Dartmouth (Tuck)

Question

Dartmouth Tuck is another business school that one could consider part of the "liberal arts" model. It is a generalist school, offering only one MBA program (no PhD, no BSBA, no specialty masters), in a relatively remote area.

Dartmouth is located in Hanover, New Hampshire. Hanover has a population of about 10,000 and is about 130 miles from Boston.

Dartmouth stresses cooperation and the group spirit - this is probably not the place to apply if you are not quite so group-oriented.

One complication that Dartmouth has faced is its relatively small size. Compare to the Chicago or New York metro areas with some 1000 elite or ultraelite candidates, coming to Hanover for a recruiting pool of a few hundred might be hard to justify. Total enrollment at Dartmouth increased by roughly 120 students over the 1990s, but it is still a small program.

Tuck tends to be viewed in a very positive light by its students and alumni. Not surprisingly, Tuck has an impressive list of recruiters that it consistent with its status as an elite school. The placement success of Dartmouth is even more impressive if one considers the small class size.

FT 2003 ranked Dartmouth #11 worldwide- below NYU and MIT and just above Yale and IMD.

EIU 2003 ranked Dartmouth #2 worldwide- just below Northwestern and just above Stanford.

https://www.dartmouth.edu/tuck/mba/choose/index.html

https://www.dartmouth.edu/tuck/mba/apply/index.html

Paul · Answer

Thank you Hjort for describing each school with great pain. I really like it and I was always curious about Tuck and always wanted to hear a bit more about it. I actually like the less so "individualism" of Tuck and many "Tuckees" form those incredible bonds that remain solid over the years. I always liked top-schools in more remote areas(outside of financial centers) just because of the less hectic living environment(ie INSEAD, Harvard, MIT, Tuck). Because of the good reputation of those schools, as you said, I don't think recruiting should be any problem.

Hjort · Answer

Dartmouth Tuck has an early action round. It enables you to apply early and know whether you are accepted without being bound to attend Tuck if you are accepted.

https://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/admission ... ction.html

Hjort · Answer

Placement Stats https://www.dartmouth.edu/tuck/jobs/stats.html

Hjort · Answer

Intl Exchange https://www.dartmouth.edu/tuck/mba/academics/more.html

Hjort · Answer

Exec Bios CEOs: Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Weyerhaeuser, Eaton, Avaya, Regions Fincl, TECO (MS Engineering) https://www.aetna.com/presscenter/holt.htm

Hjort · Answer

Value Considerations

Est. Total Cost: c. 122k

Tuition: c. 36 k per annum

https://www.dartmouth.edu/tuck/mba/finaid/index.html

FT2005 Value For Money: #78, better than most of the elites, but below Virginia Darden

Jennif102 · Answer

Ok, I think this may be quite obvious, but because Tuck has an early action round- is the december round really like the 2nd round and the january round more like the 3rd round? Meaning if you want a fair shot best get in the app by dec.?

Hjort · Answer

As I recall, the second regular round for Dartmouth is within a few days of R2 for many of its fellow elites. For instance, NYU is three days after, VA regular R2 is the same day, Yale one day before, Duke two days before. While it is the third round for Tuck it occurs around the same time as the second regular round at the other schools and before the third round at virtually all of the elites. In that sense, it acts more like a typical R2 than a typical R3. 

Since Tuck's R1 and R2 are so close together there is little point in hanging one to the application until January if it is almost complete now.

Hjort · Answer

Alumni Mass Index 

Northeast: V Large 
West: Small
Midwest: Small

Mark4124 · Answer

Why do you not group this as an "ultra elite?" Seems like Dartmouth receives top spots from a number of rankings?

Hjort · Answer

Tuck is certainly a strong MBA program but it does not appear to exhibit the characteristics that are typical of the Ultra Elite programs. 

First, Dartmouth has a smaller alumni base than one typically encounters with the ultra elite schools. 

Second, if hypothetically added to the ultra elite schools, Dartmouth would consistently rank in the bottom quarter of this group for finance placements. However, its performance was similar to other elites that are strong in consulting such as Michigan. 

