Tuck School of Business – Dartmouth College

FAQ

What is the tuition for Tuck’s MBA program?

The tuition for Tuck’s MBA program is $77,520 per year. The total cost of the Tuck MBA program is $117,800 per year; this includes budgeted living expenses for students who reside off campus. On-campus students can expect the Tuck MBA program to cost $112,000 with budgeted living expenses.

How hard is it to get into Tuck’s MBA program?

The acceptance rate for Tuck is 22.1% It is important to consider the acceptance rate in the context of the student profile of those who are admitted. For example the average GMAT score is 720.

What is the average GMAT score for admission to Tuck’s MBA program?

The average GMAT score for the incoming class at Tuck is 720. The GMAT range is 590 to 780.

Does the Tuck MBA program accept the GRE?

Yes. The Tuck MBA program has accepted the GRE for several years now.

What is the average GRE score for admission to Tuck’s MBA program?

The average GRE score for the incoming class at Tuck is 161 Verbal average 159 Quant average.

What is the minimum number of years of work experience required for admission to Tuck’s MBA program?

Tuck does not state a minimum requirement for years of work experience. However, it is important for candidates to be aware that they are being considered against other candidates with an average of 5 years of experience.

What is the average number of years of work experience for admission to Tuck’s MBA program? (or, What is the average age of a Tuck student?)

The average number of years of work experience among students in Tuck’s MBA program is 5.

What is the average starting salary for graduates of the Tuck MBA program?

The average starting salary for Tuck MBA graduates is $143,867. The salary will vary by industry, with consulting and finance jobs generally commanding the higher salaries.

How long is Tuck’s full-time MBA program?

Tuck offers a traditional 2-year MBA program.

What are the application deadlines for Tuck’s MBA program?

The Round 1 MBA application deadline is September 28, 2020. The Round 2 application deadline is January 4, 2021. The Round 3 deadline is March 29, 2021.  Round 4 will be rolling admissions from April 1, 2021 to June 1, 2021.

What percent of Tuck MBA students are women?

The percentage of the class at Tuck that are women is 49%.

What type of interview does Tuck use for MBA admissions?

All applicants who submit their complete application, including Letters of Reference by September 1, 2020, or October 1, 2020 if applying to Tuck through the Consortium, are guaranteed a virtual admissions interview. For applicants who submit their application after September 1, 2020, or after October 1, 2020 if applying to Tuck through the Consortium, virtual interviews are offered by invitation only. After review of your application, Tuck will invite you to interview if they believe it will help them learn more about how you demonstrate Tuck’s admissions criteria. The virtual interviews are blind. This means the interviewer has not had access to the application materials.

VIDEOS

Admissions

The Class Profile

Tuck’s Class of 2022 has 289 students who arrived with an average of 5.3 years of full-time work experience by the time of matriculation. Thirty-seven percent of students entering in 2020 are international and 22 percent identify as members of a U.S. minority group. Forty-nine percent of the class is comprised of women.

The average GMAT score of 2020 entrants was 720, though results ranged from 590 to 780, and the average GPA was 3.48. Thirty-nine percent had submitted GRE scores for the standardized test requirement.  For the GRE results, the Verbal average was 161 and the Quantitative average was 159.  Forty-nine percent of first-year students completed undergraduate majors in humanities, social sciences, or the arts, followed by engineering, tech, math or science at 28%, and business at 23%. 

Application Procedures

Tuck offers four rounds for admissions that run from late September until June.  All applicants must complete Tuck’s online application form, except for applicants submitting their materials through the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management.  In addition to this form, non-Consortium applicants must submit a non­refundable application fee of $250, academic transcripts from all academic institutions attended, their highest GMAT or GRE results, essays, two recommendations, and TOEFL, PTE, or IELTS results if applicable.

