The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College: Everything You Need to Know

 

The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, also known simply as “Tuck,” is the oldest graduate school of management in the United States. Consistently ranked one of the top ten U.S. MBA programs, Tuck has risen as high as number two in the Bloomberg Businessweek U.S. business school rankings in the past two years, behind only the Stanford Graduate School of Business. It is also one of the smallest business schools in the United States, with fewer than 300 students in the Class of 2023. The combination of its small size and remote location in Hanover, New Hampshire, gives Dartmouth Tuck a distinctive culture; students and alumni alike refer to themselves as “Tuckies” and are passionately loyal to the school, to which an astonishing two-thirds of alumni donate annually. Dartmouth MBA alumni give in other ways as well, with many students reporting having cold-called alumni to discuss job opportunities and having their phone calls eagerly returned the same day.

The close-knit nature of the school’s community also creates a strong sense of teamwork on campus, no doubt contributing to the reputation Tuck alumni have in the workforce for excelling in team-based industries such as consulting. Tuck is located on Dartmouth’s 200-acre campus, and the majority of business school students live in Tuck dorms or residences (Sachem Village or Achtmeyer, Raether, and Pineau-Valencienne Halls, collectively known as the Living and Learning Complex). Numerous activities also help create close bonds—for example, through the Research-to-Practice seminars, small groups of second-year MBA students take a deep dive into a specific topic. The Latin America and Caribbean Council and the Europe, Middle East, and Africa Council bring together Tuck alumni from those regions to recruit top students to Tuck. If you are interested in renewable energy, Tuck’s Revers Center for Energy lets you individualize your course of study to prepare for a career in that field. Because 42% of Dartmouth Tuck students go on to careers in consulting, Tuck offers the OnSite Global Consulting program (formerly Tuck Global Consultancy), which gives second-year students a chance to put their classroom knowledge to practical use. Tuck Community Consulting (formerly Tuck Student Consulting Services) is another excellent resource that students can use to prepare for the field. In 2018, the Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship was divided into two new centers, the Center for Private Equity and Venture Capital and the Center for Entrepreneurship, which recently launched the Startup Incubator, a program that all Dartmouth students can participate in as long as at least one second-year Tuck student is on their team. At Tuck, the case method is heavily used, which makes the classroom experience more interactive and collaborative, as everyone discusses their opinions on a given case. Tuck also offers numerous social opportunities, including TuckBuilds, Tuck Gives, the Tuck Hockey Club, and the wildly popular Winter Carnival. Finally, Hanover is a winter sports paradise, with students taking full advantage of skiing and snowboarding opportunities.

With a class size so small, Tuck is aware of the impact of each student’s personality, which is why it offers all applicants the opportunity to interview. Tuck also wants to ensure that all business school candidates understand its unique environment and can fully articulate why they are a good fit for the school. Fortunately, mbaMission offers a depth of resources and services to help you on your Tuck MBA application journey.

 

mbaMission’s Dartmouth Tuck School of Business Insider’s Guide

The Tuck School of Business Insider’s Guide

After speaking with Tuck MBA students, admissions committee members, and alumni about their Tuck experiences, we have prepared our Insider’s Guide to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. We take an in-depth look at life as a Tuckie, highlighting how the business school’s location, class size, curriculum, teaching methods, facilities, alumni involvement, and rankings all affect its culture and MBA experience. Then we delve into Tuck’s faculty and professional student clubs, revealing how they facilitate the careers of Tuck MBA students. Through our guide, you will learn more about the high level of student-faculty collaboration that the school is known for and the intensive teamwork that Tuck fosters. In addition, Tuck prioritizes teaching leadership through opportunities such as the Leadership Fellows program and the Center for Digital Strategies’ MBA Fellows program. You can also read up on the intensely quantitative first semester, which includes required courses such as “Financial Accounting” and “Capital Markets.” First-year students must also take several courses that promote leadership development: “Managing People,” “Managing Organizations,” and “Crafting Strategy.” Through our Insider’s Guide, you can also learn about the “First-Year Project,” a semester-long course that lets small groups of students apply their core academic knowledge to a real-world problem for an external client or entrepreneurial venture. Tuck can best be summed up by a quote from a student mbaMission interviewed: “The students here are very happy with their choice. They chose it because it is outdoorsy, quaint, and they want the kind of experience that it offers.”

