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

guys, I was just looking through the darden app and I dont find the 150 word learning team question anywhere- just the 250 word learning team question and 250 word short term goals question in addition to the 500 word main question. Have I missed looking some place?

What are Darden's specialties? Do they place people in investment banking and/or corporate finance?

I attended the Darden info session in Bangalore yesterday evening. The session kicked off with a small simulation of a typical Darden Case Classroom simulation. It was awesome to see the different perspectives within a small group typically from a similar background. I can now only imagine what it would be like to sit in a global classroom at Darden. Darden reinforced.

that's so cool man... i wanted to attend but missed it due to work exigency. can you share your experiences plz

Hi Kunzi,

Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmm0WgLuyHg - the case-method is an awesome learning method!

Question: I am interested in applying to Darden’s full-time MBA, and I was wondering if professional work experience is required.

Answer: While professional work experience is not a requirement for admission, the reality is that it is unusual for us to admit a candidate with less than 2 years of work experience (2 years at the time of starting classes).

Question: Even though the Round 2 deadline is on 7 January, I was wondering if there were certain advantages to get applications in earlier on a rolling basis (first in, first out).

Answer: Actually, we do not begin reading applications more than a few days before a given deadline date, so there might be a small advantage to an early application, but not much of an advantage.

Question: Is there anywhere on the application in which you can identify alumni and current students you have reached out to in order to learn more about Darden? Or is that not encouraged and rather just put the information in your essays?

Answer: You are welcome to use the”Additional Information” area of the application to make mention of your alumni and student contacts. I would take the angle of describing useful information/encouragement/career progress, etc. they have provided — don’t just be a “name-dropper.”

Question: I was wondering how similar/different the content is between U.Va. McIntire’s undergraduate business programs and Darden’s MBA programs?

Answer: You get a taste of the case method at McIntire, which is an advantage for you. Darden is certainly not a do-over of McIntire. You would find our curriculum much broader and strategically oriented. At Darden, nearly all classes are taught using the case method. There are some courses, particularly Second Year, that are more experiential.

Question: Looking at events inside and outside Charlottesville, it doesn’t look feasible for me to attend. Besides the website, what are the best ways to get to know the program?

Answer: I would recommend you make contact with some of our current students. If you will check out the “Life at Darden” area of our website, you will find links to many of our clubs. Quite a few are career related, and nearly all clubs have specific students’ emails listed just so prospective students can reach out to them.

Question: I will be applying through the Consortium and was wondering if I needed to submit my name to U.Va. in any form or if it’s all through the Consortium. Thanks in advance.

Answer: The application process is almost entirely done through the Consortium; Once you submit your application, they will send us your information. If you are chosen for an interview, Darden will contact you directly. Still, send your information to Darden as well. The advantage is that you will receive monthly messages from us on a variety of topics we believe will be of interest to you and other candidates.

Question: Would you consider research work for a graduate degree as a work experience?

Answer: We probably would not recognize traditional academic research as employment, but we would likely recognize lab and/or teaching.

Question: For the executive MBA formats, How much emphasis do you place on recent work experience vs academics that were so long ago?

Answer: Our students find that most of what they have to contribute in the classroom is from their work experiences. Though in the application review process, we do look at both prior academic performance and work experience.

Anyone thought about how they're formatting (if at all?) their essays when pasting in the text box? I'd hate to submit one gigantic block of text, but I'd also hate to have very screwy formatting from my attempts to fix it...

Thoughts?

Anyone know? Deadline is coming up, and I'm still not sure what to do about this. I guess I'll email the adcom team..

Does anybody know if there is a way to change the order of listed activities within the application to show the order of importance?

Does anybody know if there is a way to change the order of listed activities within the application to show the order of importance?

Hey,

You can put in spaces and line breaks inside the text box. Once you press continue, you have an option to preview your essay. You then have a choice to delete or replace or save the essay. So you can easily reformat your essay I guess.

I hope your essay(and all others) is coming along good. Thought of only one essay makes me really nervous. I have two good stories to tell but not sure which one will be most meaningful at Darden. So writing both. I have to choose one based on how they turnout. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Thanks,
Prodizy