Clear Admit’s admissions counselors bring first-hand knowledge of many of the nation’s top business schools, with several of our staff having attended and/or worked in the admissions departments at institutions such as the Wharton School, Columbia Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Stacey Oyler, who joined the Clear Admit team in 2008, brings a unique perspective on Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. Oyler worked in the admissions department at Tuck for two years while her husband obtained his MBA there and later returned regularly while working as consulting firm McKinsey’s Tuck recruiter. In her admissions consulting work today with prospective Tuck applicants, she shares her unique perspective of the school through the lenses of Tuck partner, admissions officer and recruiter.
When her husband enrolled in the Tuck MBA program in 2003, Oyler, who had worked in recruiting, took a job with the school’s admissions department. “It was a logical job for me given my background,” she says. As assistant admissions director, she read applications, conducted interviews, travelled the globe giving presentations, sat on the admissions committee and managed the waitlist.
As the spouse of a Tuck student, she also became a member of the strong and active community of Tuck partners. “The married and partner demographic is a big part of the dynamic at Tuck,” Oyler explains, adding that of the class of 2006, nearly 50 percent were partnered and 50 percent of those had children.
Having experienced Tuck in these distinct roles helps Oyler in her work today with prospective applicants to the New Hampshire school. “I was not only a member of the admissions office but also of the community,” she says. “I have insider knowledge about the things that make the school special and draw a certain kind of student.”
After her husband graduated in 2005, they moved to Boston, and Oyler took a job as the Tuck recruiter for McKinsey. “Basically, I got to go back and recruit everyone I had just admitted,” she recalls. “It was really fun for me because I was able to engage with them and I knew all about them, and I gained a whole new perspective on Tuck – this time through the eyes of a recruiter.”
Oyler continued to work for McKinsey for three years, in Boston and then later as a West Coast recruiter based in San Francisco, before joining the Clear Admit team. She now works as an admissions consultant with prospective applicants to a range of business school programs.
In her current work, she sometimes finds herself suggesting Tuck to people who may not have considered the school but for whom she thinks it could make a good fit. “They get excited about it and begin to think about applying because it is a little bit smaller and unique and they want that insider help I can provide,” she says.
Usually, the prospective applicants Oyler suggests should consider Tuck are those drawn to general management or who are considering other smaller programs, such as Haas or Stanford. Their chosen career paths are also a key consideration, Oyler adds. About 30 percent of the graduating Tuck class goes into consulting, and all of the top consulting firms recruit there.
Working today from the West Coast, Oyler finds that Tuck’s Northeast location can sometimes scare people a little. “But once I start talking about the community and the fit and the kids and the partners, people’s eyes really open,” she says.
Having managed the waitlist at Tuck during her tenure there, Oyler can also provide specific waitlist strategy. “Tuck is a school that keeps a really small waitlist, and it’s a very personal process,” she says. “It is not one of those ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you’ schools,” she continues. Everyone is entitled, should they wish, to ask for very personal feedback about why they were placed on the waitlist, and the admissions staff will tell you what it is about your application that kept you from getting in. Oyler recommends that waitlisted students make that call to the admissions office and, based on what they learn, work with someone at Clear Admit to craft a clear plan for getting in off the waitlist.
Finally there’s the recruiting piece. Beyond her knowledge of the admissions office, Oyler also has built strong connections with the Tuck career services office through her work at McKinsey, which gives her another kind of insider knowledge.
One thing she learned that makes Tuck unique is the fact that its students can interview with any company that comes to campus. Even if a given company doesn’t choose you to interview, you can bid on an interview spot because Tuck mandates that companies keep 50 percent of their slots open for bids.
“So say you really want to interview with McKinsey,” Oyler offers as an example. “If we [McKinsey] wanted to interview 50 students, we only got to select 25, and the rest of the interview candidates were students who bid.” Interestingly, Oyler says that McKinsey often ended up hiring more people off the bids than off its own closed list. “Sometimes they are more passionate and they want it more than the people who just look good on paper,” she says. “The bottom line is that at Tuck, the door is never closed to you.”
Prospective applicant considering Tuck – or who haven’t considered Tuck and think perhaps they should – can schedule a consultation with Oyler by contacting Clear Admit at (215) 568-2590 or info@clearadmit.com.
Read the full article: Clear Admit’s Stacey Oyler Offers Unique Insider Perspective of Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business