MBA Advisor: The Best Business School Alumni Networks

Tuck alum tutoring the next generation of MBA graduates.

A degree is a start, not an end.

That’s how many MBAs view their alma maters. For them, business school was more than a string of projects and trips that prepped them for McKinsey or Microsoft. It was a transformative experience that re-aligned their values and priorities. Come graduation, these alumni will start work on a new purpose: paying forward the blessings they enjoyed to the next class.

“IT’S PAYBACK TIME!”

It is this spirit that often separates graduate business programs. At the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, this difference is reflected in alumni giving, where more than two-thirds of alumni traditionally make gifts to the annual fund. For Jonathan Masland, executive director for career development at Tuck, such support is embedded in the school’s structure – a private program that caters exclusively to full-time MBAs. In other words, Tuck’s success is predicated on being a close-knit and heavily involved student community, where everyone knows each other and can pitch in when help is needed. This instinct naturally carries over to alumni, says Masland.

“They’ve had this great experience. They understand, to have this community, it is something that really requires them to give back.”

The not-so hidden hand of alumni is also felt at USC’s Marshall School of Business. Long known for student volunteerism, Marshall is the sunny urban yang to Tuck’s seasonal rural yin. However, the school’s alums are equally committed to the cause. They even have a nickname: The Trojan Network. According to Anne Ziemniak, the school’s assistant dean who heads the full-time MBA program, alumni often respond with “What can I do” when asked if they could help with students and events. This responsiveness was something immediately apparent to Jayson Gasper, an M&A manager at Deloitte Consulting and 2013 Marshall alum, when he was a student.

Students’ Bridge at USC Marshall

“I found that, especially when I would talk to a USC alum versus someone outside the Trojan family, there was extra responsiveness and longer conversations,” he explains. “I sensed a difference in the amount of thoughtfulness and connection that they strove to make. From a networking perspective, I saw a big help from alumni in a number of companies in a number of roles.”

ROSS EDGES OUT TUCK AS TOP NETWORK ACCORDING TO SURVEY

Such commitment and responsiveness are undoubtedly among the reasons why Tuck and Marshall grads rank among the top alumni networks, according to the annual survey conducted by The Economist. In 2017, the magazine polled current MBA students and recent alumni about the “effectiveness” of their school’s alumni on a scale of 1 (Poor) to 5 (Excellent). In doing so, The Economist was able to measure, to an extent, how engaged school alumni were in mentoring and helping with job searches.

Overall, respondents gave the highest marks to the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. It produced a 4.81 average. In fact, this score was the third-highest among top MBA programs across the various survey criteria, which also evaluated faculty, culture, facilities, and satisfaction. Tuck trailed closely behind at 4.79, beating out Stanford (4.77) and Marshall (4.73) as runner-up. Those scores, of course, are so close they effectively represent a tie of sorts.

The alumni network survey also showed clear statistical differentiation between programs. Unlike the satisfaction, faculty, and culture surveys – where barely .20 of a point separated the highest-rated program from the 15th best, survey respondents were clearly more enamored with some networks over others. Notably, .43 of a point separates #1 Ross from #15 Yale. At the same time, some of the lowest averages overall are found in The Economist’s alumni effectiveness survey, including HEC Paris, IE Business School, and IESE – which all scored under a 4.0.

MARSHALL STUDENTS TREATED LIKE PARTNERS

So what makes some alumni more apt to pick up the phone over others? Both Tuck and Marshall are case studies in how pairing top notch programming with supportive cultures foster alumni who internalize their school values long after commencement.

USC’s Anne Ziemniak

At Marshall, it starts with ownership. Alumni stay heavily involved in the school because they were given a strong voice as students. They are treated as partners, rather than consumers, by administration and faculty. Since their insights were encouraged as students, they naturally continue to engage with the Marshall community as professionals.

“We involve students in all aspects of student life here,” notes Ziemniak. “They are key stakeholders and we want them to help us understand how to make the student experience better. That investment really carries over to when they are alumni and they feel that need to continue to give back.”

ALUMNI INVOLVEMENT SETS EXAMPLE FOR STUDENTS TO FOLLOW

Indeed, Marshall views alumni as their strongest advocates. As a result, they’re heavily involved in every step of the recruitment process – a strategy that doesn’t go unnoticed by prospective MBAs. “Students really pick up on that,” Ziemniak points out. “That’s a visual. Students see that our alumni is engaged and they themselves pick up on the cue that it is important to be engaged once you graduate as well.”

The Class President Summit is an example of this active involvement in action. Last year, Marshall brought a dozen class presidents back to campus. Since the presidents have traditionally been the ones who are most plugged into with their classmates, it was way to share updates on initiatives and upcoming events with a larger population in a far more intimate fashion. Now, Marshall has tweaked the formula to better serve current students. Going forward, past class presidents will help conduct student leader training. This creates an opportunity for students to learn from and network with their future peers.

