UPDATE: This article was originally posted on October 28, 2019. It has been updated with new information and tips below.
Located in Hanover, New Hampshire, Tuck is a haven for collaboratively-minded professionals who seek to have an immersive MBA experience and truly bond with their professors and classmates.
Despite its idyllic setting, Tuck is a powerhouse when it comes to placing its students in post-MBA positions, with 98% of students receiving a full-time offer within 3 months of graduation.
Considering its focus on collaboration, diversity, and employment opportunities, Tuck is a popular choice when it comes to elite MBA programs, meaning it’s no easy task to win a spot in its small class.
That’s why we’ve prepared this guide to help you use your Dartmouth Tuck interview to stand out. We’ve rounded up not only our best tips but have also included sample interview questions to ensure you give your Dartmouth Tuck application your best shot.
How the Tuck MBA interview works
As one of the most elite business schools in the world, landing an interview with Dartmouth Tuck is no easy task.
Thus, if you have passed to the interview phase of the Tuck application process, congratulations! This is already an exceptional achievement.
Tuck conducts interviews in two manners.
First, Tuck guarantees virtual interviews for all Round 1 applicants who submit their applications by September 3rd and Round 2 applicants who submit by December 2nd.
Source: Tuck’s website
Second, for all other applicants, Tuck offers interviews on an invite-only basis.
Our clients who have interviewed with Tuck in the past say that the interviewer was very friendly and prepared questions specifically tailored to their profile. As such, some clients received questions that were far more personal in nature, while others focused strictly on their academic and professional achievements.
Who will interview you?
You will interview with one of Tuck’s trained second-year students, known as Tuck Admissions Associates. After being invited to interview, you will receive a link through which you can schedule a time for your interview.
Will the interviewer have read my application?
No. The Tuck MBA interview is blind, meaning the interviewer will only have access to your CV.
How long will the Tuck interview last?
30-45 minutes.
Who is Tuck looking for?
Source: @tuckschool on Instagram
“Bringing together a talented and dynamic student body is critical to our mission of educating tomorrow’s wise leaders. Tuck is enriched by the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and dreams of our students and strengthened by what they share: an exceptional record of accomplishment and a desire to use their talents to better the world of business.” Dartmouth Tuck Admissions
Every year, Tuck’s admissions team sorts through thousands of applications to find the perfect admits for its class of around 300 students. With a strong emphasis on diversity and collaboration, there is no “standard” student at Tuck, yet the average admitted student for the Class of 2026 had a 727 GMAT score 161V, 161Q GRE score.
Beyond the impressive statistics, though, Tuck is also a highly community-driven school and tends to look for a certain set of characteristics in prospective students. According to Tuck’s admissions committee, these are:
- Demonstrated Academic Excellence
- Demonstrated Leadership
- Demonstrated Accomplishments
- Interpersonal Skills
- Diversity of Background and Experience
- Global Mindset
Trends in recent Tuck MBA interviews
Recent feedback from candidates interviewing at Dartmouth Tuck highlights several notable trends that you should consider when preparing for your interview:
Focus on Community and Collaboration: The Tuck interview is increasingly looking for candidates who demonstrate a strong fit with its highly collaborative and tight-knit culture. Questions focusing on teamwork and how candidates will contribute to Tuck’s community are more frequent.
Values-based Questions: Tuck places great emphasis on values, and interviewers now often ask how candidates reflect the school’s values of being “smart, nice, accomplished, and aware.” This includes questions on how applicants foster inclusivity, show empathy, and demonstrate leadership in complex situations.
Leadership and Decision-Making Under Pressure: Many candidates report being asked to share specific instances of leadership where they had to make tough decisions. This trend reflects Tuck’s focus on nurturing future leaders capable of navigating uncertainty.
Questions about Global Mindset and Diversity: With a strong emphasis on diversity and global awareness, candidates often face questions about how they have worked with people from different backgrounds and how they will contribute to Tuck’s global community.
How can you prepare for your Tuck interview?
Though no interview is 100% predictable, Tuck interviews do tend to center around a fairly standard list of MBA interview questions, with a few personalized questions added as well. As such, we have prepared some model questions below that previous candidates have received in their past Tuck interviews.
What questions are asked in the Tuck MBA interview?
The questions below are drawn from our clients’ interview reports, as well as from sites like clearadmit.com. Though these are not all the potential questions you could possibly receive during your Tuck interview, preparing for these (and any follow-up questions you think you might be asked) should give you a very solid foundation for your interview.
