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Tuck Dartmouth MBA Admissions & Related Blogs

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Inside Tuck’s Ecosystem Deep Dive [#permalink] New post  10 Dec 2019, 11:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Inside Tuck’s Ecosystem Deep Dive

By Hugo Naulot T'21 and Robert Sewell T'21

In early October, nine first-year students participated in Tuck’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Center for Private Equity and Venture Capital Ecosystem Deep Dive, a content-and career-focused program in the Bay Area exploring entrepreneurship and venture capital. Visiting ten VC funds and venture-backed companies over the course of two days, this program was an incredible opportunity for students to learn about the relationship between early-stage investors and entrepreneurs – the kind of opportunity Tuck provides with its close-knit community. The company visits ranged from learning how a leading biotech VC is using genetic modifiers to identify new treatment options, to participating with the CEO of a VR startup in a live demonstration of his company’s newest product.

Many students come to Tuck with a precise idea of where they would like to work after graduating. However, a significant number of Tuckies embark on their MBA journey with the objective of finding the type of company they would like to work for and build the skillset they will need to be successful there. The Ecosystem Deep Dive was a perfect opportunity for both categories. Several participants signed up for the program because they had already launched a start-up, or had a venture idea, and wanted to receive advice from successful founders. Others had a broad notion that they would like to work in technology, but without knowing precisely at which type of company. By meeting investors and start-ups at all growth stages – from seed to late-stage – and in various sectors, such as virtual reality, music and online banking, participants were able to get a glimpse of what it would be like to work for each of them, and pinpoint which ones might suit them best and fulfill their career aspirations.



The learning didn’t stop there. A highlight of the Ecosystem Deep Dive was the opportunity for students to ask questions – without any filters – to successful entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. At Homebrew, a seed-stage VC fund, students learned about the skills needed to become a seed investor after working several years in an operational role at a technology company. At Chime, a Series D online bank, students had the privilege of sitting down with the two cofounders, who explained how despite the company’s exponential growth, its beginnings hadn’t always been easy. Finally, the founder of Feed.fm, a SaaS audio platform, shared insights on fundraising and managing a company’s cash flows. Overall, students were painted a full picture of the Bay Area Ecosystem, from raising capital, to growing a company, and becoming an investor who will support the next generation of start-ups.

The Ecosystem Deep Dive was led by Eileen O’Toole, assistant director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, and Jim Feuille, executive director of the Center for Private Equity and Venture Capital. The expansive resources and connections of these two Tuck Centers across the entrepreneurship ecosystem made this trip possible. The companies that students visited during this program included: Maze Therapeutics, Third Rock Ventures, Volta Charging, Crushroom, High Fidelity, Chime, Feed.FM, Silicon Valley Bank, HomeBrew, and Norwest Ventures.

Learn more about the Center for Entrepreneurship and the Center for Private Equity & Venture Capital.
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Diverse Start-up Founders and Funders on the Rise [#permalink] New post  17 Dec 2019, 13:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Diverse Start-up Founders and Funders on the Rise

By Claire Shaw T’20

In November, with generous support from the Center for Private Equity and Venture Capital, I attended the Founders + Funders Conference presented by Seneca VC, Women 2.0, and SheWorx. The event was a convening of several hundred women and other underrepresented groups within the New York start-up ecosystem. Throughout a series of lightning round panels and start-up pitches, expert entrepreneurs and venture capitalists spoke on the essentiality of investing in enterprises catering outside the white male consumer archetype. Their unique stories underscored and demonstrated real traction in the current movement to make the industry more accessible.

One such speaker was KJ Miller, co-founder and CEO of Mented Cosmetics. Miller shared her and her co-founder’s frustration to find makeup that suited their skin tones when products marketed as “nude” were typically only available in lighter shades. Marrying their personal experience with a significant market opportunity (women of color spend 80% more on beauty products than the average consumer), they taught themselves how to make and market lipsticks themselves. By religiously capturing customer input through surveys and social media, Mented’s strategy has evolved to rapidly satisfy consumers, who now expect a full range of products from Mented and new releases every season.



Photography by Founders + Funders NYC

Another successful entrepreneur, Lindsay Kaplan, spoke of her experience growing her business and fundraising while pregnant. Kaplan opened up about pitching her latest venture to prospective investors on Sand Hill Road while experiencing a bout of mid-morning sickness (in a word, “worse” than otherwise) and the importance of adding teammates and mentors with different and complementary areas of expertise (“don’t clone yourself”). Kapan’s start-up, Chief, a private network of professional women with VP/C-suite positions or ambitions, closed a $22 million Series A in July, one of the largest rounds raised by a woman-founded company in 2019.

Other featured speakers emphasized the diligence, occasional tedium, and data-based insights required to start a successful new business or investment fund. Catherine Dockery of Vice Ventures sent 500 personalized emails to LPs to secure her first fund, a process that took her 6 months but yielded an impressive 90% response rate. According to Dockery, “writing cold emails might be the only thing I’m superior at.” Dheerja Kaur, Chief Product Officer at theSkimm, noted the importance of concentrating on delighting power users, i.e. “Skimmers”, rather than satisfying passive consumers. Her team jettisoned a focus on growth in metrics like the total number of subscribers in favor of aligning their product roadmap with Skimmers who read their newsletter every single day.

Statistics on diversity within the start-up ecosystem remain sobering: less than 3% of VC funding in the US went to women-led companies in 2019, and just 0.32% went to Latinx women-led startups and .0006% to black women-led start-ups within the last decade. Events like the Founders + Funders Conference serve as important sources of camaraderie and inspiration for those looking to increase those numbers in the years ahead.
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Looking Ahead: Essay Tips for Round 2 Applicants [#permalink] New post  20 Dec 2019, 12:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Looking Ahead: Essay Tips for Round 2 Applicants



By Luke Anthony Peña

Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid

Happy December, friends! Winter has arrived, the holidays are here, and Tuck looks more beautiful in the snow than ever. My Admissions and Financial Aid colleagues and I are taking these final weeks of 2019 to rest and recharge in between welcoming those of you recently admitted in Round 1 and encouraging those of you applying in Round 2.

Speaking of Round 2, I’ve heard from many of you that you’re working diligently on the refining touches to your Tuck application. The team and I want you to apply with confidence and know exactly what we look for, where we find it, and how we assess it. Earlier this fall, I spoke with Clear Admit about our application process, including how we at Tuck approach application essays. Today I write to reiterate some of the key points I hope you take to heart when writing your essays.

We’ve written at length here on our Tuck 360 blog about responding to each of our three essay prompts. We’re clear and unambiguous about what separates a strong response from an unremarkable one. But in addition to transparency, my colleagues and I also believe in simplicity. The application does not need to be unnecessarily complex. Our essay prompts are written to give you the opportunity to demonstrate our ‘aware’ and ‘nice’ criteria.

I tend not to dwell much on mistakes or pitfalls, because I want to empower you to apply with confidence, and that means focusing on all that can go right rather than all that can go wrong. I do often tell applicants that the best way to stand out is to stop trying so hard to do so. We care a lot at Tuck about your awareness, both of your strengths and your areas for growth and development.

Talking up the former and downplaying the latter might seem like a tempting approach, but it misses the point of pursuing an MBA. Presumably, you’re pursuing this degree to grow, professionally and personally, in ways or at a pace beyond what is currently possible. So lean into this opportunity to tell us with confidence all the strengths you bring to Tuck, and also tell us with humility the ways Tuck can help you grow.

The best advice I can give for the essays: write them, share them with someone whom you know and trust, and ask them not “Is this a good Tuck MBA essay?” but instead “Is this truly me?” If yes, you’ve done good work. If no, keep at it—you’ll get there!

I read every Tuck application in my first two years here, which sums up to about nine thousand essays. I’ve read tens of thousands more at my previous institutions. There is no correlation between a memorable essay and a good essay. The goal of a good application is not to leave a lasting impression on the reader, and if that is your mark, I will encourage you to reconsider your approach. The goal should be to answer the question, obviously, but to do so in a way that reveals who is the applicant behind the application.

I think of the essays as perhaps our best opportunity to get an unvarnished glimpse into the person you are. The reference letters and interview notes give us necessary insight into how others see you; the essays are you in your own words. Straining to make them memorable usually clouds rather than clarifies our understanding of who you are.

So the best essays are not facades but windows into how you think, act, and self-identify. The most effective essays are those that my colleagues and I finish reading and say “I have a clear sense of who that person is.” The most confounding are those where we say “That was interesting—perhaps even memorable—but I have no better idea who this person is than when I started reading.”

Share your essays with someone you trust and ask “do these essays, in content and tone, accurately reflect the person you know?” If you are willing and able to bring your full self to the essays, we have more confidence that you can do the same as a student at Tuck.

No matter where you are and how you celebrate this holiday season, my Tuck colleagues and I wish you peace, joy, and good cheer. We know preparing your application can be stressful, so we hope our insights on this blog and elsewhere help you be more confident and less anxious as you get ready to submit. And while Tuck will officially reopen for your questions on January 2, you can meet our students in dozens of cities around the world until then, and you can always write me via email or social media—I am happy to be accessible and helpful!
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Inside Austin’s TimeMachine Conference [#permalink] New post  08 Jan 2020, 12:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Inside Austin’s TimeMachine Conference



Vishal is a second-year MBA student from India. He is a fellow at the Revers Center of Energy. Prior to Tuck, he spent 6.5 years with Schlumberger. He holds a BE in Electrical Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, India.

Prior to Tuck, I worked for 6.5 years at Schlumberger, a leader in Oil & Gas. One of my objectives behind pursuing an MBA at Tuck was to deepen my understanding of both the Oil & Gas industry as well as the broader energy sector. The Revers Center of Energy at Tuck actively provides resources and opportunities for co-curricular activities to students who are interested in the energy sector. Last month, as a fellow at Revers Center of Energy, I got an opportunity to attend the TimeMachine conference in Austin.