“The great thing about Marshall alumni,” Ziemniak adds, “is that you can just call someone up and say you are doing this event and we need your help here. Unless there is a major scheduling conflict, the answer is usually yes.”

TUCK LOCALE ENCOURAGES STUDENTS TO BE ACTIVE TOGETHER

Dartmouth Tuck’s 2nd Year Erica Toews

At Tuck, the sense of community starts early and extends far beyond one’s class. Erica Toews, a second year who studied English at Stanford, attributes this to both the school’s location and people. For one, Tuck is based in a small town – Hanover, New Hampshire – which is over two hours from Boston. Being “out in the woods” – in Toews’ words – gives it a unique advantage. In her experience, this terrain makes Tuck students “self-selecting,” More than that, it brings people together.

“We’re in this beautiful outdoorsy part of the country where each season is incredibly stark and beautiful,” Toews explains. “Because the environment and the surroundings and outdoor area is so beautiful, it makes us go outside and do things together and be really active in a way that you wouldn’t do in a school in the city.”

Toews also traces the school camaraderie to the program’s first year program. Broken into fall, winter, and spring terms, it mixes students in core courses together for most of the year. Even more, the core is organized to expose them to a maximum number of classmates. “Each term, you get a new study group. At most schools, you have the same study group all year. We switch them, which is a really amazing way to meet and get to know different groups of people since we work with them so closely.”

Go to Page 4 to see student and alumni survey scores given to 25 top MBA programs on alumni network effectiveness.

Members of USC Marshall’s vaunted Trojan Network

SCHOOL SIZE BUILDS COMMUNITY THAT FOSTERS ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT

The moderate class sizes also facilitate an esprit de corps at Tuck and Marshall that further deepen bonds. At Tuck, each class is comprised of roughly 280 students – a size, says Masland, that enables first years to connect with second years – and then turn around and mesh with incoming students. This creates a far different dynamic for Toews than what her brother experienced at Harvard Business School.

“There were 900-1000 students there,” she says. “He certainly didn’t know everyone. I know everyone in my class at least by name and I usually know a few details about them. That’s the case for most people here.”

In short, Tuck boasts a size where no one can hide and a culture where no one gets left behind. That creates a very unique social order. “Every Thursday, we have Tucktails, which is a happy hour,” Toews shares. “Because the school is so small, we can all get together in one room and drink beer and wine and just talk and catch up on the week. That’s really special. I was just talking to friends the other day about how there is usually one party on Friday and one party on Saturday that the whole school has decided on and it’s nice that it’s not cliquey because we’re all going to the same places.”

At 225 students per class, Marshall’s size lends itself to a similar collaborative and community-driven culture. “It is small enough for everyone to get to know each other pretty well,” Ziemniak asserts. “The classes are small enough that students feel they have a connection to everyone in their class. We benefit from our size, but we also benefit by putting students front and center when it comes to pushing the program forward.”

Jonathan Masland heads up career development at Tuck

TUCK AND MARSHALL SET THE EXPECTATION EARLY FOR STUDENTS

The alumni’s pay-it-forward just doesn’t happen organically, however. Instead, both schools lay down expectations early on, through word and deed, that sets the tone. At Tuck, this responsibility is constantly being reinforced – an embrace of giving back that is the bedrock of the Tuck experience. “As you graduate, the expectation is that you benefited from alumni helping you with your career and learning, so the ethos is one where you help the classes that come after you,” says Masland.

This same message is delivered at Marshall’s orientation from administrators, faculty, second years, and alumni. It is the bargain that first years struck by joining Marshall: They will enjoy the advantages of intensive support from the Trojan Network. In turn, they will be expected to do the same long after. “That spills over into alumni,” Ziemniak observes. “We’re all in this together. We are a family. A win from one Trojan is really a win for all of us. We try to make sure that is instilled from the very beginning.”

From the alumni side, it is a “virtuous cycle” in the words of USC’s Gasper, where intensive Trojan Network support drives alumni to go above-and-beyond in mentoring and opening doors for the students who follow in their footsteps.

“With any great network, it is so steeped in history and tradition,” Gaspers stresses. “The minute you step on campus for orientation, they’re talking about the Trojan family. They bring in the marching band for our MBA orientation week. Throughout the experience, they keep reiterating the strength of the Trojan Network. More importantly, you make connections with alumni during recruiting and get mentoring. By the time you graduate – at least for myself – I felt that I really saw and felt what the Trojan network was. More important, I felt the responsibility to carry that forward since I benefitted from it so much.”

