Winter term I had the opporutnity to become good friends with one of our exchange students. From my vantage, it appeared he had a good time at Tuck. I asked him to write a post for my blog to capture his true thoughts…
“Oh you don’t want to go on exchange to Tuck…it’s like 500 miles from anywhere” “Dartmouth? Hanover? Hampshire? Are you sure this school is in the States and not in England?” These were but a few of the dire warnings from some of my more European-centric classmates at London Business School as I was debating which school to go on exchange.
Since some of my LBS classmates view the US as two places, NYC and everywhere else, I went to my LBS’ professors to get a clearer perspective. All of them assured me that Tuck was the ideal MBA experience. OK, I thought, they are a bunch of academics who are naturally attracted to any campus that resembles scenes from “Dead Poets Society” and causes them to say anything.
Then I searched for former Tuck exchange students to ask them about their time on campus. I bombarded them with the typical penetrating questions. “Is it really that small? Who are the best professors? Do you have to ski every day? Do they really use paddles in Beer Pong?” Their responses weren’t what one would expect. In fact, the responses were more of a knowing smile and nodding of the head culminating in a single sentence – “If you’re asking about Tuck, then you must go.”
Tuck was now becoming a mythical place. Was Tuck like some tropical island paradise where travelling MBA students pass its location as a well kept secret on a map from one to another? With professors and former students providing the “map,” my wife and I decided to make a leap and leave London using Hanover as our Ellis Island as we made permanent move back to the States.
As my wife said to me once we arrived: “You share a first name with Dynasty’s most iconic character, yet Alexis Carrington and you differ in gender; You have a French last name, yet you don’t speak French; You’re an American, yet your MBA program is in London; and finally, your work experience was with the company behind the Spice Girls. Now imagine the bemused expressions from Tuckies and Professors during your first days on exchange. Then add the fact that you’re dragging your wife and six-month-old little girl to the wilds of New Hampshire. Good luck with that story.”
Yet, I am happy to add that between great classes, interesting professors, feisty business plan competitions, charismatic and friendly students, Ski races, Hockey games, and road trips to Montreal and NYC, there was nothing to do at the end of my time at Tuck other than give a knowing smile, nod my head, and prepare to share the coveted Tuck “map” with the next lucky MBA exchange students.
Read the full article: Tuck through the eyes of an exchange student