Tuck 2012 - Calling All Applicants

All the best TheSenator! Sailing in the same boat

Hello all,

First, congrats to all that have been accepted so far and good luck to those pursuing later rounds.

Tuck is my first choice for my MBA atm. I plan on applying for round one 2013. At the time of applying I will only have 2.5 years of WE (25 y/o, ~3 yrs WE at matriculation). Is there any point in applying with that little WE?

It will be a fairly expensive endeavor for me to apply since I would have to fly in from Canada to self-initiate an interview and I do not want to bother if my chances are 1/1000 of being accepted.

Profile
750 GMAT
3.7 GPA from top ranked undergrad biz program
Pretty good extra curriculars
Kind of average WE (will not have any direct reports by the time of application)

Eragotte, I would say go for it but wait for the January round.

I have a similar profile as yourself (3 WE, 750). On my visit to Tuck I had the same concerns that you have but met a bunch of students who entered with 3 years WE. If money is a concern and Tuck is your top choice, I would suggest applying to Tuck and Tuck only next year. Worse case scenario, you don't get in and apply to Tuck and a few others the following year. Tuck looks favorably upon reapplicants so it won't hurt your cause.

The reason I say January round as opposed to the first round is because that extra 4-5 months can actually improve your application. I applied to Columbia ED and had a great interview but was dinged with the feedback that I could use more work experience. Sure enough, a month after my ding I was promoted and now have two indirect reports. That could have been the difference between an admit and a ding at Columbia.

Thanks so much for the reply, that is very helpful advice. Again, since money is tight, do you think extra work experience will help me receive scholarships? Or is it mostly based on marks, need, community involvement?

Eragotte,

If you have a chance you should check out the Tuck Scholarship Page and see what is available.

When I visited back in November one of the students remarked, 'Dartmouth is a very rich school' <-- By no means does that mean they are just opening up their coffers to any Tom, Dick or Jerry but the do offer money to those who they feel can add value on a level that is more than just academic. So if you feel you have something truly unique to contribute in your extracurriculars or even a refreshing perspective it would be worth it to apply next fall. I know you said you had kind of a vanilla job, but I tend to believe those that can point to the fact they are doing either something really special in that job (or the more likely case) something special outside of it stand a decent shot at scholarship consideration.

Good luck & Cheers!

Hmm, alright, I do have some interesting extra-curriculars. I’ll start working on bulking those up a little bit. Again, appreciate the help muchly.

20 more days !!
The wait is killing me ...

Got the interview invite today! I am a November round applicant from Asia. Even November applicants who are waiting for interview invite don't need to lose hope!

Fellow potential Tuckers, I have a question regarding dress code of the self-initiated interview. The invite mentions "business casual." Did most of wear a suit and tie or just dress shirt/slacks (business casual) when you visited Hanover.

Thanks!

I would think they expect you to wear a suit. This is from Tuck official blog:

“What should I wear for my interview and class visit?”

We recommend wearing a suit when interviewing on campus and if you are just visiting class business casual is fine (khakis, dress shirt, etc). If you find wearing a suit all day to be cumbersome you may wear business casual to campus and change into your suit for your interview.

https://tuckschool.blogspot.com/2009/09/ ... -very.html

And when I was there last year for the interview, I haven't seen any one interviewing in business casuals. So a suit might be your best bet unless you've a suit allergy

During my visit and interview, a couple of folks were dressed very casually (jeans). I was extremely surprised by this. I, myself, wore a full suit and would not recommend otherwise.

Full suit, wore a green tie for a little extra flare but you don't have to go that route. That waiting room was so nervous though - really for no reason since the interview was low stress. I was impressed by how many European Internationals had flown over to interview.

You guys are awesome, thank you! I'm ready to rock with my classic dark blue suit and a red tie

It is amazing the effort people go through, kudos to people that fly in on long haul flights just for a visit.

Cheers

Congrats! are you from India? I am in a similar situation i.e. waiting for invite. Safe to say calls are over?

Considering this


I would say that having an interesting/"really special" job (I am a turnaround manager of portfolio of companies over 1bn$ in assets and do restructuring, valuation, due diligence, M&A, curve-outs, MBOs, LBOs, strategic allainces, etc << working with top executives of the companies) have TWO decent dings from CBS and Booth and yet did not have any interview invite from Tuck and Stern. So at this stage I am even don't hope to get any scholarship.

So where is [at least] my interview invite?

More interesting question to answer for me do I really need an MBA??!

I think they 'really do you need an MBA' question def needs to be answered. And also, with all due respect, I'm not an expert on work experience but it doesn't seem like being a turnaround manager is "really special" to an adcom. They probably just put you into the 'finance' category.

In order to get a scholarship you'll likely have to have a combination of impression stats, superior leadership (inside and outside of your organization) and very compelling essays.

Tuck, specifically, is very focused on offering scholarships to those they consider to have superb leadership experiences.