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19 Dec 2018, 12:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Tuck Admissions Insights: Scholarships |
  Happy December, friends! Winter has arrived at Tuck. Following the Thanksgiving holiday, many of our second-year students have been traveling the world together during a well-earned break. And just last week we toasted to our first-year students for completing Fall A and Fall B—their first semester at Tuck. The Admissions and Financial Aid team is still hard at work—we’re congratulating those of you admitted in Round 1 and encouraging and supporting those of you working on your Round 2 applications due January 7. Whether you’re already in or getting ready to submit, many of you have finances on your mind. You’re not alone! We think and talk a lot about how we can help you finance your Tuck MBA. We care a great deal about eliminating the financial barriers that might keep you from enrolling at Tuck which is why our ongoing $250 million capital campaign includes an emphasis on scholarship support. Scholarship Selection Many of you ask me how we determine scholarship recipients and award amounts at Tuck. Like admissions, this is a human process; there’s no formula or algorithm that makes the final decision. We convene a Scholarship Committee that reviews the entire pool of admitted students and makes discretionary calls about how to allocate resources. We’re using lots of available data, including your applications, to inform our decision-making. Given our emphasis on eliminating barriers, we strive to offer scholarships to enroll those of you who, absent funding, might not attend Tuck. For some of you, we anticipate that you may have attractive scholarship awards elsewhere, and we strive to compete financially. For others, we see evidence in your application—experience or career goals in lower-paying industries, family expenses, currency devaluations, etc.—that compel us to reduce your cost of attending Tuck. We really want each of you whom we admit to come to Tuck, and while our resources are finite, we award as many scholarships as we can with that goal in mind. While we would love to enroll everyone we admit, we know some admitted students will accept other great offers from other great schools, even after we’ve awarded scholarships. So we “over-award” at the beginning of each round, offering scholarship awards well in excess of our budget. This explains why we’re not in the habit of “negotiating” scholarship awards after admission—we’re typically running a scholarship deficit. As admitted students update their decisions throughout the cycle, sometimes we end up with additional scholarship funds to deploy and sometimes we don’t. When we do, the Scholarship Committee uses discretion and judgment to reallocate. A Meaningful Investment Some of you are fortunate to be in a position where finances are not a barrier to a Tuck MBA. But for many of you, I know that finances are a big factor. I personally understand; finances were a significant factor for me when I applied for my MBA. There are some who might advise you to ignore the price tag and set aside the cost of this considerable investment. I know first-hand that it’s not that easy or simple. The cost matters. I also know that, like all meaningful investments, the cost must be weighed against the return on the investment. The best MBAs are not commodities, and the rewards are not uniform. Each of you has an MBA program that best positions you to contribute, thrive, and better the world of business. And the financial and personal rewards of choosing the right MBA for you—a choice you only get once—endure for life and grow stronger as you advance in your career. If Tuck is the right MBA for you, then the rewards are worth the cost, and you belong here. And if the cost is all that’s keeping you from applying or enrolling, then let us help! Our financial aid team is accessible, helpful, and responsive, and they welcome the opportunity to help you build a plan to finance your Tuck MBA. Call us, email us, stop by and see us—let us do all we can to help you invest in your wise leadership, and your ability to better the world of business. If you have questions for me, don’t hesitate to write me by email or on Twitter. See you in 2019! |
20 Dec 2018, 10:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Tuck Takes Third at 2018 National Energy Finance Challenge |
 By Matt Weems T’20 What do a French coal trader, a Canadian civil engineer, a Singaporean oil trader, an American chemical engineer, and an Argentinian solar power adviser have in common? They all recently took third place at the 2018 National Energy Finance Challenge at UT Austin. The team of five T’20s, Team Frackin’ Amazing, returned from Austin ready to take the energy industry by storm with new knowledge, new connections, and a $3,000 novelty-sized check. The case competition centered around Rio Grande Resources (RGR), a hypothetical integrated oil and gas company with upstream assets in the Permian, DJ, and Gulf of Mexico; downstream assets in Louisiana, Utah, and Denver; and retail stations from Mississippi to Utah. RGR was evaluating upstream, midstream, and downstream opportunities to enter Mexico’s newly-opened oil and gas industry. As a team of first-year students without much experience in upstream oil and gas or finance, there was definitely some head-scratching going on. But fueled by some pre-Halloween candy, we quickly dove into the case, assigned roles, and started our work. Junyang, Ilexa, and Manuel tackled the mid and downstream portions and made quick work of evaluating the options. By Friday night, they had working models for the different mechanisms by which to enter Mexico. Meanwhile, Max and Matt were learning all about upstream oil assets (what are “producers,” really?). After spending Friday morning learning how to speak beginner’s upstream, they got to work on the models in the afternoon and night. On Saturday, both teams optimized the different cases and performed sensitivity analyses around the most predominant risks, namely price and currency volatility and geopolitical risks. On Sunday, we put together the final deck, using a template of slides and the silky smooth RGR logo you see above.  We left Hanover on Wednesday afternoon, Houston-bound to visit consulting and banking firms on Thursday morning (BCG, McKinsey, Simmons, and Goldman Sachs). Wednesday night, Matt shut down Pappasito’s, eating half-price Wednesday fajitas and drinking a Grand Gold Margarita. Altogether, our team came away with a great impression of the Houston offices for these firms and the amazing people. Thursday afternoon, we left for Austin in the truck that Ilexa was forced to rent because the rental car company had “run out of cars.” On the way, they stopped at another renowned Texas establishment, Buc-ee’s, to grab some world-famous beef jerky. Thursday night, we networked with some of the other teams and the judges at the UT football stadium. Also, Matt learned that “ExxonMobil business casual” (khakis, button down) isn’t the same as “finance business casual” (suit without the tie). Finally, the big day came, and we rolled into McCombs looking fresh-to-death. The teams were put into groups of three and the top team from each group would advance to the final round. Frackin’ Amazing would be the last group to present (blessing or a curse?). That gave us some time to practice, work on some accounting homework, and dance (in that order). While we were confident about our first-round presentation, we were still surprised when the judges announced we would move on to the final round. In the final round, the judges threw a wrench into the case by giving each team an hour to re-evaluate their recommendations. The judges were significantly tougher in the final round, but Team Frackin’ Amazing survived and placed third—no small achievement. To celebrate on Friday night, Frackin’ Amazing went out for margs and tacos at Torchy’s and then met up with some other folks from the competition on Sixth Street. On Saturday, we proudly carried the novelty-size check through airport security, at one point getting asked by a young child “Why is your check so big?” Because we’re winners. A special thanks to April Salas, Madeleine Bothe, Angel Sevilla, Constantine Triantafyllides, and Owen Jones! Without them, this amazing opportunity would not have been possible. |
08 Jan 2019, 12:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Tuck Takes Third at Ross Renewable Energy Case Competition |
