TUCK essay 4: Unique perspectives

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TUCK essay 4: Unique perspectives

by leenanaik » Mon Nov 08, 2010 3:29 am
Q: Tuck seeks candidates of various backgrounds who can bring new perspectives to our community. How will your unique personal history, values, and/or life experiences contribute to the culture at Tuck?

Hi,

Another Tuck question I am stuck with.
A little about me: I am a typical IT applicant (Worked as a program Manager for Microsoft) with just 2 years of experience. My GMAT is very low- 650. However due to lack of time I am unable to give the GMAT again. Thus I believe this question would really help me differentiate myself since I am at a huge disadvantage from every angle. :(

I will start with my undergrad days. I have been heavily involved in extracurricular activities that have given me an opportunity to tour the country, discover and interact with various cultures within India.
- Cultural Secretary, Student's Council
- Cultural Secretary, University's Department of Student's Welfare
- Founder & President of my college's Entrepreneurship club.
Since I held the above positions I got a good chance to organize large scale national level cultural festivals that were attended by students all over India. Second, these festivals helped several NGOs raise funds for their respective activities.

At Microsoft- i was a member of the APEX Morale committee- organizing field trips for my APEX friends, APEX speaker conferences, morale events liek treasure hunt etc.., APEX Outreach committee and Microsoft Giving Campaign. I also pursued my interest in art by working part time as an accessories designer for Myntra.com. i was a lead singer for a small Indian rock band called Mukti (should I mention this? we wren't all that famous and the band split up after just two years). Most of my volunteer work was through the outreach committee and the campaign.

The third part is crucial. I resigned from Microsoft due to my father's health. However during this time i continued my work with AYUDH, an international youth movement, and participated in a number of activities- cleanliness drive, serving meals to the poor, organizing satsangs and pujas.

Now I will be using the optional essay to explain why I had to resign from Microsoft and the low GPA(and hence the huge unemployment gap of five months)
My question is:
One: Do I mention all the activities i was involved in as i don't want it to sound like a laundry list of i did this.. and i did that..? Or do i concentrate on only one region: e.g.: my love for arts & music and my decision to hobby to work as a designer or a my motivation to join a band & sing bhajans at the ashram or just my volunteering work?

Two: Most of these will no doubt find a mention in the resume, so i don't want to waste space by reiterating what's already on my resume.

Three: I guess many applicants do have volunteering experience or maybe similar hobbies: art & music , thus how can I make mine different or interesting ?

Thanks,
Lee
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by Stacey Oyler » Mon Nov 08, 2010 10:17 am
Hi,

Thanks for your post. Please see my comments below:

Now I will be using the optional essay to explain why I had to resign from Microsoft and the low GPA(and hence the huge unemployment gap of five months)
My question is:
One: Do I mention all the activities i was involved in as i don't want it to sound like a laundry list of i did this.. and i did that..? Or do i concentrate on only one region: e.g.: my love for arts & music and my decision to hobby to work as a designer or a my motivation to join a band & sing bhajans at the ashram or just my volunteering work?

You certainly don't want to list all your interest and activities in this essay. With a limit of 500 words, you'll want to select just a few activities/interest and then tie them into how you can contribute to the Tuck community. By listing them all you'll demonstrate that you are indeed active, but won't be left with room to demonstrate the impact you'll have on the Tuck community. Pick the 2-3 that you were the most involved in and use those.

Two: Most of these will no doubt find a mention in the resume, so i don't want to waste space by reiterating what's already on my resume.


See my comments above.

Three: I guess many applicants do have volunteering experience or maybe similar hobbies: art & music , thus how can I make mine different or interesting ?

It's not necessarily your hobbies or interest themselves that will distinguish you, but rather what you will do with them at Tuck. How will you share your interest with others in the community? How will you make a lasting impact?

Best of luck!

Stacey
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Stacey Oyler
Clear Admit, LLC
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215.568.2590

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