CAREER SERVICES TO THE RESCURE

That’s not to say alumni are flocking to their alma maters begging for opportunities to coach the next generation. Instead, programs like Tuck rely heavily on outreach to connect the right students with the right alumni. Masland points to his career services operation. They are in constant contact with alumni about returning to conduct educational programming about their industries, roles, and employers. The center performs more personalized and targeted outreach as well.

Tuck in winter.

“As we get into the year, we’ll get fairly detailed profiles from students for their summer internship or full-time job,” says Masland. “We’ll group them. Let’s say you want to work on the West Coast in early stage tech. We’ll share those things with alums who work in that precise area. We’ll ask the alums to see what they can do to help the student. We connect with 2,000-3000 alumni across a whole breadth of subsectors based on student interests.”

That said, the school aren’t always the ones who initiate these meetings. “Reunions are fun for me,” adds Masland. “We had alumni from China who got together and hosted a networking lunch for Chinese students. It was organic; they just wanted to connect and they had a great conversation. We also help the real estate alums track down the students so they can have networking conversations with them.”

SHARED EXPERIENCES SET THE STAGE

Class bonds lead to engaged alumni. Both are forged during rites of passage: shared experiences that connect students and alumni. At Marshall, that transcendent tradition is PRIME, an international study trip that highlights the core Global Context of Business course. Here, students fan out to rousing locales like Hanoi, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Buenos Aires. Now 20 years old, the PRIME experience has become the binding experience that brings students and alumni together.

“When alumni come back for recruiting events or on campus, PRIME is something they can talk about with students,” Ziemniak insists. “They always want to know, ‘Where did you go on PRIME?’ Immediately, they have that connection and shared experience. Alumni still look back fondly on that experience.”

At Tuck, travel also brings together classmates. During winter break, for example, 40-50 “Tuckies” will band together for fun treks to locales like Japan and Brazil, usually led by student hosts from these countries. In fact, Tuck’s trademark closeness has been heavily amplified by the program’s international students. Notably, the school is renowned for its cultural celebrations. For example, the Brazilian cohort hosts an annual Carnivale, replete with dancers and Caipirinhas. Not to be outdone, Indian students put on a Dewali, a fall festival packed with skits and food that quickly turns into a dance party. In February, the Chinese contingent held a dumpling-making party to celebrate the New Year.

Tuck Tripod Hockey

“The whole school will show up for culture events and festivities” Toews reminisces. “They bring all the rest of us into their culture and share it with us. It is that kind of sharing that is really one of the best parts about Tuck.”

Well, except for maybe ice hockey. Want to speak the language of a Tuck alum? Forget finance and think faceoffs. Here, tripod hockey is the stuff of memory for many students. “I believe at least 50% of class goes out and plays hockey in the evenings,” says Masland. “It is something the alums did too. They can remember being on the ice, where your stick is like your third leg, and they remember it fondly. So students can talk to alums about it and they can relate to that shared experience.”

Go to Page 4 to see student and alumni survey scores given to 25 top MBA programs on alumni network effectiveness.

USC’s Marshall School of Business

PROGRAMMING RELIES HEAVILY ON ALUMNI INVOLVEMENT

Both Marshall and Tuck maintain programs that match up students and alumni, along with setting the stage for alumni responsibilities to come. At Marshall, Gasper notes, he participated in a one-on-one program with an alumni mentor. In addition, he attended an in-person event that brought all of these mentors together – a moment where Gasper says he could “tangibly see the strength of the Trojan family and how much everyone bought into it.” At the same time, Gasper signed up for other events, where alumni would fly in from all over the country to help coach students.

“Over the two years, I had countless phone conversations, in-person meetings, and just mentorship chats that really crystallized where I wanted to go in my career and how I could set myself up to be successful at the next level,” Gasper states.

MBA alumni contribute to their alma maters in other ways too. At Tuck, alumni are welcome to speak in classes, a chance for students to pick up real world practice advice. They are also included in educational activities, such as speaking at the school’s vaunted Private Equity Conference – where alumni traditionally stick around for cocktails and dinner with students. Considering Tuck’s remote locale, the high response rate to such invitations is testament to the lasting bond between the school and its alumni.

OPPORTUNITIES TO STEP INTO ALUMNI ROLES AS STUDENTS

Soon-to-be members of the USC’s Trojan Network.

Sometimes, alumni are intent on leaving their own mark too. In 2011, Ziemniak began working with an alum from Ernst & Young, who advocated for a 24-hour internal case competition at Marshall. Sure enough, the competition turned into a boon for the school. “Now, we have this giant pipeline of students who are funneling into EY,” Ziemniak raves. “The original student is still involved and now has other alumni helping with the planning. He has created countless opportunities for our students by virtue of that competition.”