 By Ryan Ganong T’20 In late November 2018, a team of students, with sponsorship from the Revers Center for Energy, traveled to the equally cold and snowy Ann Arbor, MI to compete in the Ross Renewable Case Competition. The team, consisting of Pete Cahill, Greg Koch, Gavin Loudfoot, Kevin Yuan, and myself were selected from a large group of first-year students interested in representing Tuck at an energy case competition. With a former energy consultant, two former engineers, and two people with energy finance experience, the team had a solid background in energy. This, along with the large number of applicants to the case competition teams, demonstrates the continued interest in the energy space at Tuck. The Ross competition is unique in that it is focused solely on renewable energy. This year’s case focused on the California energy market as the state recently passed ambitious legislature mandating that 100 percent of its electricity come from clean energy sources by 2045. Teams were tasked with identifying a company active in the California energy market that will help the state achieve its renewable energy goals, and then analyze potential returns on an investment in the company. The team received the prompt in the last week of October—while already busy with midterms and an energy-trek to Boston—and set to work researching companies, ultimately deciding on Proterra, an electric-bus manufacturer. Electric Bus adoption is set to increase exponentially over the next decade, and Proterra is well positioned to capture that growth with a 50 percent market share in the North American e-bus market. Furthermore, Proterra provides a unique “vehicle-to-grid” opportunity for California to balance its renewable supply and demand, which our team identified as a key issue in the case. After a week of hard work, we sent off our presentations and hoped for the best. The Tuck team, now dubbed the “California Gold Bus,” was one of 16 teams selected out of 32 applicants from top tier business schools internationally to travel to Ross for the second round. Friday morning started early, and soon it was time for our 15 minute presentation to a panel of four judges, with five minutes of Q&A. The judges were professionals from across the energy space, including Marathon Capital, EDF Renewables, Deloitte Consulting, and the Ross Energy Institute. A nice component of the Ross competition is that it builds in time to receive feedback from the judges. Overall, they were impressed with our presentation, but had multiple areas of improvement. We left the room proud of our work, but felt the judges had brought up too many areas of improvement to advance us to the next round. You can imagine our surprise when we were announced at the end of lunch as one of four finalists! We were given an hour to quickly incorporate the judges’ feedback into our longer second presentation, and then we were whisked into a large auditorium for the final presentations. Because we presented last, we were able to watch the other teams and were thoroughly impressed. Finally, it was our turn. We presented strongly, and defended our thesis well during 10 minutes of Q&A. The judges took longer than scheduled to deliberate—as it turns out, each judge supported a different team to be the winner. Ultimately, the “California Gold Bus” was awarded third place and a $2,000 check. We ended the day not only happy with our achievement but also honored to represent Tuck and the Revers Center on the final stage. (Although the highlight of the trip may have been carrying a giant check around Ann Arbor and back home!) |
14 Jan 2019, 09:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Tuck at COP24 |
 By Tayo Odusanya T’19 As a Tuck student, Dean Slaughter’s charge to demonstrate wise leadership and to better the world of business is one that becomes intimately familiar and comes to life early and all through the Tuck experience. Outside of the required ethics and social responsibility curricula, Tuck students have several opportunities to reflect on the responsibility that business leaders share in solving society’s most difficult problems. For me, one of such experiences was the opportunity to represent Tuck and Dartmouth College as a delegate at the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, known more commonly as COP24. The goal of the conference was to determine the rules for implementing the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and to clarify the role of represented countries in mitigating climate change through reduction in emissions. Sponsored by two centers at Tuck, the Revers Center for Energy and the Center for Business, Government and Society, five representatives from Tuck arrived in Katowice, Poland in December 2018, to join the conversation alongside tens of thousands of other delegates from around the world. Over the course of the two weeks, delegates discussed ways to address the pressing issue of climate change during panel discussions, breakout sessions, negotiation talks, and other events. I had the opportunity to listen to top United Nations officials, scientists, environmental ministers, and heads of states, including United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres; Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki; first African American woman astronaut in space Dr. Mae Jemison; and former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Over and over again, we heard the argument for why increased investment in clean technologies and a commitment to improving sustainability was not only the right thing for businesses to do from a moral standpoint, but also from an economic perspective. The adverse effects of human behavior on the environment have become all too familiar as the news cycle seems to be in constant supply of the resulting catastrophes. All around the world, food shortages, droughts, rising sea levels, and extreme weather events are significantly impacting lives of people with a reach that moves closer to home year after year. The urgency in addressing the issue of climate change is one that current and future business leaders need to respond to immediately. From Katowice to Barcelona, where I am currently on a term abroad at IESE Business School, I reflect on how truly personal, connected and transformative my Tuck MBA journey has been. The opportunity to attend COP24 has left an impact on my mental framework as a future business leader with a pressing charge to improve the world at large by improving the world of business. |
15 Jan 2019, 17:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Tuck Admissions Insights: What Makes Tuck Distinct |
 Tuck’s Executive Director of Admissions and Financial aid, Luke Anthony Peña shares insight in to the student experience in this video interview with Menlo Coaching. Luke shares insight into what makes the community at Tuck distinctive, the academic experience, and the student career journey. Watch the video for: [*]A view into what makes Tuck’s community is distinctive[/*] [*]Stories demonstrating how far Tuck students will go to support each other[/*] [*]The relationships that students are able to build with their professors[/*] [*]Information on electives and opportunities for independent study[/*] [*]Highlights of recruiting opportunities from Tuck[/*] [*]A glimpse into how alumni and Career Services support you with recruiting[/*] [/list] 
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29 Jan 2019, 07:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: A Project with the World Economic Forum in South Africa |
 By Jamie Mittelman T’19 Two years ago, I highlighted OnSite Global Consulting in my application as one of multiple reasons I hoped to attend Tuck. As an applicant, I was struck by the number and quality of urban international offerings and saw them as an ideal way to complement the experience of rural Hanover. While other MBA programs offered international classes and orientation trips, few provided paid-for consulting projects with real international clients. I wrote, “Tuck’s second year elective, OnSite Global Consulting (OnSite) will expose me to the world of consulting and introduce me to potential employers.” While I did not walk away from my three weeks with a job, the experience was one of my most formative at Tuck. Seven students and I worked with the World Economic Forum to address an important strategic question for the Sustainable Development Investment Partnership (SDIP) involving its regional hubs in Asia and Africa. My three teammates, advisor, and I spent a couple of days in Geneva, Switzerland followed by two and a half weeks in Johannesburg, South Africa. Our Tuck counterparts were in Jakarta, Manila, and Kuala Lumpur. SDIP seeks to mobilize the use of blended finance in sustainable investments throughout developing countries, and the regional hubs support this mission. While there are countless lessons I learned, I would like to first quote my teammates. According to Gyasi Parrish, “Onsite Global Consulting offered me a glimpse behind the scenes of the World Economic Forum and provided me a chance to make an impactful recommendation for the very well-known organization.” Kendall Smith added, “When combined with working with a team of amazing Tuck classmates from diverse backgrounds who helped me gain even more experience experimenting with ways to become a better team member and leader, it made for an invaluable experience!” Shrinivas Potty highlighted the program’s ability to combine his interests: “Global OnSite is a great platform to combine your professional (consulting experience) growth and personal interests (if you love traveling).”  There are three takeaways that I would like to share:
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15 Feb 2019, 12:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: From Accounting Class to Climate Action: Experiential Learning at COP24 |
