趁热打铁，新鲜出炉，刚刚结束Darden的Intervew with AD in Darden. 40分钟整。

1) Typical questions tell me your story （your family, your undergraduate major, your career progress etc）
2) Why MBA
3) Why Darden
4) Contribution to Darden
5) Community Services
6) Q&A

AD最后一直在说case study 希望每个人contribute ideas, exchange thoughts，有人不喜欢发言，不喜欢与人讨论、分享等等，估计Darden喜欢的学生是will to share and collaborative,于是补充说我们公司经常培训，就用的是case study，我很喜欢case study啥的

奉上Darden的MBA面试。

AD com的电话面试，1个小时的时间，开场白相互寒暄过后，她简单的介绍了一下申请流程。说我的case由两个人看过后觉得还不错，就给了interview，然后她说从你小时候，到大学，到现在tell me your story；然后说一下Why Darden，Why MBA，Goals。

剩下的就是我一个劲的说，她会在她感兴趣的地方打断，跟你有所交流。没有问太多成就，就是聊天。

问了两个问题：
1、DPA
2、R1录了接近10个会不会影响R2的录取，她说不会，R3也有机会。

她告诉我从现在开始是我最难的阶段了：waiting..........我说：yes， 我知道了。

1月04日 上海 11：30-1：30 Darden

面的是Darden。正如很多朋友说的，Darden是没什么规律可循的，所以我想这也是大家为什么一直没写面经的结果吧。只是根据面试官的个人风格走着看。我了解一下，大概都是神聊。不过好的就是我和面试官一起吃了午饭，结果啥也没吃饱...不过最后他买单，哈哈。说实在话，没什么问题，大致涉及的话题我知道大概有创业，旅游，文化差异，还有我这聊了点童年经历对一个成年人的影响，还有聊了喝酒(哎...这个形象不好...)

据说主要是看personality，我觉得只要不是很shy，英文OK，喜欢分享的人，应该没什么问题吧。呵呵。我知道的申请的人，都拿到offer了。

祝大家都好运。祝来年的新一辈也好运。

我从Gmat Club上转载过来的。给个简明的中文摘要：Darden面试成功要诀说出自己的故事，射出强烈的秋波，让面试官发出拿什么将你遗忘的感叹。

Had my interview with a member of the AdCom this morning. Allinterviews are 100% blind, she knew nothing about me or my application.It started with her asking questions about my childhood, where I wasfrom, what my family was like, etc. We progressed through undergrad andmy career, but rather than focusing on "resume-type" accomplishments,we talked more about WHY I made certain decisions, and what matters tome.

We eventually got to "why MBA", but I was never directlyasked "why Darden". I tried to weave a few pieces of "why Darden" intoour conversation. Before I knew it 45 mins was up, she gave me theopportunity to ask questions....so we talked about job prospects for abit. After an hour we were still chatting, but she had to cut it off.

OverallI think (hope) it went well, but with interviews like this its alwayshard to tell. I forgot to mention a few things that I'd hoped to workin. Oh well.

My advice to those still yet to interview:

create a mini-list of items you for sure want to cover (interestinganecdotes), its easy to get caught up in the conversation, then beforeyou know it you missed your chance to talk about that interestingundergrad EC (since you're already talking about your job)
beready to NOT talk about accomplishments, she almost seemeddisinterested when I did. I guess it makes sense, there is no point tojust regurgitate your resume during the interview - they already haveit on file. Talk about something ELSE, something interesting/dynamic
do your homework and be able to convey sincere interest in the program(I honestly think this is a big part of the interview...they try togauge this)
She said her comments would be added to my overallapplication file, then it would undergo a final review and a decisionwould be made.

Thats about it I guess.  Feel free to ask me any specific questions, I'd be happy to help out.  

Ohand also, she said they release ALL decisions (including financial aid)on Jan 28th, so no crazy stressful hair pulling out for weeks on end(ahem...Kellogg...). I was happy to hear that.

Best of luck to everyone.

Darden Alumni Interview @ 台北

I had an alumni interview with a Korean alumna in Hotel Formosa in Taipei.

She is very nice and kind, keep smiling through all the interview.

The interview took 40 minutes, she even treat me a cup of orange juice..


Questions are very standard:

1. Please describe your career progress

2. Why MBA? Why Darden?

3. The biggest challenge you might face when you are in Darden

4. Greatest achievement at work

5. Regretful experience at work

6. Strengths/Weaknesses

7. Questions

Good Luck to myself

In @ Darden 和一点点面试经验

住的地方不能上网，今天早上才查看status。竟然被录取了！！

整个晚上，告诉自己要平常心，虽然还是辗转反侧。。。

当初sonia700分被录取的经历让我觉得Darden是一所不以分数论英雄的学校，因为我也只有700分。

申请的第一个学校，essay其实写得并不是最好，好在Darden的essay要求不高，加到一起才1000来字。所以，要狠狠地感谢我的面试官，应该是面试给自己加了很多分。

但是，面试的过程比我想象得简单很多。据说Darden的面试会叫你讲life story。但是我的面试官上来就问我why MBA然后是Why Darden。回想起来，她问过的问题只有这两个。眼见着面试只过去了20分钟，她就叫我问问题了。

与众不同的是，我们的面试真的是一场聊天，就像我参加的一场information session后与alumni的Q&A。所以，我很放松的问起她在学校的经历等等。Q&A用了也有20多分钟，聊了这么久，要感谢面试官的耐心与真诚，也幸亏我对Darden做了足够的研究。

没有任何teamwork,leadership,challenge,failure。。。问题，竟然也没有Darden经典的life story。但是面试之后的感觉是两个字：尽兴。

