proposed FY17 strategic imperatives to the team. We quickly adopted the charter, which the department will use to guide its final-stage strategic planning after I depart next week. Truth be told – I had not expected to be back in the non-profit sector so soon (I’ve spent nearly my entire professional career to date in the space!). The experience has been quite familiar in many ways, but brand new in others. Having been able to tackle familiar challenges through a newly acquired MBA “lens” is perhaps what I’m most grateful for. Many thanks to Tuck GIVES, my classmates, family, RMPBN, and the Center for Business, Government, & Society for making this experience possible!

FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Internship Diary: The World Health Organization

By Caroline Defay T'16 “Should we say leverage?” “Utilize, let’s say utilize.” I erase the word leverage and replace it by utilize as a room filled with state officials register my every move and read my every word projected on a big screen. It’s 2:00 pm Geneva time, I am jet-lagged having landed only 24 hours ago, not properly caffeinated and in the hot seat as we’re concluding day two of the Working Group meeting. “You did that really well,” says the chair of the meeting, “A lot of people crack under the pressure when so many eyes are observing them.” “Well I guess all these years in undergrad playing pretend at ModelUN conferences paid off!” For a former UN nerd, this summer couldn’t have started any better. Here I was at the headquarters of the World Health Organization during a working group meeting listening to state officials from every region of the world debate the best policies going forward for the financing of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the developing world. It reminded me of what I always found so fascinating about the UN: the emphasis on diplomacy, the principle that each member state represented one voice and that all these voices were equal. Listening to these deliberations highlighted what a delicate balance it was to advocate the best policies for one’s country or region, while respecting the positions of other stakeholders in the room. Hence why the pressure on the note taker, in that case me, to accurately capture the views expressed and be mindful of the words used (leverage has a “finance and debt” connotation for example, which might make some groups uncomfortable.) While the meeting was very exciting, this was only day two of my internship, and the beginning of the work to do. The goal was to understand how to best align donor priorities with developing country needs for financing NCDs. Historically NCDs like cancer, diabetes, heart diseases and respiratory diseases have been perceived as “rich country” issues, but increasingly the burden of diseases was in developing countries. Unfortunately, most developing countries didn’t have the infrastructure that allowed for the same quality of life afforded to those who suffered from NCDs in developed countries, and this led to higher rates of premature deaths. This had the potential to further hinder the future economic growth of developing countries with loss of productivity from a sick workforce, unable to get the care it needed. Despite the evidence of shifting burden of diseases, donors were still not convinced that NCDs represented a major development challenge and were unlikely to donate to NCDs. Over the next eight weeks, I was going to dive into disease burden data, financial models, donor funding data and all the literature on NCD financing to try to build a compelling case for NCD alignment. This was particularly challenging given that I don’t have a health background and developed my interest in NCDs because of my focus on food policy and development. Needless to say it was a steep learning curve. All that research and analysis, however, wasn’t going to keep me away from enjoying the massive WHO intern program or the lovely city of Geneva. With weekly speaker series, meeting with the director general and even Friday afternoon wine and cheese on the rooftop, the WHO was definitely a pleasant place to spend the summer. Nothing beats that view of the Mont-Blanc from the office. But what made this experience even more enjoyable was the city of Geneva itself. Everyone jokes about the lake being the only attraction, but the lake does shape the life and spirit of Geneva. Everything took place around the lake: barbecues, parties, and even sunrise concerts. Interns and trainees from all UN institutions somehow always found an excuse to gather around the lake. As I enjoyed one such occasion surrounded by interns from all over the world, I was reminded of why I chose to spend my summer there: the opportunity to be part of an organization built strictly on idealism and hope that diversity will bring along world peace.

Tuesday, Sept 27: Live Chat Session with Tuck Admission Director

Dear Applicants, Second live chat of this season with Tuck adcom is scheduled for the Tuesday, Sept 27. Kristin Roth (Associate Director of Admissions at Tuck) will be in the chat to answer applicants' questions. We hope all of you will attend this chat. If anyone can't attend this session but has questions for Tuck adcom, you can PM your questions to me and I will try to get their answers from Kristin. Thank you! See y'all in the event.