A futuristic ambience and an impressive lineup of speakers provided a glimpse into the future of application of Artificial Intelligence across various industries, including Oil & Gas. The panelists in the Oil & Gas session represented various parts of the industry, from startups such as SparksCognition & Cognite to Operators such as Hunt Oil as well as PE firms, and gave a wide range of perspectives. They identified data quality as one of the strongest barriers to adoption of Artificial Intelligence in this sector. Vast quantities of data, both below the surface as well as above it, is generated by companies during the exploration, development and production phase of an oil field.

However, the industry has a notorious reputation of working in silos, which makes it quite difficult to integrate data. Currently, the industry has seen numerous Proofs of Concept, but still hasn’t adopted Artificial Intelligence solutions on scale. The panelists foresaw an increase in predictive maintenance applications in near future and were hopeful that the role of Artificial Intelligence in production management would pick up in the long term.

In addition to learning about Artificial Intelligence, it was a joy to hear John Chambers, former CEO of Cisco, speak. According to him, the future of a company heavily depends on figuring out the market transitions correctly. He also emphasized on the importance of the culture of a company, since it can either be an enabler or a problem. This reminded me of similar discussions in the Managing Organizations class during my first year.

I also met Anjali Patel T’17 who works for SparksCognition, an AI startup. She was enthusiastic to implement AI solutions and see the results first-hand. In her own words, “I am excited to be a part of the AI revolution and contribute to the future”. Meeting people who work on real-world applications of AI was enriching and added value to my MBA education. I am grateful to Revers Center of Energy for sponsoring my trip to Austin for this conference. 
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Tuck Students Begin Thanksgiving by Visiting Midwestern Startups & Inv [#permalink] New post  09 Jan 2020, 13:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Tuck Students Begin Thanksgiving by Visiting Midwestern Startups & Investors

Thanksgiving is a quintessential American holiday – one filled with food, family, travel, more food, and most importantly no school! Late last year an intrepid group of 10 Tuck students and 1 Tuck Partner decided to devote the beginning of their Thanksgiving break to visiting 14 Midwest based startups and investors. As a co-chair of the Entrepreneurship Club and a proud Ohio native, I wanted to organize a trek for fellow students to experience the rich startup ecosystem that’s thriving between the coasts and meet some of the investors helping to make it happen.  The companies we visited ranged in size and scale – from Pittsburgh based Jetpack Workflow, which has raised just over $3M in capital, to Columbus based Root Insurance, recently valued at $3.7B.

We began in Pittsburgh, PA – once deemed the heart of the “rust belt” but now a blossoming ecosystem of AI based companies and offices for tech giants such as Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Uber.  Honeycomb Credit, an early stage fintech company founded by George Cook T’17, hosted us in their temporary office space and we got our first taste of how an early stage company needs to make the most of available resources. 

Christian Bilger, COO of Honeycomb Credit and our host for the morning, then traveled with us to their prior space at Pittsburgh’s preeminent incubator AlphaLab, where he hosted a panel with the founders of Jetpack Workflow, Bossa Nova Robotics, and Fifth Season.  After learning about some of the pros and cons of starting a company in the Midwest, we made the short trip to Duolingo, where we were treated to a delicious lunch (which, along with dinner, is provided for employees every day!) and learned what it was like to scale a global tech organization while being based in Pittsburgh.  We finished our day at the leading school and neighborhood review company, Niche, followed by Forever, a company devoted to organizing, curating, and storing memories (via media) forever.  Of course a trip to Pittsburgh wouldn’t be complete without an enormous sandwich from Primanti Brothers!  



After a 3 hour drive to Columbus, OH and a good night’s rest, we began our Friday at Root Insurance and learned about product management and corporate development roles at one of the region’s fastest growing startups.  We left Root’s facilities for one of the most unlikely startups to find in a place like Columbus – RapChat – which bills itself as the #1 music making app.  Though the space wasn’t large, there was a palpable feeling that the team was really on to something.  Leaving impressed, we traveled to ScriptDrop, a quickly growing drug delivery company that enables independent pharmacies to seamlessly fill a prescription and have it delivered to a patient’s door. 

Our final two stops for the day were Drive Capital and Rev1 Ventures.  Drive has quickly made a name for itself with its success investing in the Midwest: portfolio companies include Fifth Season, Duolingo, and Root Insurance.  Parker MacDonell D’76 hosted us at Rev1, which employs a different business model and describes themselves as a “startup studio” which I’d liken to a mix between incubator, accelerator, traditional seed stage venture firm, and non-profit economic development agency – they are perhaps the most active investor in Ohio by deal volume. 

Once again, we finished our day with some fine food and even better company (especially after a local T’19 joined us!), before experiencing some Columbus nightlife.  We ended our trip on a high note, watching The Ohio State University – my alma mater – beat Penn State, before it was time for everyone to jet off to their nearest Turkey eating destination.   
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Revers Center for Energy Fellows Reflect on Hawaii Energy Landscape [#permalink] New post  20 Jan 2020, 08:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Revers Center for Energy Fellows Reflect on Hawaii Energy Landscape

By Ryan Ganong T’20 and Maxime Pinto T’20

This past November, the faculty and staff of the Revers Center for Energy along with 13 of the Center’s 17 MBA fellows left the already snowy plain of Hanover and travelled to sunny Hawaii to learn how the state with the most ambitious Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) plans on achieving 100 percent renewable power production by 2045. Over the course of their stay, the fellows travelled to the Islands of Oahu and Hawaii (the “Big Island”), meeting with government officials in charge of policy at both the state and municipal levels, along with Hawaii’s sole utility, various independent power producers, academics, and clean technology investors.

Hawaii has the highest electricity cost of any state, due to the need to import fossil fuels, primarily oil from Asia; at about $0.36/kWh it’s almost three times the national average. As such, weening the most remote and populated archipelago in the world off fossil fuels is not only environmentally responsible, but it’s economically attractive. However, over the course of their discussions, the Revers Fellows quickly discovered that diverging economic interests, technological limitations, cultural and religious elements, and competition for limited land, all complicate the clean energy transition.

In their discussion with the State Utility, Hawaii Electric Company (HECO), which supplies electricity to 95 percent of the state’s residents, the Fellows learned that each island has its own independent electrical grid, and that connecting them is technically complicated, and prohibitively expensive. What’s more, multiple military bases are sited on Hawaii, which collectively consume 15% of Hawaii’s electricity production and require the utmost reliability and resilience from the grid. Despite these obstacles, HECO made clear their commitment to meet the states goal by promoting large scale renewable projects.



The story quickly changed following meetings with state and municipal agencies, along with some academics working on the issue who argued that connecting the various islands was feasible and necessary to leverage the abundance of Hawaii’s renewable energy supply. What’s more, they voiced their concern that HECO wasn’t doing enough to promote the adoption of clean technology within residential homes. A common incentive seen on the mainland, and lacking on the island, is giving consumers with rooftop solar the ability to sell excess energy to the grid. Digging a little deeper, it became clear that the utility company is not entirely to blame; the state’s deep-rooted socio-economic disparity is a significant impediment to the adoption of renewables amongst residents. Gwen Yamamoto Lau, Executive Director of the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority, explained that housing in Hawaii is prohibitively expensive, and that a significant number of residents rent from landlords who have no incentive to invest in cleaner technologies given the tenants pay the utility bills. After meeting with Gwen, the Fellows visited Kahauki Village, a prototype housing community providing affordable housing for formerly homeless families. The Village will soon have enough capacity to house half of Honolulu’s homeless families, and is entirely sustainable, run off a microgrid powered by both roof-top and PV solar.

Even if all stakeholders manage to come to an agreement on the best path to meet Hawaii’s RPS, the Island State faces an even greater existential threat. Approximately $19billion worth of real-estate is at risk of flooding given global sea level rise, and the increased intensity of tropical storms. Moving its residents would be costly, and further complicated by the fact that land is one of the state’s scarcest resources. During their visit to H-Power, a waste to energy plant serving the city of Honolulu, the Fellows got to see firsthand some of the state’s solutions to land conservation. The plant, which can consume up to three thousand metric tons of waste a day, allowed the island of Oahu to reduce the size of its landfill by 90 percent. However, significantly greater efforts are required in order to ensure there is enough space on the island for Oahu’s residents, and future energy production requirements.



The group travelled to the “Big Island” of Hawaii to finish the trip. While there, the group visited the Natural Energy Lab of Hawaii Authority (NELHA), an onshore and offshore research center for aquaculture and renewable energy, dedicated to using Hawaii’s two most abundant resources – sun and water – to improve sustainability.  NELHA is home to one of only two of the world’s Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion systems (OTEC), a machine that uses warm water from the ocean’s surface, and cold water from the deep, to generate 100% clean energy. NELHA also hosts Kampachi, Albalone and Algae fish farms, which the Fellows were able to tour, and even sample! The trip reached an appropriate peak with a visit to the Parker Ranch, a 45,000 head cattle ranch, and the oldest business in Hawaii.  The group met with the CEO of the ranch, Dutch Kuyper, T’92, and VP of Land and Asset Management Jonathan Mitchell T’12, to discuss the Ranch’s history and efforts to build solar and wind assets on the Ranch’s 130,000 acres to reduce their operating expense and assist in Hawaii’s clean energy transition.  To end the visit, Dutch and Jonathan were kind enough to host the group for “Tuck Tails” overlooking the setting sun at a nearby beachfront hotel.

