Tuck School of Business Essay Analysis 2021

Are you looking to do an MBA in General Management which will enhance your leadership skills? If your answer is yes, then the MBA program at Tuck School of Business will be the perfect choice for you. In that case, you have come to the right place because, in this article, we will be telling you how to go about drafting the Tuck MBA application essays!

Before we get into the Tuck essay analysis part, here are a few points that you need to know about the business school.

Getting things straight

Tuck School of Business is a graduate business school of Dartmouth College, which is an Ivy League research university in the US. So, Tuck has a really rich reputation that has lasted over many years.

Imparting knowledge the right way

Unlike other business schools, Tuck School of Business offers only the MBA program.

Thinking what is so great about it?

Since it is offering only the MBA program, all the professors invest their time and energy into making the one program the best for all the candidates. They offer their 100% into the MBA program.

What Tuck School of Business is looking for

Tuck is a really close-knit community. For the same reason, they look for candidates who are good team players. They want students who can work well in a community and help each other in times of need. You will understand this once you go through the essay questions that they have for you.

The business school is also looking for candidates who have good leadership potential. Prove to them that you have the skills required to be a successful leader and you can be closer to getting your Tuck MBA admit.

What’s in it for you

As mentioned earlier, Tuck is a really close-knit community – a community of 1000s of alumni across different countries. Once they know what you are from Tuck, they will help you with any guidance or professional help you require. And the business school ensures that year after year, the candidates carry forward this value.

Another point is, if you look at the Tuck program, they speak about General Management. It’s known for leadership and general management. That’s a very strong theme that comes with the program and if you see “The Center for Leadership” at Tuck, you will see that they have various concentrations where the largest department by far is Strategy and Management. Therefore, if you’re looking at general management, and developing your leadership skills, Tuck should be the place for you.

Tuck School of Business Essay Analysis 2021 

You need to answer three essay questions to complete your Tuck MBA application. You also have an optional essay. We will now look at the questions, how to go about answering them, and also the word limits that you need to keep in mind. 

If you look at the essay question closely, you will realize that they are looking for three answers here:

1. Your journey so far
2. Your reason to pursue an MBA
3. The reason for you to choose Tuck

When you talk about your journey, tell them about what you have been doing until this juncture in your life, of course with respect to your career. But look at a larger canvas and tell them about your plan for the future as well. This will include your post-MBA career goals. Without giving this information, it will be difficult for you to tell them why you decided to do an MBA and why you chose Tuck.

Once you have done this, there are two ways in which you can proceed with the essay. One way is to answer the next two questions separately and the other is to combine your answers for the two questions into a single paragraph.

When you answer the second question, you need to tell them what is that one thing that you do not possess now. It could be a skill that you want to pick up or clarity with respect to an industry or a function. You should be able to convince them that you will be able to possess it by doing an MBA.

Let us give you a few examples here. 

You could tell them that the education you have had so far has given you a unidimensional outlook whereas you want to create a multidimensional outlook. An MBA is what might help you get that. 

Another point could be that you are trying to create version 2.0 of yourself. By having so many new people from different cultures around you, you will be able to learn more and change your personality completely. But in this case, you need to give a solid reason as to why you want to change.

If your aim is to get the “Tuck brand” and build a network, you can say that as well. This could also be a huge reason for you to do an MBA.

Once you have given this part, you need to tell them why you want to do an MBA at Tuck and at no other business school. Here’s a mistake that you may want to avoid. Do not go to their website and pick up points from there to answer this part of the question. You don’t need to tell them what they already know.

Instead, give them a genuine answer. Are you applying to Tuck School of Business because of the small and concise class size? Tell them that. Are you applying to Tuck because of the group learning experience they offer? You can tell them that as well. Be genuine. Do not try to make up this answer. You will not be able to convince them.

As mentioned in the beginning, you have 300 words. You can utilize 100 words to give them your journey and your post-MBA goals. And then, use the 200 words to convince them about why you are doing an MBA and why you want to do it at Tuck.

Here’s a tip to writing this essay: Go to Tuck’s website and see what they have to say about their expectations from candidates.

But, be yourself.

What we mean to say is that you will come across the several points that they have mentioned on their website. But, don’t try to force-fit yourself. You should be able to naturally align with them and tell your story.

Let us make it easier for you.

Pick two adjectives that best describe your personality. Two adjectives that will tell them who you are.

Are you strategic? Are you someone who executes? Or are you a team player?

It could be anything. But make sure you pick two adjectives and give them a reason as to why you are so. They need to know that. It could be something to do with your childhood or your experiences. Just tell them honestly.

But don’t forget to tell them how you will contribute to the business school. If you look at the questions, the first question required you to tell them what you expect from Tuck, Whereas, in this essay, you need to tell them about your contribution to the business school.

Like the previous essay, you have 300 words. Once you pick two adjectives, utilize 150 words to explain each of it. Try to be clear when you draft this essay and use the word judiciously.

As you would have understood by now, at Tuck, they give a lot of importance to the community spirit. There are no two ways about it.

When you are answering this question, make sure you pick an incident in which you put an effort or you went out of your way to help someone. They have mentioned “not convenient or easy”. And, you need to tell such a story in which it wasn’t expected of you to help someone, but you did it because that is who you are.

You need to showcase your sense of empathy and compassion. Here are some examples:

1. You could have helped someone who you know personally; could be a relative or friend. But it should be something that you did. You should be able to tell them how you invested your time and energy.
2. You could have helped someone you did not know; could be through an NGO or it could even be someone related to the maid that comes to your house. 
3. If you are not able to get a personal story, tell them a professional story. It could be about how you helped your boss or your colleague. But remember, that it has to be deep.

Once you tell them the story, they need to know more about the person you helped and how you helped them succeed.

So, tell them the situation, what you had to do, what you did, what was the result and what did you learn from it. This is called the START framework:

S – SITUATION

T – Task

A – Action

R- Result

T – Takeaways

Even when you are following this framework, make sure that you humanize the essay. That’s the whole point. They are looking for that human element.

You can spend about 50 words to describe each of the elements in the framework. You can utilize the rest of the words for the introduction and conclusion of the essay. 

Answer this essay, if there is something particular that you want to explain. If not, we would suggest that you don’t answer this. You already have three solid essays.

Tuck School of Business MBA Application Deadlines

If you really want to get into Tuck School of Business, you might want to keep these deadlines in mind. Moreover, with these deadlines, you can now plan your MBA application process better.