Application Checklist

• Online Application
• Highest GMAT/GRE score(s)
• TOEFL, PTE or IELTS score(s) if applicable
• Academic Transcripts
• Two Recommendations
• Application fee
• Essays

Interview Reports

Dartmouth Tuck Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Second-Year Student / Zoom

Felt pretty informal. My guess is that these interviews are largely assessing fit, since fit is a huge deal for Tuck and the 2nd-year students conduct them. I got the sense that this was more about “can I imagine you sitting next to me in class” than “will you crack under the pressure of IB […]

Dartmouth Tuck Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / Zoom

1) What are your short-term and long-term goals? 2) How will Tuck help you reach your goals? 3) How will you contribute to Tuck? 4) Tell me about an example when you went outside your comfort zone. 5) Tell me about an activity/cause that you are passionate about. 6) Is there anything you wished I […]

Dartmouth Tuck MBA Interview Questions: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / Zoom

1. Tell me about yourself. 2. Why MBA? 3. Why Tuck? 4. What are your short- and long-term goals? 5. Tell me about a time where you had a conflict and how you handled it. 6. Tell me about a time when your boss gave you feedback and how you reacted to it. 7. How […]

Dartmouth Tuck Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / Skype

Hi! The interview lasted for approximately 30 minutes and was held by a second-year student. It was very informal, but the student had a list of questions he had to stick to. 1. Tell me about yourself. 2. Why Tuck? 3. Why an MBA now? 4. Tell me a time when you had conflicts within […]

Dartmouth / Tuck MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Second-Year Student / On Campus

Questions asked: 1. Walk me through your resume. 2. Why MBA? 3. Why Tuck? 4. Tell me a time when you received feedback. What was it and how did you react to it? 5. Was there a time when you had to give feedback? Walk me through the situation. 6. What are your short-term and […]

Dartmouth Tuck Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Second-Year Student / Skype

The interview was blind and the interviewer had me walk him through my resume. Questions included: Why MBA? Why now? Why Tuck? What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses? What is your greatest professional achievement? Tell me about a time when you had to help someone achieve something. I told him my thoughts about the […]

Dartmouth Tuck Interview Questions & Report: Round 1 / Second-Year Student / Skype

I was invited to interview via skype. My interviewer was a 2nd-year student and he started off with speaking about himself. The questions I was asked are as follows (in no particular order): Run me through your resume. What has been your greatest professional achievement? Strengths and Weaknesses? Tell me about a time you had […]

Dartmouth Tuck Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Second-Year Student / Skype

20 minutes. Very standard questions. 1. Tell me about yourself. 2. Why MBA? 3. Why Tuck? 4. What is an ideal leader for you? 5. Tell me a time when you had conflicts within your team and how you handled that. 10 minutes. I asked two questions. 1. What is the most unexpected thing that […]

Dartmouth / Tuck MBA Interview Questions & Report: R2 / Second-year Student / On-Campus

Applicant-initiated interview on-campus. It was a pretty good interview; most of the questions were in line with my expectations. They really do turn it into a full day at Tuck, which I thought made a lot of sense (they are clearly aware that they’re at a relative disadvantage due to location, and know they really […]

Dartmouth / Tuck MBA Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Second-year student / On Campus

Interviewed as part of full day visit schedule. Other activities include a class visit, campus tour (led by a 1st year student), lunch with two 1st year students, and an info session with adcom members. Honestly, the interview was not even the most memorable part of the day for me. One thing you should keep […]

Tuck Q&As

Admissions Director Q&A: Luke Peña of the Dartmouth Tuck School of Business

Luke Peña is the Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.  Luke still vividly remembers the highs and lows of applying to business school 11 years ago. He cares deeply about reducing stress and anxiety for business school applicants, and regularly provides updates for applicants on the Tuck360 blog as […]

Admissions Director Q&A: Luke Anthony Peña of Dartmouth Tuck School of Business

Since 2017, Dartmouth Tuck‘s Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, Luke Anthony Peña, has developed and implemented strategies for recruiting, selecting, and enrolling MBA candidates who possess the greatest potential to become tomorrow’s wise leaders and contribute to and thrive in Tuck’s distinctly immersive learning community. Peña previously served as director of MBA admissions […]

Podcast Episode 17: Q&A with Tuck Admissions Director Luke Anthony Peña, Part II

We are thrilled to bring you Part II of our wide-ranging interview with Luke Anthony Peña, executive director of admissions and financial aid, on the admissions process at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. In Episode 16, Peña shared about his transition to Tuck from Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB). He also talked in great detail […]

Tuck LiveWire and DecisionWire

Academics

Faculty

Tuck’s 52 full-time faculty members teach MBA courses across 17 areas of expertise. The faculty also contribute to Tuck’s six centers, which study topics ranging from digital strategies to healthcare to energy. 