Of course, no trip to Hawaii is complete without partaking in the island’s unique cultural and historical activities.  The group enjoyed scuba diving and snorkeling and a surf lesson on the Big Island, and hiking Diamond Head, eating shaved ice, and visiting Pearl Harbor in Oahu.
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Making Your Decision to Enroll [#permalink] New post  31 Jan 2020, 06:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Making Your Decision to Enroll



By Luke Anthony Peña

Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid

Happy 2020, friends! Winter is here in Hanover, which means my colleagues and I are in the heart of the admissions season. We’re hard at work getting to know those of you who applied in Round 2, both by reading your applications and by welcoming you to campus for your interviews. We’re also supporting our students who are planning Admitted Students Weekend in April, and already looking ahead to recruiting season several months away.

We’re also spending a lot of good time and effort working with those of you admitted in Round 1 and considering your enrollment options. Some of you have already decided to join us at Tuck (hooray!) while others of you are still making a decision. No matter where you are in this process -- admitted and deciding now, awaiting a Round 2 decision, or preparing to apply in Round 3 or next year -- you may soon have a decision in front of you between several good options. I remember what this is like; I wrestled enormously with my decision to enroll in my MBA program, and I waited until the very last possible day to make my decision. While each of you will decide in your own way, I’d like to share some perspective on making this important decision.

First, if you’ve been admitted to multiple degree programs, or are deciding between your MBA and a great career opportunity, congratulations! I hope you will take time to appreciate your incredible accomplishment. The opportunities in front of you are the culmination of your own research, reflection, preparation, and determination, as well as trust, faith, and patience in our evaluation process. As I often tell Tuck students, current and future, it’s your job to be excellent, and it’s our job merely to recognize it. You worked hard for this achievement, and you’ve earned the right to celebrate it.

Now that your decision is in front of you, some of you are now debating if the MBA is a worthwhile investment after all. I am a proud MBA alum and an evangelist for the degree, but I am the first to admit that not everyone needs an MBA, which is just one of many paths to a successful future. If you’re questioning whether the MBA is the right path right now, I ask you two questions. First, are you ready to step away from your day-to-day and fully immerse in an environment where you acknowledge what you do and do not know, empathize with the diverse experiences of others, and learn when and how to take the right risks? Second, can you replicate the benefits of extraordinary classmates, engaged faculty, career services support, global experiences, a powerful alumni network, a rigorous curriculum, and co-curricular learning, all on your own, without enrolling in an MBA? If you’re ready to immerse, and you recognize that the benefits of an MBA experience are unique and distinct, then I encourage you to seize this opportunity.

Still others of you recognize the immense benefits of pursuing your MBA, but you’re wrestling with the finances of your decision. I fully acknowledge that finances are an important consideration -- they certainly were for me when I pursued my MBA -- and the price tag of an MBA can appear intimidating. I know from experience that sometimes, in the midst of a decision of this magnitude with this upfront expense, it’s possible to become narrowly focused only on the short-term costs. These costs are not irrelevant. But I hope you'll remind yourself that the costs, large as they may seem now, are temporary. Even for those of you who finance your MBA through loans, you will be paying the MBA for a mere fraction of your future. On the other hand, the benefits of the right MBA experience and community – which you only get once – will not only endure for your entire life, they will grow stronger as you advance in your career. Think of the MBA as an investment, both in yourself and in the community that best enables you to contribute and thrive.

I urge you to prioritize one factor above all others: the people. The relationships you forge with your classmates, the alumni network, the faculty, and the staff comprise the asset that will appreciate most over the rest of your life. “

Finally, some of you are ready to make this investment, and yet you truly believe two (or more) programs will be equally rewarding and beneficial to your future. While it’s wonderful to be enthusiastic about multiple options, it’s also a difficult decision to choose between two options that seem equally great. As you weigh all of your decision criteria -- and yes, I’ve heard about the models some of you build to quantify your decision! -- I urge you to prioritize one factor above all others: the people. The relationships you forge with your classmates, the alumni network, the faculty, and the staff comprise the asset that will appreciate most over the rest of your life. Choosing to surround yourself with people who support and challenge you ensures you have a lifelong network and community that will benefit you no matter where life takes you. Writing as an MBA alum, I assure you that you will value this more with every passing year.

If you remain undecided, I offer one tactic and one quote. The tactic: A mentor of mine once advised me, when struggling to make a big decision, to live one full day as if I have chosen Choice A. Tell myself Choice A was final, and check in with myself throughout the day to see how I thought and felt. Then, on the next day, live the full day as if I had chosen Choice B. Check in with myself, see how the other decision makes me think and feel. I’ve found, without fail, that I learn much about what my head and my heart want me to do. And the quote, courtesy of the late Steve Jobs: “Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.”

Please let me, my colleagues, and the Tuck community know how we can support you with the big decision in front of you. All of us at Tuck are happy to be accessible, responsive and helpful to you!
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Connecting with Tuck About Scholarship Awards [#permalink] New post  28 Feb 2020, 16:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Connecting with Tuck About Scholarship Awards



By Luke Anthony Peña

Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid

Happy February, friends!  February is always an invigorating month for our team; we’re helping our Round 1 admits make their decision to join us at Tuck, preparing to admit Round 2 applicants, encouraging Round 3 applicants to apply, working closely with our Admitted Students Weekend student leadership team, and making plans for our upcoming global recruitment tourin several months.  The common theme?  Getting to know as many of you as well as we possibly can!

Part of getting to know you is understanding and appreciating your plans for financing your MBA.  I have outstanding Financial Aid colleagues who offer excellent advice on financing your time at Tuck, and our alumni have been answering the call to support tomorrow’s wise leaders, generously doubling Tuck’s scholarship budgetover the last several years.  I’m here to be open, transparent, and applicant-friendly -- that’s the Tuck way! -- on another financing topic that rarely shows up on blogs like this, but certainly gets discussed by admitted students and admissions influencers in person and online.  I’m here to share thoughts on talking openly about scholarship awards.

Let’s cover a few important points:

Yes, you can talk with Tuck about scholarship awards.  It’s okay to talk about this with us!  My colleagues and I appreciate the magnitude of the investment you are making.  I myself wrestled enormously with financial considerations when deciding to pursue my MBA a decade ago.  I know first-hand that many of you are considering the financial implications long before you apply, and once you are admitted, you have immediate decisions to make about how to invest your precious resources.  If this is causing you to pause on your decision to come to Tuck, tell us -- we’re happy to talk through it with you.

Yes, you can ask for more resources.  Some of you may want us to offer you more than a good conversation.  If this is you, it’s okay to ask for more financial support.  I frequently speak with admitted students who say they are hesitant, embarrassed, or otherwise uncomfortable to make an ask. Make no mistake; my colleagues and I appreciate your thoughtful and considerate approach, traits which we especially value at Tuck. But again, if this consideration impacts your enrollment decision, we’d like to know.  We admitted you because we want you at Tuck, which means we want to know anything that would stand in the way of you saying yes.

Know that we can’t always say yes.  I wish we could!  Alas, in every round, we receive far more scholarship requests than we can accommodate.  By rule of simple math, we have to say “not right now” to many more requests than we would like.  Just like with admission decisions, scholarship decisions are necessarily relative.  We’re considering your individual request, yes, but we have to balance your request against all the others we’ve received.  Please also know that “not right now” doesn’t mean “never.” Our resources change as scholarship recipients accept and decline their awards, and we regularly reconsider requests.  Here’s a tip: a gracious response to an initial “not right now” answer can go a long way towards the possibility of us saying “yes” later on.

The more information you share, the better.  We completely understand these can feel like delicate conversations, and sometimes your financial circumstances are personal. That said, asking for an unspecified amount for an unspecified reason doesn’t do much to help us consider your request.  If there is a specific amount that helps you feel confident saying yes to Tuck, tell us.  If tuition far exceeds the resources available to you, or you have unexpected expenses, or you have other financially attractive options, tell us.  Our goal is always to use discretion to award scholarships to those who, absent funding, might not attend Tuck. So be open with us about how funding helps you attend.

The earlier we know, the better.  An unfortunate but true reality about finite budgets: they run out.  My colleagues and I sometimes receive compelling scholarship requests the day enrollment decisions are due, which we can rarely accommodate because the ask comes too late.  We intend to spend every last dollar of our scholarship budget, and we spend increasingly more of it as time passes.  If you know you need to discuss your scholarship with us, there’s no benefit to delaying the conversation to a later date.  Quite the opposite; the longer you wait, the more likely we will have allocated all our resources elsewhere.

Ask for what you really need.  My colleagues and I very much consider this a conversation and not a negotiation.  This isn’t a volley where you ask high, we counter low, and eventually we all meet in the middle.  I understand the temptation to ask high. However, we strive to build the best Tuck class by stretching our finite budget such that we accommodate as many requests as we can.  The higher your ask, the harder it is to say yes while still accommodating as many of tomorrow’s wise leaders – your future classmates – as possible. Ask for an amount that matches your true financial need, the first time, and raise the chances we can say yes.

The money matters. It isn’t all that matters.  Sometimes, in the midst of this important decision, it’s possible to become narrowly focused only on dollars and cents.  Yes, money matters.  But my colleagues and I hope you'll remind yourself that the financial investment, large as it seems now, is temporary.  Even those of you who take loans will pay these costs for a fraction of the rest of your life.  On the other hand, the benefits of the right MBA experience and community – which you only get once in your life – will not only endure for your entire life, they will grow stronger as you advance in your career.  Think of the MBA as an investment, both in yourself and in the community that best enables you to contribute and thrive.

