Calling all Darden-UVA Applicants (2016 Intake) Class of 2018

Let's get this party started!

Hi!
In for Round 1...
Regards
Celestial

Kudos to Celestial09 for kicking off the Darden App Season 2016-17. All the best

Hey nitishgera !!!
thanks a lot.. but need your guidance too for Darden MBA admission..
thanks
celestial

By Paul Lanzillotti, Amerasia Consulting Group
OUR RANKING OF BUSINESS SCHOOL PROGRAMS BY PERCENTAGE OF GRADUATES ENTERING THE TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY IN 2014.
Today's blog post is a follow up to our Top MBA Programs in Finance ranking. It's also our continued attempt at ranking top MBA programs by industry and based on publicly available data.

UC Berkeley Haas comes out on top when it comes to sending graduates (as a percentage of all graduates in 2014) back into the technology industry. UCLA Anderson is second, but it's not even close. Hands down, Haas is the place to be if you're into technology and want to work for a related firm in the industry.


BUYER BEWARE
Now before you get too far into interpreting the numbers, a few words of caution. What we have done is an inaugural attempt at a numerically based ranking and its not perfect. It's based on our interpretation of the numbers put forth by top business schools.

• Let us explain. Most MBA career centers report employment numbers according to the categories that we use in our rankings. Some schools break "industry" categories into further sub-categories. Other programs - i.e. Michigan Ross - roll up their industry categories under more general headers like "manufacturing". So you could be a "marketing" professional but be within the manufacturing industry. To be forthright, it's a little confusing. (This is why we have decided to exclude Michigan Ross from some categories until we gather a little more insight into their self-reported numbers.)

None-the-less, we have tried to make sense of it all and to do this we did combine some categories in order to get an apples-to-apples comparison across schools. Clear as mud?
WHY WE USE EMPLOYMENT DATA TO RANK SCHOOLS
Our opinion is that recruiting (i.e. who's hiring) drives most programs "investment" decisions - in students, faculty, courses, experiential initiatives, alumni outreach, etc.  So to know to what a specific MBA program is really all about, you need to see the end result. In other words, what industries are hiring MBA graduates and from what schools?

We compiled this ranking based on information taken directly from the following MBA employment reports.

Haas https://haas.berkeley.edu/groups/careercenter/reports/14-15ReportSummary.pdf

UCLA Anderson https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/Documents/areas/adm/cmc/2014%20PARKER%20CMC%20Employment%20Report%2002.10.15%20LR.pdf

Stanford GSB https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Stanford%20GSB%20Employment%20Report%202013-14.pdf

MIT Sloan https://mitsloan.mit.edu/pdf/Class_of_2014-intern_employment_report.pdf

HBS https://www.hbs.edu/recruiting/mba/data-and-statistics/employment-statistics.html

Wharton https://www.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/your-career/career-statistics.cfm

Kellogg https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/career_employer/employment_statistics.aspx

Chicago Booth https://www.chicagobooth.edu/employmentreport/

Columbia https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/recruiters/employmentreport

NYU Stern https://www.stern.nyu.edu/programs-admissions/full-time-mba/career/employment-statistics

Tuck https://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/careers/employment-statistics

Yale SOM https://som.yale.edu/yale-som-connect/recruiting/employment-statistics

Michigan Ross https://michiganross.umich.edu/our-community/recruiters

Duke Fuqua https://www.fuqua.duke.edu/mba_recruiting/recruiting_duke/employment_statistics/

Cornell Johnson https://www.johnson.cornell.edu/Career-Management/Employment-Report-for-Two-Year-MBAs

UVA Darden https://www.darden.virginia.edu/recruiters-companies/hire-an-mba/employment-reports/
FINALLY, DOES THE WORLD REALLY NEED ANOTHER BUSINESS SCHOOL RANKING?
We think "yes". We've never felt completely comfortable with the rankings because (to our knowledge) the raw data that drives the US News and Businessweek rankings has never been fully disclosed. So we decided to start over and with the very numbers that the school's career centers are reporting via their respective employment reporting.

That being said, we welcome any constructive feedback you may have. Email us at MBA@amerasiaconsulting.com with comments or if you're looking for an expert admissions consultant to lead you through the application process.

Waiting for apps to open

In for R1.
-Thaddeus

Darden recently released the essay question for this app cycle :

Describe the most important professional feedback you have received and how you responded to this feedback.

(500 words maximum)

What's everyones initial thoughts on this years topic?

