Tuck School of Business 2009-10 Essay Question Analyses and Deadlines

My apologies again for disappearing! I finally got caught up on most of my work for the first round and decided to work on the Tuck question analyses. Last year, Moto and I were invited as representatives from Japan to attend the international advisors conference at Tuck and we got to experience first-hand the very warm and close-knit atmosphere that former students had raved to us about. Tuck really is a unique environment in terms of how caring and nurturing everyone is. In your application, you’ll want to make sure that you come across as someone who would fit into and thrive in such an environment. Team players will make excellent applicants.

As usual, here are the deadlines, essay questions, and my comments:

Please refer to the school’s website for further details about scholarship deadlines, etc.

http://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/admissions/dates/index.html

And, from their website:

Please respond fully but concisely to the following essay questions. Compose each of your
answers offline in separate document files and upload them individually in the appropriate
spaces below. Although there is no restriction on the length of your response, most applicants
use, on average, 500 words for each essay. There are no right or wrong answers.
Please double-space your responses.

1. Why is an MBA a critical next step toward your short- and long-term career goals? Why is
Tuck the best MBA program for you? (If you are applying for a joint or dual degree, please
explain how the additional degree will contribute to those goals.)

This is the standard goals question. Be sure to add some discussion of your career and how it relates to your goals. And remember to do extensive research on Tuck so you can explain specifically why their program is a good fit for you.

2. Tuck defines leadership as “inspiring others to strive and enabling them to accomplish
great things.” We believe great things and great leadership can be accomplished in pursuit
of business and societal goals. Describe a time when you exercised such leadership.
Discuss the challenges you faced and the results you achieved. What characteristics helped
you to be effective, and what areas do you feel you need to develop in order to be a better
leader?

Leadership can be interpreted quite broadly and here Tuck asks you to write a story of a leadership experience that captures their definition of leadership. Specifically, they would like to hear about a time in which you led, mentored, coached/and or guided team members to accomplish something great as a team. This means you should focus on not an independent achievement that you reached on your own efforts, but rather an experience in which the outcome resulted from the collected efforts of a team – a team which you helped inspire. As you write the essay be sure you describe how you guided your team members to deliver results. And don’t forget to conclude the essay by analyzing briefly your current developmental needs as a leader.

3. Discuss the most difficult constructive criticism or feedback you have received. How did
you address it? What have you learned from it?

In this essay you are asked to talk about a time when someone gave you negative feedback as an effort to educate or promote your growth. Had a boss or team member pointed out something that you could be doing better? If so, what was that “something” and how did you react and what did you learn from the experience of getting this feedback? The admissions committee wants to see how you respond when given constructive criticism. Some people get quite angry or defensive while others use the feedback as an opportunity to reflect and grow.

4. Tuck seeks candidates of various backgrounds who can bring new perspectives to our
community. How will your unique personal history, values, and/or life experiences contribute
to the culture at Tuck?

This is a fairly open-ended question that is meant to find out more about who you are as an individual. Of course, if you wish, you may address your career here since that is part of who you are. But be sure that you  convey the personal-side in you as well. This is an appropriate place to discuss life experiences that have shaped you. Appropriate stories include personal background information (like your family or upbringing), community activities, hobbies, sports…anything that is important to you. And while it is great if you have something very unique to talk about like a childhood growing up in different international cities or major achievements in a hobby, very often what makes the difference in this essay is how you tell the story, rather than what you talk about. Write from your heart and allow your personality and values to show through, and you will have done a good job with this essay.

5. (Optional) Please provide any additional insight or information that you have not
addressed elsewhere that may be helpful in reviewing your application (e.g., unusual
choice of evaluators, weaknesses in academic performance, unexplained job gaps or
changes, etc.). Complete this question only if you feel your candidacy is not fully represented by this application.

You may write an additional essay if you have another story that would add a valuable perspective to your essay set that you couldn’t include anywhere else. Otherwise, use this space only for explaining any potential areas of concern as listed above.

6. (To be completed by all reapplicants) How have you strengthened your candidacy since
you last applied? Please reflect on how you have grown personally and professionally.