September 27, 2016 | Tuesday | 8:30 AM Pacific; 11:30 AM Eastern Time; 3:30 PM GMT. | Place: New Chat Room
Add this event to your Google calendar

Brief intro of Kristin Roth: Kristin is an Associate Director of Admissions at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and has been with Tuck since 2007. She serves on the admissions committee, reads applications, interviews candidates, leads recruitment of military veterans, and travels globally for Tuck. Prior to Tuck, Kristin worked in career services at Dartmouth College, the University of Virginia, and Georgetown University, as well as in human resources for General Electric. She received her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and master’s degrees from Georgetown and the University of Virginia.

Tuck adcoms are in the chat room. We shall start the chat in 15 minutes. If you are around, stay in the chat room. mchat.php?fl=menu

FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: The Making of a Successful Applicant

By Stephanie Butler, Assistant Director of Admissions Hi all! As frequent readers of the Tuck 360: MBA Blog you might have seen this list before. I just shared it in webinar form over at Beat the GMAT though, so it's been on my mind! Tuck's admissions committee works hard to bring together an accomplished and diverse class. Everyone's path, pre- and post-MBA, is going to be unique. That said, there are some general characteristics that successful applicants share. How many can you confidently check off the list? If you have time to check out the webinar itself, great (bonus feature: there's a Q&A portion at the end). If you attended live, thank you! If you don't have a full 60 minutes, here's the written version below. Either way, now presenting The Making of a Successful Applicant! 1) They know themselves. They have a high level of self-awareness and can talk confidently about their strengths and weaknesses, their short-and long-term goals, and the unique talents and experiences they will bring to the classroom and the community. They have taken the time to be introspective, enabling them to know definitively what they’re looking for in an MBA-program, and why. They know the community they’re looking for, and why a particular culture works best with their circumstances and personality.  2) They’re prepared. They can clearly and articulately communicate why they want an MBA, how it will help them reach their goals, and why this is the right time to pursue it. Furthermore, they know the school they’re applying to. All elite b-schools have top-notch faculty, rigorous curriculum, and access to jobs with the world’s leading companies and organizations.Successful applicants know what sets the programs they are applying to apart. They are also able to talk about what excites them, how they hope to make an impact while they are at school (and beyond), and they have great questions that delve deeper into the essence of each school.                            3) They demonstrate leadership qualities, and are also team members.  There’s a time for everything, and a successful applicant recognizes this. They know when to lead and when and how to contribute outside of a leadership role. While the MBA will cultivate leadership abilities and opportunities to practice what you learn, collaboration is equally important. This balance is especially valued at Tuck.    4) They focus on the aspects of their application they can control. There are some aspects of the application process that are completely out of your hands. For example, there’s no controlling the application strength of other candidates applying during that particular application cycle. And once you’ve hit submit, the patience required as you’re waiting for a decision is immense. Instead of dwelling on outside factors, be extra diligent in the areas that you can control such as choosing appropriate recommenders, participating in extracurricular endeavors, taking on leadership roles when possible, etc. When you’re confident you’ve submitted your strongest possible application, you’ll feel much more comfortable with the factors you can’t control.  5) They’re passionate. This is reflected in their goals, their plans to have an impact in the MBA community they choose, and in how they present themselves throughout the application process. Regardless of how untraditional a successful applicant perceives their background or post-MBA plans to be, having the ability to clearly articulate these and why they’re important is far more impressive than telling us what you think we want to hear. It’s hard to fake passion and we can tell when something doesn’t quite fire you up!   6) They’re genuine and enthusiastic.  If you’ve already checked off the rest of this list, this one may come naturally to you. Successful applicants present their true self throughout the journey. They realize that everyone they speak to is a part of the admissions process and treat them kindly and with respect.They demonstrate a deep understanding of themselves and which unique traits and strengths are at the core of who they are.The opportunity to get an MBA from a top business school is special, and they treat it as such.  7) They connect the dots.    The successful applicant presents themselves in a consistent and clear way throughout all pieces of the application. They pull each individual component into one holistic understanding of themselves and their goals and present a complete narrative that helps the admissions committee have a meaningful understanding of who they are, what goals and aspirations are leading them down the MBA path, and the types of unique contributions they will make to the school they choose.

FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Internship Diary: Save the Children

By David Washer T'17 In 2015, there were 214 million new cases of malaria and 438,000 malaria deaths worldwide. Even though the disease is entirely preventable and curable, malaria continues to be one of the five leading causes of death in children under five years of age. Given the magnitude of this problem, Save the Children wanted to create a robust and clear strategy that would help them make a serious dent in malaria’s negative effects on children worldwide. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to use my skills developed during my time at the Bridgespan Group and Tuck to lead Save the Children’s strategic planning process.   The strategic planning process I led this past summer can be broken down into four phases. First, I conducted desk research to identify key areas of need, gaps in the field of malaria interventions, funding flows, and global strategies. From there, I tested a few hypothesized strategies in over a dozen expert interviews in order to get external perspectives on the direction Save the Children should take. I then synthesized the insights from the desk research and interviews to create a half-day working session with Save the Children’s Child Health team during which the team finalized its intended impact and theory of change. Lastly, I took these inputs and drafted a strategy memo with accompanying slides to guide Save the Children’s malaria programming through 2020. The highlight of the strategic planning process was undoubtedly the working session with the Child Health team. It was humbling to listen to this incredibly talented group of experts as they thought deeply about how to best use Save the Children’s resources while listening to and learning from the communities they serve along the way. The team’s enthusiasm and optimism was contagious. Even as we looked at the maps I created to synthesize the global disease burden, inadequate funding, and gaps in services, the team was undeterred from pursuing its vision to greatly reduce and even eliminate malaria in key regions throughout the world. As for me, I thoroughly enjoyed facilitating this conversation, playing back insights and asking key questions, using the skills I’ve developed at Bridgespan and Tuck. With many thanks to Tuck GIVES, I hope to continue my work with Save the Children throughout the academic year as I finish my MBA/MPH (and for years after!).

Hi Everyone.

I am the threadmaster for Tuck Class of 2019. Lets get the party started.

I know i know you guys are working hard on applications but lets keep the thread going and drop in few words of encouragement for fellow applicants.

Early Round Deadline is around the corner. - October 5, 2016

Last week guys/gals. Please submit the application and update your stats.
Collective data will provide great insights to everyone.

Applied for R1. Stats in signature. Good luck all!

Congrats and good luck bud. Hope you get into your desired school

How was the whole process ? I am applying R 1 next year and its making me nervous already thinking about it.

FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Internship Diary: National Public Radio (NPR)

By Ben Chandler T'17 This summer, with help from Tuck GIVES, I interned at NPR in Washington, D.C. as a consultant in the office of the COO. It was far and away the most rewarding experience I could have asked for in a summer internship. The work I did was challenging and meaningful. I learned a lot about journalism, the media industry, nonprofits, consulting, and perhaps most importantly, how dedicated NPR’s staff is. My internship began with a stunningly beautiful memorial for David Gilkey and Zabihullah Tamanna, an NPR photographer and his translator who were killed in Afghanistan just a day before I started. Although the mood on that Monday was somber, watching the organization rally around a fallen colleague throughout the summer was truly touching and inspiring. Other days were punctuated with Tiny Desk Concerts, sitting in on show recordings, and learning about the latest technological innovations NPR is implementing to make their programming available to more and more people. Shameless plug: If you haven’t yet downloaded the NPR One App, do it now! Through my boss,Michael Lutzky T’06 (a former Washington Post photographer and McKinseyite), I received incredible guidance, feedback, and access to speak with and present to senior executives throughout NPR. I may also have had a small influence on Hidden Brain, a podcast that covers issues of human behavior and social sciences in really interesting ways. I got to sit next to the producers of the show and occasionally, in between their endless witty banter and creativity, Maggie Penman or Max Nesterak would lean over their standing desks to ask me, “the business person,” what I thought of a certain idea they were working on or an edit of the show. As a nonprofit, NPR is highly focused on its mission to “work in partnership with its member stations to create a more informed public.” As a “business person” used to thinking almost exclusively in terms of profitability and the bottom line, thinking in terms of audience impact and mission presented a whole new dimension for me to consider, and one that I’ll definitely keep in mind coming back to Tuck as a second-year student.

in for R1! was almost shaking when finally hitting that submit button, now its the waiting game! Good luck to all.

