Saturday, August 28, 2004

Registration & Welcome

1 hour after we returned from our sailing trip it was time for Registration and Welcome. The registration process went off super smoothly. I just walked up to the desk where they were giving out the bags. The personal touch of Tuck was apparent coz the person said 'Hi Tagad_Tale, here is your bag. How was your sailing trip?' It isn't just the scale of Tuck, but the awesome people that make up the school that defines the place.

Soon it was time for the Welcome Session. The auditorium was bustling with Tuckies, Tuck Partners and Tiny Tuckies. One of the attractions of Tuck is the quality of life and the way partners, Tiny Tuckies and dogs are an integral part of the community. There was this fabulous golden retriever dressed in a Tuck T Shirt. He so wanted to eat my burger. Pity he took commands only in Japanese!

We were addressed by the folks incharge of the MBA program administration and academics. There was also a talk by the Dean where he touched upon the need for good leaders in business. 'Annoying advocates of Tuck' is what we can expect to become (if we haven't already!!).

My takeaway from the session was that it is up to us to ensure that we make best use of what Tuck has to offer and leave our mark on the institution. Everybody at school is eager to ensure that we succeed in this objective.

Leadership appears to be an area of great emphasis. The amount of time devoted to talking about leadership development was almost as much as the time devoted to the MBA core. An interesting suggestion was that we need not look at leadership in the narrow confines of the world of business but should also go beyond and look at opportunities on how we can lead and make an impact in our communities.

The Tuck community was another area that got focus I wasn't expecting. It was emphasised that professional conduct should not be restricted to the confines of the building but it is imperative upon us to maintain those standards while interacting with anybody who is part of the Upper Valley community of which we are a part. I think this is very noble and will be pround in ensuring that I live up to these expectations.

Finally we had the director of admissions talk about the process they went through in putting the class of 2006 together. Instead of the normal 240, there are 262 students - thanks to a yield bubble. The statistics make interesting reading

Average GMAT - 704
Average GPA - 3.4
Average Age - 28 years
Average Work Ex - 5 years
Female - 25%
Internationals - 30%
Countries Represented - 35

So, all you pple looking to apply to Tuck, you have some more information to lose your sleep over ;-)