We've seen an increasing number of candidates interested in Dartmouth's Tuck school. Tuck doesn't constrain you to a word limit, but has suggested a 500 word estimate. You can go higher in one or two essays, especially the first one, but try and stick to that benchmark for the rest. Here are our essay tips for this admission year:
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?
- Very similar to many other school's goal essays - set the context with your background, explain your goals in a meaningful, substantive manner, and then integrate Tuck's offerings into your vision
- Remember, this is an essay about you, not about Tuck - so anything that you mention about the school must be tied into your story and your goals
Discuss your most meaningful leadership experience. What did you learn about your own individual strengths and weaknesses through this experience?
- Describe just one experience - it can be a challenging opportunity that came your way, a career milestone, or a personal or community experience
- A leadership experience doesn't have to be one where you came out a winner - it can be a situation in which you experienced a very big challenge, part of which you were able to overcome, with other parts that didn't go so well - that is why the question asks both for your strengths and weaknesses
- Please, do not use spun-around-strengths like "perfectionism" or "taking too much work on my plate" in the weaknesses section.
Describe a circumstance in your life in which you faced adversity, failure, or setback. What actions did you take as a result and what did you learn from this experience?
- A failure or setback or adversity essay must expose you - and your vulnerabilities. This is not about how you created a problem and then owned up to it or fixed it.
- It can be a bad situation that was dealt to you, or something that you did that resulted in a failure or setback, or a time when you chased something that you just weren't good enough for
- To answer the "actions" piece, don't try to recreate the situation and explain what you did the next time around; what the reader wants to know is, after the failure, what did you do because of it - did you try again? Did you make amends? Did you apologize or forgive someone or give up on something?
- Please, do not try to show anyone else in a negative light in this essay - e.g., someone stepped on your toes or acted politically etc. - this just reflects immaturity on your part
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?
- Diversity is not just about where you're from - diversity can be derived from your specific story - your experience that make you unique to the classroom and community
- So, if you're a Caucasian male who has spent three years in a consulting firm, your "diversity" can be from something that's a tradition or value that's been in your family for years, a sporting experience that shaped you, a community that you are tied to that you will bring to campus with you, etc.