Third. if hypothetically added to the ultra elite schools, Dartmouth would consistently rank in the bottom quarter for finance placements. If evaluated on a per capita basis, Tuck would fare somewhat better (roughly Q3). Note, however, that Tuck was significantly smaller than even the smallest ultra elite school and the per capita performance was similar to Yale, another small elite school. 

As usual, one should not take any ranking system (including this one) too seriously. Regardless of the rank attached to it, Dartmouth is clearly one of the worldâ€™s best business schools.

tbirchar · Answer

Does Tuck change its admission criteria for the early decision round? Specifically, would they be more apt to consider someone with a 650 GMAT score during this round since they know I am strongly interested in their MBA program? Just curious if anyone had any thoughts.

RycherX · Answer

Looking if Dartmouth strongly consider round 1 650-700 gmat applicants

Antmavel · Answer

Just my 2 cents about Hjort and the finance placements:

1) Network is small, I agree, but I believe extremely strong. If you look at the finance industry I am very confident that 80% of the Managing directors of Investment Banks will accept to have a phone call with you. I don't think it's frequent at other schools in top 10.

2) You have also to think about the network. Someone from HBS at Goldman is certainly harassed during the recruiting period whereas a Tuck alum has less demand from current students since we are not so many (240 students per year) and therefore is uually ready to help you quite a lot. 

3) Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Lehman, UBS, ...have all taken between 4 and 10 students (IB + S&T together) for the summer. I believe this is a strong commitment. 

4) Now I agree that I don't see Tuck very strong in the corporate finance environement but definitely playing in the Investment Managment and Investment Banking space.

5) I believe the only school that are really in another galaxy are : HBS and Stanford. HBs is the 1st school, not because it is the best but because people see it as the best. The reputation of the school is a strong aspect, especially if you think about your career at the international level. HBS is the only school known everywhere in the world. Then Stanford is a huge innovation machine and I am sure you can learn a lot there. Other than that I think it's more a fit/environment match.

I am a 2nd year a Tuck, not a pro-Tuck, but I just wanted to come back on those few points.

jankynoname · Answer

Does anyone know anything about the couples admission program at Tuck? Both my wife and I are planning to get an MBA, and will probably be doing apps next year (for Fall '10 enrollment). I think we are both reasonably competitive applicants, but the problem is the odds of us both getting into the same elite school seem to be pretty slim. I have heard from some people that Tuck will jointly consider the applications of partners interested in applying. Does anyone know how this works? I assume that both applicants will need to be interesting and accomplished in their own right to be admitted, but does this joint decision help to push someone who may be a less perfect fit into the program? Or, does it mean that they will reject both people even if only one doesn't seem to fit the admissions standards?

If anyone has any experience with this, I'd really appreciate it.

I guess the other strategy would be to apply to schools that are neighboring each other (i.e. Chicago and Kellogg, or Haas and Stanford).

If anyone has any experience with this, I'd really appreciate it.

I guess the other strategy would be to apply to schools that are neighboring each other (i.e. Chicago and Kellogg, or Haas and Stanford).

riverripper · Answer

Interestingly, at Kellogg there are 4 people in my section (out of 72) who have spouses also in our class...they separate them. I think it definitely does up your chances at certain schools, especially those that are very family friendly and personally I think that Tuck would be another one of those schools. I know of a few tuck alum couples. They arent going to accept you both if you arent qualified but I think they are more likely to accept a borderline applicant if one is a surefire admit.

I would definitely suggest going for Chicago/Kellogg depending on your profiles and goals. You could easily each attend one school. There is at least one classmate of mine with a spouse at GSB and another whose husband is in a Phd program there. MIT/HBS, Stanford/Haas, Columbia/NYU are other pairing options depending on your profiles.

Antmavel · Answer

I confirm Riverripper's comment. I am not very knowledgeable about other MBA programs but concerning Tuck since this MBA is based on fit/small community/social aspect and that most of the students have partners it is definitely well accepted there to have this double partner application. Though don't get married for that :lol:

tiniyo · Answer

Haha

Dartmouth (Tuck)

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