Tuck, like most business schools, doesn’t want you to just recycle your old application if you are reapplying. There is a reason they denied your admission last year, so they want to know that you have made efforts to improve your candidacy since. When writing this essay, reflect on the time since your last application and discuss the ways that you have improved. Did you take on additional responsibilities at work or perhaps got promoted? Did you continue to work on and improve your test scores? Did you talk to more people about Tuck and perhaps found more reasons why it is the perfect fit for you? At the same time, make sure you are reflecting on your growth rather than simply listing a string of new achievements.

How to Make the Most of an Information Session

Our guest blogger this week is Reve counselor Chelsea. Chelsea is currently pursuing her master’s degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and was formerly a recruiter for a New York-based hedge fund, private equity and technology development company. She holds a B.A. from Williams College. She is writing this week about how to best utilize information sessions. Take it away, Chelsea!

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There are many steps applicants can take to ensure they make the most of a graduate school’s information session, which is an important part of the overall application process. While the following tips are geared towards information sessions given at the school campus, many recommendations can also apply to off campus events.

Before the information session:

· Do your research

Even though the information session itself provides a general overview of the school and its program(s), it is a good idea to do some preliminary research beforehand. For example, you can browse the school’s website and read recent articles in the school’s student newspaper. Not only will this give you an general sense of the school environment and the current issues taking place on campus, it will also help you identify specific areas you’d like to learn more about at the information session. For example, your background research might make you want to learn more about the school’s resources for international students, which is something you can make sure to ask about at the information session.

· Set up additional appointments

Most schools offer campus tours in addition to information sessions. If the school you’re visiting didn’t already provide you with information about taking a tour, you can call the admissions office to inquire about signing up for one. In addition, many admissions offices are able to arrange class visits and student lunches for prospective students. Again, if the admissions office hasn’t already provided you with information about these options, it is a good idea to call the office to see if you can arrange a time to meet with a current student and also to observe a class (ideally a class you might be interested in taking). Meeting with a current student before or after the information session will help you learn the unbiased, “inside scoop” about the school from a student’s perspective. Observing a course will expose you to sample classroom settings and teaching styles at the school.

· Get organized

Be ready to bring paper and pen to the information session so you can take notes on what is said. If you will be visiting many schools over a short period of time, it might also be helpful to bring a camera to take pictures of the campus (including the classrooms, the neighborhood, and some of the housing options). This will help you remember the details of the different schools after all of your visits. Lastly, I personally found it helpful when applying to graduate schools to create a spreadsheet on which I consolidated information about each school. I found this method helpful for comparing and contrasting the different schools as well as for keeping track of the various application deadlines.

· Prepare your “elevator pitch”

An “elevator pitch” is a brief, concise description all about you and your goals. The reason it’s wise to prepare this before the information session is because you might have an opportunity during your visit to speak one-on-one with an admissions representative or a faculty member. If this opportunity arises, you want to be prepared to take full advantage of it and use it as a chance to make an impression on the individuals who might be involved in your application process. Be careful not to sound overly rehearsed! It might be a good idea to do a few “role play” practice sessions with your Reve counselor (your counselor can pretend to be the admissions officer, for example, and ask you questions as though you were just meeting at the information session).

During the information session:

· Observe

The information session is an opportunity for a graduate program to describe and “sell” itself to prospective students. Therefore, it is wise to pay attention to what the school representative emphasizes and what he or she deemphasizes during the session. This will help you discover the school’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, if the presenter repeatedly highlights the program’s academic rigor but fails to mention anything about its career services resources, it may mean that the school is academically quite strong but doesn’t offer much career assistance. In this case, you may want to explicitly inquire about this during the question period. You could also make a note for yourself to stop by the career services office later to investigate or to ask current students their opinion of the school’s career services resources.

· Ask questions

The person hosting the information session will usually leave time for questions at the end. Don’t be afraid to ask questions! This is your chance to learn as much as you can about the school and the program you’re considering, and the school representative is there to answer your questions. Take advantage of it!