If you’d like to learn more about scholarships and financing your Tuck MBA, check out our online resources and our blogs on the topic, and reach out to my wonderful Admissions and Financial Aid colleagues.  We look forward to our conversations with you about scholarship, about Tuck, and about your journey to wise, decisive leadership!
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From Boots to Suits: How Tuck Supports Veterans in Transition [#permalink] New post  09 Mar 2020, 10:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: From Boots to Suits: How Tuck Supports Veterans in Transition

By Andrew Ho T'21

For most servicemembers, the decision to separate from the military is both difficult and personal. Deciding what to do after separating can be an even more daunting task. In many cases, an MBA is an ideal way to smooth the transition from boots to suits.

I have had a wonderful experience over the past six months as a first-year (T’21) student at Tuck. As I reflect on my time thus far, I am confident that choosing Tuck was the right decision for my transition. Tuck’s unique advantages for veterans can be separated into three categories: Academics, Social Experience, and Career Support.

Academics

As part of the inaugural class to experience the revamped core curriculum at Tuck, I have enjoyed my academic experience. The core does an excellent job at providing Tuckies with the broad knowledge to succeed during recruiting, internships, and post-Tuck. I credit the written and oral presentation skills that we honed in Management Communication for being the critical factor in my teams winning the Wayfair Case Competition in October and Paramount Media and Entertainment Case Competition in February. Having the flexibility to tailor my winter and spring course loads with electives allowed me to take the minimum number of electives in the winter to focus my time on interview preparation. In the spring, I will take electives to build the industry knowledge required to be successful in my summer internship. Looking ahead toward the rest of the year, I am excited take electives that will further develop my data analysis skills and teach me the basics of web programming.

Social Experience

Tuck’s location creates a unique social life and fosters an especially close sense of community on campus. As I frequently heard when I was applying, “Tuckies weren’t living in Hanover before they started Tuck.” Tuckies come to Tuck with the intention of being part of the school atmosphere and without the distractions of their previous social networks. I have enjoyed bonding with my classmates of both years through Small Group Dinners and countless social and cultural events that leave me with FOMO on the few weekends that I am not in Hanover. I also cannot overstate how much fun I have had playing Tripod Hockey, which thankfully occurs year-round here. I have found playing goalie (a far leap from being a runner back in high school) to be almost as adrenaline-inducing as parachuting. Lastly, the Upper Valley is the perfect environment for anybody who loves the outdoors. From the amazing hiking in the fall and spring to the skiing and snowboarding in the winter, Tuck’s location provides access to outdoor opportunities that are unmatched by most peer schools. With internship interviews now complete, I am ready to strap on my skis.            

Career Support

When I transitioned from the military, I could not fully comprehend nor appreciate the vast career opportunities that exist outside of the military. An MBA from Tuck not only opens doors, but also provides me with the perspectives and resources to understand what is available and what will be the best fit for my personal and professional goals. While Tuck’s Hanover location may seem like a barrier to recruiting, I have had the opposite experience. Companies repeatedly travel to Tuck throughout the fall for employer presentations and frequently stay for the day to host one-on-one coffee chat sessions with interested students. One distinguishing factor has been the alumni network and how willing Tuck alumni are to connect with and support fellow Tuckies. I found every person to whom I reached out was always eager to make time and share their story and advice regardless of how busy their schedules were. And as demonstrated by the latest employment report, the career opportunities available through Tuck span across a broad range of industries and functions.

Tuck provides a distinctive experience for students. If you are interested in learning more, reach out to the Tuck Veterans Club and attend our Spring Military Visit Day on April 26-27.

Andrew is a dual-degree candidate, concurrently earning an MA at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He will graduate in 2021 with an MA from SAIS and an MBA from Tuck. Before graduate school, Andrew was a logistics officer in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC. He will be interning with Google in Mountain View, CA this summer.
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A Trek to Covanta: A Waste-to-Energy Facility [#permalink] New post  13 Mar 2020, 07:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: A Trek to Covanta: A Waste-to-Energy Facility

By Anna Douglas T'21

Growing up as the only female in my household, I usually had a ready excuse for why something in our home was a mess.  When there were routine chores to be done, it was easy enough to attribute accumulated dishes, laundry, trash and any other debris to my dear little brother and dad.  Once I began living on my own, however, I was confronted with how much mess I am capable of generating all on my own—yikes!  I suspect that most of us who’ve ever lived alone have had a similar realization—it takes a lot of discipline to keep a home tidy and, even as individuals, we create a LOT of waste.  But have you ever wondered what happens to your waste after it leaves your home?

My fellow students and I had an opportunity to explore one answer to this question when we recently visited the Covanta Resource Recovery Facility in Haverhill, MA.  About an hour outside of Boston, the Covanta “waste-to-energy” plant
inconspicuously sits at the foot of a crescent shaped hill that appears to consist of dirt partially covered in grass.  Upon our arrival at the plant, we were greeted by the plant manager and we were given a broad overview of the plant’s operations followed by a tour, as well as an opportunity to ask loads of questions. 

We learned that a plant like Covanta’s is really at the mercy of its “fuel” in the sense that it has to process all of the solid waste it receives as efficiently as it can because the waste continues to come (based on contracts) whether Covanta is operating at a given moment or not.  If you’re wondering how the plant runs, you might be surprised to learn that it is a fairly simple but strictly controlled process.  Trucks bring in and drop off solid waste at what looks like a big open warehouse.  As waste accumulates, it is mixed by a colossal remote-controlled claw for better consistency and is eventually moved onto a large conveyor belt.  Along the conveyor belt, waste passes into a blisteringly hot incinerator to burn and the resulting heat travels up a flue of sorts, causing water lining the flue to heat up and turn into steam.  This steam then turns a turbine which is connected to a generator, and as the turbine spins, the generator creates electricity (up to 49 megawatts of it), which Covanta feeds into the greater electrical grid.  The plant typically processes up to 1,650 tons of solid waste each day and has been doing so almost nonstop since 1989, with only brief pauses for annual maintenance requiring plant-wide shut down.      

It was interesting to learn how carefully the plant operators must monitor incoming waste before it reaches the incinerator—a rogue propane tank, for example, could cause serious problems if it were to escape notice.  For me, this highlighted how important it is to dispose of things, especially any potentially hazardous items, properly.  We learned that the big hill surrounding the plant was actually a large deposit of ash—the primary byproduct of all that burning—and that, along with careful management required by environmental regulations, Covanta uses a magnetic collection system to gather and then sell ferrous materials that would otherwise remain scattered amongst the ash.  

As we spoke with the business manager of the plant towards the end of our visit, we gained insight into how a plant like Covanta’s is highly affected by regulatory changes—for example, the plant’s water use and disposal procedures had to be adjusted years ago when new policy came about which sought to ensure the water temperature of the nearby Merrimack River was appropriately maintained in order to sustain protected fish populations.  As a result of China’s Operation National Sword declaration in 2017 that it would no longer accept much of the world’s recyclables, the Covanta plant has seen an increase in plastic content of the waste it takes in.  Looking forward, Covanta Haverill will run out of acreage for its ash deposits in the near-term, an inevitability which will necessitate strategic planning on Covanta’s part; due to the regulatory environment, building a new plant is not a simple or perhaps even possible option.       
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Tuck Students Compete in Health Care Competition [#permalink] New post  13 Mar 2020, 11:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Tuck Students Compete in Health Care Competition

By Kathy Cazares T’21

On February 22, 2020, Reid Hansen T’21, Alex Ji T’21, Rui Zhang T’21, Dave Praharaj T’21, and I hit the road to compete in our casing debut at the Yale Health Care Competition (YHCC).

This competition brings together students from multidisciplinary backgrounds, industry businesses, and academic experts to Yale SOM for a day of innovation and collaboration addressing difficult and exciting developments in the health care sector. Twenty-five teams were invited to participate.

The theme of this year’s case was the "Therapeutic approach of a novel gene editing therapy.” We had one week to provide a feasible and timely pathway to commercialization for a research lab's novel CRISPR based gene editing tool. Our research included industry expert interviews, market reports, and scientific publications. We created models for pricing and frameworks applying our classroom and professional knowledge to the financial and market realities of health care businesses. In addition, we created a high level long term strategy to help the company map its path to a take their research based gene editing tool to market keeping in mind the ecosystem and specifics unique to our product.

For the preliminary round, teams were randomized to compete in five different pools. We presented our findings over 15 minutes followed by 5 minutes of Q&A by our judges. We shared our findings on market size, competition, pricing, licensing, and long-term company strategy. One of the judges noted we brought up important concepts critical for success in our talk not touched upon in other presentations. It a fun and valuable day that also included networking with participants and participating organizations and we plan to return again next year.
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Tuck Admissions COVID-19 Update [#permalink] New post  20 Mar 2020, 13:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Tuck Admissions COVID-19 Update



By Luke Anthony Peña

Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid

Events surrounding the COVID-19 global pandemic are unfolding rapidly. Tuck’s top priority is the health and safety of our community, and we are all doing our part to “flatten the curve.” Our enthusiasm for getting to know applicants and prospective students remains as strong as ever, though this pandemic has impacted how we do that.

 

I’m dedicating this month’s blog to addressing several frequently asked questions.

 

Is the application process for the Class of 2022 changing?

Our criteria for a great Tuck 2022 candidate have not changed; we continue to look for applicants who are smart, accomplished, aware, and nice.  Our application materials where these criteria emerge have not changed; we require a complete application to be considered for admission.  Our evaluation process has not changed. The only change: we have converted all interviews to be committee-initiated virtual interviews as to comply with CDC guidance and Dartmouth College policies for social distancing.

 

May I still request an applicant-initiated interview?

We suspended applicant-initiated interviews for the remainder of this application cycle. Applicant-initiated interviews are not a required component of the Tuck application process. We will continue with committee-initiated interviews virtually for this cycle. My colleagues and I assure you that we value all interviews equally in our evaluation process.

