Meet Dartmouth Tuck’s MBA Class Of 2025

THE SIMPLE LIFE

Leen Ajlouni has equally enjoyed being “tucked away” in Hanover. For her, the wide space and easy pace has enabled her to engage in self-reflection. If you ask alumni about Hanover, they’ll probably describe it in terms related to Stars Hollow, the fictional setting for the Gilmore Girls TV show – “small town, homey charm” in the words of “23 grad Sam Haws. He loves how timeless Hanover is, how students get to know the people who run the restaurants and shops – and how they make the effort to remember students’ names and learn about them. Haws’ classmate, Carly Wolberg, was equally smitten with Hanover.

“I love getting breakfast at Lou’s Restaurant in the center of town, grabbing a pint at Murphy’s after classes, or going on runs through some of the beautiful trails around town. I have personally loved leaning into this small-town feel for my two years at Tuck. Also, this Carolina-gal is very appreciative of living in a town that knows how to manage and operate in snow and quickly plows the roads (and sidewalks!).”

Hanover’ population – roughly 9,000 people – is also conducive to bumping into classmates, faculty, and staff. Abby Rohman, a ’23 alum, says one way she built relationships was through 15-25-mile community bike rides organized by Professor Leslie Robinson.

“Every week brings new participants: students, staff, professors, alumni, partners, etc. Professor Robinson is passionate about engaging her students outside of the classroom setting and encouraging us to explore the Upper Valley. On these rides, I’ve met students in other class years, received career advice from alumni, and have occasionally discussed accounting concepts with Professor Robinson!”

A CLASS PROFILE

The Tuck School also differentiates itself by focusing exclusively on the full-time MBA program. Everything is channeled into the traditional MBA population, which means there aren’t any undergraduates, executive MBAs, or online MBAs siphoning off resources or access to faculty. That means the 297 members of the Class of 2025 are the center of attention. As a whole, women comprise 44% of the class, with international and U.S. minorities holding 33% and 32% of class shares respectively. The class includes citizens from 40 different countries and the largest portions of the international cohort come from Asia and Latin America.

The Class of 2025 aren’t just bringing themselves to Hanover. Nearly a third of the class has partners and another 5% are parents. First generation students account for 19% of the class. Another 10% identifies as LGBTQ+.

Admissions-wise, the Class of 2025 averaged a 726 on the GMAT. That’s equal to the previous class, with scores ranging from 630-800. 42% of the class submitted GRE scores. Here, the class posted 161 averages in both the Verbal and Quant sections. The class undergraduate GPA came in at 3.49, with 2.70 being the floor and 4.0 being the ceiling. Academically, the class holds degrees in 73 different majors. The Humanities again enjoyed the highest representation in the class at 40%. Business and STEM majors accounted for 28% and 25% of the class (including dual majors). As a whole, the class graduated from 181 higher educational institutions, including 69 from overseas. In addition, 13% of the class holds advanced degrees.

By the same token, the class brings 69 months of work experience on average, derived from working at 261 different employers. Financial Services professionals lead the way at 22% of the class, followed by Consulting (17%), Non-Profit and Government (16%), and Technology (15%). The remainder of the class hails from Consumer Goods, Healthcare, Energy, Manufacturing, and Media and Entertainment.

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE SENIOR ASSOCIATE DEAN

The arrow has been pointing up for Tuck in 2023-2024. The school ranked 3rd in both the Bloomberg Businessweek and LinkedIn MBA ranking. The school also performed well in surveys targeting students and alumni. In the 2023 Princeton Review survey, respondents gave Tuck’s campus environment the 3rd-highest score (and Top 10 for faculty). When The Financial Times released its alumni survey results in February, Tuck ranked 2nd and 9th for the effectiveness of their Alumni Network and Career Services respectively. Better still, Tuck respondents averaged a 9.724 Satisfaction score on a 10-point scale – one of the highest scores in the world.

What else do prospective students need to know about Tuck? Last fall, P&Q reached out to Joe Hall, the school’s senior associate dean for teaching and learning. Here is what applicants can expect in the coming year.

P&Q: What have been the two most important developments in your MBA program over the past year? What type of impact will they have on current and future MBAs?

Hall: “In the last year, Tuck has introduced numerous innovations that will impact both current and future students, but there are two, in particular, that I want to highlight. The first is Tuck Compass—a new system of integrated programs to inspire and empower Tuck students to chart their path to, through, and beyond the two-year MBA journey with even greater intentionality.