Curriculum

Tuck’s faculty members generally use a combination of lecture and discussion to convey course material.  Tuck’s small incoming classes of about 290 MBA students are each divided into four sections of 60 to 70 students who often work together throughout their Fall Term.  These sections are further divided into study groups of five to six students each.

The Tuck MBA program runs on a quarter schedule, with three terms of classes and a Summer Term reserved for internships.  Tuck’s pre-term, including the very popular and recently redesigned orientation program, called Tuck Launch, typically takes place across two weeks in mid to late August.  Formal orientation spans the last week in August, and first-year classes commence in the first week of September, one week before second-year classes start.  Fall examinations correspondingly occur at different times for first- and second-year students, though all conclude around mid-December.

The fall of students’ first year is further divided into Term A and Term B, and Term A courses and exams conclude in early October before Term B work begins.  In the spring, students complete the mandatory First-Year Project (FYP), a staple of the Tuck program that puts student’s comprehension of the first-year curriculum to the test through a five-student consulting project undertaken for real businesses.  Students may propose their own projects or pursue a number of cases provided by the school.

Tuck students take 14 required courses, including the FYP, and two electives in the first year and often satisfy the ethics and social responsibility mini-course core requirement in their second years.  Mini-courses are offered alongside full-term courses yet meet for fewer weeks.  In total, students must complete 41.5 credits in year one and 36 in year two, or 76.5 in order to graduate.

Second-year students have their choice of over 100 electives and must take a minimum of 12 full-term courses.  Tuck students do not have the option to pursue a major, but they can tailor their curriculum to specialize in areas such as finance and marketing.  Most second-year students pursue an independent study at Tuck, allowing them to work under two faculty members to explore diverse topics in their fields of interest.  Second-year students can also apply for the chance to spend a semester abroad at one of Tuck’s 20 international partner programs.

In addition, Tuck offers several unique learning opportunities, including its Research-to-Practice Seminars that let students weigh in on faculty members’ most up-to-date research.  MBA students can also undertake a field study course through the Tuck Global Consultancy, through which students spend four to six weeks performing on-site research and analysis of firms and NGOs internationally before presenting their findings to both U.S.-based and overseas senior management teams.  The Healthcare Initiative is another diverse aspect of the Tuck MBA, bringing resources and industry leaders from across Dartmouth and beyond to help Tuck students become thought leaders in the healthcare space.

Other MBA Degree Options

The Tuck School of Business offers only the MBA degree, and the only route for attaining it is the full-time, two-year program. However, Tuck does provide four joint-degree options within Dartmouth: the MD/MBA, MPH/MBA, MEM/MBA and PhD/ MBA. Five dual degrees—the MBA/MA, MBA/MALD, MBA/MELP, MBA/MPA, and MBA/MPP—are also offered in conjunction with other institutions in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. 

First-Year Curriculum

Fall A
Analytics I
Management Communication
Financial Accounting
Managing People
Managerial Economics

Fall B
Capital Markets
Analytics II
Crafting Strategy
Marketing

Winter
Corporate Finance
Global Economics for Managers
Electives

Spring
First-Year Project
Operations Management
Managing Organizations
Electives

Degree Offerings at Tuck

Full-time MBA
www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/mba/

Joint Degrees within Dartmouth College
MD/MBA, MPH/MBA, PhD/MBA, MEM/MBA
http://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/mba/academic-experience/joint-and-dual-degrees