 

May I visit campus without an interview?

No, but we hope to connect you with our community by other means. Tuck classes are being delivered remotely for the duration of the spring term and all events have been canceled, postponed, or made virtual at this time.  We plan to host additional online events in lieu of these interactions and encourage you to take a virtual tour of our campus. You will still be able to connect with current students and members of our admissions team.

 

Will Tuck offer flexibility for Round 3 applicants?

We’ve heard from a number of you that your Round 3 application plans have been impacted, primarily due to test centers closing, which we recognize is out of your control.  We also appreciate that many of you have already submitted a Round 3 application (or soon will), and in turn you will appreciate having your admission decision on May 7 as planned.  To accommodate all applicants, we will maintain our Round 3 deadline of March 30, and we will also allow applications on a rolling basis thereafter in a one-time Round 4 for those who need additional time.

 

Tell me more about how Round 4 will work.

You can submit a Round 4 application on a rolling basis from April 1 to June 1.  We’ll return decisions on a rolling basis -- as soon as possible, and typically within several weeks -- from May 11 to July 1.  You will still need all required materials to apply, including test scores, and we’re optimistic that there will be temporary online testing alternatives before June 1.  Seats are always scarce at the end of the cycle, but every year we admit from our waitlist, post Round 3. This year, we’ll draw from both our pool of Round 4 applications and the waitlist.  International applicants, especially those currently residing outside the U.S., we strongly encourage you to apply as soon as possible to account for expected visa delays at international embassies.

 

May I apply without test scores?  May I apply with expired test scores?

We’re happy to receive your application through June 1, but we will require a complete application including valid test scores.  Acknowledging these extraordinary circumstances, we need all applicants in an application cycle to submit the same materials for evaluation.  Your scores may be self-reported at the time of application and be confirmed as valid thereafter.

 

What are the plans for global admissions events?

We love getting to know applicants in the places you call home.  It’s too early to know how long restrictions on travel and large gatherings will be in place.  While we hope we can meet you in person in the coming months, we’re making plans for robust virtual programming.  We expect to offer tailored virtual programming that allows you to meet members of the Tuck community who have similar interests, backgrounds, and affinities as you.

 

What are the plans for the fall term?

We plan to welcome the Class of 2022 with Tuck Launch in August, as scheduled. We will provide timely notice should any plans change. You can find Tuck-specific COVID-19 updates anytime at tuck.dartmouth.edu/covid19, and you can find information pertaining to the broader Dartmouth community here.

 

If a recession is coming, should I still apply to Tuck?  Should I get an MBA?

I’ve previously shared thoughts on our Tuck 360 blog both about the value of an MBA in a recession, as well as reasons to say yes to an MBA and to Tuck.  For many of us, there has never been a moment in time when wise, decisive leadership is more essential than this one. Our society depends on leaders who can harness information, articulate different points of view, and navigate environments of disruptive ambiguity.  If you aspire to be such a leader, I invite you to join us.

 

We appreciate your understanding and patience as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, and we will continue to communicate as new information becomes available. My colleagues and I remain eager to get to know you better, and I invite you to reach out to our team and to me.  In the meantime, stay safe and healthy, and keep in touch.
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Reflections on the 15th Annual Tuck Private Equity & Venture Capital C [#permalink] New post  01 Apr 2020, 10:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Reflections on the 15th Annual Tuck Private Equity & Venture Capital Conference

The 15th annual Tuck Private Equity & Venture Capital Conference took place February 6-7, 2020 and attracted a record-breaking 325 registered attendees including professionals, Tuck and Dartmouth alumni, students, faculty, and staff.

The conference began Thursday afternoon with a speed networking session between industry professionals and current Tuck students. Ten practitioners met with 30 students one-on-one for 10 minutes each to answer questions on the private equity and venture capital industries and offer career advice. Following this session was a pre-conference reception and dinner at the Hanover Inn for Conference speakers and other visiting professionals, Tuck faculty with research and/or teaching interests in the conference topics, and the student planning team featuring the first of three keynotes—Jie Lian T’01 in a fireside chat with Dean Matt Slaughter. Both events were a great way to kick off the conference!

Friday featured the main sessions of the PEVC conference. There were keynotes from Dwight Poler T’93 and Diane Daych T’85, who was interviewed by Martha Pease D’79, 10 topical panels moderated by current second year students, break out networking lunches between 11 industry professionals and small groups current students with 51 students participating. The conference concluded with a networking happy hour in the McLaughlin atrium of Raether Hall.

Below are highlights from our three keynote addresses and 10 topical panels moderated by students during the day on Friday. We hope you enjoy learning about the many interesting discussions that occurred throughout the conference and thank you again to all of our keynote presenters and panelists!



Keynote Highlights

Thursday keynote: Jie Lian T’01 (Chairman & CEO, Perfect World Pictures) in fireside chat with Dean Matt Slaughter

Jie Lian T’01 shared what he has been up to since leaving Hanover and discussed the opportunity for investment presented by companies in China. After Tuck Jie spent almost 9 years with Goldman Sachs in their New York and then Hong Kong offices. Then, along with several former colleagues, he started Primavera Capital Group. Primavera is a China-based global private equity investment firm that focuses on retail/consumer, internet and technology, healthcare, and financial services. They started with a $1B fund and now manage around $5B. Jie highlighted the success of the BAT stocks (Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent) as evidence of the opportunity within the Chinese market. Most recently, Jie became Chairman and CEO of Perfect World Pictures, a Chinese entertainment and film production company. Jie also noted that entertainment has always been his passion and it was inspiring to hear how he was able to achieve his goals.

Friday morning keynote: Dwight Poler T’93 (Senior Advisor, Bain Capital)

The key theme of Friday morning’s keynote was the increasing importance of socially responsible investing. Dwight Poler T’93, currently a Senior Advisor at Bain Capital, and formerly head of Bain Capital’s European buyout business, discussed how ESG investing is no longer just for dedicated funds, but something that all investors should be thinking about going forward. Dwight took us through the feedback loop of an investment and highlighted the positive influences generated by socially responsible investing.

Friday afternoon keynote: Diane Daych T’85 (Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Granite Growth) interviewed by Martha Pease D’79 (Independent Board Director)

The final keynote of the conference was a conversation between Diane Daych T’83 and Martha Pease D’79. The discussion focused on Diane’s decision to start Granite Growth Health Partners, a growth equity firm focused exclusively on health service companies. Diane shared how much she has enjoyed co-founding the firm with Mark Brooks D’88 and the important work her portfolio companies are doing in areas like outpatient addiction treatment and hospice care. She also spoke about her experience in private equity and often being the only woman in the room and discussed how important it is for everyone in the industry to bring more women onto boards.


Panel Highlights

Energy Private Equity: Investing in the Energy Transition

The key themes of this panel were impact and renewables. There was representation from both large and small funds investing in both conventional and renewable energy across developed and emerging markets. The panelists discussed how renewable energy can often qualify as impact investing, however LPs looking for a double bottom line is still in the minority. Regardless of whether energy investing is defined as impact or not, all see a huge opportunity to decarbonize emerging markets with 5 GW of diesel still running in Africa. Ten years ago coal was around 45% of installed capacity and today it is down to 20% due to money flowing into renewables and the panel is looking forward to further investment in the space.

Healthcare Innovation & Venture Environment: What’s Working and What’s Not

The group started the conversation by tackling the question, if you were to start a company in the healthcare space right now what general topic would be your focus? The discussion ranged from areas where AI can be used to augment current practice, to reducing the rates of c-sections and preterm births during pregnancy, to digital solutions around mental health, to food and nutrition solutions for disease prevention. During the panel the group also discussed the promise of telemedicine and innovation in the payor space. Although the panelists all cited how slowly the healthcare industry has traditionally moved, there was no shortage of exciting areas where the panelists see innovation happening.   

Dual Perspectives: Former VCs Now Growing VC-backed Companies

Panelists shared a passion for company building and a desire to be close to the product as rationale for moving from VC to growing VC-backed companies. They enjoyed being intimately involved in the day-to-day operations of companies and being able to understand how organizations work beyond board discussions and numbers. As part of the discussion, panelists highlighted the importance of communication and relationships in getting them to where they are today. The Corporate Communications class at Tuck was even given a shout out! Finally, the panelists gave advice to current students that operating experience can help to build a deep level of expertise and perspective that are extremely valuable skillsets when looking for an investing role in the future.

Consumer Retail: Proliferation & Sustainability of Direct-to-Consumer Brands

The consumer retail panel was composed of a combination of CEOs of DTC growth stage companies and VCs. The first topic covered was the motivation for DTC distribution models. The CEOs on the panel highlighted complications with wholesale suppliers and early experimentation and success with pop up shops as their respective motivators, but both agreed that the common theme with all DTC brands is that the relationship with the consumer is everything. They acknowledged the drawbacks of their business model in terms of scaling but felt DTC is a powerful way to building a thriving retail company. Second, the panel covered Casper as a DTC case study. In regards to the high valuation achieved by the company, panelists noted that hindsight is 20/20 but it is easy to get swept up in a high valuation for an exciting company that was in the position Casper was pre-IPO.

Real Estate Investing in the Late Stages of a Boom Market

Longtime real estate and institutional investing professionals discussed the incredible growth in the real estate market over the past decade. They also explained how their approaches to investing in the late innings of the cycle have changed since a decade ago, what they learned from the last recession, and how recent trends in real estate, including companies like WeWork, are transforming the industry in the short and long term.

Buyouts: Using Industry Expertise in the Middle-Market

This panel focused on the various ways that industry expertise can benefit middle-market buyout firms. The discussion covered gaining access to deals by proving one’s expertise to bankers, gaining access to add on investments where there are often proprietary processes, and being able to add value to portfolio companies by having a deep understanding of the industry they play in. While firms highlighted the importance of having this expertise in house, they also acknowledged that they are not shy about using lawyers and consultants to gain additional insights that can benefit the firm during the due diligence process, or hiring MBA interns to help construct market maps.

