Darden (Virginia) 2013 - Calling All Applicants!

Haven't heard anything either no official date for the interviews. But by next week, all the interview invites should be out, I suppose.

Posted from my mobile device

Hey guys, I wanted to check with the other folks out there and get your opinion on my situation. I applied to Darden in the final round and received an email from them this past week. Essentially it said I was denied for an interview for the full time program, but that they would like to offer me the opportunity to interview for their GEMBA program.

While Darden is, by far, my first choice, I don't feel an executive program is right for me. Firstly, I didn't really want to do an executive program, so it threw me for a loop. Secondly, I don't think I'm a good fit and that the executive programs are missing some of my more important considerations for getting an MBA. Lastly, the mechanics just wouldn't work out with my employer. I work for a PE fund and our investment period will be ending in the next year. With the fund raising environment the way it is, there is no telling how long the fund raising process might take for the next fund. That would mean I could end up unemployed while in the program. Furthermore, there just isn't likely to be a position available for my skill and education level post-MBA, so it doesn't seem wise for me to do an executive program and it seems far fetched to think my employer would make the sacrifice required knowing that I would have to leave afterward.

So, I'm going to have to write the admissions folks back and let them know some or all of what's above. Any thoughts on how much detail I should give? I thought about shying away from expressing too much disinterest in the executive program, but I would like them to know that the full time program is really the only option I would except. I would also like them to reconsider me for the full time interviews. Do you think that is even possible? I guess in my mind it's worth a shot, even if it's a long one.

Also, for what it's worth, I think I have a pretty good story and I know a second year at Darden that submitted a pretty compelling recommendation on my behalf. If there is one glaring drawback to my application, it's my GMAT score, which is right at the bottom of their 80% range. Clearly that will cause the admissions committee to question my capabilities but my score was primarily deficient in the quant section, which is odd given I work in finance and majored in finance in undergrad...which I feel is a small mitigant for the poor score. If I had to take a guess, the issue the admissions committee would have with my GMAT score would have less to do with my ability to keep up in class and more to do with career placement on the backend. Is this something I should proactively address in my email? Essentially I am going to study and take the GMAT again with the hope of having a better score for recruitment purposes.

All thoughts, opinions and advice is truly welcomed.

Regards

Sorry, how many years of work experience do you have?
I have a bottom of their 80% of GMAT and I was offered admission.
I hardly think it is your GMAT that made the point. Last year I had very similar situation with another University and they offered me their 1 year program pointing out to my work experience which was very rich by their words.
Think about it, probably you have 7+ years of work experience or smth like that
In your shoes I would turn to a good consultant in the admissions area

Yeah, so a few things, I'm 30 years old, so near the top of the range for full time programs and I have 8 years of full time work experience, but I don't consider all of that legitimate professional work experience. 4 of those years were in the military, straight out of high school, so prior to undergrad, which means I wasn't a commissioned officer and the actual time I spent as a supervisor (read: leadership experience) was only about 2 years. 1 of those years was in undergrad, just working a security gig at a store, though it was full time. The remaining 3 years are the legitimate post-undergrad professional years working in the industry I want to continue to work in post-MBA. Most schools I've looked at generally only really consider your post-undergrad work experience.

What perplexes me is, they have plenty of guys that did undergrad and then several years in the military, some who are older and who have more work experience than I do...so how is it my profile is a better for their GEMBA program but others were not? Clearly I'm not the average candidate case, but I'm pretty run of the mill with regard to military applicants.

This also doesn't even taken into account that I specified in my essay that I am switching fields within finance. If you were an admissions staff member and you had a candidate that said, "Hey, I like finance, but I want to transition to a different sector of finance and I believe getting an MBA from your school would greatly assist me in doing so." how do you turn around and offer them a program that would require them to keep their current position for another two years and greatly hinder their ability to make that transition?

It just seems a little backwards to me, so my thought was they may have been just throwing me a bone because I'm a veteran and my buddy is a current 2nd year and they didn't want to reject me...but that's just a guess.

It appears that I will have at least one other option, so it isn't the end of the world, but Darden was certainly the best fit for me and offered exactly what I was looking for in an MBA program.

I guess I'm a bit miffed because if my profile fits the GEMBA program this year, I'm only going to be older and more experienced in the years to come...which means they basically implied that I would never be accepted into their full time program...even if I decided to apply again next year with the hope of getting into my 'dream' school.

Additional thoughts are welcomed.

