After gaining experience in the Indian startup ecosystem, Apeksha Atal realized the next phase of her career required tackling a broader range of challenges, international exposure, and working across industries; to achieve those abilities, she would need an MBA. In this installment of our Real Humans: Alumni, Atal shares how the most important elements she sought in a business school – small class size, distance from the city, community-driven environment, strong core curriculum, proven career services results in consulting, and culture – she found at Dartmouth Tuck. Read about her journey to the Tuck MBA and consulting at BCG here.
Apeksha Atal, Dartmouth Tuck MBA ’25, Consultant at BCG
Age: 29
Hometown: Portland, OR/Bengaluru, India
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Carnegie Mellon University, B.S. Biology, B.A. English
Pre-MBA Work Experience: Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, Fulbright Thailand, 2018-2019, Education/Social Impact; Member Founders Office (2020-2021), Strategic Advisor to CEO (2021-2022), Group HR Manager (2022-2023), Niyo Solutions Inc., 2020-2023, Fintech
Post-MBA Work Experience: Consultant, Boston Consulting Group, 2025-present, Consulting
Why did you choose to attend business school?
After gaining experience in the Indian startup ecosystem, I realized that what I wanted most in the next phase of my career was exploration. I was eager to work across industries, tackle a broader range of business challenges, and gain international exposure. As I explored potential roles, it became clear that many of these opportunities required three familiar letters on a resume: MBA.
Beyond the credential, business school represented something more meaningful. It was a chance to formally study business in a classroom setting, to learn from exceptional peers and professors, and to expand my perspective in ways that would be difficult to replicate on the job. It also offered a rare opportunity to step back from the pace of work—to travel, live in a new environment, and invest intentionally in my own growth.
Why Dartmouth Tuck? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
Some of the most important elements that I looked for in my ideal business school program included a small class size, distance from the distractions of a city, a social and community-driven environment, a strong core curriculum, and a formidable career services team with a proven consulting track record. Tuck checked all those boxes.
What ultimately set Tuck apart, though, was its culture. I felt it as early as my interview, which felt more like a genuine conversation than an evaluation. My interviewer took the time to get to know me and uncover shared connections instead of grilling me on my resume. Our first two weeks felt like summer camp, intentionally designed to build relationships before diving fully into coursework.
Recruiting is more collaborative than one would expect, with students across classes sharing time, feedback, and encouragement. Most events are completely student run, and everyone is welcome to everything. Classmates volunteer to teach others to ski, and drive people home after parties (the rideshare apps don’t really work in the Upper Valley). I could go on and on—it is not just a network you build at Tuck, but a community.
Admitted Students Weekend confirmed my instinct. The tight-knit program in Hanover created space to immerse myself in student life, build close relationships with peers and professors, and even try winter sports like skiing (which I loved) and ice hockey (which I love…to watch). If you ever meet a Tuckie, you’ll understand what I mean when I say they love Tuck. That enthusiasm spans decades of alumni, and I’m grateful to now be part of that lifelong community.
What about your MBA experience prepared you for your current career? How do you feel that your MBA has been an asset when it comes to navigating new challenges, such as AI?
My time at Tuck prepared me well for a career in consulting. Coming from a non-traditional background, the core curriculum was an awesome foundation that helped me build business fundamentals, sharpen my analytical rigor and communicate complex ideas simply and effectively. Some Core courses that stood out included Economics and Analytics, which were great for developing a structured problem solving toolkit. I also loved taking electives like Communicating with Presence, which pushed me to think about how to connect with and compel an audience, and Leadership in the Global Economy, where we learned about communicating under pressure and thinking about some of the “wicked problems” that face our society through a business lens.
As AI began gaining momentum in the workplace, our professors quickly adapted. In many of my classes, professors openly recognized that AI was going to be a key element in our future careers and built opportunities to help us practice using it as a tool to complement our business acumen and individual insights. This has been directly applicable to the work I do today, where we are constantly encouraged to leverage GenAI as a tool to drive efficiency, bring out insight, and help us get deeper into problems that we are trying to solve.