Private Equity: Weathering the Storm During Recession

In this panel, discussion centered on growth in the PE industry during the longest bull market on record. With a likely downturn expected, panelists explored the implications across the industry and how GPs and LPs would prepare and approach the next correction. Challenges, risks, and opportunities that would emerge in a downturn were also debated as to how GPs and LPs would use downturn expectations to guide portfolio strategy, fundraising, and exits.

Sourcing Strategies in Buyouts & Growth Equity

The importance of sourcing strategies in a highly competitive environment was the focus of this panel made up of PE professionals with deep experience across the growth to buyout spectrum. Panelists explored how some firms think about sourcing as a key role in executing their strategy in addition to best practices and lessons learned. Advice for students on entering PE was also discussed.

Venture Capital: It’s Heating Up

The key topic of this panel was the sky high valuations received by many early stage companies in recent years. Panelists hypothesized that many traditionally later stage investors have been participating in earlier rounds as a method for capital deployment with the influx of large amounts of capital and more competition in the later stages Because interest rates have been low for so long now, they are seeking new ways to find alpha. As a result, the VCs on the panel highlighted the importance of staying disciplined when evaluating deals and being able to differentiate oneself from other investors in terms of the value add one will bring to the deal. However, the investors also acknowledged that a bad company is a bargain at no price and you can’t pay too much for a good company so many of them have participated in recent rounds with high valuations.

More than One Way to Make an Impact

In the last panel of the day, we heard from three different impact investors. Each approached impact investing with a slightly different angle. One panelist focused on adding value to female ventures in hard tech, another looked to create self-sustaining businesses, and the last focused on prioritizing stable incomes for companies over producing the maximum return. Although each investor had a slightly different focus, they all highlighted the value of focusing on different social return measurements rather than just financial returns. There is much debate on what exactly these measurements should be, but some examples brought during the panel were the percent of women or minorities working for the company and on the board, the number of jobs created as a result of the organization’s operations, and geography specific environmental measures.

The 15th annual PE & VC Conference was the most well attended yet and introduced two new opportunities for engagement between industry professionals and current students in the speed networking on Thursday afternoon and breakout lunch sessions on Friday. We are grateful for everyone who contributed to making this event such a success and we hope you will join us in Hanover next year for the 16th annual event!
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How to Ace Your Virtual Interview [#permalink] New post  09 Apr 2020, 11:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: How to Ace Your Virtual Interview

By Tuck Career Services

As many companies move to a remote operation in the wake of COVID-19, it’s no surprise that job interviews are also now being conducted virtually.

But virtual interviews are nothing new! Hosting interviews using phone or video platforms such as Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, Facebook BlueJeans, or a proprietary platform has become commonplace—especially as companies seek to save money on travel costs.

Now is a great a time as any to open up your laptop and practice your interview skills on camera. Most of the preparation should be similar to an in-person interview, however, there are some key things to keep in mind as you prepare for this style of interview. Here are some tips from our Career Services team.

Dress the part

Dress the same way you would for an in-person interview. It may be tempting to wear pajama pants with a dress shirt—avoid the temptation! Dressing casually can result in a person’s voice and demeanor to also sound casual, and your interview performance will suffer. By wearing professional attire, your brain goes into interview mode. Besides, you may have to stand up to get something or use the whiteboard, or the camera might move. No matter how fancy your pajama pants look, nobody needs to see them during an interview. As for clothing, avoid striped patterns since those can flicker on the receiving end. (It’s called the Moiré Effect if you were wondering.)



Body language

During video calls, look at your video camera instead of at the computer screen. This way, interviewers will feel like they are making eye contact with you, rather than seeing you looking up or down. This may feel strange at first so practice in advance of your interview. (If the app allows you to move a small preview video of your interviewer around your screen, put it right next to your camera. This way, even if you look at the interviewer on your screen, it may look like you are looking right into the camera.) Maintain good posture and smile through your interview (yes, even phone interviews; this makes you sound more enthusiastic). Avoid fast movements and hand gestures.

Setting the stage

It is important to set up the room in a professional manner prior to the interview.

Background: Keep a clean background so that the interviewer’s focus is on you and they are not distracted by what’s behind you. Check the frame before logging in to make sure there’s nothing odd showing in the background.

Lighting: Have enough light in the room so the video is clear. You could open window blinds and turn on the lights. Ideally do not have light right behind you, and lights from above should be off-set with a light right into your face (like a spotlight you see in movies). Otherwise shadows might show.

Internet connection and cell reception: When possible, connect to the internet with an Ethernet Cable; don’t rely on Wi-Fi or cell data.  Before a phone call, check your cell reception and use a landline if necessary.

Camera: Place the camera at eye level and a few feet away from you, so that your face doesn't take up the whole frame—think of news anchor framing. You may need to pile your laptop on top of books or use an external camera to accomplish this.

Minimize distractions

Close out of all internet browsers. Turn off Outlook alerts, Facebook alerts, etc. that pop up on your screen even when the apps are closed. You want to just focus on the conversation and who you are speaking with. Turn off all electronics. Put your phone on ‘do not disturb.’

Virtual advantage

Use your virtual or phone interview to your advantage. You can write notes and tape them on the wall in front you, or place Post-it notes along the side of your computer screen. Avoid rustling through papers on your desk—the microphone will pick that sound up.

Case interviews

If you have to answer case questions during your virtual interview, it is ok to use a piece of paper and write your thoughts and structure on it. Keep in mind that the interviewer will probably not be able to follow what you are writing down on the paper, though. And the video quality might not be good enough to follow your work on a whiteboard or if you hold your piece of paper up.

Be aware of this fact and walk your interviewer slowly through your thought process and what is written on the piece of paper. 

Do a trial run

Before a video call, test it out ahead of time. The last thing you want the day of your interview is to realize your webcam is not working or you forgot your login details.

Keep these tips in mind as you prepare for your virtual interview, the rest of the interview prep process will be the same as for in person interviews.

Tuck Career Services is committed to providing a personal, connected, and transformative experience for students as they take the next step in their career. Our career advisers are industry experts—many of whom have worked at the same leading organizations our students seek to join. The generous size of our advising team ensures we have the time and ability to get to know each student individually and to work with them side by side. Get to know our team.
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5 Things We Heard from Companies This Week [#permalink] New post  13 Apr 2020, 07:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: 5 Things We Heard from Companies This Week

By Tuck Career Services

Every year around this time, the Career Services Operations team reaches out to companies to debrief on the previous year’s recruiting cycle and discuss plans for the coming year. This year, and especially amid the COVID-19 disruptions we’re all experiencing, we are committed to connecting with each of our on-campus recruiting partners, both for the purposes outlined above, but also to touch base regarding their company’s response to the ongoing pandemic. We have already talked with over 50 companies and will continue to do so in order to get as much information as possible straight from the source. Here are some themes we are hearing directly from our recruiting partners.

1. They love you (our students)!

Companies are saying wonderful things about Tuck students. This is no surprise to us, of course, but it’s still nice to hear. They raved about their interactions with you during recruiting events and interviews, complemented your level of engagement, noted that you asked great questions, and that your casing is strong. That is a win; keep up the great work!

2. They’re looking to the future and already planning fall recruiting events.

Companies are excited to plan their fall recruiting calendars and are submitting requests for Fall events and interviews at Tuck. We began accepting requests on March 30, 2020 and as we write this, we have 32 events requests and 26 on-campus interview requests with additional requests coming in on a daily basis.

3. They are committed to their employees, including interns and full-time hires.

The vast majority of recruiters we have talked to have expressed that they take the safety of their employees very seriously and are committed to honoring their commitments for internship and full-time roles. They continue working internally to determine the best ways to provide communication, support, and good experiences to everyone they onboard.

4. They’re still working out some of the details, so stay tuned.

While some companies are still sorting out the details of how they will deliver their summer intern programs and full-time onboarding, several have opted to take the plunge and convert their internships to fully virtual experiences (e.g. Microsoft and Amazon). Some are looking at hybrid options, with content delivered virtually along with a few in-person touchpoints throughout the process. And others are considering pushing back start dates and/or adjusting the duration of their internship programs.

5. They’re excited to have you join them!

Regardless of the “how,” they know the value that you add to their company through your talent and energy, and are thrilled to welcome you to their teams. 

If you have questions, please feel free to reach out and ask. Career Services is doing everything we can to stay in front of company plans and communications.

Tuck Career Services is committed to providing a personal, connected, and transformative experience for students as they take the next step in their career. Our career advisers are industry experts—many of whom have worked at the same leading organizations our students seek to join. The generous size of our advising team ensures we have the time and ability to get to know each student individually and to work with them side by side. Get to know our team.
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5 Things We Heard from Companies This Week [#permalink] New post  13 Apr 2020, 08:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: 5 Things We Heard from Companies This Week

By Tuck Career Services

Every year around this time, the Career Services Operations team reaches out to companies to debrief on the previous year’s recruiting cycle and discuss plans for the coming year. This year, and especially amid the COVID-19 disruptions we’re all experiencing, we are committed to connecting with each of our on-campus recruiting partners, both for the purposes outlined above, but also to touch base regarding their company’s response to the ongoing pandemic. We have already talked with over 50 companies and will continue to do so in order to get as much information as possible straight from the source. Here are some themes we are hearing directly from our recruiting partners.

1. They love you (our students)!

Companies are saying wonderful things about Tuck students. This is no surprise to us, of course, but it’s still nice to hear. They raved about their interactions with you during recruiting events and interviews, complemented your level of engagement, noted that you asked great questions, and that your casing is strong. That is a win; keep up the great work!