 This blog originally appeared on the United Nations Association of the USA website. By Rachel Brooks, Program Manager, Center for Business, Government & Society In December, I had the opportunity to lead the Dartmouth/Tuck delegation as the head observer to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) in Katowice, Poland. Four Tuck students and I participated as part of the Research and Independent Non-Governmental Organizations (RINGO) constituency, the second largest of nine Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) constituencies recognized by the UNFCCC. My mornings began with daily RINGO meetings, followed by back-to-back convenings for the rest of the day. Through the RINGO network, I interacted with students and faculty across disciplines, ages, regions, and backgrounds. Unique perspectives, such as that of a master’s student studying greenhouse gas management and accounting at Colorado State University and an undergraduate student pursuing a bachelor’s in architecture at Washington University in St. Louis, greatly enriched the previous days’ sessions.  Some of the most meaningful encounters during my time at COP24 were on Gender Day and Education Day. Gender Day included a predominantly female panel on the intersection of climate change, technology, and gender and the focus on gender-responsive climate policy. Education Day included vital conversations about how education can advance implementation of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals and took a fascinating look at different countries’ innovative approaches to climate education. Another more personal highlight was spending time with my Polish AirBnB host, Jolanta, and her husband. Despite our language barriers, I received a sweet message from Jolanta checking in on me since I had been away at the conference venue for more than twelve hours.  In my work at the Center for Business, Government & Society, I am always striving towards improved integration of all stakeholders and cross-sector collaboration to solve society’s most pressing issues such as climate change. Participation in COP24 has been one of my most memorable engagements while working at Tuck, and I am so thankful for the connections created through the RINGO network. I look forward to continuing to advocate for better stakeholder integration, socially and environmentally responsible business, and rights-based, urgent climate action.  Rachel E. Brooks manages social impact and experiential learning programs for the Center for Business, Government & Society at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Prior to Tuck, she spent two years on Jeju Island, South Korea as a Fulbright grantee and then served as chief coordinator of Fulbright Korea’s onboarding program. A native of Virginia, Rachel graduated from the College of William & Mary with a bachelor’s degree in public policy and honors in interdisciplinary studies. |
19 Feb 2019, 12:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: An OnSite Global Consulting Course with Brooks in Shanghai |
 By Maria Milleville T'19 Course: OnSite Global Consulting Client: Brooks Sports, Inc. It is 7 o’clock in the morning, and my teammate Tong and I are getting into a street taxi in Chengdu. We are heading to the nearby city of Dujiangyan to meet with Mr. Xu. Mr. Xu is an avid runner, the first one of over 60 runners we will interview in China for this project. The plan for today is to spend some time talking to Mr. Xu about his passion for running and then join him on a shopping trip to a mall to observe how he makes purchasing decisions. We hope that insights from our time with Mr. Xu will help us understand Chinese running culture, which will help our team complete our OnSite assignment—an evaluation of the potential of the Chinese running market for our client, a global fitness apparel company.  We are now on the highway. High-end malls that lined the streets of Chengdu have been replaced with an endless sequence of nearly identical apartment buildings. In the back of the taxi, I am making last-minute changes to the questions we’ve prepared for Mr. Xu based on our observations of Chinese runners in the field. It’s our first week in China, but we have been working on the project for quite some time. Back in Hanover, our team spent several weeks conducting desk research and developing assessment tools to evaluate the needs and shopping behaviors of Chinese runners. Our client had approached customer analysis differently in the past, so the client’s business development managers were excited to have the Tuck team come up with a unique solution to their business challenge. Dujiangyan is still far away. I turn to Tong—he is engaged in a passionate discussion with the taxi driver. While I was tweaking the interview questions, Tong had managed to negotiate a deal on our return trip to Chengdu. Tong and Jewel are the only Chinese students on our team. They have been exceptional hosts on this trip. This was my first time in China, and Tong and Jewel took every chance to introduce me and my teammates to what makes their country special. Knowing about my passion for rare teas, Tong took me to a tea parlor where I got to taste Dao Hong Pao, a unique tea that is reserved for honored guests in China. Jewel led the team on a hike to the top of Qincheng Mountain, followed by an authentic hot pot dinner with her parents.  An hour after we left Chengdu, our taxi pulls up to Mr. Xu’s apartment building. I step out of the taxi and am immediately struck by the rich scents of Sichuan street food that fill the air. A slender man in a track suit is waving us in with enthusiasm. Tong introduces us in Chinese—“We are delighted to meet you, Mr. Xu!” I pause for a moment to take it all in. Over the next few weeks, we will interview runners, analyze field data, and share our recommendations with the client’s senior executive team. We will help our client solve a critical business challenge. We will learn to play off each other’s strengths and help each other grow through constructive feedback. We will build friendships to last us a lifetime. Maria Milleville is a second-year student at Tuck. On campus, Maria is a Leadership Fellow and a Non-Profit Board Fellow. Prior to Tuck, she managed STEM internship programs for military veterans and undergraduates at the Human Research Engineering Research Laboratories at the University of Pittsburgh. After Tuck, Maria will be joining Danaher Corporation’s General Management Development Program. |
19 Feb 2019, 15:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: OnSite Global Consulting Takes a Closer Look at China’s Running Culture |
 By Maria Milleville T'19 It is 7 o’clock in the morning, and my teammate Tong and I are getting into a street taxi in Chengdu. We are heading to the nearby city of Dujiangyan to meet with Mr. Xu. Mr. Xu is an avid runner, the first one of over 60 runners we will interview in China for this project. The plan for today is to spend some time talking to Mr. Xu about his passion for running and then join him on a shopping trip to a mall to observe how he makes purchasing decisions. We hope that insights from our time with Mr. Xu will help us understand Chinese running culture, which will help our team complete our OnSite assignment. We are now on the highway. High-end malls that lined the streets of Chengdu have been replaced with an endless sequence of nearly identical apartment buildings. In the back of the taxi, I am making last-minute changes to the questions we’ve prepared for Mr. Xu based on our observations of Chinese runners in the field. It’s our first week in China, but we have been working on the project for quite some time. Back in Hanover, our team spent several weeks conducting desk research and developing assessment tools to evaluate the needs and shopping behaviors of Chinese runners. Our client had approached customer analysis differently in the past, so the client’s business development managers were excited to have the Tuck team come up with a unique solution to their business challenge. Dujiangyan is still far away. I turn to Tong—he is engaged in a passionate discussion with the taxi driver. While I was tweaking the interview questions, Tong had managed to negotiate a deal on our return trip to Chengdu. Tong and Jewel are the only Chinese students on our team. They have been exceptional hosts on this trip. This was my first time in China, and Tong and Jewel took every chance to introduce me and my teammates to what makes their country special. Knowing about my passion for rare teas, Tong took me to a tea parlor where I got to taste Dao Hong Pao, a unique tea that is reserved for honored guests in China. Jewel led the team on a hike to the top of Qincheng Mountain, followed by an authentic hot pot dinner with her parents.  An hour after we left Chengdu, our taxi pulls up to Mr. Xu’s apartment building. I step out of the taxi and am immediately struck by the rich scents of Sichuan street food that fill the air. A slender man in a track suit is waving us in with enthusiasm. Tong introduces us in Chinese—“We are delighted to meet you, Mr. Xu!” I pause for a moment to take it all in. Over the next few weeks, we will interview runners, analyze field data, and share our recommendations with the client’s senior executive team. We will help our client solve a critical business challenge. We will learn to play off each other’s strengths and help each other grow through constructive feedback. We will build friendships to last us a lifetime. Maria Milleville is a second-year student at Tuck. On campus, Maria is a Leadership Fellow and a Non-Profit Board Fellow. Prior to Tuck, she managed STEM internship programs for military veterans and undergraduates at the Human Research Engineering Research Laboratories at the University of Pittsburgh. After Tuck, Maria will be joining Danaher Corporation’s General Management Development Program. |
22 Feb 2019, 12:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Tuck Admissions Insights: Right Fit for Tuck |
 Tuck’s Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Luke Anthony Peña shares how you can tell if you would be a good fit for the Tuck MBA program in part 2 of this video interview with Menlo Coaching. Watch the video to learn:
In case you missed it, see part 1 of the interview here.
