Thank you for sharing. What was your application like? The waiver was recently opened up for 2024 intake on Tuesday (6/8/21) and I submitted my waiver application to try to be among the first applicants.
I worked 4 years in Big 4 Audit, 1 year in a regional firm's M&A Advisory/Deal Advisory group with a ton of excel/quant analysis and experience with financial data. I have also been a CPA since 2018. My Cum. Undergrad GPA is not fantastic (3.25, which is 0.25 points less than Darden's 2022 class average of 3.5) but my business GPA is a 3.4 and I also shed light on why my grades were so poor for one year (tragic death of my best childhood friend). I hate using that as an "excuse" but because I missed a ton of classes and put my studies on the back-burner to figure out life, it truly was such a drain on my GPA and resulted in a Sub 3.0 that year. Otherwise, was consistently on Dean's list (3.5 or above). Also, it's worth nothing that my undergrad program was not a "blue-chip" undergrad program, but it's always in the top 50 list for undergrad business schools nationwide. Point being, not all 3.5 GPA's are created equally.
I was also the President of my fraternity, was on my Big 4's business unit's senior associate advisory board (NYC office), and have a ton of extracurriculars / leadership to point to. I just can't crack the GMAT for some reason, so I am going down the waiver route.
I was able to check two of the four boxes on the application: Work Experience and Certification. I did not check the undergrad box but addressed it head on in a concise one page graph/PDF document (as an analyst would). Hoping for the best but wondering what you think my chances are.
Appreciate it!
DjayoezGMAT
Hi!
I am Darden Admit class of 2023 and was successfully admitted with a standardized test waiver (No GMAT/GRE required).
Just post/DM me if you have any questions!
Cheers and Good luck on applying for class of 2024!