Dual Degrees with other institutions
MBA/MA, MBA/MALD, MBA/MELP, MBA/MPA, MBA/MPP
http://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/mba/academic-experience/joint-and-dual-degrees

Campus Life

Clubs, Conferences & Competitions

Despite the school’s small size, Tuck students can engage in over 70 student groups on campus. Club focuses include professional, cultural and athletic interests. The school also supports a relatively large number of social interest and volunteering initiatives such as the Tuck Ambassador Program and Tuck Community Consulting. Students interested in event organizing and volunteering have opportunities both in the Hanover community, through events such as Run for the Kids, and more broadly through conferences such as the Women in Business Conference.

Each year, Tuck hosts a range of conferences; some notable examples are the Diversity Conference, the Business, Government & Society Conference, and the Private Equity Conference. MBA students can also take part in a number of competitions both within the school and on a national level. These include the Venture Capital Investment Competition, Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network Business Plan Competition, and the Negotiation Challenge, to name a few.

Campus Spaces

Dartmouth’s picturesque New England campus also houses the Tuck campus, which is comprised of 11 connected buildings. Three key academic buildings are the Murdough Center, Tuck Hall and Byrne Hall.  The school describes itself as having a “residential program,” and so its three residence halls are active places in which to build a community. Tuck students may opt to live in Dartmouth’s graduate housing or can choose to live in both on- and off-campus apartments; unlike at many other leading programs, many students choose to live on campus.

MBA Careers

Career Services

Career Services at Tuck offers students ample opportunities to investigate new careers and find leading management positions in line with their existing career interests. On-campus recruiting begins in the winter term for first-year students and in the fall for second-years. During this time the office hosts workshops and panels, job postings and company briefings, and it also organizes global career trips for student organizations with professional focuses on a particular industry or region.

Tuck students benefit from individual counseling from Career Advisers, who bring diverse experience from a range of industries to guide Tuck students in their career choices. In addition to alumni networking support, Tuck-specific resources are available for both full-time employment and internship seekers, such as the Maynard Entrepreneurial Internship Program. Students can also find nonprofit internship information and funding through Tuck GIVES and the Revers Board Fellows.

Career Statistics

Graduates of the Class of 2020 received on average a base salary of $143,867 in their post-MBA roles, with an average signing bonus of $34,171.  Forty-two percent of the class chose to work in consulting. Financial services followed with 21% of graduates, and technology drew 15% of the class.  The healthcare/pharma/biotech and consumer goods/retail industries drew 8% and 5% of the class, respectively, while another 3% of graduates went into manufacturing and 2% into government/non-profit/education.  The largest group of graduates, 46%, chose job functions in consulting, and 24% took finance positions.  The next most pursued post-MBA functions were marketing and general management at 12% and 10%, respectively.

Nearly half of all 2020 graduates took post-MBA positions in the Northeastern U.S., lending credence to the trend that graduates often find work in the region where their school is located.  The second highest percentage of Tuck graduates, 21%, opted to move to the West Coast, while 8% found employment internationally and the remainder spread out throughout the U.S.

Financing

Tuition for the Tuck MBA program is $77,520 for the 2020-2021 academic year.  However, the school notes that students will incur several other costs, such as expenses for books and supplies, room and board, and health and general spending.  Due to slight differences in estimated costs for first- and second-year students, the total estimated yearly cost for first-year students is $117,800 while the total cost for second-year students is placed at $116,932.

Applicants are automatically considered for Tuck scholarships upon submitting a completed application.  U.S. citizens and permanent residents can pay for their education through federal loans, and Tuck provides loan options that do not require a U.S. co-borrower for international applicants.

Cost of Attendance (Academic Year 2020-21, Class of 2022)

Tuition $77,520
Board $700
Books & Supplies $1,500
Housing
• On Campus $13,020
• Off Campus $15,742
Program Fee $3,567
Miscellaneous & Health Exp.
• On Campus $15,693
• Off Campus $18,771

Totals
On Campus $112,000
Off Campus $117,800

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