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27 Mar 2019, 10:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: A Marine Corps Officer’s “Why Tuck” |
 By Jacob Roche T’20 Like many veterans, my decision to leave the military and go to business school was not an easy one to make. After choosing this course, deciding where to spend those formative two years for my MBA was also tough. Now, with the experience of two academic terms and 8 months living in the Upper Valley, I can say with confidence that Tuck is the right place for me to transition from the Marine Corps to a career in business. As I reflect on why, three key factors stand out. Here they are: Supportive Classmates Tuckies take time out of their day to help each other both inside and outside of class. Business school is difficult. Tuck’s academic curriculum is rigorous. The same is true among other top MBA programs. What is unique to Tuck however is the patience and support you get from your classmates. For example, like most veterans, when I arrived at Tuck, my experience using spreadsheets was limited to making rosters and lists. Similarly, I couldn’t have told you the difference between a debit and a credit. I found that my classmates were more than willing to take time out of their day to sit down with me and explain how to build a complex model in Excel or how to build a statement of cashflows. Everyone knows that Tuckies are nice, but this “niceness” isn’t limited to exchanging pleasantries in the hallways. It means that we take time to help each other. A Tough Core Curriculum Tuck has a difficult core curriculum. In my view, this offers two key benefits. First, it gives all students the building blocks and frameworks necessary to succeed first in recruiting, then during internships, and finally as graduates. Second, it creates a challenging environment which brings the class together as a unit. The fall terms are not officer candidate school or boot camp, but they are extremely tough. On top of the time spent in class and on homework and group projects, fall recruiting is in full swing by the end of September. The fall term is an intense time for all Tuckies and because of this, it brings us together. Just like the military, one of the best ways to build unit cohesion is by giving that unit a challenge. Over the course of fall term, I saw my study group, my section, and my class come together by overcoming many challenges. These challenges ranged from accounting homework to consulting “case prep” to mounting a comeback at a Tuesday night tripod hockey game. Access to the Outdoors I like to spend a lot of my free time in the outdoors. I was worried that between the many obligations of business school—class, recruiting, and social—I would not have time to get outside. At Tuck, I quickly realized that this would not be a concern. In the Upper Valley, the outdoor access is literally in your backyard. I routinely wake up early and take my two dogs on trail runs right out my back door. In the fall, I went duck hunting with other Tuckies before class a couple of times. This winter, I went skiing at Killington before Thanksgiving, then a dozen more times this season. I climbed the highest peak in Vermont and mountain biked on snow covered trails. The unparalleled access to the outdoors has allowed me to reflect on my experiences and enjoy myself when I have free time. No other business school of this caliber would have allowed me to do all this without getting on a plane. To learn more about what distinguishes Tuck among top-tier business schools and what you need to know to transition from the military into the right MBA program, attend Tuck’s Military Visit Day on April 14-15. During the event, you’ll get a chance to see what distinguishes Tuck among top-tier business schools and what you need to know to transition from the military into the right MBA program. Register here.  Jacob Roche T’20 graduated from the Naval Academy in 2011 and spent seven years in the Marine Corps as an artillery officer. Jacob was first stationed in Twentynine Palms, California for three years. He deployed once to Afghanistan as an artillery forward observer with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment. Jacob then served as an officer recruiter (OSO) for three years in Minneapolis, MN. He will be interning with McKinsey in Minneapolis, MN this summer. |
29 Mar 2019, 15:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: A Closer Look at Tuck’s Admissions Criteria |
 Part I: Accomplished Happy March, friends! We shared videos in January and February of my conversation with David White of Menlo Coaching—if you haven’t watched them, check them out. Now, after reading several thousand applications through the lens of our simplified and streamlined criteria, I’m back on the blog reflecting about how you can demonstrate each of our four criteria so that we see them in your application. No one criterion is more important than the other three, so I’ll address them alphabetically, which means we’ll look first at accomplished. The first component of this criterion is your outcomes. At Tuck, we seek candidates who are excellent on the job and impactful outside it. Your resume offers an introductory overview—it is the first part of your application I see when evaluating your application, and the only part your interviewer sees—and listing your professional positions and educational history is just the beginning. Include promotions, awards, and increased responsibilities that help us see your progression. List results and wins that reflect good performance and clear achievements. If you’ve been involved in extracurricular activities at work or school, professional networking groups, community organizations, entrepreneurial ventures or other meaningful personal pursuits, tell us about your level of involvement, your responsibilities, and the results you achieved. You likely can’t fit everything you’ve achieved onto one page—which is the length we prefer— so you will need to use your good judgment to determine how to present and organize the highlights. We also strive to enroll a class with diverse industry, functional, and extracurricular experience, so we calibrate our assessments of your outcomes relative to expectations. Your application provides additional context beyond your resume. We ask questions in the application that provide more information about your organization(s) and your role(s), your compensation and management responsibility, and the underlying reasons for your transitions. The activities section captures more detail about the depth and breadth of your extracurricular involvement during and after college, and the awards section highlights the criteria and significance of your recognition. These portions of the application add lots of helpful context beyond your resume, so it really helps your candidacy—and our evaluation of it—when you take the time to fully complete these sections. When you don’t, we often have unanswered questions about the scope of your impact and accomplishment, and we have more difficulty calibrating your achievements relative to your environment. The second component of Accomplished is your behavior. At Tuck, we seek candidates who use good judgment to earn results the right way. Many reference letters and interviews will confirm the outcomes on your resume and application, and some will surface additional achievements. The very best reference letters go further; they provide clear, vivid, compelling stories and examples of not just what you accomplished, but how you did so. Results rarely carry over from one context to the next, but your behaviors are transferable skills that predict impact at Tuck and beyond, and they help us calibrate across diverse backgrounds and experiences. Absent examples of your behavior, we might appreciate your impressive results but wonder how those results were earned, or whether you demonstrate the behaviors that suggest your good performance can be replicated here and beyond. With this in mind, choose references who have observed not only the outcomes you have achieved, but also your behaviors that drove those outcomes. The best references have seen you work and evaluated the quality of your performance. When selecting references, make sure they have the knowledge of your work, desire to enthusiastically support your candidacy , and time to put forth the effort to author a strong endorsement. Your references will need this combination of desire, knowledge, and time to advocate on your behalf, because you may not draft, author, revise, or submit your own letters. We want to see that others recognize your potential and ability to lead! Representing your own words as someone else’s recognition falls short of the good judgment that we expect accomplished Tuck candidates to demonstrate. In your interview, be prepared to tell your interviewer stories