For re-applicants: How have you strengthened your candidacy since you last applied? Please reflect on how you have grown personally and professionally.
Starting my own technology company is a dream I have nurtured since college, and this goal hasn’t changed since my initial application to Tuck three years ago. Indeed, in the intervening years I have developed the specific business concept that I intend to pursue post-MBA. I have also taken concrete steps to help me achieve my entrepreneurial goals.
Professionally, my career with Acme reached its zenith, and after three years, I left the familiarity of a stable, predominantly Indian consulting company for New Corp, a chaotic, entrepreneurial startup. I joined a New Corp specifically to learn more about early stage ventures, the challenges they face, and gain on-the-ground experience in creating and growing a new business. My transition to a small organization with a drastically different culture was relatively smooth, demonstrating my ability to adapt quickly to unfamiliar situations. Working alongside my diverse colleagues—from an Idahoan college-dropout to a German PhD—I learned new ways to strategize and channel my skills to make a measurable impact. On any given day, I mentor new staff members, oversee a $300,000 ad-campaign, and solve crises affecting our core web-service. Through my leadership in helping New Corp effectively monetize our data and develop a sustainable revenue stream, I have learned to seize opportunities in unlikely places and have honed my ability to make decisions based on both seasoned instinct and deliberate planning.
As a result, I have gained a deep understanding of the entrepreneurial culture and the skills needed for success as an entrepreneur. More importantly, I now have a clear sense of how to best leverage resources at Tuck, both academic and extra-curricular—such as the incubator programs, the business plan competitions, and the research centers—to help me build my own technology startup. And while I now know a great deal about startups, I remain convinced that an MBA is an excellent investment. I completed the Business Administration coursework at UC Berkeley Extension, and the immediate applicability of topics in accounting and statistics as well as soft skills such as negotiating and team-building has reaffirmed my interest in an MBA.
When I originally applied to Tuck, I had been in the US for just over six months. Adjusting to life in a foreign country meant that thus far I had little time to pursue activities outside of work. Given my propensity for participating in a wide range of extra-curricular endeavors, I soon sought out new ways to engage with the world around me. For the past three years, I have volunteered with Los Angeles nonprofits to help them navigate the digital age by creating professional, stylish and easily maintainable websites for them. Working with local non-profits and playing in community softball leagues across Los Angeles has greatly expanded my social circle and has given me a distinctive lens to better understand urban American society and helped me assimilate to this culture. I intend to be actively involved in the Tuck and Dartmouth community through my participation in professional and social clubs, such as the Entrepreneurship club, the Technology club, the Tuck Student Consulting Services and the South Asia club.
I remain deeply committed to pursuing my MBA at Tuck, and I am confident that my activities over the past three years will help me enrich the Tuck community.