The business of attracting top MBA students has always been a challenge. But Dawna Clarke, Tuck's new director of admissions, is pleased to be facing that challenge at Tuck. Although the past few years have been "the most competitive I have seen in admissions in 20 years," with applications down across the nation (though Tuck was the only top graduate business school to see an increase in applications last year), "the industry seems to be coming back," she says. Tuck's applications were up again this year by a significant amount.
Clarke brings a wealth of admissions experience to her work at Tuck. She arrived in Hanover in September from the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, where she spent 15 years, finishing as director of admissions. Before her work at Darden, she was associate director of admissions at UNC-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School. She has been a member of the Graduate Management Admissions Council since 1987 and serves on the board of directors of The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management. Once at Tuck, Clarke immediately joined other Tuck administrators to refine Tuck's marketing, selection process, and financial aid strategy.
In November of 2005, the admissions office rolled out Tuck Connections, a web-based initiative to further leverage the Tuck alumni community by linking prospective students with alumni. "We would love alumni to sign up to be volunteers for Tuck Connections and to refer good prospective students," Clarke says. "Alumni recommendations are a huge source of information for us because alums have been through the program and they know these candidates." Clarke and others at Tuck are eager for suggestions from alumni on additional ways they can be involved in admissions.
"We know that once we get people to come and visit, they fall in love with Tuck. But we need more catalysts to get people to visit," says Clarke. Tuck's online experience (including online chats, targeted emails, and Tuck Connections) is one element of an aggressive marketing plan aimed at undergraduate students at feeder schools, students in the Tuck Business Bridge Program®, and undergraduate college advisers. "Although we are looking for people with significant work experience, we want to start seed-planting opportunities very early," Clarke explains.
Admissions relies heavily on interviews to evaluate interpersonal and communication skills, so the department plans to engage consultants on interviewing to ensure that Tuck is using the most effective techniques.
It requires care and wisdom, but Tuck must also respond to the fact that merit-based aid has displaced school ranking as the top consideration among potential students. In fact, says Clarke, "At Darden we were losing students to schools with significantly lower ranks because of merit-based scholarships. So we are taking a very close look at the strategic use of the financial aid we have. It's a complicated issue." Money talks, of course, but ultimately the special quality of the Tuck community is most persuasive, and the challenge is to communicate that quality. Clarke has learned by experience the difference between hearing about it and experiencing it. "I have worked at four institutions of higher education, and I have never seen such school spirit," she says. "It's just phenomenal. Intellectually it was no surprise. But when you're here, the intensity of emotion is palpable. The community is so warm and embracing. It makes me think, maybe I should have applied to Tuck!
"The Tuck community has been so impressive and welcoming. There is so much positive momentum at the school, and I'm thrilled to be here. And there's so much more to do in this area than I expected," Clarke continues. "This past summer I discovered the Ledyard Canoe Club, so when I should have been unpacking boxes, my son and I were down there renting kayaks!"