not only about the outcomes you have achieved, but also your behaviors that drove those outcomes. It’s wise to reflect and prepare for the interview, and yet I encourage you to focus on knowing yourself rather than memorizing your stories. Our interviewers are trained to look for evidence of all four criteria, including accomplished, so you will have the opportunity to highlight your outcomes and behaviors without needing to force them. Focus on the conversation, the questions your interviewer is asking, and the cues you get from your interviewer—rather than predetermined narratives—and evidence of your accomplishments will naturally emerge. Let’s briefly tackle some of the tricky stuff. Resume gaps can happen, but not all gaps are created equal; we’re concerned when you ignore or hide them, and we’re much more confident in your candidacy when you explain them with clarity, thoughtfulness, and ownership. Accomplishments can sometimes be found in part-time work, freelance work, internships and externships, so share these with us in your resume, your application, or your additional information essay. While everyone’s work history is different, your best references are almost certainly professional references; references from extracurricular activities are impactful only if your involvement was considerable, and references from professors, mentors, family, and friends are rarely (if ever) helpful. Finally, we consider involvement beyond your day-to-day work to be encouraging, and we also appreciate that different employers and industries, different cultures, and different programs of study offer varying free time and emphasis on extracurricular and community involvement; we calibrate accordingly. Let me and my colleagues know if you have questions about our accomplished criterion, or about any other aspect of Tuck. We’re here to help! I’ll be back next month to overview aware; in the meantime, don’t hesitate to write me via email or Twitter! |
11 Apr 2019, 10:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Global MBA Student Leadership |
 By Darryn Lee T’19 and Caroline Wells T’20 Last week Darryn Lee, the outgoing Tuck Student Body President, and Caroline Wells, the incoming Student Body President, had the opportunity to attend the Graduate Business Forum’s 36th annual Graduate Business Conference (GBC) in Paris, France. The goal of the GBC is to bring together student government leaders from the world’s top business schools to share best practices, discuss solutions to common issues, engage in leadership development activities, and promote a strong network among the participating MBA students. At the conference, hosted by ESCP Europe (the oldest business school in the world), we connected with our student government counterparts at schools such as Harvard, MIT Sloan, London Business School, and INSEAD.  The theme of this year’s conference was United in Diversity, and we experienced a range of programming around that theme. We engaged in lectures from engaging speakers such as Kenneth Cukier, the Senior Editor of Digital Products at The Economist, who spoke about economic liberalism and new digital tools The Economist is deploying to engage a new generation of readers, and Philippe Houzé, the Executive President of Galeries Lafayette, who spoke about his leadership lessons and responding to disruption. We also had the opportunity to tour Station F, the largest startup incubator in the world, and hear pitches from several of the ventures that are housed there. The conference culminated in a Global Leadership Gala where three of our inspiring fellow student leaders received awards for Student Leadership and Responsible Leadership. It was an incredible celebration of the hard work and passion of our peers. A highlight of the conference was the opportunity to engage in breakout sessions with our fellow attendees to discuss best practices and discuss solutions to common issues. It was incredibly enriching to find that from among an incredibly diverse group of schools and MBA programs we all faced very similar challenges. We were able to share some of our best practices, like how to successfully engage alumni, and discuss ideas for solutions to some of our challenges, like how to find a technology platform that can adequately serve Tuck’s various clubs. As leaders of the Tuck Student Board, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day operations of the Board and feel as though our challenges are unique to Tuck. The GBC enabled us to step outside the Hanover bubble and realize that, not only are our challenges shared by many of our peer schools, but that we can leverage the knowledge and successes of our new GBC network to find solutions, develop innovative ideas, and be more strategic in our impact. We look forward to continuing to engage with this network, and are already looking forward to next year’s conference!  Darryn Lee is originally from Compton, CA, and is a second-year student. Prior to Tuck, he worked for six years at BlackRock in New York City, first in portfolio analytics with the Global Multi-Asset Solutions portfolio managers, and later in institutional sales for the U.S. Defined Contribution business. After graduation, he’ll be joining MetLife as a Director in their Global Leadership Development Program.  Caroline Wells is a first-year student and incoming Tuck Student Board President. Before coming to Tuck, Caroline spent four years working in Deloitte Consulting’s Strategy and Operations practice in Washington, DC. A native of Philadelphia, Caroline received undergraduate degrees in international relations and French from the University of Virginia. |
18 Apr 2019, 06:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: An Experiential Trek to the ISO-NE |
 By Patricia Perez-Arnay Concepcion T'20 TWhenever you flip a switch, you have the certainty that the light is going to shine. This reliability in the electricity output is what keeps homes, business and public services running. In Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, this reliability is possible thanks to the ISO-NE, which works 24/7 to ensure that the electricity demand of the region is met. On March 1, Revers Center for Energy at Tuck hosted a one-day trek to the Regional Transmission Organization in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where a group of Tuck students had the opportunity to better understand the utilities landscape. When we arrived at the ISO-NE Central Control Center, we were checked in and escorted to a meeting room where Kate Epsen, from the External Affairs team, gave us background information on the New England’s electric power ecosystem and explained to us how the ISO-NE operates the grid, by directing the production and flow of high-voltage electricity across the region. Another major role of the ISO-NE is running the wholesale electricity markets in New England, enabling the selection of the most cost-efficient resources to meet both current and future energy needs. I found particularly interesting the role of the annual auctions in the Forward Capacity Market – which are held three years before the operating period - in incentivizing new investments in technology and supporting new capacity projects. Besides that, the ISO-NE also forecasts the electricity needs to ensure that there is a reliable electricity supply for the next ten years. One of the most impressive moments of the morning was when John Norden, director of operations at ISO-NE, turned up the blinds on one of the walls of the meeting room, showing the control room. In front of us was unfolded a 60x15 ft digital wallboard with a live mapping of the generation and transmission system in the region. On each side of the wallboard there was displayed a monitor showing news, weather reports and other relevant information affecting the grid. A team of system operators – typically former submarine officers or operators with experience in power plants, ideally holding a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering - were working to keep demand and supply balanced (load desk), forecast the following day demand of electricity (forecaster), maintain communication with power resources (generation desk), and run stressed scenario simulations (security desk). New England is part of the Eastern Interconnection, that include, among others the New York ISO, with whom the ISO-NE has nine interconnections. All the electric utilities of these region must operate under normal system conditions at a synchronized average frequency of 60 hertz. The ISO-NE has to manage unexpected risks of disruption of the frequency balance on the grid, such was the case of the Northeast blackout of 2003, caused by an overload in the transmission lines that cascaded into a massive power outage that affected more than 50 million people in Northeastern and Midwestern United States and the Canadian province of Ontario, after which mandatory reliability standards were set. In the last two decades, the New England power grid has experienced a major transition in the energy mix, from oil and coal to natural gas. However, a bigger push is needed to connect renewable energy to the grid to balance the natural gas constraints and achieve environmental policy objectives. After the visit, we had lunch at the Northampton Brewery where we had remarkable time. Thanks to the Revers Center for Energy at Tuck for providing such a unique opportunity to learn more about the Power & Utilities space. |
