Undecided - 12-14-2025 | Clear Admit DecisionWire

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December 14, 2025 3:37am ET

Enrolled: Undecided

Admitted: Dartmouth / Tuck $

$120000

, Harvard Business School , MIT Sloan

Applied: Dartmouth / Tuck, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Penn / Wharton

Post MBA Career: Pharmaceutical

GRE: 331

GPA: 3.6

Location: Virginia, United States

Notes:

Will share more notes regarding my thought process in the comments given the character limit here

Pre-MBA Industry: Life Science Consulting
Post-MBA Target Industry: Biotech/Pharma Strategy

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Show Comments (6) Last: December 15, 2025

mksb5 Likes Earned: 7 Before I say anything, I want to say I’m incredibly grateful for how this process ended up and for all three of these options! Now into my thought process: I never really thought HBS would be an option, so during this application process I didn’t let myself dive too deep into it so as to not get my hopes up. Instead I let myself fall in love with Tuck--the small class, isolated woodsy feel, and tight knit community--and now with that scholarship, it feels difficult to turn down. But at the same time, turning down the opportunity to go to HBS feels equally difficult, and part of me feels like if I don’t take HBS I’ll always wonder what it would’ve been like. Career wise, I’m in life science consulting and am hoping to stay in healthcare post-MBA, but move into industry, either working in commercial strategy in pharma or helping scale start up biotech. Would like to have the option to consider biotech VC as well, though I know that’s hard to crack into without a PhD or MD in this industry. For reference, I was wire taps episode #431 candidate #2 Welcome any thoughts from you, Alex and Graham, or the broader ClearAdmit community! Also thank you for all that you do, ClearAdmit was a huge resource for me navigating this journey coming from a science background! (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1849 Super results, very well done! That’s a very generous offer from Tuck, will you be getting any needs-based funding from HBS? That might close the gap a little. (1)

eliot Verified User. Likes Earned: 2036 Congrats on your acceptances to Tuck ($120k), HBS and MIT Sloan. Very well done. All three are great programs that can help you achieve your career goals. In addition, the large scholarship at Tuck is very tempting. I do have one question. Given your interest a career in the life science/health care industry and given that Boston is a life science hub, how much would you value having easy access to the Boston life science industry via HBS and MIT? (1)

mksb5 Likes Earned: 7 Thank you Alex! Likely won't be receiving any need-based financial aid from HBS (based on their calculator) (0)

mksb5 Likes Earned: 7 Thank you Eliot! Easy access to Boston’s life science community (plus the ease of family being able to fly in to visit from out of town) is certainly part of my consideration. Though when I visited Tuck, I asked some students whether they felt they could be missing out on any networking/employment opportunities given the ~2hr distance from Boston, and the prevailing sentiment was that they did not - but I’d love to hear your perspective as well. (0)

eliot Verified User. Likes Earned: 2036 Thanks for your reply. All three are great MBA programs. Yes, Tuck does provide plenty of access to Boston for network opportunities and Tuck would provide you with great access to jobs and summer internships in Boston. As you mentioned, it is only a 2 hour drive away from Boston.

You have not mentioned this as a factor, but if you are seeking to work say 10 hours/week for a biotech in the Boston area in the second year of your MBA program, then HBS or MIT would be more convenient.

I really think it really comes down to what type of MBA experience you want to have. Do you want to be at an urban campus or one in a small town? Also, the size of the Tuck scholarship is also a compelling factor.

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