“Walk Me Through Your Resume” — My Interview at Dartmouth’s Tuck School

So after my hellish day yesterday of a sub-par yet improved GMAT score, I drove 4 hours up to Hanover, NH to my hotel for my Tuck interview today.

I woke up in the morning and got ready and had to figure out how to get from White River Junction, VT, to Hanover, NH, which turned out to be only a 15-minute ride.  The weather was gloomy, but that was ok because it wasn’t going to put a damper on me being at Tuck.

I arrived at Tuck about 30 minutes before my the class visit/campus tour began and couldn’t find parking right near campus but luckily I had given myself enough time to figure out where to park.  So I drove to the parking lot and waited for the campus shuttle to arrive.

I went into the admissions reception area and waited.  I wanted to sit in the same seat that I sat in the last time I visited, but had no such luck.  That spot was taken!  The atmosphere was much different from the last time I visited.  When I visited in March there were not as many applicants doing their interviews, which makes sense since it was R4 when I visited last. There were about 12 of us in the reception area.  Some people in the group already had their interviews for the day but most of us had later interviews.

Ok so the format was identical to my last visit.  The first item on the agenda was a class visit.  I sat in a Leading Organizations class, which was very insightful.  It was a T’12 (first year) class.  This class session went over organizational hierarchy and when one would know that it’s not functioning properly and how to remedy the issue…essentially.  Of course there’s more to it but I was too busy observing the students.  Different from the last class visit, these students didn’t have their laptops open.  I guess you don’t really need a laptop open to discuss organizational hierarchy, whereas the last time I sat in on an accounting class and I guess students’ kind of need their spreadsheets on hand.

In any event, after the class visit, it was lunch with a student.  We didn’t sit in the main section of Byrne hall but we sat in the Executive section, which is an offshoot from Byrne hall.  Sandwiches, brownies, cookies, chips, and soda are things we ate.  While sitting here with the student I only asked one question and let the other folks get their questions in.  The question I had pertained to something that I heard from an admissions officer at the Tuck Reception in September.  The element I speak of is becoming a larger part of my “Why Tuck” answers, and I wanted to get some clarification from the student about it.

T’11 (meaning he will graduate in 2011) was more than willing to offer any information about Tuck that he could.  He exuded campus pride and it was obvious that he loved being there….Classroom…. Classroom…. Student Residences (which are still amazing)…gym…..dining hall… etc. Like I said… Same buildings that I’ve seen before.  (I can give that campus tour!  😉

So then after that was the Admissions Q&A… I could only stay for this section for about 10 minutes because I wanted to go back to the reception area to look over my resume again before my interview.  I knew going into it that the interviewer would have only seen my resume, so I made sure that I know it back and forth.  I recommend that everyone do this because you may have forgotten things you did back in 2005 or so and you will definitely be asked to ‘Walk me through your resume,’ which was the first question I was asked by the T’11 student interviewer.

The interview itself was very conversational and I didn’t feel nervous at all.  I got tripped up on one thing because I had never been asked it before so I didn’t have an example readily available, but that’s alright because he wasn’t trying stump me or trick me he was just curious, but I got through it.  All in All I give my interview an A, but then again from what I heard all of the prospectives students who interviewed today would probably give themselves the same grade!

After my interview I met up with a Tuckie whom I’ve been conversing with since March of last year during my visit.  I needed his help with one of my essays and he was glad to do so.  I will explain more in the coming months, what I needed his help with, but for now just know that he helped me.

Then I had about 3 hours to kill before meeting with another Tuckie whom I met last year and have also kept in contact with.  I drove around Hanover and the surrounding towns, looking for a Burger King.  I was craving Chicken Fries, but much to no avail, I did not find one!  I also bought a $15 sweater in the Gap.  Funny story about this… So I have a Tuck T-shirt from an information session I attended the day of my first GMAT Exam on May 8th.  I was wearing it after I left campus and was driving around and walking around Hanover.  (Wearing the T-shirt had something to do with my essay… don’t ask..)  Anyway I was in the Gap looking for a maroon/red sweater for my trip up to Cornell.  When I got to the register the woman said “Do you want to save 30% today by opening up a card?”  I said “Yes to the first question of saving 30% but no to opening up a card because in the long run it will end up costing me more than 30%.”  She laughed and said “…You Tuck students are always calculating money.”

So then I went back to campus to meet up with my friend in the dining hall. We met at 6 in Stell hall and then walked over for coffee.  We talked about everything under the sun.  His internship… my application process… his living situation. Then, about 45 minutes into it, another Tuckie whom I’ve only spoken to on the phone about digital marketing showed up and sat with us.  It was nice to meet her in person. We talked for another 30 minutes and then he had to go to class and I had to hit the road to come back to good old Manhattan.

I just got home not to long ago… and now I’m lying in bed…  My rental car has to be back by 2pm tomorrow but since I parked on the street across from my building I have to move it by 8am.  I think I’m going to pack up some of my belongings and drive them home – since I’m moving back home to Jersey next week.  In order to get that done and stay on that schedule I have to be up in 5 hours.  No worries though… the only things I have to do tomorrow are unpack my things from my Dartmouth trip… iron… steam… repack… and then be at the Cornell Club by 6 so I can catch the bus up to Cornell for Johnson Means Business.

This report is adapted from Richard Battle-Baxter’s blog posts at “Ellipsing My Way…To Business School.”

Previous posts by Richard at Poets&Quants:

Should You Hire an MBA Consultant?

Study for the GMAT or Polish Off an Essay?

Am I Really Cut Out For This?

My First Round Applications Are Looking Elusive

A Frustrating Day and Night on GMAT Prep

Having Trouble Hitting the Submit Button

It’s Nearly Midnight. Where Are All My Friends?

“Why An Admissions Consultant Objected To My Essay on Coming Out”

“Brain Racing at 4 a.m. Thinking About Business School”

“After Scoring a 620 on My GMAT, I Want To Die”