25 Apr 2019, 14:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: My First Year-Project with Authentica, India |
 By Marianne Poh T’20 First-years have two options to fulfil the “travel requirement” of the Tuck MBA over their first winter break: go on a Global Insight Expedition with a faculty member and 15-20 other classmates, or partake in an overseas First-Year Project (FYPGO) with four other classmates. Choosing the FYPGO based in India was a no-brainer for me: I had always found that travelling in smaller groups (or solo) allowed for a deeper immersion in a new environment, and I had a hypothesis that a balance of “work and play” could show me a different perspective that I would not otherwise encounter as a tourist.  For the “play” component of our trip, two of my teammates and I decided to traipse (and eat) across multiple cities in India and Sri Lanka before our FYPGO course began. With India being the birthplace of four of the world’s major religions and Sri Lanka and both countries having a traceable history dating back more than 23,000 years; our explorations led us to visit six UNESCO World Heritage sites (including the Taj Mahal) during our short trip. Thanks to comprehensive lists of food recommendations provided by our Indian classmates, we also diligently munched and slurped our way through plates of Raj Kachori, Aloo tikki, dosa, egg hoppers and A LOT of chai. Potentially because I was reading a novel (Man Booker prize winner The White Tiger) that portrays a dark perspective of India’s class struggle in a globalized world, I recall being confronted by my position of privilege in contrast to the people I encountered in our travels. The blurred lines between corporate/government responsibility and personal ethics was a common topic of discussion amongst my teammates and me. As we all came from different backgrounds and travelled on different passports, we often took different stances in our debates, and I was—and still am—grateful for that.  Our client, Authentica, is a small, fast-growing “experiential learning program” provider that designs and delivers study abroad experiences to educational and professional institutions in South and Southeast Asia. One of my most memorable experiences from this trip involved shadowing one of their clients—a group of international educators from Australian universities—in their tour of Dharavi, the largest slum in Mumbai. Expecting to be led to ogle at abject poverty and deplorable living conditions, we were instead shown (by an informative tour guide who was also a Dharavi local) numerous micro- enterprises existing within Dharavi. We could not help but marvel at the cumulative effect of all these enterprises, resulting in an informal economy within one of the most densely populated areas in the world, generating more than US$1 billion a year. This experience proved useful later on in the week during our brainstorming sessions with our client as we attempted to articulate Authentica’s mission and competitive advantage. Authentica’s co-founder and CEO Ravi Raj (a T’07) strives to deliver enriching and immersive academic and cultural experiences for his clients that go beyond the surface of “slum-tourism” and riding elephants. This core business purpose is going to be a crucial element of the growth strategy that we are aiming to deliver to Authentica in the next 4 weeks as we wrap up our First-Year Project. It is also representative of many Tuck students during our two-year stint living within a uniquely diverse community. All in all, the combination of our personal travel and onsite work was a great opportunity to observe real-world business issues as well as practice the tools and knowledge we had acquired in class. I have emerged from my two weeks abroad a few pounds heavier than when I had started, but with closer friends, a broader perspective, and unforgettable memories. Marianne Poh is a first-year student at Tuck from New Zealand. Prior to Tuck, she lived in Melbourne, Australia and worked as a Brand Manager for Mondelez International. At Tuck, she is co-chair of the International Club, Student Ambassador for Asia-Pacific, and a Center for Business, Government and Society Fellow. This summer, Marianne will be working as a management consultant in Boston. |
26 Apr 2019, 13:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: A Closer Look at Tuck’s Admissions Criteria |
 Part II: AWARE By Luke Anthony Peña Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Happy April, friends! The team and I have been busy this month hosting ASW and Military Visit Day, helping our Round 2 admits with their enrollment decisions, getting to know our Round 3 applicants, and selecting next year’s T’20 Tuck Admissions Associates (next year’s student interviewers). We’re also thinking about those of you planning to apply next year, and to help you prepare, I’m back to highlight another of our admissions criteria: aware. Demonstrating awareness entails three things: knowing who you are, knowing where you’re going, and knowing how Tuck helps you chart your path forward. These three aspects are rooted in our desire to see you contribute and thrive at Tuck and beyond. We believe you can best contribute when you are aware of how your individuality adds to Tuck, and you can effectively thrive when you have a clear vision for how Tuck allows you to accomplish your goals. The essay prompts give you a platform to tell us the personal story that only you can tell. Our first essay for the 2018-19 cycle asked you to tell us who you are and what you contribute, and our essays for the upcoming application cycle will give you a similar opportunity to introduce yourself beyond your resume and your scores. After reading several thousand essays this year, I can tell you that the best essays set aside airs and pretense; they include personal insights that reveal what drives and motivates you. So set aside the script and the predetermined narrative, answer the question candidly and genuinely, and introduce us to the applicant behind the application. You have other opportunities to show us that you are aware of who you are and what you contribute. Your interview is a conversation that surfaces the thoughts, beliefs, and values that influence and inform your decisions. And the reference letters comment on your level of necessary self-awareness to receive constructive feedback. The Tuck MBA is an environment rich in feedback, and we look to see that you can receive feedback with self-awareness, maturity, and a growth mindset. Our short answer prompts invite you to tell us where you’re going. We care about the clarity of your goals, so we ask you to share directly. And yes, we want you to be concise! Recruiters expect a tight pitch, so we do too. The short answers in the application give you the opportunity to state your goals on paper, and you can expect your interviewer to ask you to articulate them out loud. My team and I hope you will have your “head in the clouds and your feet on the ground,” meaning that you will be ambitious about your long-term impact and pragmatic about the steps you will take to get there. Finally, we want to see that you’re aware of how Tuck helps you get where you’re going. We’re happy if you love Tuck—we certainly do!—but that isn’t quite what we’re seeking here. Instead, we want to see that you know Tuck. You better contribute and thrive when you’ve thoughtfully considered how your interests and Tuck’s distinct community, culture, and curriculum are mutually beneficial. We ask you about this in the application, and you can expect your interviewer to ask as well. What matters is not how enthusiastic you are, or how thorough and detailed your research is—what matters is how you demonstrate reflection, personalization, and curiosity about what Tuck has to offer you and what you have to offer Tuck. Stay tuned for an update on our essay and short answer questions in early summer, and come see me back here on the blog in May for an overview how you can demonstrate our “nice” criteria. In the meantime, visit us in Hanover, or write me by email or Twitter! |
01 May 2019, 10:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: 5 Questions with Caroline Mann T’15, Senior Associate at Swift Current Energy |
