Tuck Visit During Spring?

Question

Hello All,

I plan on applying to Tuck for EA in the fall and wanted to take the opportunity to visit during this spring to get a more personal feel for the program. I've done a ton of research on Tuck over the past few months, but am a little anxious about being caught off-guard on the informal visit. Should I be prepared to answer any sort of probing interview-type questions that would normally pop up during the formal visit? I have the impression that the process is very informal, but I do not wish make a bad impression due to lack of preparation.

Any guidance from current students or those who have participated in the spring visit would be greatly appreciated. Extremely excited to finally get to see the campus with my own two eyes!

domotron · Answer

Don't feel anxious, there are no secret probing questions or anything like that. The visit will be very informal! Just soak it all in and ask as many questions as you can. Only thing I would recommend would be to review some of the basic info on the website so that you can dig deeper into the community and what life is like for a Tuckie. This information will be useful essay fodder come fall.

PS I will be matriculating at Tuck this fall.

politricks · Answer

I too will be applying in the fall and visited Tuck a couple months ago to get a better feel for the school. It's a no pressure visit, so don't be too anxious. You will mainly be in "absorb info mode." But Domo is correct: it's helpful to have done some research, which it seems you already have, so you can ask more informed questions and as a result get better answers. I stayed at Six South Street Hotel, which I felt was the best bang for your buck (at least for the govt rate). My day consisted of a class visit, lunch/informal discussion with 2-3 Tuckies, tour, and then an informal discussion with adcom. I was there when it was relatively dead in terms of applicants so, for better or worse, I got a lot of face time with people. Good luck on your visit.

DefyingGravity · Answer

The visit is definitely low-key. Enjoy it!

If you have any questions, there is time available at the end of the admissions info session. I took advantage of this time to introduce myself to the admissions officer. This probably had no effect on my outcome, but I tried to do this at every school. I would introduce myself and highlight something about me while asking a relevant question. Then, I followed up with an email thanking them for their time and reiterating my interest in the program.

erahn1 · Answer

Thanks all for your advice/insight. It is surprisingly difficult to find good information about how these informal visits operate. In terms of interaction with current students, will I be paired up with some current students as a matter of the proceedings of the visit, or is it mostly on me to find students to chat with?

politricks · Answer

My visit was in the morning, so not sure how it works for the afternoon visits. Here's how mine went: I got to Tuck a little early, checked in with admissions, and just walked around the building. About 15 minutes before my class visit was scheduled to begin I went to the admissions reception area and hung out with a couple other people who were there for a visit or interview. My class host came to pick me up. I spoke to the host for about 2 minutes on the walk to class and then in class you are asked to give a one sentence introduction (name, where you're from, what you do) to the class after which you receive an applause (this has been standard fare at all MBA programs I've visited). After class, you get another 2 minutes with your class host as he/she walks you back to the admissions reception area. At that point you are picked up by another student who will have lunch with you and talk shop for an hour. After lunch you are picked up by another student who gives you a guided tour of the building. At the end of the tour, you are once again dropped at the admissions reception area where you have your informal session with a member of the adcom. Hope this helps, but seriously just breathe easy. It's a no-stress situation.

Antmavel · Answer

Don't stress, this your opportunity to ask question and not the opposite. Just prepare a one-two sentence of introduction that you can tell at the beginning of the class, and feel free to ask any question to any student, this is not a test but the opportunity for you to better sense the "fit" aspect of the school

erahn1 · Answer

Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to answer my questions. Good luck on all your future MBA related endeavors! Really looking forward to the visit!

wluck · Answer

This thread has some really great info. I'm planning on visiting this spring as well but cannot make it on the days that Tuck is offering the formal visits. Is it ok to go visit Tuck on my own and just walk around campus for an informal visit?

politricks · Answer

you're lucky classes for tuck don't end until may 22. I would say it is def okay to visit on your own. I would recommend reaching out to some students and asking if you can sit in on their class or at least talk Tuck for a little bit when you're on campus. You can also shoot adcom an email and say that because of your schedule you will be visiting the campus on xyz date and would appreciate it if they could accommodate a short meet-and-greet with you. I would also recommend just roaming the building and sitting down in a lobby or something and get a sense of the atmosphere; Tuck has a nice room with sofas and a fireplace just off the admissions office spaces. Students at most business schools are receptive and will talk to you; this is especially true at a school such as Tuck, which is small and the students know each other so you will stick out. It's also great just to experience the small college town of Hanover. I visited during the crux of winter, but I imagine it will be more pleasant to walk around right now.

erahn1 · Answer

I visited this past week and really enjoyed it. Campus is beautiful and the people were great. If anyone has questions, ask away!

wluck · Answer

Can you share your story about your Tuck visit? Would love to hear about it!

erahn1 · Answer

Sure - it'll be a novel but I'll give it my best shot.

Although I scheduled my visit well in advance and live in Boston, I decided the day before that I would drive up that night and stay at a local hotel, rather than make the trek in the morning. I arrived at the Harwich Inn, which is in Vermont and across the Connecticut River from Tuck, around 8pm. I spent most of the evening looking through their various course offerings and studying from the Advanced Quant MGMAT book. I was so excited that I could hardly sleep and was suddenly really happy that I had decided to get the room for the night.