Regards

The reality is it's not that you're a better fit for the EMBA program, it's that the EMBA admissions is less competitive than the full-time program. This is basically a bait-and-switch Darden is doing to fill seats in their less coveted EMBA program. I really doubt it has to do with your "fit". Columbia pulls this crap too.

FWIW, I've got 10 years in the military as a commissioned officer and am in the over 30 crowd and was WL after interview for the 2Y MBA.

Your GMAT is probably low for the full-time program, but in executive programs, the GMAT is de-emphasized in the admissions process.

Hope this sheds some light.

Frankly that was kind of my thought and I was fishing to see if this has happened to anyone else and if they managed to get into the full time program after turning the executive program down. Of course, the email they sent said that the opportunity was being offered to only a few select people, but I just couldn't imagine that was actually the case.

My honest opinion is that the GEMBA program is a good program and I would be more than happy to interview for it if I was looking for an executive program, but that just isn't the case.

If it is a pure bait-and-switch, then the good news is they don't think my profile isn't good for the 2 year program, now comes the tricky part of declining the interview and somehow getting them to reconsider me for the 2 year program interview.

CobraKai, thank you for the candid response and thank you for your dedication and service.

Regards

From what you have written I can see that you are not considering their GEMBA program at all, am I right?
If it is the case, you should certainly contact the admissions and explain yourself.
But you should understand that the chances are very slim that they will reconsider your candidacy.
But still, I prefer to do maximum of what is in my hands and then see what really happens.
Best of luck!

Your assumption is correct. Although I think the GEMBA program is a good program, it just isn't a good program for me. I'm not in a position to keep my current job for 2 or more years because of the way we operate and even if I could stay employed for the length of the executive program, there is no reason to believe my firm would allow me to miss 12 weeks of work and be far less available to work late night and weekends, just so I can jump ship afterwards.

Thank you for your response.

Regards

Let us know how it turnes out with the adcom! Best of luck!

Matriculating students, has anyone heard back on if the background check went through? If so how long did it take to get the final word? I still haven't heard anything.

Just to offer a bit more color on the different programs available at Darden - full-time MBA, Executive MBA, and Global MBA for Executives - here is some info:

Darden’s MBA program is available in three formats: full-time, MBA for Executives, and Global MBA for Executives. All three formats result in the same MBA degree from the Darden School of Business. They are taught by the same top-ranked faculty, and students in all formats are pursuing a variety of career changes.

The main differences between the formats are the schedule of when/where classes are delivered and the size and demographics of the classes.

The full-time MBA requires that you quit your job, move to Charlottesville and take classes full time during the academic year with an internship in the summer. Both executive formats allow you to continue working full time while earning your degree. The MBA for Executives includes monthly weekend residences (Thursday through Saturday), as well as four one-week leadership residencies throughout the 21-month program (one of which is international). The Global MBA for Executives includes six two-week residencies in the U.S., China, Brazil, Europe and India. In addition to the residencies, the executive formats also incorporate distance learning (interactive online classes, learning teams, projects, etc).

The average class sizes are around: 320 (full-time), 60 (MBA for Executives) and 30 (Global MBA for Executives). Full-time students tend to be younger with average work experience around 4 years. Executive format students tend to have 7+ years of work experience with the average being closer to around 15 years.

There are of course other differences, but I hope this helps cover some of the main ones. You can find more details online here: https://www.darden.virginia.edu/web/MBA-Programs-Co...

There is no harm in proceeding with an interview - and you might learn things about the program that make it attractive to you. Best of luck and let me know if you are looking for any further info. Also, I know that it is possible for the Admissions Office to connect you with people who were your same position last year, and elected to go forward with the GEMBA program. Perhaps this is also a source of information you might find beneficial.

Has anyone recieved interview invite as yet (in round 3) ?? the results are out on 8th may and i have nt recieved any communication from the college as yet.Starting to get a little worried now.

I know of a round 3 applicant who had a skype interview 2 weeks ago based in Asia. They seemed to expect a 20 min monologue.

That's how the on campus interviews were as well. They just have you talk, and they'll interject here and there for clarification or additional details.

Have applicants from India in Round 3 started recieving interview requests ???

Rd 2 deposit deadline is tomorrow right? Anyone committing?

I committed. Sent in my deposit Monday.

welcome to junkbond

any idea if college will send me an email saying i have been dinged. since i havent even recieved an interview invite as yet and the decision date is 8th May...so i am certain i havent made it to darden...but i would really appreciate it , if they would communicate this to me....