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Dartmouth Tuck Interview Guide

The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College Interview Guide

One aspect of Tuck’s admissions process that most applicants find extremely appealing is that candidates can request an interview and, if they submit their MBA application by a certain date, are guaranteed to receive one. This practice ensures that Tuck can make its decisions based on the person, not just the application, and gives applicants a chance to visit campus and determine whether it is in fact a good fit for them. (Note that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, all Tuck interviews are currently virtual.) Tuck’s primary goals in the interview are to gauge a candidate’s fit with the school’s values, approach, and atmosphere and to assess how the individual might perform in a team-based environment. “Why Tuck?” is also a common theme. Our past clients have described Tuck’s interviews as “friendly,” “casual,” “polite,” and “conversational.”

Tuck interviews are “blind,” which means that your interviewer will not have seen your entire application before the interview—just your resume. Your interviewer will therefore not know your GMAT score or GPA (unless this information is on your resume) or the content of your essays. Your interview will be conducted either by a member of the Admissions Office or by a student who has been trained by the MBA Admissions Office to conduct interviews. Such students are known as Tuck Admissions Associates. Your interviewer will generally ask about your past experiences to gain insight into your decision-making abilities and your values. Further, you will need to be ready to share why you are a good fit for the school, offering particular reasons why your post-MBA goals can be best served via the Tuck School of Business’s resources. For sample interview questions and commentary from past students, check out our Tuck School of Business Interview Guide.

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Tuck School of Business MBA Essay Analysis, 2021–2022

In 2017, after a three-month search, Dartmouth Tuck named Luke Anthony Peña its executive director of admissions and financial aid. The dean of the Tuck School of Business, Matthew Slaughter, explained the selection by saying, “Achieving our mission of educating tomorrow’s wise leaders begins by attracting not only the best and brightest students, but those for whom our mission speaks the loudest. Luke’s expertise in MBA admissions—together with his wonderful warmth and creativity—will help ensure that Tuck is successful in welcoming even more of those students into our community.” To help the admissions committee determine who those students are, Tuck requires three MBA application essays, all of which ask applicants to reflect on the school’s unique culture. The first one asks candidates to explain how the school will help them achieve their career goals. The second requests that applicants consider their unique personal traits and how those will contribute to the class, and the third reflects Tuck’s commitment to building a class of students who have strong characters and are fundamentally nice.

In our essay analysis, we provide in-depth guidance on each of Dartmouth Tuck’s 2021–2022 essay questions:

  • Essay 1: Tuck students can articulate how the distinctive Tuck MBA will advance their aspirations. Why are you Epursuing an MBA and why Tuck? (300 words)
  • Essay 2: Tuck students recognize how their individuality adds to the fabric of Tuck. Tell us who you are. (300 words)
  • Essay 3: Tuck students are encouraging, collaborative and empathetic, even when it is not convenient or easy. Describe a meaningful experience in which you exemplified one or more of these attributes. (300 words)

Click here to read our analysis


Dartmouth Tuck MBA Class Profile (Class of 2023)

Enrollment 294
GMAT Average 724
GMAT Verbal Average 42
GMAT Quant Average 48
GMAT IR Average 7
GMAT Range 600–780
GMAT Verbal Range 34–51
GMAT Quant Range 39–51
GRE Verbal Average 162
GRE Quant Average 162
GRE Verbal Range 149–170
GRE Quant Range 152–170
Percentage of Applicants Submitting GRE Scores 37%
Average GPA 3.54
GPA Range 2.6–4.0
Students with Partners 25%
Students with Children 4%
Women 46%
LGBTQ 6%
U.S. Minorities
(all students denominator = 294. Includes American Indian, African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latinx)
21%
U.S. Minorities
(U.S. and permanent residents denominator = 207. Includes American Indian, African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latinx)
29%
U.S. Underrepresented Minorities
(U.S. students denominator = 207. Includes American Indian, African American, Hispanic/Latinx, Native Hawaiian)
14%
International Students
(includes dual citizens, permanent residents)
41%
Countries Represented
By Citizenship 35
By Birth 27
By Professional Experience 35
Average Months of Work Experience 65

Dartmouth Tuck MBA Rankings

Tuck is often ranked one of the top ten business schools. The school rose one spot to number ten domestically but remained number 12 internationally in The Economist’s 2019 survey (Tuck was not included in its most recent ranking). The business school’s rank changed dramatically in the 2019 Bloomberg Businessweek survey, rising from 19th in the United States to second, where it remained in the 2021 rankings (Bloomberg Businessweek suspended its MBA rankings in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic). The program rose five spots domestically to number five and six spots internationally to number ten in the 2021 Financial Times survey. Tuck was ranked ninth in the 2020 Poets&Quants survey of U.S.–based business schools, unchanged from the two previous years. In U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 assessment of American MBA programs, the school rose two spots from the previous year to tie at number ten with New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Dartmouth Tuck Deadlines (2021–2022)

