It Was Much Harder To Get Into Dartmouth Tuck’s MBA Program This Year. Here’s Why

It was a lot harder to get into Dartmouth College’s business school this year — which is saying something, since it’s never not hard to earn admission to an Ivy League B-school.

But the difficulty level went up a couple of notches at the Tuck School of Business in the 2023-2024 MBA application cycle, in large part because so many quality candidates threw their hats in the ring.

The Hanover, New Hampshire B-school received the most applications in the school’s long and storied history — by far. Tuck, a top-5 MBA program in the United States, set a new school record with 2,734 apps to the MBA Class of 2026, up more than 36% from the previous cycle’s 2,009 and better by 11% than the 2,463 applications to join the Class of 2023, when the coronavirus pandemic boosted most schools’ numbers amid a shattered economy. The bottom line: Despite Tuck admitting 5.7% more applicants this fall than last year (for a total of 852, up from 806), the school’s acceptance rate dropped to 31.2%, down from more than 40% last year.

GMAT, GRE & GPA OF TUCK MBA CLASSES, 2022-2026

Test Scores & GPAs	Class of 2026	Class of 2025	Class of 2024	Class of 2023	Class of 2022
Average GMAT	727	726	726	724	720
GMAT Range	650-780	630-800	610-790	600-780	590-780
GMAT Verbal Average	42	42	42	42	41
GMAT Verbal Range	32-51	31-51	34-51	34-51	32-51
GMAT Quant Average	48	48	48	48	47
GMAT Quant Range	42-51	39-51	39-51	39-51	38-51
GMAT IR Average	7	7	7.0	7.0	7.0
GRE Verbal Average	161	161	162	162	161
GRE Verbal Range	150-169	152-170	150-170	149-170	32-51
GRE Quant Average	161	161	162	162	159
GRE Quant Range	148-170	149-170	150-170	152-170	149-169
% Submitting GRE Scores	46%	42%	38%	37%	39%
GPA Average	3.6	3.49	3.52	3.54	3.48
GPA Range	2.95-3.99	2.70-4.00	2.70-4.00	2.60-4.00	2.60-4.00

Source: Dartmouth Tuck

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‘ECONOMIC SHIFTS,’ OTHER FACTORS BOOST APP VOLUME

Tuck joins Yale SOM and Duke Fuqua as top-10 U.S. B-schools reporting big turnarounds in MBA applications after years of declines. Lawrence Mur’ray, executive director of admissions and financial aid, points to a variety of factors, “including market trends, economic shifts, and industry layoffs. Despite these challenges, Tuck has remained committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive environment for all applicants.

“Post-pandemic, we’ve prioritized maximizing engagement through diverse modalities. We’ve expanded our virtual outreach, increased our presence at global MBA admissions events, and provided more opportunities for candidates to visit campus. This multifaceted engagement has allowed more applicants to experience Tuck’s unique value and align it with their professional and personal aspirations.

“Additionally, we’ve worked to reduce barriers to applying, such as by expanding fee waivers and offering test waiver requests,” Mur’ray tells Poets&Quants. “These enhancements are aimed at attracting applicants who deeply resonate with Tuck’s mission and values, and who will thrive in our close-knit, transformative community.”

GMAT AVERAGE & GPA HIT NEW HIGHS

The flood of apps was not the only reason Tuck was more selective in 2023-2024. Test scores were a big factor, too.

Tuck’s new MBA class set a school record with an average Graduate Management Admission Test score of 727, up from 726 in the previous two intakes. Like many schools in the U.S. and globally, Tuck separates scores from the old version of the GMAT and the GMAT Focus, the new test that became the official version at the beginning of this year for which scores are lower because of a different scoring system. Old scores are good for five years after the test is taken, however, and in 2023-2024 they constituted the vast majority of scores that Tuck received; in fact, a spokesperson tells P&Q, Tuck received so few Focus scores that the school’s admissions team did not bother averaging them to calculate a separate data point, something that will doubtless change in coming cycles.

Besides GMAT average, undergraduate GPA average rose to a new recent high: 3.6, up from 3.49 last year and topping the 3.54 reported by the Class of 2023. It is the highest class GPA going back at least to 2018. Tuck’s selectivity this year was further reflected in the ranges of GMAT scores and GPAs, both of which saw their lower end rise to new highs (see table above).

CLASS IS 44% WOMEN & 15% URM

Of the 296 students comprising Tuck’s new MBA class (down one seat from last fall), 30% are international, down from 33% in the Class of 2025 and 32% in the Class of 2024. Forty-one countries are represented by citizenship in the class.

Among U.S. students, 29% represent a U.S. minority, down from 32%; 15% are underrepresented minorities, chiefly Black and Hispanic students, up from 12%.

The class is 44% women, same as last year. Fifteen percent of the class are the first in their family to graduate from a four-year college or university, down from 19% last year but still up from 11% in the MBA Class of 2024. Seven percent identify as LGBTQ+, down from 10%.

Thirty-two percent have come to Tuck’s New Hampshire campus with partners, same as last year, and 4% brought their children, down from 5%.

‘MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 2026 CHECK EVERY BOX’

There was no radical change in the pre-MBA industries of the class compared with the students who are now in their second year at Tuck, except in one particular: Consulting became the top industry, with 25% of the class, up from 17%. Other top industries: financial services (23%, up from 22%), technology (13%, down from 15% but up from 10% in 2022), and healthcare (9%, up from 6%).

Students in the 2026 class come to Tuck from 231 unique employers (down from 262, itself an explosion from 232 in 2022). On average, they worked 69 months prior to joining Tuck, same as last year.

The number of undergraduate majors shrank from 76 two years ago to 73 last year to 63 this year. Represented in the class are 178 undergrad institutions (107 domestic). Those with STEM majors in undergrad grew to 26% of the class from 25%; business majors are down to 26% from 28%; and humanities majors grew to 46% from 40%.

“The academic experience at Tuck is intentionally designed to challenge students in a trust-based environment and foster transformative personal development,” Lawrence Mur’ray says. “Tuck MBA candidates need strong intellectual aptitude, but just as important, they should be ready to stretch their horizons, explore new ideas, and invest in the interdependent success of their classmates. The members of the class of 2026 check every box.

“One of the best things about pursuing an MBA is the incredible opportunity to not only learn from renowned scholar-teachers, but also a group of peers with critical knowledge to share. Having a multitude of professional backgrounds and lived experiences represented in each Tuck class offers students the chance to learn from their cohort and expand their perspectives.

“Our students bring their full selves to campus and enrich the entire community in countless ways,” Mur’ray adds. “We look forward to learning more about the phenomenal 2026 class, hearing their stories, and seeing the indelible mark they make on our school.”

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