That morning, I woke up at about 5am and decided that I would study at the local Starbucks for a few hours prior to my visit, which started at 10:30. Most all of the people that I encountered seemed to either be students or teachers; certainly a great small college town vibe. Around 9, I decided that I would take a drive around the town and campus and get a feel for the area. The campus seems to be built directly ontop of the large grass square in Hanover center. There's an enormous white colonial Dartmouth building with black shutters that sits up on a grass hill over-looking the square. It is seared in my mind:  https://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/02/08/travel/08havens600.1.jpg . The rest of the center is lined with impressive brick buildings. I was very surprised with the size of the campus, it was much larger and more grand than I had expected. The parking is terrible; don't be fooled by the map, you basically have to park illegally or park in a large lot about a half mile from Tuck and take a bus.

After the cruise around campus, I decided to take a drive down some side streets as I was bored and didn't want to arrive too early. The road towards the country club is lined with very nice houses with rolling front lawns and nice porches. The course itself seemed a little shoddy, but the actual layout and location of it were really awesome. Seemed very beginner friendly, although it's hard to say without getting out of my car. I felt for some of the other Tuck visitors because they didn't have cars, my drive around campus and the surrounding area was as much of a selling point to me as the experience at Tuck itself.

The visitation itself started with me trying to find the Admissions office, which is on an upper floor an older wing which seems reserved for administrative offices. There were two girls manning desks in the admissions office, both of which were very friendly and one of which was drinking coffee out of a goofy owl mug. I was escorted to a waiting room across the hall which soon began to fill with people. My group ended up being two more folks from the Boston area, two folks from India with their wives, one from Toronto, one from NYC and one from Japan. Their careers spanned Investment Banking, Corporate Finance, Consulting, Investment Management, and one who worked for a media company in New York. All were various degrees of pleasant. We also had a few folks from the undergraduate program who were fairly quiet. I received the impression that our group was quite large, so I think in general the visits were probably normally closer to 5 rather than the 10 that we had. Once it was time to head out, they had a first year that escorted each of us separately to the class and afterwards back towards the room where we ate.

My student escort spoke with me about whatever I liked, it was very casual and informal as mentioned earlier. The visitors all sat in the back of the class and each had to give a brief description of where we worked and what we did. We were told that the visit was observational only, and that we were not to ask questions. The classroom was a decent sized lecture hall with pretty nice chairs and a large window that looked out to a forest of thin evergreen trees swaying in the distance. After class, we were taken to a private room where a small lunch was available to us.

During lunch, we said goodbye to our escorts and had a first year and second year sit with us at a small table and answer any questions we had. Very easy going and relaxing lunch. I think our group may have been a little large for what it was meant to be, but it was still really cool. I could see through a window behind one of the speakers a courtyard with nice tables where there were some students doing work. Everything in Tuck's MBA complex is expertly interwoven.

One thing I noticed was that everyone really did seem very friendly and engaged with one another. There was definitely a feeling that nobody was left out, even as part of the visitation group, you sort of felt sucked in. During our tour following the lunch, we actually had some second years pretending to inconspicuously follow the guide as a joke. Seemed very much par for the course. I was really struck by how nice the actual building was. Unlike the heartless monolith that was MIT MBA building, Tuck felt like it was constructed by artists rather than engineers. The corridors were wood paneled and each section of the interconnected building had its own slightly different but very cozy and friendly style. There must have been 30 or 40 different private study rooms for the MBA's to work in, and there were also several different distinct areas that one could relax in with some peace and quiet. A large main room with a wide stone and slate fireplace sits right ontop of the forest. The below picture is a bit of a mess, but gives you a good idea of the layout:
  https://www.dartmouth.edu/~opdc/images/llc/20081211/20081211%20003.jpg

After the tour, we were escorted back to the admissions office where Amy Mitson answered our questions for as long as we pleased. She confirmed that the MIM program is on hold due to the Dean stepping down and not wanting the replacement to walk into a program in flux. She was very encouraging of all visitors to try to put forward their best applications and gave us tips and advice as to how to do so. They really seemed to be pulling for each of us.

Overall, Tuck lived up to my extremely high expectations. Although it is probably too late to do any more class visits prior to next fall, I hope my post can impart some of the vibe that I got from the visit.

Regards,

Eric

domotron · Answer

Great write up Eric. It sounds like you got a great glimpse into life at Tuck. I definitely agree about generally how nice the facilities are. I think it's a combination of traditional, homely, and cosy. The large room where you overlook the forest with the outside decking area is Raether. I think it's used for a lot of functions as well. I can definitely see myself spending the warmer days out on that deck later this year!

Do you think the visit sold you on applying this Fall? If so looking forward to potentially meeting you (I am an incoming T'16).

I am pleasantly surprised at the news that they have put the MiM program on hold for the time being. I'm not 100% sure it's the right decision to start that program up at the moment. Perhaps a little selfishly I love how the MBA is pretty much the sole focus of Tuck and therefore there are amazing resources available for the MBA class.

erahn1 · Answer

Raether was stunning and the other smaller room with the similar setup nearby was also very nice. I am certainly sold on applying this fall, and Tuck will quite likely be my number one school. I am applying to some schools which are ranked slightly higher, but I would take Tuck over any of them if I was admitted, barring some unforeseeable scholarship scenarios. My biggest hurdle is still the GMAT; the test will dictate which round I am applying in; EA is my number one choice, but if I don't ace the GMAT on the first try, I may push that back.

I will definitely send you a message when I come for the self initiated visit in the fall; would love to chat.

I will definitely send you a message when I come for the self initiated visit in the fall; would love to chat.

wluck · Answer

Awesome recap! Thanks for that. I look forward to visiting Tuck sometime this summer/early fall.

bb · Answer

Tuck Visit During Spring?

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