Our admissions interviews are conducted primarily by a select group of trained second-year students known as Tuck Admissions Associates (TAAs). Our TAAs are both excellent evaluators and ardent ambassadors for Tuck so, as you prepare for your interview, be ready to demonstrate Tuck’s criteria for admissions and to ask for their insights on the Tuck program and experience.
Almost a third of Tuck’s first-year class applied for the T’25 TAA role. Following a rigorous selection process, 56 second-year students joined us as TAAs in the spring of 2024.
First-year students go through a multi-step evaluation process in order to be offered a position as a TAA. Applicants:
To be an excellent TAA, you have to be able to put candidates at ease so they can share their best selves, to evaluate applicants fairly using good judgment, and to communicate your assessments in writing to the admissions committee. We assess TAA candidates’ interpersonal and decision-making skills through the interview and mock interview evaluation process. We assess their writing skills in their essay, resume, and mock interview write-up. TAAs must be very knowledgeable about many aspects of the Tuck experience, so we take a close look at their engagement in Tuck academic and community life as well as their internship and career plans.
Our TAAs are empathetic and curious interviewers who know how to ask questions to draw out your story, capture the information you share, and succinctly put in writing what they learn from you in the interview.
Incoming TAAs participate in a series of training exercises throughout the year. Before new TAAs leave for their summer internships, they take part in an all-morning introduction to admissions interviewing. The incoming TAAs also have the opportunity to view mock interviews conducted with student volunteers, so they can see our experienced TAAs in action and practice their evaluation skills. Over the summer, they participate in unconscious bias educational sessions and have a refresher training right before the start of fall interviewing. TAAs sit down with an admissions officer after completing their early interviews to get feedback and ask questions. Throughout the school year, TAAs meet regularly to debrief and discuss the interview process and calendar.
TAAs have access to your resume only, which they use to identify questions that draw out evidence of our admissions criteria. TAAs do not know if you were invited to interview by the admissions committee or if you utilized the guaranteed interview deadlines. They approach all interviews with the same lens: focusing on our admissions criteria and your story.
TAAs listen and take notes during your interview, then refer to those notes to complete an interview report form corresponding to our admissions criteria, your communication skills, and your professional impression. At the end of the evaluation, they select their level of support for your candidacy, from champion to oppose.
Our TAAs take pride in their role in the admissions process, are invested in Tuck and its students, and are excited to learn more about you and share with you what makes Tuck special.
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