STARTING UP QUESTIONS
- Tell me about yourself.
- Tell me about a passion of yours that wasn’t on your resume.
- How do you spend your free time?
- What are your career plans?
- What’s your backup plan in case your career plans aren’t achievable? (skip if you’re sponsored or work in a family business).
- Why MBA?
- Why now?
- Why Tuck?
- What will you be involved in at Tuck?
- How will you contribute to Tuck?
- What is a challenge you foresee facing at Tuck?
LEADERSHIP & TEAMWORK
- What would you do if you had a member of your learning team who wasn’t pulling his own weight?
- How do you motivate people?
- Can you give me an example of a time you had an issue with a coworker? How did you resolve the issue?
- What qualities make you successful in a team?
- How would you describe your leadership style? Can you give me an example?
- Can you give an example of how you’ve contributed to a team’s success?
MISCELLANEOUS BEHAVIORAL
- Talk about a time you disagreed with your supervisor/boss and how you resolved it.
- What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced at work? How did you resolve them?
- Talk about a bad manager. Why was he or she bad? What did you do about it?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- Tell me about a situation where you acted outside of your comfort zone.
- What is an example of a setback you have experienced in your life? How did you respond?
- Can you share an experience where you worked with people from different cultural or professional backgrounds? How did you ensure effective collaboration and communication?
- How do you demonstrate that you embody Tuck’s core values (smart, nice, accomplished, and aware)?
- Talk about a time when you had to make a difficult decision and how you handled it.
- What do people think about you when they meet you for the first time? Is this impression correct?
CLOSING
- Is there anything else you would like Tuck to know about you? / Is there anything you wish I had asked you?
- Questions for me?
We have found that answering real interview questions on the spot is a much better means of preparation than reading lists of interview questions for most candidates.
We highly suggest you take a look at mock interview questions and sample interview responses before your interview.
Our MBA Resource Center has dozens of real interview mocks from Tuck, as well as detailed guides to help you prepare for questions ranging from “Why our MBA program?” to “Tell us about a time you failed.”
The Ellin Lolis Consulting MBA Resource Center is your one-stop shop for interview success. Click to join!
If you’re still not quite confident with your interview skills, our interview experts can help you craft your answers or prepare you for the Tuck interview through mock interviews tailored to your profile.
What to do if you get a question you weren’t prepared for
Despite your most diligent preparation, you will almost always receive a question you had not prepared.
First, stay calm and take a deep breath. You have already made it this far in the process, and one question will not trip you up!
Second, make sure you directly answer the question the interviewer asked you. For example, if the interviewer asks you about a time you had to deal with a difficult manager, make sure to tell a story about a difficult manager and how you handled the situation.
If you’re having trouble thinking of an answer or an example to support your answer, however, take a drink of water to give yourself a few more minutes to think. If you really can’t think of an example from your personal or professional experience, you can use a hypothetical answer about how you would act in a certain situation.
Finally, assume that the interviewer is testing how you think on your feet and respond to questions you didn’t prepare in advance. Though your answer might not be as polished as if you’d had weeks to rehearse it, smile and confidently give your answer to show you can respond to any question they throw at you.
Effectively Tell your Story During your Tuck Interview
One of the most common mistakes we see in MBA interviews is that candidates fail to tell compelling, well-constructed stories about their profiles while also nailing the basics.
Striking this balance between sharing STAR-format examples that show off your background while also presenting strong answers to questions like “Why do you want an MBA?” is a challenging task that requires significant thought and preparation.
Because of this, it’s no surprise that, on average, 50% of interviewed applicants walk away without an offer.
This is why our interview preparation process here at Ellin Lolis Consulting is known as the best in the industry. We offer customized 1:1 support that ensures you’re able to turn your application’s strengths into compelling answers that show fit and sell your profile in any type of interview. That’s why 98.9% of our complete consulting clients get into at least one of their target schools.
Not only can you take advantage of our development process through multiple sessions – you can also benefit from a single session! If your budget is tight, our interview experts can focus your session on a single aspect of the preparation process, from workshopping your answers to providing mock interviews.
Our tailored approach was critical to helping our client Maria and her husband Guilherme both secure spots at Tuck, each with a scholarship.
Forget simulation platforms or long lists of tips – our 1:1 preparation focuses on playing to your strengths and overcoming your weaknesses to turn you into an interview expert.
Our interview packages sell out quickly, so make sure you sign up today!
Real MBA Essays That Got People In
School-specific sample essays that got our clients accepted