The programs also offer opportunities that condition students to reflexively give back. At Tuck’s Admitted Students Weekend, for example, students run the show, even opening their homes up to candidates to stay overnight and enjoy dinner together. During orientation, this servant leadership is underscored by a community project that takes students out of the Tuck “bubble” to work with a local nonprofit. A cornerstone event would be February’s Tuck Gives, an auction where students help support peers who are going into non-profit or socially-focused summer internships. The donations are often service-related, such as choreography or workout training. In the end, they serve a larger purpose.

“These events are a reflection of the kind of community of giving that we have,” Masland notes. “They give students practice – or create reps so to speak – of helping out others in the Tuck community so when they become alums it just comes natural.”

ALUMNI TAKE IT UPON THEMSELVES TO HELP

That means alumni often don’t need an ask to help. Take Marshall, where Hollywood is just 30 minutes from campus (in good traffic). However, entertainment is also a referral-based industry says Ziemniak. That means it is imperative to get students in front of the right people. Even more, the industry defies the traditional MBA hiring cycle, driven instead by just-in-time hiring. That’s why Marshall alumni often take it upon themselves to reach out to the school to find out which students are still available.

“A lot of the time, it is our young alumni who are a lot closer to the process – and more familiar with the anxiety that comes with searching for a job at graduation,” Ziemniak observes. “They will reach out to their networks and put our students in contact with the right people. There are many jobs that have come out of there. Our alumni have helped our students get jobs with Hulu, NBC, Dreamworks, eBay – a whole host of folks in LA.”

The Trojan Network also flexes its muscles in the finance sector, seemingly relishing its underdog status. Ziemniak admits that landing a banking job in New York can be “challenging” for students operating out of the West Coast. Marshall’s banking alumni understand that too, which is why they step up and bring their A-Game when a fellow Trojan is in need.

TUCK STUDENT REACHES OUT TO FORTUNE 500 CEO ALUM…AND LANDS A JOB

Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business students celebrating spring.

“Every year, we have a small and mighty group of students who are interested in working in New York and our alumni are incredibly helpful to them,” Ziemniak adds. “They will always pick up the phone, always take a meeting – in New York and San Francisco too. They are willing to host students for company info sessions or willing to come to networking mixers. They’ll drop everything to be there.”

Gasper experienced this same responsiveness when he was searching for a job. Luckily, he was paired up with a mentor named Ken Perlman, who was a partner with Kotter International at the time. Although Gasper didn’t intend to pursue the type of consulting where Kotter specialized, Perlman was happy to go above-and-beyond to help him find an organization and role that fit his lifestyle and goals. “Ken didn’t benefit from mentoring me aside from giving back to the Trojan Network. Looking back five years later, I’m really happy with the decision I made. His advice really helped make it.”

Connections matter at Tuck too – and Bryan Cory (’14) is a case in point. He was enterprising enough to reach out to Eric Spiegel, the CEO of Siemens North America at the time and a Tuck board member. Turns out, fortune favors the brave. Spiegel returned his call and Cory eventually joined the firm in the venture capital group. “It was just one of those situations where a very talented Tuck student reached out and an alum picked up the phone,” says Masland. “It just came together pretty organically.”

TUCK GRAD’S MISSION: ‘IT’S OK TO BE DIFFERENT’

USC’ Alum Jayson Gasper

Gasper is already following in Spiegel’s footsteps. Since graduating five years ago, he has returned to campus a half dozen times to coach, speak, mentor, and conduct mock interviews. “I’m constantly, bumping into my peers from my class and classes later,” he acknowledges. “Now I’m seeing it from the other side. I do feel such a responsibility to the Trojan Family from what I’ve gotten and it’s exciting to be in a position to give back.”

Toews is already shouldering her alumni responsibilities at Tuck. A co-chair of three clubs – Net Impact, Entrepreneurship, and Volunteer – Toews is busy pulling together resources, details, and contact information on the treks she helped organize to make life easier on next year’s club leaders. Currently, she plans to return to the Bay Area to work in education management or possibly venture philanthropy – non-traditional avenues for MBAs to pursue. This choice has informed how she hopes to help Tuck MBA students in the future.

“It’s really important for me to let Tuckies know that it’s OK to follow different paths than most people,” she explains. “Many people come in wanting to do one thing and end up doing something else because it is what their classmates are doing or they see those companies on campus. I want to find a way to let them know to stay their course. It is viable to work at a nonprofit or impact. There are some prestigious and well-paying roles in education and social impact sector that people just don’t know about. I want to deliver that message to people.”

Based on early returns, Gasper and Toews are more than ready to carry the torch given to them by fellow alumni. It comes with big responsibilities, says Ziemniak, but even greater rewards.

“I can’t speak more highly of our alumni. Not matter what the ask is, they are always willing to do what they can. They were once students – and they once had someone help them. It is really a paying it back mentality. They all know it is their responsibility. Once you do it, it’s contagious because there is something so personally fulfilling about being able to help someone in that sort of way.”

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