ASK A DARDEN STUDENT - Round 1 Questions!

Hi everyone!

I'm currently a Second-Year student at Darden and would love to take any questions that you may have. I will be available for the next week or so to answer any questions you may have, so get them in soon! I'll be back in the last week or so before Round 1 applications are due to answer anything last minute. For now - fire away, even if you are not applying Round 1!

A little about myself. I went to Harvard undergrad, did finance in New York City before business school (investment banking and research) and briefly worked at an online education start-up. I did my summer internship in consulting and am looking at consulting and tech as full-time career choices. One of my favorite parts about Darden are the professors, and I'm really excited about all the second-year elective classes I'm taking. One of the cooler things I'm doing is writing a business case with a well-known organizational behavior professor. I am a officer in the Tech Club, Education Club, and am also a career coach for first year students as well as being a member of the Student Admissions Committee at Darden.

Please elaborate on Consulting Opportunities in Darden, and also which courses and other clubs help students to prop up themselves.

Thanks DardenSYStudent for sparing some time for us!

I didn't notice earlier that Darden has an education club. Does Darden have alumni active in the Education Industry? What kind of activities does the club have?

Are there many High Tech to Consulting career switchers who get consulting offers for internship? This is a statistic that is missing in the Darden website. LBS has a document which shows exactly how many shift from Industry/Role X/A to Industry/Role Y/B.

Darden's general management program and case study method translates very well into consulting opportunities. We are basically solving 3 consulting cases in class every day. In terms of classes, there is a great FY elective called The Consulting Process, but basically all classes at Darden will train you in the hypothesis-driven approach. There is also consulting club on campus which is a great source of information and networking opptys with all the top firms. Last year we had a great recruiting year for internships, where more than 20 went to BCG, McKinsey, and Bain, and about 15 went to Deloitte, Accenture, and AT Kearney. Other students were at LEK Consulting, IBM, The Parthenon Group, and Scott Madden. This consists more than 15% of our total class, which is an admirable number.

Yes, Darden does have active alumni in companies like Education Pioneers, Kaplan, The Broad Residency, K12, and Donorschoose. We are actually having an Education conference in the winter that will bring back many of these alumni. The Education Club is a career club, but is also for students interested in Education. In addition to the conference, we sponsor Darden students to participate in MBA case competitions that are education related. We are also actively shaping the curriculum for a future joint degree between Darden and the Curry School of Education. There are many students at Darden with an education background, so part of the club's purpose is to facilitate a dialogue on educational issues and innovations in education.

I don't believe we publish formal statistics on former -> new job roles, but I would say that I do know of both students and alums who made the switch from high tech to consulting. One of the key skillsets that consulting firms look for is analytical ability, which engineers often are very proficient at. With that said, of course there are other types of valuable skillsets as well that are developed from other backgrounds. However, I can definitely think of students in my class who successfully recruited for consulting and were former engineers.

Interesting tip about the future double with the school of education. Any chance that's going to be available to next year's incoming class, or is this not imminent?

Darden is taking applications now for the inaugural launch of the program for the Fall of 2012.

Awesome, where can I find this application?

For our dual degrees – you have to apply to both schools separately through the regular admissions process. Here is the dual degree page for reference: darden.virginia.edu/web/MBA/Academics/Dual-Degrees/
You will see we do not have the MBA/MEd listed but this will be announced shortly so yes, we are accepting for the dual degree program. Hope this helps!

Very cool, thanks buddy!

Just to chime in here real fast. As a first-year going through the Darden curriculum right now, I have to say that the cases are HIGHLY hypothesis-driven. We make an extensive list of assumptions when working on any given case, and while "assumptions" aren't necessarily the best things in the world, these cases really simulate real-life processes where you pretty much never get that chance to know every single fact. I bring this point to your attention because it's more or less like consulting, or at least, the case interview. The case interview for consulting is really about taking an ambiguous case situation and probe for more information by asking questions. So these cases that we go over each day are basically a good starting point as case prep to consulting interviews. And of course, as mentioned, there are clubs that will help with case interviews/preparation and such.

Have questions about the #Darden #MBA program? Join current students for an online chat. 10/12 at 8:30 p.m. (EST): http://ow.ly/6TIrd

Thanks for answering questions on this forum.

I hope your finals went (or are going) well!

I have a question about taking classes in other schools at UVA. Do many Darden students leverage the resources of the UVA community and take elective courses at other UVA schools? I am particularly interested in taking courses in the School of Education. Is it difficult to register in UVA courses outside of Darden?

I am a R1 consortium applicant. I am really hoping to hear back with an interview invite soon as it is my top choice!

Hi there -

Yes, some Darden students do take classes at other UVA schools, but they do have to be pre-approved by the registrar in order to count towards graduation requirements. I know of students who have taken classes at Curry. Also, if you are not aware, there is actually a joint degree you can apply for that is between Darden and Curry. This is the first year it's being offered! There is also a Darden Business Project (basically an independent study) that is offered every year that a Darden student can take for course credit that involves working towards school turnarounds.

I am also an officer of the Education Club at Darden, and through that avenue we interact closely with our Curry counterparts. Not only are there social gatherings, but we are also working on a conference in February, and there are many other opportunities to engage in education.

I am a R1 applicant. Unfortunately, I haven't heard anything from Darden since the time I hit the submit button. I have a 740 GMAT, am a CFA level 3 candidate, have quality work exp of 4+ yrs in Accenture. I have great interest in your prestigious institute and was hoping to fetch an interview invite at least. Unfortunately, I have been subject to a lot of disappointment. Dunno what to make of Darden's "no response" till 21st.

guaravtejwani, interview invites can be sent out up until Dec 21, the R1 notification deadline. All applications are read in random order, and as you may imagine, the admissions office has a lot of applications to process through! Please be mindful that admissions officers are still reading applications and extending interview invites. When you receive an interview invite has no bearing on your candidacy. I know that it can be a stressful and daunting process to wait, but I am sure that you presented your best in the application, and we take every application in very careful consideration. Best of luck!

Thanks a lot!!! Appreciate your candid response. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best.