  Caroline Mann T'15 is a senior associate at Swift Current Energy and an alumni fellow with the Revers Center for Energy. Ms. Mann has over 8 years of experience in the energy industry. Prior to joining Swift Current in 2017, she was a principal financial analyst in the wind project valuation group at NextEra Energy. In this capacity, Caroline was responsible for the valuation and financial diligence process for NextEra’s potential investment opportunities in wind energy and transmission infrastructure. She also managed the financial diligence effort for NextEra’s wind repowering effort. Previously, Caroline worked for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Bio courtesy of Swift Current Energy. What was the most important part of your Tuck experience that you’ve taken with you to your job and/or life? The general management focus at Tuck provides a very well-rounded business education. I’ve had to draw on things I learned in all of my classes—ranging from pricing options and futures to accounting for deferred taxes to negotiation and communication skills—I’ve used it all. The network has also been invaluable—I was introduced to my current employer through a fellow Tuckie! What are some of the biggest challenges that the power and utilities industry faces and how are you working to solve those? I think one of the biggest challenges facing the power and utility industry is figuring out how to integrate renewables at a large scale. Because renewables tend to be located in areas where the wind or sun is strongest, this can often lead to over concentration in certain geographies which causes congestion on the grid. Additionally, renewables are inherently intermittent which causes challenges for entities managing the power grid as well as utilities and corporations procuring power. In my role, I spend a lot of time thinking about and structuring long term power purchase agreements with corporations, utilities, and commodity traders. There is a lot of innovation happening in these agreements that better addresses some of the risks created by intermittency and grid congestion. At Swift Current, we are also working to integrate energy storage systems in the wind and solar projects that we are developing. I think energy storage is a solution you will start to see come into the market in a big way in the coming years. How do you expect the type of transactions to change, if at all, in the energy space? We have seen a lot of new entrants in the energy industry in recent years, both in the types of entities procuring renewable power and the entities investing in energy infrastructure. On the power procurement side, corporations are increasingly transacting directly with developers to procure renewable power. On the investing side, we’ve seen more passive capital, pension funds and the like, making direct equity investments in renewable energy projects. With these new entrants comes a different tolerance for risks that have been traditionally born by utilities as the historical owners or purchasers of power. We are seeing a lot of these risks be re-allocated to developers who need innovative solutions to help manage them. What advice would you give to current students interested in working in energy? The energy industry is dynamic, complex, and multi-faceted, but everything in the industry—from oil and gas to power, from regulation to commodity trading to finance—is interrelated. I think it’s very valuable to have a well-rounded view of the energy industry. If you have the opportunity, try to do a project outside of your interest area. If your background or interest is in renewables, try to do a project focused on upstream oil and gas. Having broad knowledge of the dynamics in different segments of the energy industry and how they relate to the economics your piece of the industry will serve you well in the future. What do you miss most about being at Tuck? I definitely miss my classmates, the tight knit community, the incredible setting in the Upper Valley, skiing and tripod hockey, and the constant intellectual stimulation both in and out of the classroom. Tuck is truly a special place. The Revers Center for Energy inspires and shapes tomorrow's leaders in energy while engaging today's energy community. It aspires to establish Tuck as the preeminent business school for learning practical leadership in the energy industry. |
02 May 2019, 07:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Get to Know: The Tuck Mindfulness Society |
 By Carole Gaudet, Program Manager, Tuck Mindfulness Society Joemma Berberich and Nikilesh Eswarapu, both T’19s, are student leaders for the Tuck Mindfulness Society, which offers mindfulness meditation classes to the entire Tuck community throughout the academic year. We talk about why they practice meditation, and how it fits in with business school, work and life. Why were you initially drawn to practice meditation? Joemma: Before business school, I had a demanding job and was traveling a lot. I had a colleague who meditated regularly and did silent retreats and talking with her piqued my interest. When I tried it, I immediately saw that meditation was hard. It’s like starting to exercise – you don’t make immediate gains. I found over time, though, that it helped me to become more aware about how I was feeling in any given moment. We often go without recognizing our emotions. It was powerful to have that awareness and to recognize that though I couldn’t control what was happening around me, I could control my response. Nikilesh: I was first exposed to meditation the summer before business school after reading about a tech executive who claimed that his mind worked differently after a meditation retreat. I had never realized meditation could be a path towards functioning better, so I decided to do a retreat. The experience was transformational for me, and from then on, I wanted to make it a regular practice. Why practice meditation in the middle of your busy business school life? Joemma: There’s always so much going on at Tuck, which is amazing but can be overwhelming. I’ve found it useful to carve out that time with myself. I also think meditation encourages self-kindness. In meditation, failure never goes away and your mind will find ways to take you out of the moment. Failure is also going to happen in life sometimes, despite your best efforts. My practice has helped me to focus less on judging or holding on to those experiences when they happen and to focus more on recognizing what I can learn from them. What is your actual practice like? Nikilesh: I’ve found it very helpful, while in a demanding job, to step outside for 10 minutes, find a bench, and take a break with an app like Headspace. I’ve found tremendous benefit in terms of how much better I am at completing work, with more focus and clarity. Practicing in a professional setting is not at all disruptive. There are different approaches to meditation. What resonates most for me is focusing on the breath, or progressively concentrating on different parts of the body and then my surroundings. These both build up towards what I can best describe as a present moment awareness where my mind is quiet yet awake. I’d urge people to explore different approaches because some might resonate more than others. My goal is always to try and practice after I wake up, but it’s tough in the dynamic atmosphere of business school. I haven’t always been as consistent as I want to be, but it’s helpful to have the structure of the Tuck Mindfulness sessions to help me get back into the swing of things. Do you bring mindfulness to other activities? Nikilesh: I do a reading mentorship session with an elementary school student once a week. It’s a way for me to completely disconnect from everything else and just be there with him, with us reading back and forth to each other. A goal could be to bring that type of mindfulness to everyday things, taking time to let your mind quiet down. How has the practice affected your personal or professional life? Has anything improved off the meditation chair? Nikilesh: My goal initially was to improve my ability to execute, but a big benefit I didn’t expect was to be calmer, happier, and more at bliss. Another benefit is that I’ve begun to reflect more on whether I’m doing the right kinds of activities or approaching things the right way. This has allowed me to be more conscious and adaptable to how I’m approaching life, rather than just working hard with a fixed mindset. Joemma: Mindfulness is not a silver bullet, but it has helped me become more aware of being present, which I’ve tried to bring to the rest of my life. It’s easy to get in a loop of ruminating about the past or focusing on anxieties about the future. Being at Tuck is a special experience that I won’t have again. Meditation have helped remind me to be aware of the present moment and to appreciate it instead of always being focused on what happened in the past or on the next thing. Do you have any reflections on being the student leader of the Tuck Mindfulness Society, or the face of mindfulness in the Tuck community? Joemma: One benefit I didn’t expect from leading the club was that I’ve been more reflective about the benefits of my practice, because of the conversations we’ve had around planning out the year’s programming and messaging. Nikilesh: It’s nice to have one on one conversations about my experience with other students who are interested and curious. There’s a momentum in society in general around meditation and mindfulness, and it’s nice to be a part of that movement and help introduce others Joemma: Through mindfulness meditation here at Tuck, I’ve met people I wouldn’t have met otherwise, and built connections around a shared interest. We have a very open, supportive community and it’s been a highlight of my time at Tuck. |
