Why is Tuck Business Bridge Too Good to Miss?

By Qiya (Kaye) Mao, Davidson College ’21 (Economics, Political Science), Bridge '20

Why is Tuck Business Bridge too good to miss?

Do you have a vague interest in business, but feel underprepared to take on a whole internship yet? If that’s the case, you’d benefit a lot from the Tuck Business Bridge Program. At a liberal arts college like Davidson, you most likely have been taught to think critically and creatively, and have extensively practiced these principles in various settings. What could be better than getting to apply the insights you’ve gained at Davidson in a business-oriented, professionally driven context? At Tuck Business Bridge, you’ll meet and team up with like-minded peers to embark on a thrilling journey that will help you develop a comprehensive understanding of what business is all about, as well as acquire a shiny set of practical skills that will significantly strengthen your candidacy in the job market.

How does it work?

Since we’re still living in a pandemic-affected reality, the winter session of Tuck Business Bridge I participated in was, once again, all virtual. While completing the program online inevitably meant certain elements from in-person interactions couldn’t be fully replicated, you’d be wrong to think the virtual version of the program is less content-packed and valuable than the on-site one. You should be ready to tackle new challenges in all directions on a daily basis, whether that requires smart time management in your six-people study groups, resilient patience in the face of complicated accounting and finance concepts, or informed confidence in optional mock interviews with MBA students at Tuck School of Business. There will be long days and odd hours of studying, collaborating, and striving for improvements even in the slightest details. You will be so tired of Zoom and Canvas afterwards, but you will finish the program feeling supported and accomplished.

What are the selling points?

The benefits of participating in the Tuck Business Bridge Program are highly tangible:

– You’ll know how to locate, look into, extract meaningful data from financial statements of publicly traded companies, and use tools embedded in Excel to build a discounted cash flow (DCF) model that’ll allow you to form an evidence-backed opinion about the per share value of a company.

– You’ll practice leadership in ways you find comfortable and uneasy as you navigate evolving team dynamics in multiple settings, whether that’s within your program study group or within randomly formed Zoom breakout groups, regardless of the significance of tasks expected to be completed.

– You’ll receive ample feedback from your professors, your Bridge Associates (i.e. TAs in the program), as well as your peers in almost anything you do during the program, so much so that it’d be difficult not to form the habit of being more intentional in self-reflections on your decisions and actions.

– Any of the above-listed points can make you more marketable to a future employer. Better yet, having Tuck Business Bridge on your resume in and of itself makes you stand out from the crowd, not to mention you’ll get to join a vibrant Bridge alumni network upon graduating from the program.

https://wildcat-career-news.davidson.edu/nonprofit-and-social-services/why-is-tuck-business-bridge-too-good-to-miss/