A review of the Tuck curriculum

A few weeks ago I found myself on an airplane thinking about many things.  One thing I was thinking about was all the exciting places my classmates will be visiting during the winter break.  Many will be traveling throughout South America visiting new places and new cultures.  Some will be traveling to Antarctica.  Others will be in India or South Africa working on Tuck Global Consultancy.  Many will be in somewhere in China, Japan, and other places throughout Asia. 

The other thing I was thinking about were the benefits of the second-year curriculum at Tuck.  Perhaps it’s better if I give a quick overview of the Tuck curriculum first.  The first-year curriculum is mainly comprised of core courses.  It’s not until your third term, last term of your first year, that you begin your electives (two in this term).  Second-year is fully comprised of electives.  Depending on the term, there are between 30-45 electives, on average.  Even though Tuck does not offer a degree with a specific concentration, students can create their own unofficial concentration because there are plenty of courses to choose from across all disciplines.  If I want to concentrate in finance, for example, there are plenty of options to take all finance courses my second-year.  I can mix and match my electives.  I can register for Doing Business in Arab Gulf States or Time in the Consumer Mind Research to Practice Seminar.  The best thing about the curriculum, however, is that whatever classes I choose I don’t have to worry about not being able to take a class because of it being oversubscribed.  To be honest, I don’t think I’ve met a classmate who has said he/she didn’t get into a class.  

I then started to think about my classes for Winter Term.  Do I take courses that will best prepare me for a new career or do I take courses that are interesting but may not prepare me as much?  With a couple of hours remaining on my flight, I began to look for answers and started to wonder about what my classmates concentrating in certain areas think about.

My classmates in finance or accounting probably think about how to best increase revenue per mile flown

Those marketing people probably see this:

My classmates going into investment banking probably think they will see this:

Please see the finance and accounting photo for a glimpse of reality.

I bet those in clean energy wonder if this represents an incandescent light bulb or an LED.

Finally, my classmates interested in health care worry about the only health plan available:

I’m not 100% sure about my courses but regardless I’m sure I will be prepared.