2. They’re looking to the future and already planning fall recruiting events.

Companies are excited to plan their fall recruiting calendars and are submitting requests for Fall events and interviews at Tuck. We began accepting requests on March 30, 2020 and as we write this, we have 32 events requests and 26 on-campus interview requests with additional requests coming in on a daily basis.

3. They are committed to their employees, including interns and full-time hires.

The vast majority of recruiters we have talked to have expressed that they take the safety of their employees very seriously and are committed to honoring their commitments for internship and full-time roles. They continue working internally to determine the best ways to provide communication, support, and good experiences to everyone they onboard.

4. They’re still working out some of the details, so stay tuned.

While some companies are still sorting out the details of how they will deliver their summer intern programs and full-time onboarding, several have opted to take the plunge and convert their internships to fully virtual experiences (e.g. Microsoft and Amazon). Some are looking at hybrid options, with content delivered virtually along with a few in-person touchpoints throughout the process. And others are considering pushing back start dates and/or adjusting the duration of their internship programs.

5. They’re excited to have you join them!

Regardless of the “how,” they know the value that you add to their company through your talent and energy, and are thrilled to welcome you to their teams. 

If you have questions, please feel free to reach out and ask. Career Services is doing everything we can to stay in front of company plans and communications.

Tuck Career Services is committed to providing a personal, connected, and transformative experience for students as they take the next step in their career. Our career advisers are industry experts—many of whom have worked at the same leading organizations our students seek to join. The generous size of our advising team ensures we have the time and ability to get to know each student individually and to work with them side by side. Get to know our team.
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My First Weeks of Remote Learning with Tuck [#permalink] New post  13 Apr 2020, 11:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: My First Weeks of Remote Learning with Tuck

By Andrés Díaz de Valdés Grebe T’21

Andrés Díaz de Valdés Grebe was born in Chile but spent most of his life in Argentina. Before Tuck, he worked in the consumer product industry, doing corporate finance. He came to Tuck with his wife Rocio where they lived in Sachem Village. Due to the pandemic and travel restrictions, they are spending the spring term with family.

How are your first weeks of virtual classes going so far?

My first weeks of classes have been going fantastic. I decided to take three electives this term, so I have classes from Monday to Thursday, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:50 p.m. Argentina time. I am also working on a First-Year Project (FYP) with my study group, and we have one or two meetings between us and one more with the client every week. Although it is a busy term for me in terms of workload and meetings, I am trying to practice better time management so I can also spend a lot of time with my family. I realized I have never had the chance to spend so much time with my parents and siblings, and I am making the most of it. Also, I’m very grateful for my wife who is supporting and helping me so that I can focus on my classes and assignments.



What does a typical day of virtual classes look like for you? 

A typical day of classes for me starts with my alarm clock sound at 9:00 a.m. Argentina time. The time difference in my case has been beneficial and gives me one more hour of sleep that I appreciate very much. After waking up, I take a quick shower, and then I prepare a glass of chocolate milk with one piece of toast. Two minutes before the class starts, I open the Zoom app and connect myself to the virtual classroom. After my first class, I usually go to the fridge to put some cold water in my water bottle and share some words with my wife. At 1 p.m., I have finished with all my classes for the day, and it is time to help my mother and my wife with lunch. Although my wife and I cook a lot in our home in Sachem Village, here my mom is always the one that cooks and prepares lunch. We always have lunch at 2 p.m. During the afternoon, sometimes I have some calls with my study group, and other times, I am working on homework and different deliverables for the next day. I often stop studying at 6:30 p.m., and then I spend some time with my wife and my family. We bought a 2,000-piece-puzzle, and sometimes we spend time working on it, or just sitting in the garden talking and enjoying the nice fall weather of Buenos Aires. We do not go out or see friends because there is a mandatory order to stay at home here.

My day ends by having dinner with my family and watching a series on Netflix with my wife and siblings. We have also scheduled some Zoom meetings with other Tuck families to keep in touch with them during this time, and we hope to be back in Hanover soon.

What has surprised you the most about remote learning?

My biggest surprise with remote learning is how well prepared each of our professors is, and how much effort they put into their classes, trying to give us an experience that is very similar to being present on our campus. Personally, I think they are doing a fantastic job. All the professors try to keep the same pace as if we were sitting right in the Georgiopolous or Borelli classrooms on campus, and the interaction with us—the students—has been incredible. During class, we can ask questions without any problem at any time by raising our hand virtually or by typing our questions in the chat. Sometimes, we get the answers immediately, and sometimes, professors stay after class responding to more specific questions.

I think that one advantage of virtual learning is that the professor can easily manage the participation and interruptions, without the distraction of other students. In the classroom, when someone raises his or her hand, it is impossible not to look at them, no matter if they end up talking to the professor.

How is class engagement different online compared to being physically in the classroom with your peers? How about access to faculty?

From my perspective, the level of engagement during the classes is similar to the one we have in the classrooms on campus. Not only are professors putting their all into classes, but students are also giving their best to make the most of these challenging circumstances. Obviously, all of us would love to be on campus these days with normal classes and experiencing Tuck in person, but this is the best we have now, so we are giving the best of us to make it through it in the best way.

I’ve heard that some professors are getting really creative with their virtual lectures. Any examples from your professors?

I would like to give a special shout out to professor Peter Regan D’85 from my Professional Decision Modeling course. He designed a blackboard that gives him the ability to write on the screen with fluorescent markers. He also includes slides from his computer. The significant advantage of that approach is Professor Regan is able to always look at the camera, and he is never blocking what he is writing. It makes the class very easy to follow. I was very surprised when he showed his creative blackboard on the first day of classes. He told us this is something he has been developing, but that he was forced to speed up his project due to the decision to go virtual during spring break.

Seeing the dedication and effort each of our faculty is putting into our remote learning experience is something that, day-by-day, makes me even more proud to be a Tuck student, and is something I greatly appreciate.



Have you been cold called yet?

I have been cold called once during this term by Joe Hall (senior associate dean for teaching and learning and the David T. McLaughlin D'54, T'55 Clinical Professor) in his Operations Management course. I think I was lucky because it was not a complicated question, and he also did not make me answer any follow-up questions—something he often does. I still feel a little bit nervous any time I get a cold call, so that time, I started speaking without unmuting my mic. But that aside, it was the same as a cold call in the classroom.

Any advice or tips for other students who are learning remotely this term?

I do not have any specific tips or advice for other students who are learning this term remotely. I just hope each of us is trying to make the most of this particular time in our lives and also in the history of the world. And, if by chance you’re lucky enough to be surrounded by your family like me, enjoy it. I say that is one of the bright moments of this horrible worldwide situation we are in that I will never forget.

p>Photos from top: 1) Professor Peter Regan D’85 with his blackboard during his Professional Decision Modeling course; 2) Andrés with his family in Argentina after completing a 2,000 piece puzzle; 3) Andrés and his wife Rocio at Tuck Hall.
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5 Questions with Ryan Nielson T’18 of Credit Suisse [#permalink] New post  14 Apr 2020, 06:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: 5 Questions with Ryan Nielson T’18 of Credit Suisse

By Revers Center for Energy



Ryan Nielson T’18 is an investment banking associate at Credit Suisse in Houston, Texas. He continues to support Tuck by connecting with students who are exploring finance roles in Houston. Prior to Tuck, he spent 5 years with the United States Navy as a nuclear power research project officer in Washington, D.C. Ryan was responsible for reactor design, maintenance, operation, and disposal in Los Angeles Class submarines. As a “career switcher”, Ryan interned at Tuckerman Capital, a middle-market industrial and manufacturing private equity firm in in Hanover, NH. In addition to being a Revers Energy Fellow, he also co-chaired the Tuck Outdoors Club. Ryan holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University and a M.E. in Nuclear Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

1. What was the most important part of your Tuck experience that you’ve taken with you to your job and/or life?

The friendships I formed at Tuck, the mentors that took me under their wing, and the overall focus on human capital in all aspects of life. I think of my experience at Tuck as two years of conversation and connection. The habits of communication, community building, and shared experience that I developed at school have become part of my everyday professional and personal habits after graduation. 

2. What are some of the biggest challenges that you think investment banking will face in the energy field?

As a consequence of the Saudi-Russia tension and COVID-19, oil and gas is experiencing the most significant commodity price and stock price pressure since the Gulf War. This presents three major challenges to investment banking: (1) liquidity of independent upstream companies; (2) access to capital markets; and (3) a fundamental change in operating philosophy of reduced drilling and an intense focus on cost reduction. The root of current liquidity issues is semiannual reserved based lending credit facility borrowing base redeterminations. Given a c. 50 percent reduction to WTI Oil price since the last redetermination, companies should expect banks to downsize the borrowing available under all credit facilities this Spring, resulting in default and immediate capital calls by many companies who are currently heavily drawn or depend on credit facilities to fund drilling programs. To compound the issue, oil weighted E&P company stock prices are down 60+%, the energy sector share of the S&P is at an all-time low, and debt market yield spreads have widened, making refinancing of borrowings under the revolver and financing corporate development plans challenging. Consequently, we have already seen announcements from most E&P operators to slash 2020 drilling and development in an attempt to free up cash flow and slow growth.  

3. How do you expect the type of transactions to change, if at all, in the energy space?

I expect transactions to focus on restructuring, 1st lien / mezzanine debt and select mergers & acquisitions. I also expect investors to continue their flight to quality, focusing resource on cash-flowing businesses with low decline, sufficient scale to allow for differentiated cost performance, and economic inventory at low break even.