09 May 2019, 06:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: 2019 Morocco Global Insight Expedition |
 By Daniel Vasquez T’20 The Global Insight Expedition (GIX) is a major highlight of the Tuck experience. Every year, hundreds of Tuckies travel to all corners of the world to immerse themselves in cultural, academic, and professional experiences. In my case, I traveled to Morocco with a group of 22 Tuckies, April Salas (Executive Director of the Revers Center for Energy), and Dartmouth Associate Professor Dirk Vandewalle. The Morocco GIX combined everything that I wanted to get out of this experience: traveling to an “exotic” country and to Africa for the first time, and getting firsthand experience in challenges related to energy. The trip had a packed agenda. We went to seven different places in 10 days. We started in Rabat, where we visited the U.S. embassy and the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN). At MASEN we discussed Morocco’s energy strategy and the objective of the country for renewables to represent 52 percent of its energy sources by 2030, it was very interesting to hear about the level of involvement of the Moroccan monarchy in the energy policy and development of the country.  The next day we went to Tangier where we visited the ACWA Power wind farm, a project that was developed in conjunction with a Saudi Arabian company and with funding from the international finance community. After Tangier we went to Fes, with a short visit along the way to Chefchaouen “the blue city,” which was one of my personal favorites of the trip. In Fes we had lunch with local families, toured the medina, and had an engaging conversation with a women’s rights activist. Our main topic of discussion was the balance between the traditional Muslim values and view of the world and the advancement of women’s rights in Morocco—once again the monarchy had a key role in this discussion. After Fes, we went to Casablanca to visit the Hassan II Mosque, one of the biggest in the world, an interesting fact about the mosque is that every Moroccan was asked to contribute for its construction by the king himself. After Casablanca we flew to Ouarzazate, a town in the middle of the Moroccan desert famous for being the filming location of several movies including Star Wars and Gladiator. However, we did not go to Ouarzazate only for its impressive landscapes. The Noor Solar Plant (light in Arabic), is within minutes of Ourzazate and is the largest concentrated solar power plants (CSP) in the world. At Noor, solar energy is transformed into electricity with the help of thousands of mirrors that heat a liquid that then enters in contact with water to produce steam. A highlight of the Noor plant is its capacity to store up to six hours of energy, allowing it to dispatch power even when the sun is not shining. Our final destination was Marrakesh where we visited Education for All, a nonprofit that provides housing for girls from remote rural populations so that they can attend school; Mahjouba, a startup that is trying to produce motorcycles suited for the local population while employing artisans that work in medinas across the country; and the Université Potytenique Mohammed VI, where we discussed with young students different entrepreneurial ventures. After 10 days, I went back to the U.S., reflecting on how little I knew about Morocco before my trip. In particular, I was surprised to learn about the power and influence that the monarchy has in the country and how the king’s vision is present in a wide range of topics—from energy policy to women’s rights. Feature image courtesty of Education for All Daniel is a Colombian T’20. Prior to Tuck, he worked for a Colombian-Korean private equity fund. He is a co-chair of the Latin American and Iberian Business Club and a fellow of the Revers Center for Energy. This summer, he will intern at Macquarie Capital in NYC working on the energy investments group for Latin America. |
13 May 2019, 11:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Is Seaweed the Future of Sustainable Packaging? |
 We never expected a case competition would become one of the highlights of our time here at Tuck, but the 2019 Patagonia Case Competition proved us very wrong. We couldn’t be more proud of the work that our joint Tuck/Thayer team accomplished in the last two months. It was a demonstration of the amazing connections and ideas that can come from this place. This year’s case question was, “How can Patagonia Provisions produce all its food products in packaging that is reusable, biodegradable, renewable, or easily recyclable by 2025?” We knew that the right solution to this question required diverse perspectives and expertise, which motivated us to reach beyond the walls of Tuck and put the call out to our neighbors at Thayer. Three MEM students, Pratik, Namrata, and Ruiying, responded, and we are sure glad they did.  Our proposal was straightforward, but potentially transformative. We pitched seaweed as a feedstock to produce marine compostable bioplastics. This approach addressed Patagonia’s primary concerns when it comes to its packaging: 1) that it come from renewable sources, 2) that it meet all material property requirements, and 3) that its end-of-life process is sustainable. Seaweed is a superior raw material feedstock with a net-positive environmental impact.  After targeting seaweed, the Thayer team analyzed the manufacturing process required to convert the feedstock into bioplastic film and assess the ability for seaweed-based bioplastics to meet Provisions’ packaging requirements. Their findings led to a two-step path forward. Packaging Film Summary  Seaweed could immediately be made into BOPLA, the most prevalent bioplastic (think: Greenware) and integrated into current packaging processing lines. Within five years, we estimated that BOPLA production could be converted to PHA, a bioplastic fully compostable in soil and the ocean. Our unit economic analysis showed that production would be competitive with synthetic, oil-based plastics (PP/PE) at scale. We also researched the numerous positive externalities that accompany seaweed production, including the revival of coastal economies. The final component of our proposal included launching a pilot project in Maine, the largest seaweed producing state in the United States.  What began as a meeting of new faces in January over a common set of interests and values ended in April as one of the top 10 teams out of 130 to present our proposal to the senior leadership at Patagonia. Our two days at Haas included an inspiring fireside chat with Patagonia’s COO, Doug Freeman, who allowed us to peer into a corporate culture that has reached a religious fervor. It is derived from a shared strategic mission, “to save our home planet.” It unifies employees with a purpose, from store clerks to childcare center instructors, and is more effective than any advertising campaign. As the Robert Strand (Executive Director for the Haas Center for Responsible Business) said so eloquently: “for Patagonia, profits are like oxygen; necessary to sustain life, but a terrible thing to live for.” Despite the competitive aspect of the gathering, Patagonia and our hosts at Haas created an environment that stressed the need for collective action and community building. Coming together with nine other teams from around the country (and one from Canada) left us motivated and excited about the future. While we didn’t come away with the top prize, we have been energized by all of the incredible people we met and ideas we spent months thinking about. The best part is that the story doesn’t end here for us. Namrata was recruited through the competition and will be joining Tin Shed Ventures (Patagonia’s venture fund) this summer as an intern, and the rest of the team is still thinking about how we might make seaweed bioplastics a reality someday.  Illustration by iStock: Color_Brush |
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