Tuck Compass consists of three primary components that were piloted by Tuck students and alumni last academic year: a Personal Board of Advisers, the Pathways App (a digital tool that will help students track their engagement at Tuck), and co-curricular and curricular capstones. It was rolled out to the class of 2025 this August and to the class of 2024 later in the fall. So far, the response has been tremendous, and we are excited to see how students use this new suite of tools to enhance their MBA experience.

The second is a host of exciting developments within the curriculum. As we shared last year, a recent innovation at Tuck is the addition of new course types, including Tuck Sprints. Sprints, which offer students and faculty the chance to explore a timely subject, have proven invaluable as they allow us to quickly stand up a course on a topic, making it easier to be innovative and responsive.

We have also added an increasing number of electives to ensure that our students can truly customize their path at Tuck and explore the topics they are most interested in. Recent electives added to the Tuck curriculum investigate issues in the global food system, what it takes to finance the clean energy economy, health care analytics, and more.

Professors are also constantly innovating pedagogically. Over the last year, we have seen fascinating experiments from Tuck professors in the classroom with AI and AR/VR, including Professors Ramon Lecuona Torras and Giovanni Gavetti who have made AR/VR a staple of Tuck’s core Strategy course. Every first-year Tuck student now gets hands-on experience with VR in their first months on campus.

Tuck’s ability to cover a broad range of topics is second to none. Whether core or elective, we are constantly updating and reinventing our courses, taking timeless concepts and setting them in a new timely context.”

P&Q: Give us your one-minute pitch for your business school. What makes you unique?

Hall: “Tuck offers an MBA experience unlike any other—one that is personal, connected, and transformative.

Our immersive, trust-based, and data-informed learning environment gives students the skills they need to lead effectively in whatever industry they choose. Tuck’s accessible faculty are skilled scholar-educators who expertly lead students through our foundational first-year core curriculum and a rich collection of second-year electives, independent studies, and more. Beyond the classroom, co-curricular opportunities abound allowing students to tailor the Tuck experience to their specific interests.

Our scale and location foster deep connections and support a culture of co-investment among students, faculty, and staff, leading to a close-knit community that affords students the comfort to challenge themselves and take risks. Relationships students build during their two years in Hanover bolster the most effective and responsive alumni network in the world, benefiting Tuck graduates long after they have earned their MBA. Our talented and well-resourced Career Services team gets to intimately know students and their career journey, allowing MBA candidates to customize their career pathway.

No matter your personal or professional goals, Tuck offers the resources, support, and community that will set you on the path to achievement.”

P&Q: Sustainability has emerged as a major attraction to prospective MBA students. How does your full-time MBA program integrate sustainability across its curriculum?

Hall: “Sustainability, and the broader impact of climate change, is undoubtedly a driving force for many of today’s MBA students. To that end, Tuck offers numerous opportunities to engage with these issues in and out of the classroom.

Starting with Tuck’s core curriculum, sustainability is woven through many of our foundational courses, such as Managerial Economics which explores the idea of carbon taxes and cap and trade systems, and the core Marketing course, which recently introduced a section on sustainable marketing. Students can also explore sustainability in their first year through the First-Year Project, which sees students applying the lessons they learned in the classroom to real-world business challenges presented by clients. There are ESG-focused projects available each year and students always have the option to delve into a particular interest by self-sourcing their project.

An array of elective courses allows interested students to examine sustainability and climate change more deeply. Elective courses currently offered related to sustainability include Business and Climate Change, Financing the Clean Energy Economy, Sustainable Marketing, ESG investment Fund Practicum, Business and Society, and more. Students can also explore sustainability abroad through the Bakala TuckGO program. In December, a group of Tuck students traveled to France to learn more about sustainability in the French agriculture sector.

In a co-curricular setting, Tuck offers a host of resources for students interested in sustainability, primarily through the Revers Center for Energy, Sustainability and Innovation and student-run clubs. Through the Revers Center—which was recently invigorated by a new $4.5 million gift from Tuck alumnus and Center namesake Daniel Revers—students can participate in a host of experiential learning opportunities, case competitions, career treks, engage with practitioners in the field, and more. Each year, Tuck also sponsors a delegation of students to attend the UN Climate Change Conference (COP), giving our MBA candidates direct exposure to the leaders at the forefront of climate policy. In the lead up to the COP conference, a new Sprint course explores the topic of climate change negotiations.

