Degrees of Specialization
These days, many students are looking for the ability to customize their education, and Tuck has taken advantage of its flexibility and agility to create a remarkable selection of joint- and dual-degree programs. "Students are thinking about how the MBA and another kind of education can go together," observes Dawna Clarke, director of admissions.
Some students don't think about specializing until they are in their first year at Tuck or one of the cooperating schools, but that's all right. The programs can be entered at the end of the first year or even during the second year.
Although details vary among the combination-degree programs, they generally enable students to acquire two degrees or the equivalent in less time and at less cost than would be possible otherwise. For example, Todd Johnson T'05 received a dual degree—an MBA from Tuck combined with an MPA (master of public administration) from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard—in three years.
Johnson began at the Kennedy School but quickly became interested in Tuck. "I had worked at Bain and went right to the Kennedy School because my interest had been in developing countries and private-sector business within those countries," he says. "Then I realized I also wanted to have the business side. I was excited to learn that Tuck offered the joint degree. I came up to visit and fell in love with this place."
Johnson spent his first year at Kennedy and his second year at Tuck. He split his third year between the two. "Logistically it was somewhat difficult," he acknowledges. "But the degrees are extremely complementary. They enable the kind of work that I could not do without training in both fields—maybe in a private equity firm that specializes in developing countries. Tuck has been extremely supportive. They have made it a seamless process, and it has worked out quite well."
One of Tuck's joint-degree programs is the MD/MBA with Dartmouth Medical School, designed to create leaders in healthcare and medical administration and in entrepreneurial ventures in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical-products industries. A. Rocco Perrone T'05, DMS'05 pursued that degree. "My hope is to develop far-reaching policies that encompass a more compassionate approach to both patient care and resource allocation," he says. "From my experience in the pharmaceutical industry, I've learned that doctors need to understand where business is coming from, and businesspeople need to understand medicine better." Why go for both degrees at the same time? "Because when I need the skills, it will be too late to go back and get them," he says. One of Tuck's oldest combination-degree programs, the MD/MBA is enjoying a revitalization.
Sally Jaeger, assistant dean of the MBA program and Tuck's director of admissions from 1993 to 2000, recalls when Tuck had only a couple of combined-degree programs. With today's broader spectrum of offerings, she says, "We can give students the chance to combine knowledge bases in several areas connected to the world of business. It makes the students more interesting, more creative. And if we want to attract the best students, these are the kinds of opportunities we need to offer because these are the opportunities they want."
Tuck's second joint-degree program, the MBA/MPH, is a three-year program in public health management that includes extensive elective coursework at Dartmouth's Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences, where scientists and clinician-scholars work to improve the healthcare system. Graduates receive both an MBA and a master of public health degree. "This is a great program to have," Jaeger says. "There are many similarities between the MPH and the MBA, and they complement each other well."
Clarke says the admissions office is seeing more applicants who are interested in customizing their education. "Students realize they can increase the value of their MBA if they target their education better. They can package themselves for the employers they want to work for."
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