I'm long over due for a lengthy post; unfortunately, I don't think this is going to be that catch up I owe you. Since I last posted, I've devoted myself to the Tuck application and interview process. I'll give you a couple of quick highlights before diving into more depth (or at least hoping to come back to it). So here we go...
Tuck application is almost complete. I've had a number of people I trust read over my Tuck application, including the Tuckie who interviewed me last year. At this point, I have on essay to go. Everything else is teed up and ready to rip. The one essay is giving me some real trouble though. It's ok, I still have time.
Now that I'm confident that one application is almost done, I've spread my focus. This weekend I knocked out first drafts of my Haas reapplication, excluding the what I've done to learn about Haas essay. I'm not as confident in that one because I've spoken to a number of people but that's about it. I suppose I've also been poking around their YouTube channel and listening to podcasts but those don't hold as much weight in my mind. Anyway, Haas is on it's way. I've also started on Booth. The Tuck material fit nicely into this application once I had my positioning down. I know a second year there who gave me some motivation and feel fairly confident I'm heading down the right path. Not sure I mentioned this previously, but I did get an interview at Booth last year which also gives me some hope. UCLA is still untouched. Oh well, I can't be everywhere at once right?
My recommendations are now out. I've had one follow up conversation that went very well. I'm hoping to get in front of the others this week. I've prepared a three pager about my positioning, the overlapping questions and specific examples for each recommender. I've also given them two essays (career goals and what I bring to Tuck) and my resume. Hopefully this will make the process painless for them and supporting of my positioning. I'm confident in their ability to write positive and helpful recommendations. Helpful is the key; anyone can write a positive rec but it must reenforce your positioning to really work for you.
So that leaves me with the Tuck interview. I've realized through this process that I am a morning person. I'm most productive and efficient in the morning. With that, I scheduled my interview for 9:15. It worked well for me, avoided the traffic and arrived after watching the sunrise over the foothills. It was a great way to start the day. I met up with a Tuckie I'd been in contact with for roughly the past year. Ironically, he was actually slated to interview me. Of course, that wouldn't be fair (nor would his additional letter of support be as impactful) so he didn't have the liberty. Instead, I lucked out with another Tuckie who I felt I connected with. Now the important part: the interview was very informal and conversational. It seemed to go fairly smooth, hitting the typical Tuck interview questions:
- Walk me through your resume
- Why MBA, why Tuck, why now? / this led to career goals and how to achieve them
- Team experience
- Difficult team
- What I'd do at Tuck/excites me about Tuck
- Questions for Tuckie
I actually think that was it. I also fit in some global, leadership experiences. Also got to explain how my background is application, which I think was pretty convincing. It seemed to go by very quickly and at the end of it, I didn't really want it to end. As I learned last year, you'll never check off everything you wanted to during the interview. And that's OK. Overall, it was a great experience. I highly recommend having your interview earlier than later. I then went to class, toured the campus, had lunch with students and through it all I felt relaxed. Since Tuck is all about the community and experience I found it's easier to absorb it when you're not stressed out about an interview. Therefore, just get it out of the way.
Wow, this turned out to be a lot longer than I anticipated. It's amazing how much I have to say about this whole process. I saw a bunch of friends this past weekend and tried to keep myself off the MBA application topic. It was difficult but I think I succeeded. Now I turn that question to everyone. Where are you in the process and do you find that the majority of what you're thinking about and discussing is the application process? Just a quick sanity check. Now back to my Booth application with a little Monday Night Football in the background and bed soon...remember, the whole morning thing...
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