All of this combines into a robust set of offerings for any student interested in energy, sustainability, and the impact of climate change.”

P&Q: What are some key elements in your teaching of leadership? What types of options does your school offer that deepens student experience with leadership and makes them more competitive in the marketplace?

Hall: “We at Tuck have a distinct definition of leadership: the ability to craft a compelling vision for the future and to guide its execution with and through other people. We also seek to develop specific kinds of leaders—wise, decisive leaders.

Leadership development at Tuck starts on day one of Tuck Launch and continues across every facet of our MBA experience. Students explore the tenets of leadership in the classroom, through co-curricular engagement, from their peers, and during experiential learning opportunities that offer invaluable real-world experience.

In the classroom, from core courses like Managing People to electives like Professor Ella Bell Smith’s Leadership Out of the Box, students develop the skills necessary to lead in a modern business environment and a personal understanding of their own strengths and value as a leader. Students also have numerous opportunities to gain real world, hands-on leadership experience through courses like the First-Year Project—where teams of Tuck students apply their classroom learnings to complex business strategy issues for real clients.

We also recognize that the most impactful business leaders today have a global perspective and can successfully navigate different cultures, economies, and industries. Thus, Tuck students are required to take at least one immersive, experiential course in a country that is new to them during their MBA experience through the Bakala TuckGO program.

Beyond the classroom, numerous leadership opportunities are open to students through co-curricular engagements—including clubs, centers, the Tuck student board, and much more. Tuck’s six centers not only give students the chance to dive into industries they are interested in, but also offer a host of unique, valuable leadership opportunities like the Nonprofit Board Fellows Program from Tuck’s Center for Business, Government & Society. The program connects second-year Tuck MBA candidates with local nonprofits and the students participate as non-voting board members, applying their business skills to help aid the Upper Valley community while learning directly about organizational governance.

Through Tuck Compass, students also have access to a Personal Board of Advisors, which includes a leadership coach. With their coach, students have one-on-one sessions that help them identify their leadership aspirations, home in on their strengths and challenges, and create a plan to put their learning into practice through curricular and co-curricular opportunities.

No matter the industry they choose upon graduation, Tuck MBAs are prepared to lead. Our graduates have the requisite skills and a great understanding of who they are as a leader. This sets them up for success individually, while also making them incredibly adept at creating inclusive spaces where everyone can thrive.”

P&Q: Two years ago, P&Q asked you to share how you’ve integrated AI, STEM, analytics, and digital disruption into your programming. Since then, what types of enhancements have you made in these areas?

Hall: “The focus on STEM topics continues to expand, and we have also all seen first-hand how quickly a new technology can capture the public’s imagination with the growth of interest in generative AI over the last year.

These topics move quickly, sometimes at a speed that traditional higher education is not accustomed to. That’s where our new course type that I mentioned before—Tuck Sprint Courses—comes in. Thanks to the speed with which Sprint courses can be produced, our professors have the flexibility to explore zeitgeist topics in the middle of an academic year.

Tuck Professor Alva Taylor did just that last spring with his Sprint course, Generative AI and the Future of Work, at the height of the world’s fascination with ChatGPT and other GenAI tools. We expect to further employ the format as new technologies emerge to give our students the opportunity to dig into a concept that will very likely impact their post-Tuck careers.

Further within the curriculum, we continue to offer the Management Science and Quantitative Methods Option and have added several new courses focused on AI/STEM/analytics including AI for Managers which provides broad exposure to how AI is used for different business tasks: marketing, product strategy, revenue management, operations, and more. Students take the viewpoint of a manager or consultant who must understand and offer advice on a wide range of AI topics relevant to a variety of business needs. Also, as I mentioned above, our professors continue to find new ways to bring these technologies into their teaching, showing students the vast number of possible applications and giving them hands-on experience.

Outside the curriculum, Tuck’s Glassmeyer/McNamee Center for Digital Strategies remains a crucial resource for students interested in any tech path. This fall, recognizing the outsized impact AI has had on the tech sector in 2023, the Center collaborated with colleagues across Dartmouth to host the first-ever Dartmouth AI Conference. The conference brought together visionaries, thought leaders, and industry experts to discuss pressing issues, spark insightful conversations, and inspire actionable change.”

Next Page: In-depth profiles of 11 MBA students.

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