Jun 23, 2013
Dual Degree Students
By Adam Ranson
Hello T’15s! I am eager to meet you and have your energy reinvigorate the Tuck community this fall. Admission to Tuck is a tremendous honor and you are about to learn just how powerful membership in the Tuck family is for furthering your personal and professional goals. I am complementing my Tuck experience by pursuing a Master in Public Administration at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. The dual degree program has given me the opportunity to have the best of both worlds by indulging my interests in public service and business leadership. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience to date and have really enjoyed being able to share what I have learned from one program to relevant aspects of the other. A great example of this occurred when I was able to help my classmate @Mike Pierre during his First Year Project. Mike was working on delivering affordable housing to Haitian refugees and I was able to offer connections through my HKS and personal networks with practitioners in that field. Similarly, I had the honor of introducing two classmates from HKS and Tuck who are now building a social venture capital fund focused on budding entrepreneurs in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Most importantly, though, pursuing a dual degree has given me a deeper understanding of the key concerns driving business and government. This insight will help me bridge the gap between the diverse interests within the public and private sectors as I go on to work in the energy industry and related policy areas after Tuck.
Every dual degree program is a little bit different so I won’t try to speak to any program other than the one that I have experienced. I began my studies by spending a year at HKS, followed by a year at Tuck. My third year will be split between HKS and Tuck in the fall and winter/spring terms, respectively. I will definitely miss being at Tuck in the Fall and the chance to play tripod hockey with you but I look forward to the winter and spring terms back in Hanover. Because of the way the Tuck academic terms are structured, being at HKS in the Fall was the best practical way for me to meet my academic requirements. With that said, Stacie Marshall, the Tuck registrar, is extremely generous with her time and if you have specific questions about how you would like to structure your dual-degree curriculum, I highly recommend that you reach out to have a personal conversation with her to address your concerns. Tuck’s focus on each individual student is wonderful and if there is a particular academic or professional passion you want to pursue the school is eager to try to accommodate your interests.
I would particularly encourage any Tuck/HKS newly admitted students to reach out to me with more specific questions. My e-mail address is adam.d.ranson.tu14@tuck.dartmouth.edu. I’ll be happy to lend you all the assistance I can and will be pleased to connect you with other dual degree students who may have different perspectives than I do so that you can weigh all the information available as you decide how to structure your curriculum.
