My interview was earlier this week. I met with a member of the admissions team. She spent about 5 minutes reviewing the evaluation process with me, then asked: "tell me your life story". I spent about 30 minutes going through my story, then we spent another 20-25 in conversation about Darden, my goals, and personal interests. So about 1 hour for the interview in total. There were about 25-30 other applicants visiting that day, and about 20 interviewing.
Some pointers I thought of after I finished, hopefully these can help those of you who are still preparing:
-Know your story well! My interviewer didn't ask many questions when I was delivering my story, but when she did I was able to alter my story around her question. She would ask something like: do you see yourself doing X at Darden? And I would answer with: let me tell you a story about this time in my life when I did something similar.
-Show, don't tell! The best stories allow the listener to vividly imagine. You can bullet point your life for your interviewer. Then later, she will go back and read exactly what you said on your resume. You can be interesting without having ever saved children from a fire or climbed the world's 5 tallest peaks, though if you have done those things, you might want to find a way to work them in
-You won't have time for everything. I thought I would have plenty of time, and I didn't. I had to catch myself from rambling a couple of times. Practice and time yourself out, then assume that you'll take 25% more time to go through the same story in your interview. Also, you will likely stumble if you focus on memorizing particular words. Memorize the concepts and the order in which you will present them.
-Have a theme! I know it sounds cheesy, but it will help them remember you more if "you're the guy who is really caring and runs marathons to raise money for cancer research" or if you're the "woman who consistently challenged herself and ended up discovering how much she loves the healthcare industry, despite having been an accounting major." Think of 3 or 4 good stories that relate to your theme across your adult life and use them to pull the whole story together.
-Have fun. You get to talk about yourself; you don't have to spend an hour doing a DCF or frantically jotting down notes for a case study. No 5 forces, no Strunk & White. It's just you, chatting with someone who is interested in you. Tell some jokes and smile: they're happy you're there, too!