By Isaac Ipson T'15
Isaac is a recently graduated T’15 who is headed with his wife and two sons (four and almost two) to Dallas, Texas.
My time at Tuck has unfortunately come to an end but as I finish up a summer full of time with my family before starting my full-time job, I wanted to reflect on something that meant a lot to me about Tuck. I truly cannot imagine a better place for a student with a family (like myself) to get an MBA. My wife and I arrived in Hanover with a two-year-old son, another son just a month from being born, and with our closest family members in Denver, Colo. Nonetheless, Tuck, the Upper Valley, and our new friends made it feel more like home to us than anywhere we have ever lived.
And so, to honor what a great place Tuck is for MBA students with families, here is my personal (certainly incomplete) top ten list of why Tuck is the most family-friendly MBA.
1. Small-town events: Hanover and other small towns in the Upper Valley have great, free events. The first one we went to was the Fall Festival at Storrs pond. There were firetrucks, bobbing for apples, donuts on a string, live music, food, etc. and it was all free! We couldn’t believe it. If something like that existed in Chicago where we moved from, there would have been hundreds of people and it would have cost five dollars to do each thing. We also always loved the Hanover Christmas party that takes over the whole town (Dartmouth tree lighting, Santa at the bank, cookies decorating at Lou’s, etc.). Other memorable events were the Trails to Tastes in Woodstock, the Dartmouth Winter Carnival, and the Keene Pumpkin Festival (we were present for the breaking of the world record for most jack-o-lanterns).
2. Tiny Tuckies: Several partners lead up the Tiny Tuckies Club for kids of students and it is a great way for kids to play and celebrate holidays together while also bringing together all the families at Tuck. My wife was one of the co-chairs our first year.
3. Sachem Village: While plenty of Tuck families choose to live other places and love it, we were always extremely happy with our choice to live in Sachem. I really can’t imagine a better place to live and now that our time is up, I'm not sure we'll ever have such a great neighborhood again. It was so nice having so many friends within walking distance both for my kids and for my wife and me.
4. Safe, quiet: I felt comfortable everywhere we went. It really is the "leave your door unlocked" type of location.
5. Road trips: Coming from the West, we took full advantage of seeing as many new places as we could. New England is a fantastic place to see a lot of beautiful places close by and also a great place to travel elsewhere from. We took lots of New England trips as a family such as to Cape Cod, Boston, the Maine coast, and the mansions of Newport, R.I. We also adventured further to places like Quebec City, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Business school is very busy when in session, but we took full advantage of the frequent long breaks to pack in fun trips like these with the family.
6. Snow days: Although Tuck doesn’t close for anything, my pre-school kids got plenty of these. Now that we're moving to Texas, it's kind of sad that we won't get to play in the snow anymore.
7. Small class: I think a small class size really contributes to making it easier for me, as the student, to stay involved and get to know my classmates while still spending a lot of time at home. Because Tuck is relatively small, I felt involved and well-known even though I did participate less in social activities than others. At a larger school, I think I may have found it easier to stay less involved and treat school more like a job I commute to. Instead, I felt that my entire family was very involved in the Tuck community and that made it easier for me to participate in more things than I may have elsewhere.
8. Great schools: This wasn't a huge consideration for me when coming to Hanover since my kids are very young, but from when we first got to Hanover and signed my kids up for Toddlers Morning Out, we had a great experience. We also loved the Hanover Nursery School that my son went to second year. The older schools in Hanover are fantastic as well.
9. Proximity to campus: This one is important to me for the same reason as the small class size. Because I was always just a ten-minute bike ride (or bus ride during the winter months) from home, I could help at home when kids were sick or other things were going on and still be able to be involved in things that were important whenever needed.
10. Close-knit community: This is one that you probably hear about Tuck a lot. While it might be covered a bit in other points above, there really is an overarching inclusiveness at Tuck and in Hanover in general. From students to professors to food staff and beyond, you always felt a special connection to each other and to where you were. In fact, even the DMV (in Concord, I believe) was the best DMV experience of my life! (No wait, friendly people.)
Tuck really was a place where my entire family felt a part of something together. My wife had her doubts when she first arrived to such a remote, foreign place, but once we were here for a week, I don't think we ever regretted our decision. Well, maybe she did for a minute during a March snowstorm first year. . . .
So if you have a family and are thinking about an MBA, come to Hanover and see what you would be missing if you don't give Tuck a shot.