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The 2014-2015 Tuck School of Business Application
Following last year’s trend, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University reduced their number of required essays this year from three to two, with each essay not to exceed 500 words.
2014-2015 Application Dates
The key application dates for this year’s application cycle at Tuck will be as follows:
Early Action Round: Applications due October 8, 2014
Round 1: Applications due November 5, 2014
Round 2: Applications due January 6, 2015
Round 3: Applications due April 1, 2015
***Round 1 Consortium: Applications due October 15, 2014
***Round 2 Consortium: Applications due January 5, 2015
Admissions Essays
The changes we see on this year’s application are set to focus applicant’s and the admissions board’s time and efforts on the parts that they have found to be most impactful. For this reason, the first big change that we see in the Tuck’s application is that first-time applicants are required to answer only two essay questions.
Each essay question should be no longer than 500 words. With a mere 1000 words for applicants to justify their reason and purpose for admission, applicants should be extremely judicious in their word choice and the message of their essay. The essay questions will appear on the application as they do below.
Essay 1. Why is an MBA a critical next step toward your short- and long-term career goals? Why is Tuck the best MBA fit for you and your goals and why are you the best fit for Tuck?
Essay 2. Tell us about your most meaningful leadership experience and what role you played. What did you learn about your own individual strengths and weaknesses through this experience?
Essay 3. (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.
Essay 4. (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.
The minimization of Tuck’s essay requirement can be seen as either good or bad for each candidate. First, there is no doubt that writing two essays may be less time consuming that writing three or four essays. Additionally, the essay prompt is a very run-of-the-mill Why Tuck?/Why now?/Why you? setup, meaning that the majority of your response may be something that you have already thought about – not just for Tuck but for other MBA programs as well. However, because there are only two essay questions, there may be more pressure for applicants to differentiate themselves in their application, resume, recommendation, and interview. In addition, applicants will need to be able to make a very strong case for their goals in the essay in order to differentiate themselves as best as possible.
Although it may be very tempting to use the optional essay to provide extra evidence for the committee to admit you, we generally advise that you resist unless the optional essay will explain a very specific detail about your candidacy that was not evident elsewhere.
Besides academic excellence, which is generally discernable from transcripts and test scores, Tuck has stated that they look for several key qualities in future members of the Tuck community. These qualities include demonstrated accomplishments, demonstrated leadership, strong interpersonal skills, diversity of background and experience, and a global mindset. When addressing the essay portion of the application, keep in mind that your responses and your application in whole should reflect these qualities as well.
Additional Required Materials
In addition to the essay portion of the application, Tuck requires that all applicants submit copies of all official transcripts, GRE or GMAT scores (note that the application requires only the highest score; however, there is room on the application to report two scores), a resume, two confidential statements of qualifications (CSQ) from two different recommenders (professional recommenders, one of which should ideally be a current supervisor. In fact, Tuck strongly discourages applicants from using professors as recommenders), a valid TOEFL score for applicants whose first language is not English, and an application fee.