While writing only 500 words for your Darden MBA application essay may seem simple, it requires discipline to highlight all of the important parts of your profile for the admissions committee in one short essay. Writing a successful essay with such limited space requires you to focus only on your most compelling attributes.

Leadership is crucial to future Darden MBAs. Personal qualities are also important to Darden, a school with a small, tight-knit community. Darden, similar to HBS, is devoted to the case method of teaching business subjects. Learn more about the school by visiting the Darden website, attending events and speaking with current students and alumni.

MBA Application Essay Question:
Describe the most important professional feedback you have received and how you responded to it. (500 words maximum)

In this question Darden is seeking to understand how you take feedback and how you process and learn from feedback. Feedback is often the first stage to grow and develop as a professional and as a leader. Learning to take all feedback – both positive and critical – and examining and incorporating the lessons from that feedback into your development is a sign of maturity.

As you describe the professional feedback you will want to set the stage for the feedback by describing your relationship with the person who gave you the feedback and any background facts. Take the time to describe how you felt while receiving the feedback, and don’t be afraid to talk about having uncomfortable feelings about it. It’s a normal reaction to feel threatened by criticism, which is often what professional feedback is perceived as. If the feedback was positive make sure you can use the story to demonstrate development and growth.

If you can’t think of the most important moment of feedback you have received, think about working backwards from a professional accomplishment you are proud of. As you think about the areas where you have excelled you may find that the trigger was a piece of important advice or feedback from a manager, peer or customer.

Make sure your feedback story enhances the overall package of your application. You have your career history submitted in your resume. Your GPA, transcript and GMAT will demonstrate academic ability. This essay is one of your few opportunities to show how you think, what your leadership approach is, and how you improve as a result of input from other people. Think about the situations that showcased your best performance at work, or that taught you something about your interests or future career goals.

Because you have only one essay question to present yourself, make sure you have a trusted reader to tell you if you are effectively communicating why you are going to be a strong leader who deserves a spot in the UVA Darden MBA class.

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If you are looking for guidance on your Darden MBA application, Stacy Blackman Consulting can help with hourly and comprehensive consulting services. Contact us to learn more. Visit the website for Stacy Blackman Reviews, and check out the company’s e-publications for more in depth school-by-school guidance.

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business has just announced several changes to its MBA program that will take effect beginning this fall, including a new, required experiential course as well as more opportunities for students to customize their learning experience.

Marc Lipson, associate dean for the MBA program, says “Each year, we enhance the program in small ways based on student feedback and innovations in business and higher education, but this past year has been a period of more substantial review and innovation.”

Incoming first-years will now take the required course,”Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship in Action” or IDEA, designed to bolster students’ ability to work on real-world, global projects of consequence, which have a high degree of ambiguity and uncertainty. Students will be organized in teams and tackle live field projects over seven weeks. The challenges will be sponsored by corporations, government agencies or nonprofit organizations.

“Our goal here is to make Darden students the best prepared in the world to make effective decisions when facing real-world ambiguity. Our world needs innovative solutions to open-ended problems, and we want to equip our students with the tools they need to innovate the future,” says Mike Lenox, associate dean for innovation programs and academic director of Darden’s Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

The second enhancement will further customize the Darden First Year experience. In August, Darden will launch the Darden Academy, a learning enrichment program that will offer a changing, weekly suite of opportunities that — though not required — will explore topics of interest to students, faculty and the broader Darden community.

It will include meaningful analyses of global current events, reflections on our purpose as leaders, opportunities to build skills that enhance the ability of all students to engage meaningfully in class conversations, and events that explore the links between classroom learning and business practice.

Darden students hail from all over the world; the Class of 2016 alone represents 36 countries. “Each student brings a unique background and experience,” says Peter Rodriguez, senior associate dean for degree programs. “Our goal is to meet each individual student where they are — to help them obtain in their First Year at Darden the skills and knowledge they want to deepen, in distinct areas.”

“At the end of the day, we are here to present opportunities that help our students realize their full potential as responsible, entrepreneurial and global leaders and learners,” says Rodriguez.  “These two enhancements to the MBA experience were developed in collaboration with Darden students. We know that if we listen carefully to our students and co-create with them, we will deliver on our goal to continue delivering the most compelling graduate management education experience available today.”

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If you are looking for guidance on your Darden MBA application, Stacy Blackman Consulting can help with hourly and comprehensive consulting services. Contact us to learn more. Visit the website for Stacy Blackman Reviews, and check out the company’s e-publications for more in depth school-by-school guidance.

