Darden (UVA) Class of 2016: Calling all applicants!

Make sure you are reaching out to current students (Darden has a whole page on their website with admissions ambassadors) and setting up calls to chat with students. Getting this first-hand knowledge will help you craft strong essays, and it'll also give you more insight into the culture and opportunities at Darden. If you're able, make sure you visit campus. They're probably approaching the end of the school year now, but it's not too early to start thinking of planning a visit in late August once classes start up.

Good luck! It was very tough for me to turn down Darden--it really is a fantastic program. Probably the best facilities of any b-school I saw and the campus community is really strong.

Hey lb,

Thank you so much for the insights. However, I have a different issue at hand here:

Ok, I contact current students and alumni.
I get first hand information about the college community, interesting courses, interesting profs, club details etc.
But I am unable to figure out how would I weave this information in my essays, interview etc?
I guess I can use it in the Why Darden essay, but how do I make it sound like I am genuinely interested in this energy course or this MC course or club because everyone interested in energy or consulting would be doing the same. How do I portray my uniqueness here?

One more question is: does participating in online webinars/ info sessions increase my visibility to the adcom? What else can be done so that the adcom knows me before the interview? (I am in India and school visit is an infeasible affair for me. Yes, World Tours are one of the options, but few schools participate in the World Tours organized in India.)

Any help on this will be highly appreciated.

Best Regards,
KUNAL

Sounds like you’re off to a good start!

The way I approached this question was to think about how my leadership , volunteer, and work experiences would help me contribute to the campus community. For instance, I’m really passionate about education (done a lot of volunteering with local schools) so I said that I would take on leadership in the Education Club. I’ve also worked in the securities division of an IB for the past three years, so I discussed how I would help my classmates learn about finance, accounting, and investments.

It’s also good to think if there are any gaps in your profile that you’re looking to help fill with the MBA. For me, I didn’t have experience being a manager, so I’m looking forward to gaining insight on organizational management from students who do have this experience.

If you haven’t already, it’s be good to spend the summer really reflecting on your strengths, your weaknesses, your accomplishments, your personality traits, your goals, etc. It’s much easier to demonstrate fit when you have this level of self-awareness.

Living in India, the adcom shouldn’t hold it against you at all if you can’t come visit. So yes, use online chats and keep reaching out to current students and alumni to get their perspective. Also the Darden adcom is INCREDIBLY responsive (by far the most so of any school I applied to—and that’s saying something considering I looked at the more high-touch, community-oriented schools), so as long as you aren’t too pesky, you should absolutely reach out to them periodically with thoughtful questions.

lb,

Too much information for me to work upon

And you've been spot on when it comes to introspection. I've been trying to become more self aware, but with little success. I really need introspection to tackle questions like most challenging/ difficult situation, weaknesses that are truly mine, out of work experiences demonstrating my strengths/ weaknesses and my learnings from the opportunities.

Another significant contribution is 'gaps', though I definitely know about it and it is a lack of quantitative/ statistical/ finance work experience in my case. I'll make sure that i highlight it as one of my motivations to go for an mba (and its actually true).

Well, I must say an insightful response... i want to give it more than a kudos

Thank you so much... PMed you... plz check

Best Regards,
KUNAL

Darden organizes admission events in select cities in India. If you could attend those, make sure you do.

Here is a Q&A from last weeks blog post that I thought would be relevant to us in here

I tried to reach out to a couple of alums. But it seems they are heading for internships and will be too busy to talk..hard luck there..seems like any significant chat can happen only in september when they come back from their internships..btw..anyone planning campus visit..?

Below is the essay question for the Darden MBA 2013 − 2014 application cycle:

Share your thought process as you encountered a challenging work situation or complex problem. What did you learn about yourself?

(500 words maximum)

What is your source for this? This is last year's question

I am 28, from Eastern Europe, working in the private equity industry, got admitted to Darden this year and chose it over other schools. Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, I am happy to tell you everything I know.

Post above is correct..darden posted their essay question this morning.

Am I missing something here..does darden has this ONLY ONE essay..?? Other schools ask many more (career goals essay, success/failure essays etc..). Can anyone clarify.?

They would have a few more as part of their online application. Check that.

Jum is right. Last year, two questions came out with the application:

What is your short term career goal an why? (250 words)

At darden, a core part of the academic experience is participation in and contribution to your learning team. In what ways will your teammates say that you add value? (150 words)

Note: these are LAST years. The application for darden isn't live yet, so all we have is the 500 word essay above.

Please be also aware, that the online system calculates the number of words slightly differently from MS Word. If you use Word, your essay's length must be around 460-480 words to fit in.

I opened my essay submission form a day before the deadline and had to re-write some parts to make it work.

Great! thanks for the heads up.

Can you share some of your background and maybe some tips that made you successful @ Darden?

My background is:

GMAT: 740, Q50, V41, AWA 5.0, IR 8.
GPA: 4.33 out of 5 from a small not very well known college
Work experience(WE): 3 years audit, 3 years private equity
Nationality: Eastern Europe
Age: 28
Gender: M
Extra-curriculars/community: Few higher roles in smaller activities, lets say it this way.

You see, the problem here is that it's difficult to say WHAT actually makes you successful when you are applying. I see some great examples of diversity in my future class, and there is no straightaway answer, like "have GMAT over 700" or "be a Goldman Sachs Analyst" or "Be the captain of your college football team" or "Fly the helicopter in Afghanistan".

My general approach to the whole application process was, after a long thought, as follows:
1) Determine your starting point - your childhood, family, primary education - everything until you have chosen your college
2) Determine where you are now
3) Summarize all your path until now - what have you done from (1) to (2)
4) Answer honestly - where do you want to be when you are 60 years old? Have a really good thought about it. It's not about going to management consulting after you graduate. It's not about high salary and bonus. What will make you happy?
5) How would you proceed in next 5-10 years to make (4) happen?

After all you'll have some line, which started in past and will end someday. Your current position is some point on this line. When you understand this - just tell your story. Just tell why do you think this is a good idea to go for an MBA, and why it is good right now, and how this particular school helps you?

The most important here - you always have this story to tell. ALWAYS. You dont need to invent it, because every decision you make in your life - you make it because you think something is good for you, something is bad, something leads in a right way, something doesn't. You always have some good perspective - if you cannot formulate it, you just didn't think about it too much. Think - and you'll have a perfect picture in your head soon.

Different schools can help you differently, and its perfectly fine if you see something positive in every school you are applying to. And these positive things are actually about smaller differences, nuances you'll notice. But they must be very real and you must perfectly understand them.

For example, some schools especially emphasize teamwork skills development. Why do you think it is good for you? Some general answer like "it's better to be a team player than not" doesn't work here. I am feeling just great in a private equity business, where nobody cares about your teamplay. You must be reasonably social, of course, but its not like in consulting where drinks with your colleagues are a must. So if you come to some school, you say that you want to work as a quant analyst in a hedge fund, and you apply to this particular school because of their great emphasis on social interactions and general management curriculum - well, you have problems.

So, just be honest to yourself, have a good thought on why, when and where, be open and DO SOME GOOD RESEARCH