Round 1 Application Deadline
September 27, 2021

Round 1 Decision Notification
December 9, 2021

Round 2 Application Deadline
January 3, 2022

Round 2 Decision Notification
March 17, 2022

Round 3 Application Deadline
March 28, 2022

Round 3 Decision Notification
May 5, 2022

mbaMission Testimonials from Dartmouth Tuck MBA Applicants

Julie-Anne [Heafey] helped me get into the perfect-fit business school

I came into the MBA application process knowing that I would have an uphill battle—my undergraduate GPA was below the average range at Tuck, and my work experience in private wealth was good but didn’t truly transcend what my peers were doing.

I knew that in order to be successfully admitted, I needed to show that I was smarter than my GPA led on (I had an upward trend and a really strong GMAT), but also I needed to convince the admissions team that I had a strong reason to get an MBA.

Julie-Anne helped me do exactly that. She reviewed my resume and helped me cut out unnecessary elements and highlight my strengths. She also made it so that my resume would be easy to read from an admissions officer point of view by helping me to concisely communicate my actions, emphasize my results, and define the recognition my employers gave me.

She also helped with my essays. As a Dartmouth undergrad, Julie-Anne knows life in Hanover and helped me provide specific details to the admissions team on what makes the experience unique (she did her first two years of undergrad at Columbia and went to HBS for her MBA, so I’m sure she can do the same for those schools).

Her interview prep also helped me to pace my answers the right way and not waste my words.

Julie-Anne made the entire process very easy—she was tough but supportive. She always met her deadlines and completely changed the quality of my work. Looking at where I started and where I ended up with my application, I really have to thank J-A for being one of the biggest factors in my acceptance to Tuck (which has been a very positive experience for me).

I highly recommend Julie-Anne to anyone looking for an MBA admissions consultant.

Harold Simansky—Superb Hourly Service

I highly recommend Harold Simansky for his hourly services. Through Harold’s resume and essay reviews, I was accepted with scholarship to Booth, Kellogg, Tuck, and Columbia.

Harold was extremely timely and communicative. His reviews—even when it was busy season for Round 2—were extremely efficient. When I had an urgent request due to an upcoming deadline, Harold was understanding and was quick to prioritize my work.

In terms of the feedback, it was clear that Harold had extensive experience in reviewing essays and tailoring them to each school. The essay feedback was very helpful and prescriptive, allowing me to quickly edit and turn around versions. Harold even shared my essays and resume with other reviewers at mbaMission for no charge. I really felt that I received more value than what I was paying for!

Highly Recommend Susan [Kaplan]!

I did the Start-to-Finish Package for two schools with Susan, Tuck and Yale. I also applied to HBS, Ross, and Foster on my own. Coming from a nontraditional background, I was daunted by the MBA world and wanted to be sure I was able to tell my story authentically, but in a manner that would resonate with MBA admissions committees. Ultimately, I was admitted to Tuck and waitlisted at Yale. I also received admission to Ross with a full-tuition scholarship and Foster with a moderate scholarship. While Susan and I only worked together on Tuck and Yale, I know without a doubt that my other applications also benefited from our work together. I would 100% recommend working with Susan…

…It was so reassuring knowing she was on my team and I could go to her with any question at any time. I’m thrilled about schools I got into and couldn’t have done it without her!

Highly recommend Kate Richardson!

Kate’s guidance and support throughout the admissions process was second to none. I was offered admission to Booth, Kellogg, and Tuck, each with scholarships, and I couldn’t have done it without Kate!

Kate led me in developing and communicating my personal brand by guiding me through a process of self-discovery (many phone calls and Skype sessions of brainstorming and questions). She helped me see patterns within my interests and education and work experience that enabled me to tie together my story, why I needed an MBA, and why now. By being straightforward about the weaknesses in my application (a shorter work history and somewhat jumpy resume), Kate helped me address these weaknesses within my written application and prepared me to answer questions around them in interviews…

After receiving the calls with good news, Kate was one of the first people I told because I was so appreciative of her help. She saw me at my best and my worst, and she was a great sounding board for all things MBA-related (and some things less-MBA-related like a potential company switch pre-MBA). I highly recommend working with Kate to anyone applying—she is the absolute best and will help you find success in the application process!
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