Collaboration was also such an integral part of my Tuck experience. Group projects, clubs, preparing for interviews and volunteering in the community were all opportunities to practice teamwork, problem solving, and actuating impact. For recruitment in particular, what I expected to be a competitive process was more of a team effort. Career services, my Consulting Club mentor, the T’24s, and T’25s, and so many alumni and professors all put time and energy into helping me apply for jobs and prepare for the daunting consulting case interview. It’s inspired me to give time to other Tuckies where I can, even after graduating.
What was your internship during business school? How did that inform your post-MBA career choice?
I interned at BCG’s Boston office during my summer. It was an incredible opportunity to experience real client work firsthand. I worked on an Org and Op model transformation for a MedTech client, supporting a large-scale reorganization effort. Over the course of the summer I owned a benchmarking model, traveled to collocate with my team in another city, built dozens of slides, and participated in client meetings. Working side-by-side with my team gave me a chance to experience the apprenticeship model firsthand, I got tips and tricks on everything from keyboard shortcuts to storylining for a deck.
Although my internship concluded before the project wrapped, I left feeling accomplished and excited to explore other industries and problem types. It became clear that BCG would continue to challenge and stretch me while surrounding me with thoughtful, driven colleagues. I was thrilled to accept the full-time offer.
Why did you choose your current company? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to work?
BCG stood out to me most because of its people.
About a month into the recruiting process kicking off at Tuck, I had met a couple of BCGers that I really clicked with. One was a consultant who also had a background in the Indian startup ecosystem, who gave me a lot of insight into how to leverage my existing skillset to become a strong part of a case team. Another, was a principal who had HR experience and a connection with both India and Thailand, two places I have called home. Knowing now how busy principals are, I am so grateful for all the time she took to catch up with me during the process, and the encouraging texts and emails she sent during key milestones. Those are just two strong examples of the support I received during the recruitment process, which made it all the more easy to say yes once I was extended an offer.
Even today, I can say that the people at BCG are the best part of the job. BCGers are smart, creative, thoughtful, and driven. I’ve found mentorship across levels and consistently learn from every team I join.
Having fellow Tuck alumni in the Boston office has been an added bonus — it’s always nice to see familiar faces while tackling tough problems.
Advice to current MBA students:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of the job search?
Practice with peers! I learn best through practice, and coming from a non-traditional background I quickly realized that working through cases with peers was really great exposure to different problem solving approaches, and great feedback.
–One thing you would change or do differently as part of the job search?
I would have focused more on running my own race. When you’re surrounded by peers recruiting for consulting, it’s easy for every conversation to turn into a comparison, be it about coffee chats, cases completed, or anything else. While it’s hard not to get sucked into the numbers game, it’s important to remember that understanding where you are in your journey is way more productive. Think about what skills you need to build, your learning style, when you need a break, etc.
It took me a while to get to a point where I gave myself permission to ignore the chatter and stop worrying about being “10 cases behind” someone else. Once I did, every session felt more intentional and productive, whether it was a case or a coffee chat.
–Were there any surprises regarding your current employer’s recruiting process?
BCG’s interview structure is a little unique in that you do a fit and case interview together in each single 45-minute slot. This means you have to be really efficient with your fit answers and be ready to switch gears to the case whenever it’s time. I honestly liked this because you got to warm up with the interviewer a bit before the case started, but definitely good to be aware of this structure so you can prepare to do your best.
–What piece of advice do you wish you had been given during your MBA?
My dad likes to say that education is one of the only products that people want to pay the most for and get the least out of, if they aren’t intentional about it. I would urge anyone going back to school to not just see it as a chance to take a break and get a job, but also as a place full of resources, both personal and professional. You have access to libraries, world-class faculty, amazing sports facilities, accomplished guest speakers, and so on. Yes, get the job and build the network, but don’t forget where you are and how you can take advantage of what’s around you to have a really transformational experience.
