Decision Time: Tuck ($$) v Darden ($$$$)

Question

Hi everyone,

I’m deciding between Tuck ($80k) and Darden ($140k). A bit about me below:

Location: United States
Age: 32
Experience: 6 years as an Engineer for Major International Oil & Gas Companies
Career interest: Management Consulting, targeting MBB

Tuck:
+) Incredibly tight-knit culture/small class size, by far my favorite current student and alum interactions, everyone did a great job selling the program.

(+) Seems to do very well with MBB consulting

(+) The Tuck alumni network

(+) The Ivy League Dartmouth name

(+) I'm a big ski bum (I'm originally from Utah)

(-) A bit remote although I do prefer smaller towns

(-) More expensive

Darden:
(+) Tight-knit culture/community, although I get the impression not as good as Tuck

(+) Offered a very good scholarship, essentially full tuition

(-) Not sure I'm sold on 100% case method learning (being an introvert, it can be intimidating)

(-) Parent university is good, but it's not Dartmouth

My heart seems to be with Tuck, but my brain is leaning toward Darden. These two are neck and neck at the moment. I've enjoyed the student interactions with the Tuck students a lot more; they seem really jazzed about and committed to Tuck in a way the Darden students aren't about their school.

TL;DR: Just tell me which of these 2 schools to pick for MBB consulting and how much the alumni network impacts future career options. Really liked all interactions I've had with Tuck and the students have done a great job selling it, but it is hard to turn down essentially a full scholarship at Darden.

I’m leaning towards going to Tuck, but I’d appreciate the community’s input.

Hatakekakashi · Answer

Hi,

Congrats on the admits. If you aim for consulting Tuck is a no brainer. I'm sure the $60K is worth the brand and the opportunities that Tuck would present.

For consulting -

Start your preparation and networking early and the most important is your resume. Good luck

bb · Answer

Congrats on your admits!

MBB is very competitive. No matter which school you attend, it is not guaranteed and competitive. There is strong competition and you compete with your classmates and with other schools. The key items are client readiness and value you bring to the firm. Mostly they want to be able to send you to the client and you blowing their socks off when meeting the CEO.

Your age may come up as well when you at 34 compete with 28 year olds who are eager and not as accomplished. Your recruiter will be a few years out of Bschool and likely 32 or maybe 35 at most. I guess it does not really matter but it would be wise To have a Plan B for recruiting.

ENGRTOMBA2018 may be a good resource to comment on consulting recruiting.
mykrasovski - what are your thougths?

Darden has great IB recruiting options. Is that a potential option?
As to alum networks, both schools are on the smaller side and my guess tighter. Both are remote and that builds tight communities. Tuck is most famous for their spirit but I don't know that there is that much difference per se. The biggest differences will be hard to quantify besides the case method and greater exposure towards IB/Finance at Darden.

P.S. I am a bit thrown off by your figures which I presume are scholarship amounts and perhaps total and not per year? and also Work experience. You mention Oil & Gas and also a career at the bank?

Posted from my mobile device

variantguy · Answer

Yeah, I was also a bit confused reading that in the original post. Anyway, these two are peer schools in virtually every ranking, so you'd be splitting hairs in terms of brand and prestige, which can also often be very subjective. Location and community-wise, again, both are very similar though Tuck community is known to be one of most close-knit ones (and so is their alumni base). From a consulting recruiting pov, I just looked through their 2020 employment report, and here's what I found: Tuck: 42% of the 259 students seeking jobs, i.e., ~109, went into consulting. MBB figures not available. Mean salary: $158k, median salary: $165k. (Could not find bonus figures for consulting, but the overall median bonus was 30k) Darden: 41% of the students seeking jobs (couldn't find the number) went into consulting. MBB hired 59 students. I couldn't find function-wise compensation figures either. (Both the schools have so much room for improvement in the way they present their employment reports btw.

) So consulting outcomes-wise, I think both are pretty neck and neck and are also very Northeast US-heavy in terms of where students land post-MBA. I think your decision comes down to: Which community do you find yourself fitting better into? How much weight do you assign to the 60k premium for Tuck? How much would you enjoy/detest the all-case method pedagogy at Darden? What's your recruiting plan B? If it's IB, I think Darden makes more sense. If it's Tech, I think Tuck would be a bit ahead. Either way, these are both great schools for your goals. If you're dead set on an MBA, my humble advice would be to pick one of these and run with it this year rather than reapplying to HS next year. B-school admissions are a black-box, and nobody can ever predict their outcomes with any certainty.

kingmeri · Answer

Hey I am a current Tuckie (similar background to you, I worked in Chemicals), send me a PM if you want to talk about things out here in Hanover.

I think you have a "good problem" - hard to make a bad decision. Posted from my mobile device

ENGRTOMBA2018 · Answer

There are a number of things that caught my attention. Starting from the end of your post, dont think you will do yourself any favor by waiting for another year for HS given your age isnt the most sound decision. Its not as if HS competition will reduce next year and with the information you have provided, there is nothing to tell me that you have a good chance for them. So I will take Tuck and run with it.

As for why Tuck: Dartmouth's alumni base will position you really well, even if you dont break into MBB. Breaking into consulting let along MBB isnt easy so always think about Plans B/C/D. Yes, Darden also does decently well when it comes to MBB recruiting but it doesnt come close to the alumni pull of an Ivy league. I would said $120K in additional loan seems like a bit too much (I am a person who took the entire MBA cost at Kellogg in loans!!!) but you have no debt which should be a good reason for why Tuck over Darden. Another thing that caught my attention ( bb  also referred to this), if you are already at a bank, why not recruit for IBanking? This is a very important thing to think about as your MT and LT goals will dictate where you want to be in 5-7-10years from now. Your O&G experience gives you a lot of useful skills to be successful in IB/PE (operator side) as well.

As for your (-) of Tuck being remote, Kellogg is in Evanston which is a good 30-35 min drive from Chicago DT. I would tell you that being remote is probably the best way to build those connections with your peers while still recharging your mind away from the maddening pace of a big metro!!!!

I would say your cons for Tuck are NOT really cons! It would be amiss on my part if I dont comment on your (-) for Darden which is case method. This should NOT be a (-) if you want to go into consulting where you will be living/breathing 'cases' as any case is nothing but another problem to solve for your clients. Heck, I will take it to another level and say that every job you do after MBA will be a problem solving mission (and hence very similar to solving 'cases'). Case method is much better method to learning and you will soon learn why. It gives you a lot more exposure to all the critical skills to think about problems as a global leader: ability to problem solve while understanding what is the higher level picture.

TLDR; take Tuck and run with it! Happy to discuss further, if needed.

MarkyMarkMBA · Answer

Hey everyone, thanks for the responses! Sorry the main text of my post was confusing. This was my first time posting, and somehow a section got copied in from a different post I was reading. Everything should be updated now. Appreciate the insights!

bb · Answer

Ah. That explains it. 
No worries. Hopefully you got some good pointers. 😎

Posted from my mobile device

mykrasovski · Answer

MarkyMarkMBA it sounds like you already know the answer to your own question. Money is not everything, especially in the long run when you will be making solid income post-MBA. Happy to chat about Tuck - feel free to DM me.

See you in the Upper Valley!

Regenerate · Answer

if you've not decided, possibly the two links in my signature block below might be helpful ... and ... if you've already decided, please chime back in and let us know what you chose.

Decision Time: Tuck ($$) v Darden ($$$$)

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