Filling out the smaller things on the app before hitting submit!
Good luck - all!

Good luck man. Hope you get in

FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Concerns about your app? Let us help!

By Kristin Roth, Associate Director of Admissions Thank you to everyone who participated in the GMAT Club chat last week! Our topic was intended to provide an opportunity for you to express concerns about various aspects of your candidacy and of course, for us to address them. Here are the three most common “What do I do if…?” questions I heard: What do I do if (or what are my chances if) I’m older than the class average and/or have more work experience than the class average? First and foremost, age is never considered during the admissions committee’s evaluation. Every single applicant must make a convincing case for why they need an MBA and why this is the right time for them to pursue it. Much more important than your age, or even the length of your work experience, is the quality of that experience. Aim to help the admissions committee understand the nature of your work, the level of challenge, progression of responsibility, and any leadership opportunities that you’ve had. What have you contributed to your work environment and what have you learned? If you have very few years of work experience, it might be more challenging to convey your growth or value within the company, or what your work experience will enable you to contribute to a top-10 MBA program. If you have many years of work experience, you need to make the case that an MBA will be able to offer you additional skills and is necessary for growth/progression at this stage in your career. Keep in mind, that although schools report the number of average years of work experience among admitted students, it is just an average. Some people are ready for an MBA program with only 2 years of experience; others are not yet ready with 7 years. We’re looking for individuals who exhibit professional maturity and for some, this may be evident with less full-time work experience. What do I do if I lack quantitative experience (or have a low GPA, or a below average GMAT/GRE score)? First, the admissions committee reviews applicants with a very holistic approach. While important, a low undergraduate GPA in itself won’t prevent admission. Similarly, a below average GMAT/GRE score is just one aspect of your entire application. A school’s averages are just that—an average. Even if your GPA or GMAT score is below a school’s average, it could be within its range.   One big difference between the GPA and GMAT: If you’re unhappy with your GMAT score, you can always keep studying and retake it without consequence. And, if after giving it your best effort, you feel like there’s no amount of additional preparation that will improve your score, you’re still not out of the game.  Bottom-line: These are still weaknesses and you need to prove you can handle a rigorous quantitative curriculum. If you think you could use a quantitative boost—either to give us more confidence (and thus make you more competitive), or for you personally so you can hit the ground running—you might want to consider taking a supplemental course like financial accounting, statistics, and/or microeconomics. You can take these courses in whatever format and with whatever institution works for you. That said, if you’re trying to prove yourself to an admissions committee, a graded course is a lot more effective than something on Coursera. If you come from a non-traditional background where your quantitative skills weren’t really on display, it is definitely not a deal breaker! Tuck values unique experiences and individuals—many students decide to go to business school with the intention of switching careers, so you won’t be alone. While you may not have been crunching numbers, there’s a good chance you’ve been honing skills that will help you succeed in business; leadership traits, interpersonal skills, communication expertise, etc. Show us how your unconventional experience will actually bring a different and positive perspective to your classmates. What do I do if I’m new to my company (or I don’t want my supervisor to know I’m applying to b-school, or I’m an entrepreneur, etc.) when it comes to asking for Letters of Recommendation? Many people are hesitant to ask their current supervisor for a letter of recommendation because they fear it might jeopardize their employment. Others don’t think their current supervisor will be supportive of their decision to apply to business school. Or maybe, you simply haven’t been working with him/her long for very long. These situations are fairly common and aren’t typically a problem if you tell us the reason (the optional essay is a good place for this); but if you don’t explain it, we are left with the equally realistic assumption that you don’t have a good working relationship with your supervisor. While it’s certainly helpful to have the insight of a direct supervisor, applying without one is not a deal breaker. Consider reaching out to the person you reported to prior to your current boss. Other options may be current clients, a colleague who led a team for a project you worked on or the director of your department or team. The key thing to remember when selecting recommenders, is to focus on people who can really speak to your strengths (and weaknesses) in key areas such as leadership, teamwork, and aptitude. Steer clear of asking former professors, family members or your little league coach.

Threadmaster would you mind sharing your stats and profile please.

I am not applying this year. Still finishing up my undergrad so hopefully R1 2017