Darden 2012 - Calling All Applicants

I'm sort of in the same boat. I will miss some colleagues and while I am greatful for the experience, I am looking forward to doing something else with my career. In my current career, an MBA helps but isn't mandatory, and my ultimate decision to go full time stems from the fact that even a year ago I was finding it increasingly difficult to stay engaged. I will miss the steady paycheck, but that's about it.

Current Darden Students,

Could you comment on how quickly housing options fill up? I most likely will end up in Ivy or Huntington but don't want to apply for lease until I know for certain I'm going to Darden.

Similarly, while I'd like to have a roommate to save some $$$, I wouldn't want to commit to a roommate until I've fully committed to Darden since backing out at a later point would be a pretty terrible thing to do. If these apartments do rent out quickly, I may just bite the bullet and rent a one bedroom early. In any case they are much cheaper in price than I'm used to, which is exciting.

hmm, honestly, not that I know of. Ivy is probably closest to school, but not by much. (I personally don't live in either but haven't heard of any major differences between the two).[/quote]

Thanks, any other apartments you would recommend by walking distance?[/quote]

The other ones would be apartments on Arlington or University Heights. I know of people who walk from Arlington; it's a bit farther away than Hungtinton, and University Heights is about a good 10-15 min walk from school. To be honest, University Heights isn't the most ideal for walking since you'll be walking in 35 degree weather in the winter at 7:30 in the morning. It's definitely do-able, but not ideal. Most people I know of who live at "UHeights" find some way to commute with people and do the walking occasionally.

Just like any other apartments you've lived in, it's really a "gamble" per se. It's hard to say whether it'll be filled up and while I don't personally live in either, I've never heard of anyone "complaining" about not being able to live in Ivy or Huntington. That said, there will also be people posting on Darden portal (for admitted only) and facebook page asking for roommate and this will continue all the way up to at least a week or two from the start date. Surely you won't have much choices by that time, but you should still be able to get an apartment at Ivy or Huntington. I know of people who got admitted in June who were still able to find apartments at either one of the two complexes. So I wouldn't worry too much on that end at this point. Simply focus on making your decision at this point and of course, we all hope that you'd pick Darden at the end!

The funny thing is that I moved to my current organization knowing that it was a bit laid back and would give me sufficient time to write the GMAT and subsequently apply to schools. It seems that my plan has back fired and I have put myself into the trap now. Rather than being frustrated by the stunted growth I have started appreciating the work/life balance which my company offers . I need to shake it off and get going again. One thing for sure writing in this thread is bringing me back on track.

Hi bakfed, while we're discussing apartments, I've a small question-
For various personal reasons, I'd strongly prefer to live alone. Ivy and Huntington are both significantly expensive (and too big) for me to afford. I'm considering looking for small apartments within a radius of 5 miles (based on listings on DardenPortal). Do you think living in close proximity to the school is a huge advantage.. Is parking or driving a few miles everyday going to be a hassle?

If you haven't, try:

BRAC.com

& Craigslist.

I believe BRAC has a number of 1 bedroom places & craigslist has studio & small 1 bedrooms all the time.

So there are definitely trade-offs. I personally live in University Heights, which is roughly 10-15 min walk to school. I've never done the walk as I have a car at Charlottesville. Driving a few miles everyday is definitely not a hassle - in fact, it's really just a routine. So for my 8am class, I wake up at 7, take care of my dog and wash up a bit. Then I leave for school. For those living at Ivy or Huntington could probably afford to get up at 7:30am and still get to school comfortably (or wake up at 7:50 and still get too school in sweat). UHeights is currently going for $765 for one bedroom (smallest size at uheights), and that is what I have. Craigslist also has several different things listed on there, which I recommend taking a peek at. One thing that you do have to realize and factor in as you make your housing choice is the parking permit and weather. Parking permit runs about $600 for the year (one-time payment) and will allow you to park ONLY at Darden garage, which should be good enough already. Weather is also a pain sometimes as traffic does happen, but that's the tradeoff for living farther away from school. Living close to school (Ivy or Huntington) means you save $600 of parking permit and that you can always walk to school without worrying about traffic. However, you do pay that premium of living so close to Darden as you've seen from the rents of Ivy and Huntington.

I agree with this. BRAC certainly has several different options, but definitely keep in mind of the distance to school. Honestly though, if you plan to have a car here, it's not going to be that big of a difference whether you live 1 mile away or 5 miles away (5 is probably a bit too far; I'd recommend against it, lol)

Thanks bakfed. I mostly agree with you as I've decided to keep my car at C'ville. Moreover, paying $600 for parking would still be cheaper than taking a one-BR at Ivy.
While casually snooping around apartments, I stumbled on 'Barracks West', they too have Studios and one bedrooms and it's only 2-3 miles away from the school. Although, it has mixed reviews. I'll definitely check out BRAC and UHeights.

