jjomalls wrote:
Linda-
I'm in a bit of a quandry regarding Darden's #1 question:
1. Write your life story in one page or less.
Since question #2, 3, and 4 are the typical "Why MBA, Why Darden, Why Now, Career Goals, Leadership Experience" questions, I'm puzzled as to what exactly they're looking for here.
Any ideas? Just a rundown of our life? A more "personal" side to what we've done? Also - I notice they ask no questions on extracurriculars, community service, etc.
Thanks.[/i]
Hi, and thanks for your question--I'm writing on Linda's behalf while she's on vacation.
It seems to me that this question offers you a great opportunity to fit in some information about your extracurriculars and service work. Rather than writing a straight autobiography, I'd suggest that you come up with a theme--some kind of unifying idea that will help you tie together some of your most important life experiences in a way that makes sense & shows a pattern of growth/personal development. Naturally, the general focus still has to be "your life story" (or you won't be answering the question they are asking!), but all life stories certainly don't have to start with "I was born in..." and end with "...and here I am today!"
They give you "one page or less," which means (to me, anyway) that they really want you to pick out what seems most important to YOU--it would be much easier to tell your life story in six or seven pages--you'd cover more ground, but then they wouldn't get the same sense of how you prioritize the significant events of your life! And since you've covered the professional and academic stuff in the other essays, I think this is DEFINITELY the place to balance out the application with some material that will show them who you are--the human being behind the accomplishments.
Good luck!
Sonia