After the information session:

· Thank the host

The school representative who gave the presentation likely put a lot of time and effort into the session. It is a nice gesture to thank the representative before you leave. Taking the time to thank the host also gives you an opportunity to introduce yourself to someone who might be involved in your future application evaluation. If the conversation goes well, you might also consider giving your business card as a way to help the representative remember you. I’d personally recommend against handing over your resume (unless the representative explicitly asks for it), as it is more appropriate to include this in your official application. Lastly, if anyone affiliated with the school took extra time to speak with or assist you, it may be appropriate to send him or her a brief “thank you” note. A short email is usually sufficient.

· Check out the neighborhood

If you have time at the end of the day, you might consider exploring the neighborhood around the school. It is helpful to see whether the school is located in an area you’d feel comfortable living in during the duration of your program. Some things to consider may be the availability of public transportation and the general safety of the neighborhood.

-Chelsea

MBA Recommendations

Round 1 deadlines are heating up, so I apologize for the week long absence!

I’m going to talk a bit about recommendations today. There is a lot to say about recommendations, and I do write about the subject more extensively in an internal manual that I distribute to my workshop students. For the purposes of this post, though, I will highlight some FAQs which should give you enough information to get started.

Who should write my recommendations?

You will likely need 2 or 3 letters for business school. In selecting your recommenders, think of the balance and mix of perspectives that they will be showing. Will both or all 3 be commenting on the exact same projects from the same points of view? This usually happens if you ask your boss and then your boss’s boss to write for you. In this case, it might be a good idea to consider someone else for your 2nd or 3rd letter – for example, a client, a higher level person who worked with you on different projects, a former boss (but not from too long ago). If you have overseas experience or have worked with someone outside of your nationality, you could consider asking that person as well.

In the end, you should choose those who can speak very highly of you and who know you and your work intimately. Do not choose the job title of the recommender or MBA alum status over your personal relationship. In other words, don’t choose someone who doesn’t know you well simply because s/he is high ranking. Business schools are used to seeing letters from “famous” people and will get turned off if they believe you are trying to impress them with your recommenders’ job titles.

How should I approach my recommenders about writing for me?

You want to first show respect for your recommender’s time by giving him plenty of time to write your recommendations. If possible, ask 2 or more months in advance. Approach him first about your plans and politely ask if he would be willing to write for you. Once he agrees, give him whatever instructions  and details are necessary for him to understand the process (you will need to enter his contact information into your on-line application, at which point your recommender will receive an email from the b-school that explains how to access the recommendation form on-line…so you should explain this to him). Sit down with him and go over your plans and goals. It is possible, if your recommender is not American, European or Canadian, that you will need to coach him on how to write a proper recommendation. To be safe, though, don’t assume that even a westerner will know how to write an excellent letter. If he doesn’t have a history of successfully recommending candidates to b-school, go ahead and politely offer some pointers. In my experience even MBA alumni and partners have appreciated receiving guidance.

Finally, you may want to bring a resume or some notes of your strengths and achievements for your recommender, just to help him get started. (He may accept, alter or reject your ideas but any information would help.)

Are there any key points my recommender needs to know when writing my recommendations?

Yes. Very briefly, your recommendation needs to help you stand out among the 99% of recommendations that are very good. So you need to be more than good. Your recommender needs to show details, anecdotes, impact, and he needs to talk about how you compare against others in your rank, in your company, in the field, etc. Without this comparative language, it is difficult for admissions committees to judge just which consultant, i-banker, etc. is truly outstanding.

When talking about a weakness, your recommender needs to be careful. Safe examples are “real” but fixable, something that will not make the admissions committee worry about having you as a member of their community. (Bad temper? Nervous in group situations? That can singlehandedly destroy your chances of admission.)

Should I get letters written by alumni of the schools that I’m applying to?

You shouldn’t go out of your way to do this. In other words, this should not be your priority. Focus on who knows you best. If that person happens to have an MBA or even one from your target school, then great. Will having an MBA alum write for you give you an advantage? No. It’s a bonus if you happen to be a strong candidate and your recommender happens to love you and is a graduate of your target school. She can say things like, “Having gone through the program myself, I know that Maya would be a great fit.” That kind of statement can carry good credibility. But an alum cannot help boost an applicant who isn’t that strong to begin with. Remember, the majority of recommendations are written by people with no connection to the school.