Dartmouth College
Inside Dartmouth Tuck’s New Consulting Bootcamp
The world of management consulting has a certain magnetic pull. It attracts students who love untangling complicated problems and unlocking big opportunities. It’s no mystery why this field remains incredibly popular.
Matt Kefford from GMAC says this field has become so popular to pursue because of the prestige, pay, intellectual challenge, and long‑term options that few other paths can match.
Students flock to study consulting, but it seems as though many don’t know what the field actually entails. That’s an issue once they’re knee‑deep in recruiting and piecing together how the industry actually operates. That’s exactly the gap that Dartmouth’s Tuck Consulting Bootcamp is working to close.
HOW TUCK DEMYSTIFIES CONSULTING
The idea was sparked by Dartmouth’s Business Bridge students, who were asking for more clarity around consulting and its recruiting process.
“Even though Bridge offers a career exploration session plus an elective session on consulting, we still saw a gap in students’ understanding, both in terms of the industry itself and the specifics of recruitment,” says Lisa Tedeschi, Tuck’s assistant dean of undergraduate education.
In response, Tuck launched its new bootcamp in January with 36 students from 15 universities, representing wildly different majors, ranging from ancient history to biomedicine.
Over three Saturdays, they dove into the realities of consulting. They covered what the work actually looks like, how firms think, and what separates a good candidate from a standout one.
One of the biggest hurdles for any aspiring consultant is the case interview, and Tuck knows this very well. Case interviews usually involve a real business problem, a tight timeframe, and the skills to think clearly under pressure.
“Consulting firms look for a track record of leadership and achievement, but fundamentally, they are looking for structured problem solvers,” explains Andy Kaestle T’17, career services director at Tuck and a former practitioner who leads and teaches the bootcamp. “The case interview is a simulation of the actual job. During the bootcamp, we show students how to break a problem into component parts – case math, exhibit interpretation, and market sizing – and then communicate their findings with confidence.”
BUILDING A VIRTUAL COMMUNITY
What makes going through bootcamp even more valuable is the community that forms during the process.
Though it’s fully virtual (which is intentional to widen access), leadership found that students spent time together after class. Their sessions often ran overtime because the students wanted to keep their discussions going.
Students from as far as St. Andrews in Scotland were collaborating in breakout rooms and had real‑time coaching from Tuck MBAs and alumni fresh off recruiting at firms like McKinsey, BCG, and Bain. WhatsApp groups formed. LinkedIn connections were solidified. Mock cases continued with fellow students after finals were complete.
“The value goes beyond the interview,” explains Tedeschi. “It’s about learning a new way to think about any challenge you might face in the workplace.”
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