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business has posted a brand-new essay question for the 2015-16 MBA application season.

Describe the most important professional feedback you have received and how you responded to it.  (500 words maximum)

Deadlines for the upcoming admissions cycle have yet to be announced, but Darden encourages applicants to get a head-start on writing the essay. The application will go live later this summer.
You may also be interested in:
UV Darden School Announces Enhancements to MBA Curriculum

UV Darden School Names Scott Beardsley as Dean
 image credit: Flickr user tldagny, CC 2.0

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If you are looking for guidance on your Darden MBA application, Stacy Blackman Consulting can help with hourly and comprehensive consulting services. Contact us to learn more. Visit the website for Stacy Blackman Reviews, and check out the company’s e-publications for more in depth school-by-school guidance.

Are the recommendation questions for Darden out ? Please provide links if available. I could not find them online. I need to prep my recommenders.

Crossing my fingers! Working on my essay for R1!

Darden led the way with a one-essay application.  Some may feel that fewer essays indicate that essays are losing importance. My suspicion is that the remaining essays and short-answers are as important or even more important than they ever were. Especially at a program emphasizing the case method and experiential learning, evidence that you can communicate, analyze a problem from multiple perspectives, and handle the rigorous program that Darden is famous for are all critical.

My tips for answering the Darden application essay are in blue below.

Essay:

Describe the most important professional feedback you have received and how you responded to this feedback. (500 words max)

First of all, I strongly encourage you to watch the video with Darden's Assistant Dean of MBA Admissions Sarah Neher where she lays out what they're looking for in this essay:

As Sara Neher says in the video, they want to see how you respond to feedback in the work place. It could be interpersonal or technical feedback, but how did it change your behavior on the job? How did it transform your approach or attitude?  

You could start with the feedback or the event that prompted the evaluation. Then discuss your initial reaction to it and how it influenced your professional performance.

Alternatively, you can start with an event or interaction that reflects you successfully incorporating that feedback into your work. Then flash back to the feedback, perhaps the event the prompted it, and reflection on the importance of that feedback.

Final tidbit: Make sure you answer all elements of the question.

If you would like professional guidance with your UVA Darden MBA application, please consider Accepted’s MBA essay editing and MBA admissions consulting or our MBA Application Packages, which include advising, editing, interview coaching, and a resume edit for the UVA Darden application. 

UVA Darden 2016 Application Deadlines:

Application Deadline
Decisions Released

Round 1
October 8, 2015
December 16, 2015

Round 2
January 8, 2016
March 23, 2016

Round 3
April 8, 2016
May 11, 2016




By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business SchoolsSchool-Specific MBA Application Essay Tips
• UVA Darden Zone Page
• Have an Open Mind, Learn Skills, Build Relationships: Darden MBA Interview

This article originally appeared on blog.accepted.com.

Accepted.com's experienced admissions consultants can help you create the most impressive application possible with comprehensive packages, or provide targeted assistance from picking perfect programs to designing a dazzling resume, constructing engaging essays, or preparing for intense interviews…and more! Accepted.com has guided thousands of applicants to acceptances at top programs since 1994 – we know what works and what doesn't, so contact us to get started now!

Accepted.com    ~ The Premier Admissions Consultancy

The Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia has announced the MBA application deadlines for the 2015-2016 admissions season.
Round 1
Application deadline: October 8, 2015
Decision released: December 16, 2015
Round 2
Application deadline: January 8, 2016
Decision released: March 23, 2016
Round 3
Application deadline: April 8, 2016
Decision released: May 11, 2016

All applications are due by 12p.m. EST on the day of the deadline, and all decisions are released at 12 p.m. EST on the decision release day.

For more information, please visit the Virginia Darden MBA admissions website.
You may also be interested in:
Tuesday Tips: UV Darden School of Business Fall 2016 Essay Tips

Darden Announces Enhancements to MBA Curriculum


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If you are looking for guidance on your MBA application, Stacy Blackman Consulting can help with hourly and comprehensive consulting services. Contact us to learn more. Visit the website for Stacy Blackman Reviews, and check out the company’s e-publications for more in depth school-by-school guidance.

Announcement : Darden application deadlines (MBA Class of '18) are live and the title post has been updated to reflect the same.

I am also hoping to have time for a campus visit soon so I can apply R1.

If not, definitely will be in for R2.