Also, you might want to do the whole socializing thing once in a while, in which case access to the Corner or Downtown Mall isn't a bad thing. The lease I'm signing is in the Rugby/Preston Ave. area for this reason (and the local elementary is really damn good).

Also, no one's mentioned it, but the UVA/Charlottesville bus system, particularly the UVA-run buses, are pretty damn reliable. So if you do live in the Preston/Rugby area it's not a stretch to rely on the bus in the winter months & ride/bike in the warmer months as I plan to do.

Only downside to the Rugby/Preston & JPA areas I would say is that some of the listings can be close or involve living near undergrads, and undergrads can be a little crazy depending on the tenants. Living closer to Darden means living away from the Ugrads, and although I was one a long while back, I wouldn't have wanted to live next door to me...

At the end of the day, you'll be perfectly fine with where you're living. Obviously, the pros of living in Ivy and Huntington are the proximity and support from friends. Having the majority of the class living in these two, you'll get plenty of friends and support for both personal and professional work. The downside is for those who'd like to separate out school and private life, it'll be hard to get that (and of course, you do pay a bit more for convenience). Living a bit farther away from campus means a bit cheaper rent, but you do have to deal with driving and pay for parking permit. But as AnarchyBunny mentioned, the shuttle system at UVA is good enough where you shouldn't have too much trouble getting to campus if you choose not to drive. Where you choose to live is going to come down completely as a personal preference. I honestly know of folks who are living a bit farther away, but in such a nice little townhome complex that it makes Ivy look like a piece of crap. But there are also plenty of students who opt for the convenience of living closer to school and the ability to trek to school anytime. Simply weigh the pros and cons with your own preference and go with your gut feeling.

The only advice that I can give on this is if you don't have a preference, I'd recommend Ivy/Huntington directly simply because of the easier transition you'll experience after moving to Charlottesville, with friends and peers right next to you. Not to mention the fact that if you want to make friends fast, living in Ivy/Huntington gives you ample opportunity to meet new classmates.

Oh, and lastly, if you're planning to bring a pet, Ivy/Huntington won't allow them (in fact, I chose UHeights because it was pet-friendly, otherwise, I would've probably gone with either Ivy or Huntington myself).

bakfed you've been totally awesome at helping us all out! I feel so much less overwhelmed by the prospect of moving now that I have some leads on places.

I have a curricular question, if ya don't mind...I know that all classes are case study-based (and it was awesome to see this in action during my class visit). How are students graded? Is it mostly based on preparation and participation? Do all courses have midterms and finals? Are there projects, papers, etc.? Or is it all dependent on the particular course? I'm only asking because I personally haven't experienced the case study method yet and I'm interested to hear how it differs from a lecture-style curriculum (grade-wise).

Generally speaking, grades are dependent on a final exam and participation throughout the term. There will be some quizzes for some classes but those weigh significantly less when compared to final exam and participation. Usually, you'd see 40% on participation and 40-50% on final exam, and the rest is distributed through other means of grading (a short paper to write, or a presentation, etc). I remember one class has just 40% on participation and 60% on final exam. So while preparation itself for the cases isn't graded, it is graded on how you can contribute in the class. Lastly, grades are normally distributed, which also means that a certain percentage of the class will get highest remark (Distinguished Pass, or DP in Darden's term) and conversely, a certain percentage will be given low remarks (below average).

Good to know about the grading stuff. I'm a bit shy in large groups, but I guess I'm going to have to amp it up for class .

How do you generally spend your weekends? Is it a lot of prepping for the next week or do you get a good amount of personal down time and time to socialize? And if classes go through Thursday, is Friday usually filled with career oriented stuff?

Honestly, and this is resonated even with the Darden faculty, don't worry about grades. As long as you're saying something (whether it's useful or not is a different story) and you do ok on your exam, you'll pass. However, if your gunning for straight A's, you will definitely need to speak more often than not.

Weekends are typically just personal down time. Some folks go out of town and visit nearby counties; some go to vineyards to 'detox' a bit; some start their case prep for the following week. The point is - weekends are typically yours to burn and you'll get to decide on how you burn it (Sundays, though, are the day that people get back into learning mode since learning teams will meet on Sunday 7pm to prep for Monday's cases). And yes, classes go through Thursday and Fridays are usually filled with school-related or career-oriented stuff. When you begin school, Fridays are typically used for mandatory seminars where professionals come and speak to the class about how to get through these two years of MBA. These are fun seminars as the speakers are usually very upbeat. Then there are career-related materials as well that occur sporadically on Fridays. When recruiting hits hard, there are also receptions and dinners and conferences that will occur on Fridays and the weekends.

Your weekends are going to heavily depend on how you want to spend it and what your career aspiration is. For ibanking and consulting, there will be a bit more networking events than those of marketing and general management. Darden also has various events that you may choose to participate in but they're voluntary. So you'll definitely have your personal time should you choose to.

Can anyone recommend a good GYM around UVA? Chain GYM preferred. Thx