4. What advice would you give to current students interested in working in energy finance?

The energy ecosystem is broad, interconnected, and complex. It pays to gain a cursory understanding of economics and markets, power generation industry, emerging efficiency and clean technology, and natural resources that underpin the infrastructure. Try to develop an integrated view of the challenges facing the industry and society. Eventually everyone develops a niche, but I think it pays to stay flexible in a sector that is highly cyclical, politically charged and undergoing rapid disruption.

5. Favorite place in the Upper Valley? In Houston?

I’m a big fan of Quechee and Woodstock with a special shout-out to the Pogue for a nice trail run. In Houston, I have to mention the steak and cocktail scene, probably led by BB Butcher and Julep.

The Revers Center for Energy’s mission is to inspire and shape tomorrow’s leaders in energy while engaging today’s energy community.
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The Control Room Experience – A Visit to ISO-NE [#permalink] New post  15 Apr 2020, 09:00
FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: The Control Room Experience – A Visit to ISO-NE

By Prabhat Hegde

Prabhat Hegde is a PhD student at Thayer in the Laboratory for Intelligent Integrated Networks of Engineering Systems (LIINES).

The electrical grid, beyond doubt is one of the finest engineering triumphs of the 20th century.

It was the result of connecting together individual technical artifacts to form a large-scale complex engineering system. To quote from one of the most insightful books on the topic—The Grid by Gretchen Bakke—As such, the grid would seem to be the best Frankenstein in the heterogeneity of its parts, to outdo the Eisenhower Interstate System in its geographic scope, and dwarf space exploration in the complexity of its science.” Accompanying the evolution of this technical marvel was a policy framework which held some jurisdiction over the design and development of the energy market, and the organizational structure of its operation. There was a gradual transition from utilities controlling every aspect of the provision of electricity: generation, transmission and distribution to Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) and Independent System Operator (ISOs) that coordinate, control, and monitor the transmission of electricity a given geographic region. These transitions, mandated by the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FREC), saw the creation of 9 RTOs/ISOs to manage the entire North American grid. One of these entities is ISO New England (ISO-NE), which is responsible for the New England region.

Thanks to the Revers Center for Energy at Tuck, in mid-February, some of us had a valentine’s date with ISO-NE’s headquarters in Holyoke, Massachusetts. As a PhD student in the Laboratory for Intelligent Integrated Networks of Engineering Systems (LIINES), whose mission  is devoted to the enhancement of sustainability, and resilience in intelligent energy systems, it was a fantastic opportunity to connect with the greater energy community at Dartmouth and see first-hand some of the refined product of years of continually evolving scientific research. It was also a particularly meaningful visit for me because the LIINES recently concluded a comprehensive renewable energy integration study for ISO-NE.

At ISO-NE, we were received by Kate Epsen from the external affairs team. Her rather fastidious presentation highlighted the transitions in the New England energy mix—past, present, and future projections. Furthermore, she spoke at length about long-term policies, how they influence planning within the ISOs, and how they affect the choice of technology that is fed into the grid as a result. Following Kate’s overarching presentation, John Norden, the director of operations at ISO-NE gave us a more technical explanation about the origins of the current structure of the New England grid, the interconnections that it has with other ISOs, and the operational challenges that it faces every day.

The most awe-inspiring moment of the day was when John went on to unveil blinds of one of the walls of the meeting room that we were seated in, revealing the control room. The masterpiece of the control room was a 60 ft x 15 ft colorful digital board that flashed information about the power flowing through every major powerline in New England, their frequencies, and the exchange of power at interconnections with the other ISOs. Six huge manned desks faced the display board within the control room. Each person had a specific task to do. It was surreal to find out that the six of them collectively manage the entire New England grid! That definitely is a lot of responsibility and naturally is a demanding job requiring an aspirant to go through a stringent vetting process.  John proceeded to talk about the challenges posed by the digitalization of the grid in regard to cyber-security and the staggering number of cyber-attacks that they wade on a daily basis. He also mentioned some of the measures that they had in place, should a Kafkaesque situation arise. There are multiple reserve control rooms that have the same exact layout as the control room that we saw, should there be an emergency or in the case of a cyber-attack on the grid. 

The team at the Revers Center for Energy at Tuck definitely deserves a big cheer for bringing energy enthusiasts from different spheres of Dartmouth together to exchange and learn from such experiential visits. Personally, I look forward to my continued involvement in the energy domain on campus and being a part of more such energy treks.

The Tuck Revers Center for Energy’s mission is to inspire and shape tomorrow’s leaders in energy while engaging today’s energy community.
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QuaranTuck Initiative Connects Tuck Community Around the World [#permalink] New post  20 Apr 2020, 11:00
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FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: QuaranTuck Initiative Connects Tuck Community Around the World

Nicole Ferraro is a T20 from Dallas, TX and serves on the Student Board as a Social Chair and a member of the QuaranTuck Initiative Council. After Tuck, she will be in Los Angeles working for Deloitte.

By Nicole Ferraro T'20



There’s no hiding that things are a little bit different these days, which is a tough pill to swallow when our time at Tuck is already so short. I remember in the fall hearing about how second year will fly by, and we’ll be at Investiture before we know it. Now time seems to be passing by at a snail’s pace as my self-quarantined days consist of Zoom classrooms, socially distant walks, wasting hours figuring out TikTok, and jumping around my house doing online workouts.

I long for the days of working in Stell Hall, being physically near my impressive classmates, ordering lunch from theBOX, dancing the night away at a band party, and grabbing drinks with friends at Murphy’s. Tuck thrives on its community and the experiences we have here. As a member of the Student Board and a social co-chair, I am constantly thinking about how to uphold Tuck traditions while working with my classmates to make our experience even better.  

In the last month, we’ve faced a new challenge: how can we maintain the special Tuck connection we all share when things aren’t exactly normal? While I am still grieving the loss of time spent physically with my classmates this spring term, I have found great joy in working with fellow student leaders to make the most out of this pandemic through the QuaranTuck Initiative (QTI).

The QuaranTuck Initiative

QTI was created in response to social distancing guidelines which have uprooted our everyday life, including our Tuck life. As student leaders, we wanted to figure out how to continue strengthen the Tuck Fabric and keep the Tuck community connected in our new virtual world.  At the beginning of this effort, we connected with student leaders across various business schools to learn about their solutions. While we typically like to poke fun at each other’s schools, this crisis has given us the opportunity to work together to bring the best programming to our respective schools. That’s really exciting!


At Tuck, we are creating a calendar of various types of events that people can join via Zoom. We have called upon the Tuckie and TP community to bring the events to life, sharing their talents and passions with the entire school. What is so great about these virtual events is I get to learn new things and meet new people, which may have never happened if things were “normal.” For example, T’20 Suzy Wang taught us how to make her mom’s traditional Chinese dumplings. While we’re close friends, I am not so sure we would have ever done that together. Since I have been quarantining at my parents’ house in Texas, I was even able to share the dumpling making experience with my family. They tasted better than they looked!

I have done group workouts, yoga, drank martinis, and cooked with my fellow classmates all through the power of Zoom. One of my favorite QTI events is trivia night hosted by Tuck Games Club every Friday. Over 100 Tuck students participate in this! QTI events are bringing current Tuckies together no matter where they are in the world. Tuckies are teaching others how to cook their favorite meal, make their favorite cocktail, meditate, develop a stand-up routine, and craft together. We have even maintained the tradition of TuckTails through a weekly virtual event.



No matter the event, QTI has created an amazing opportunity for current Tuckies to continue to connect and be in community with each other. Here’s a look at some of the ways we’ve been staying connected:

  • Teo Gonzalez T’21 and Corine Alvarez T’20 taught us how to make a traditional Puerto Rican dish, mofongo.
  • Mixed up some martinis to enjoy a “Quaran-tini” Night together.
  • T’20s came together for a Zoom brunch. 
  • Jessie Chen T’21 hosted a surprise birthday bash on Zoom for his wife Kari Chen TP’21.
  • The Croatia pre-Tuck trip group hosted their weekly ReZOOMion

Our initiative continues to grow and adapt week-to-week. We send out a weekly wrap-up email that includes screenshots of silly things that happen in Zoom classes. We recently created an Instagram (@quarantuck) for people to stay updated on what everyone’s up to. We implemented “Theme Day” every Wednesday where you are encouraged to dress-up or set your virtual background for class according to the week’s theme. We kicked it off with “rep your undergrad.” We are starting to develop some photo challenges, which includes the Tuck Travel Photo Competition where you’re asked to recreate a photo from any trip while at Tuck using whatever you have in your place of quarantine.

Community Service

In addition to the efforts of QTI to foster our special Tuck community, Tuckies have been giving back to the Upper Valley community we are so fortunate to live in. A group of Tuckies put together a guide that outlines ways to help in the Upper Valley by taking actions like donating money, volunteering at food pantries, sewing masks, and shopping locally. Natalie Triedman T’20 has created Hanover Helpers to coordinate weekly grocery shopping and delivery for seniors and vulnerable individuals living in the Upper Valley, which many students have gotten involved with. To help Murphy’s with paying their employees while they’re temporarily shut down, Chris Banks T’21 reached out to the class requesting donations. Lauren Farrar TP’21 (photo, top) has been sewing masks for health care workers, family, and friends. The list could go on and on, but it is clear that Tuck “nice” is something we take seriously!

It is easy to dwell on the negatives of the COVID-19 pandemic, but being connected to such a strong, caring community has helped me persevere. I’m impressed with the resilience that the entire Tuck community has exhibited. The QuaranTuck Initiative has helped keep our community together through this crisis and the positive spirit of Tuckies from all walks of life reaffirms the strength of this network. Today may not look at all like what we had imagined just before going off for spring break, but we are learning to make the most of “these unprecedented times.”
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