Raising the Bar—Class of 2008

The answer is—33 percent women, 34 percent international, and an average GMAT of 710. The question is—what's so special about Tuck's class of 2008? The women and men who make up the class represent the highest percentage of female and international students (up from 31 and 28 percent, respectively) and a record-breaking average GMAT score (an increase of more than 10 points). Applications for the class of 2008 also increased—up 30 percent over last year. Dawna Clarke, Tuck's director of admissions, believes the school's consistently high placement in the national rankings, coupled with the positive momentum at Tuck and multiple initiatives, contributed to this year's results. "We have a very aggressive recruiting campaign, particularly in India, Mexico, and Europe, but rankings tend to be one of the most influential factors in students choosing to apply to a school," she says. "Our standings have helped us tremendously."

New Year, New Goals for TAG

Records are made to be broken. And that's exactly what new Tuck Annual Giving executive committee chair Don Wilson T'73 is determined to do. Last year, TAG set highs in dollars raised ($4.5 million), number of donors (5,100), and per capita giving ($882). This year, Wilson hopes to exceed the $5 million mark in aggregate giving, pursue the goal of 100 percent alumni participation (up from last year's high of 65.1 percent, tops among all business schools in the world), and increase the average TAG gift to $1,000.

To achieve these objectives, the executive committee will supplement the hard work by class agents with vice chairs for participation, leadership giving, young alumni, and the TAG Corporate Competition who will help segment the market and set aggressive class goals. Tuck already has the highest participation rate among all U.S. B-schools. Wilson notes that the "unique character of Tuck's educational program, together with its compact scale," help explain the loyalty of and cohesion among alumni. But, he adds, alums should remember that "the unique qualities of Tuck are not free." TAG '07 officially launches this month.

Risky Business

Greener Ventures 2006 participants

Entrepreneurship is risky business. The money, the people, the technology—how do you know what you need? What happens if you don't get it—or get it wrong? Expert panelists from business and academia offered their perspectives on these questions at the Greener Ventures 2006 conference on October 21. This year's theme, "Risk: Winning and Losing in Entrepreneurship," attracted more than 220 people, among them John Pepper D'91, T'97, CEO of Stellar Restaurant Group, which operates the 17-unit Boloco chain he co-founded in 1997.

Pepper was on the "The Risk and Reward of Returning to the Upper Valley" panel, which focused on leaving behind opportunities in the big city for the charms and challenges of rural Vermont and New Hampshire (one of Pepper's Boloco restaurants is located on Main Street in Hanover). He also attended other panel discussions during the day. He was especially intrigued by a debate using Everest expedition analogies over how to determine when to incorporate new data that threatens established rules. "It reminded me that even when you know goals that you've worked hard for are within reach, there are times and circumstances that require entrepreneurs, climbers, and all others to take a step back and evaluate the potential risks and collateral effects of actually achieving those objectives. There are risks that too many fail to understand. Often they are risks to others. In business, these risks can be hard to recognize."