Meet Dartmouth Tuck’s MBA Class of 2017

Dale Kim

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College

Hometown: New York, NY

Undergraduate School and Major (Include Graduate School if Relevant): New York University, Stern School of Business, BS in Finance

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

The Blackstone Group, Private Equity Operations Analyst

Melee Media, Co-Founder

Recalling your own experience, what advice do you have for applicants who are preparing for either the GMAT or the GRE?  Since the GMAT exam’s difficulty is computer adaptive, you can hit your target scores yet will always still feel as if you still lost a 12-round fight to Joe Lewis. It’s easy to become a little obsessed with trying to “beat” the GMAT. Don’t try, you can’t. So with that in mind, target your problem areas to achieve a nice, balanced score, but don’t lose your friends, sleep and happiness while doing so.

Based on your own selection process, what advice do you have for applicants who are trying to draw up a list of target schools to which to apply? Think honestly about what components of an MBA program are most important to you. If recruiting is your top priority, ask the career development offices for a list of their top recruiting companies. Additionally, some of your target firms may list their “core” MBA programs on their websites.

For me, school culture and community were important so I traveled around and met with as many students and alums as possible from the different programs. After a good number of lunch tabs, I learned a ton about the programs and, perhaps more importantly, got a feel for personality types.

What advice do you have for applicants in actually applying to a school, writing essays, doing admission interviews, and getting recommenders to write letters on your behalf? It’s likely that you’ll be relying on a lot of friends, family members, and colleagues for help. And it gets tough asking so many people for favors – introductions, advice, essay feedback, etc. I’ve found that as long as you stay humble and effectively communicate both your appreciation and the importance of their contributions, people will always be happy to help. This is fundamental, but so often overlooked.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? I tend to gravitate towards extremes. After living in New York City for 10 years, I faced the interesting choice of either moving overseas to another very global city, or moving five hours north to a dreamy, Robert Frostian, New England mountain escape.

I visited Tuck for an admitted students weekend and was met by an unforgettably warm community of students, faculty and administration members. I felt plugged into the community the moment I arrived. I committed to Tuck the night I returned to New York, and I’ve never questioned the decision since.

Oh, and the world class facilities, school heritage, active alumni network, high-caliber faculty, curated student body, and Thursday night canoe rides to a cabin on an island played a factor too.

What would you ultimately like to achieve before you graduate? I would like to achieve the following: To broaden my interests to unexpected functional practices and industries; To have a meaningful one-on-one connection with every member of my class’ To start a Tuck boxing club; and to help at least a few undergrads make sense of their career aspirations.