PanchoPippin wrote:
I'm a non-traditional applicant from nonprofit/military/government with interests in doing a rotational program or consulting (vague I know). I've been accepted to Kellogg and Tuck and curious what people think based on my (vague) goals.
At this point, I'm leaning Tuck. While my goals seem to be Kellogg's bread and butter, I really value "the MBA experience" and don't view the 2 years as just a means to an end.
Go to Kellogg to open up a nonprofit/military/government spot on the WL for
<--------------------------This guy
In all seriousness, I know exactly what you mean, especially about the MBA experience and not just getting a prestigious degree to achieve career goals. If I were accepted in the EA round, I would have mailed in the $4K deposit check to Tuck without waiting to hear back from Kellogg. I enjoyed my visits to both schools, but Tuck had something "extra". Like others have said, everyone's in it together. For example, one thing at Kellogg that kind of turned me off was the "commuter club" made up of students that lived in Chicago and commuted to Kellogg. In my mind, that fractures the MBA community a bit by spreading them out...I figured most would live in Evanston. Most people wouldn't care about that, but for me, community was a big reason in choosing which school I'd attend.
I will say that not EVERYONE that goes to Tuck had it as their first choice...I think some people get passionate about it once they attend and are happy they ended up there. The reason I say this is during my school visits (talking to both applicants and current students), I came across two types of applicants at Tuck:
1) Those (like me) who were keen on fit. Wanted to go to a small school, be involved with the community, etc. The people had Tuck at the top of their list but were also considering schools such as Darden, Johnson, Duke, etc. i.e. being in a small town didn't faze them.
2) Those who were trying to get into the best school possible. These folks were applying to HBS, Wharton, Columbia, Sloan, etc...especially if they were just gunning for for Northeast placement.
I found this intersection of applicants to be interesting, but it's clearly a result of Tuck being a unique school in the top 9, making it the number 1 choice for applicants looking for fit, but just another usual suspect for those applying on brand. As such, type #1 admits really want to be there, while I get the vibe that type #2 applicants "settled" for Tuck.
Good luck with the decision!