这应该是一次非典型的面试吧。或许原因之一是，我和面试官来自同一个行业。

如果说面试是成功的，我有两个心得：

1）面试前，我用一个晚上，写了自己的一个小传，非常简单，从小学写起，写那些对我的成长有影响的点点滴滴，写父母对我的影响与教育，写每一个选择后面的动机。写过之后，确实觉得有一点豁然开朗的感觉。

2）面试时，与面试官保持平等对话，想象成是朋友间的一场对话。


大年初四，看了一场电影Slumdog Millionnaire，就像电影最后的字幕：It is written，所以如果尽力了，随缘就好。不管成与败，都这样安慰自己。。。


G700/iBT105/BS and MS from a top University in Shanghai/2.5 years oilfield engineering/2 years consulting/some international working experience/some community service experience

Darden MBA on Campus Interview (Dec, 2006)

顺便向大家简要介绍前两次面试经验，都是我主动要求的。第一次是去年12月中旬到Charlottesville进行了Darden的校园面试，气氛随和，友好。面试者是招生委成员，就问了常规的why mba, career goal, why darden等问题，但特别问了我的业余生活和爱好。

面试持续30分钟。Darden校园很美。中午校方安排了一位二年级学生和我午餐（在学生食堂吃了一只汉堡包），同时向我介绍darden的情况并回答问题。感觉Darden的学生都很热情。Topway上的两位darden中国学生主动为我提供接送服务。那位二年级学生也主动把我送到火车站，令我很感动。

Had interview with a Darden alumni this afteroon.

Not a typical business school interivew.  We talked about different issues for almost one hour.  It's just a casual chat, not a question-answer session.

Mayby my experience is different.  I heard that alumni interview would be a typical one and the interviewer will ask questions like a question-machine.  This alumni was not like a mahcine, at all.

I feel admission office interview is more to the point than an alumni one.  Probably, the admission officers are more consicious of what they are doing while an alumni does not have such consciousness.  The admission officers can ask questions which are not covered in the essays.  They are clear they want to use the interview as a chance to know more about an applicant and so to make the decision.  Well, the alumni obviously knows less about the applicant.

So far, I had two telephone interviews with schools and one alumni interivew.  

I would say telephone interview would make more sense.  If I can choose, I would choose admission office interview.

Darden是我最没有把握的面试，也是adcom面试。lynn跟我说了3分钟，结果她把我越说越没谱。我心里想这是面试我还是她来宣传自己啊。结果她突然停住，开始让我介绍自己。随便说，就是想知道我是谁。我便一下就傻眼了。

尽管我知道Darden的面试有些奇特，但真没想到她想听听工作外的我是什么样子的。我于是说了30秒便往自己的职业生涯上扯。可能她看出了免我其难，便开始引导我，问我问题，总之基本就是聊了20分钟，最后便结束了。

我想这周五大概Darden该给我rejection了。

这个面试是两周前（１１／０８／０６），希望对去on-campus interview的人能有帮助。　

School: Darden
Date:11/8/06 12:30pm
Length: 45 min
Interviewer: Assistant director of admission, mid-age lady.

我还是第一次秋天去美国的东北部，只能用一个词形容，层林尽染！ＵV的campus也是非常漂亮。

我的面试官准时把我领进她的办公室，她先问我要了我的Resume，不过没有看就放在她的办公桌上。

然后我们是面对面的坐在她办公室的两张椅子上。

Darden的面试比较独特，没有一堆的问题。我称之为“自由式面试”。

我的面试官在面试开始的时候就问了我一个问题“ I want to know you in the next 45 minutes, please tell me yourself and what are you doing now as well as your hobbies and remember to tell me that why you want a MBA and what are your short-term and long-term career goals. Also, I will leave you 5 minutes to ask me questions”

接下来的４０分钟更象是一次交谈，我介绍了我的教育和工作背景，短期和长期目标。在讲长期目标的时候，我提到了老年人的healthcare问题。我的面试官就和我讨论美国的nursing home,还给我讲了些美国nursing home的问题。她也问了我"what I could contribute to Darden community".
后来提到我的爱好，我说我喜欢登山和攀岩，面试官问我有没有看过“into the thin air”这本书，讲１９９６年珠峰山难。这下正好撞到枪口上，我们聊了大概１０分钟左右有关登山的话题（后来我的面试官告诉我她是Montana的人，老公现在还住在那里，难怪也知道很多登山的故事）。我还和她聊了一个今年登珠峰的ethical 的故事，我的面试官知道这个故事但是具体的细节不清楚。我就和她闲扯了几分钟，主要是关于ethical decision的话题。

时间差不多的时候，我的面试官就问我有没有什么问题问她，我就问了她几个问题。比如：她觉得darden的国际学生的表现如何。她提到语言还是一个障碍，毕竟darden的case method需要很多的课堂讨论。

最后在快结束的时候的，面试官又补充了一个问题。why darden。

个人感觉Darden的面试还不错，我喜欢这种聊天的方式。另外面试我Assistant director of admission人也超级nice.

To prepare: know yourself and have some stories to tell!

两个小时零十分钟的Darden面试
面试在一家不错的酒店的咖啡吧里进行。我提前到的，挑了一个靠窗的位子，可以看到酒店后园子里的假山，喷泉和池塘。面试开始时，咖啡吧里还有很多人在喝下午茶，我还把遮阳帘子拉下来，我们离开时，已经开始提供晚餐了，天都暗下来了。

校友是个很认真、很严谨的人。问题细到我每个时间段的每个细节，结束时我说：you have already asked everything happened in my life, (note: the thing we could really consider it a thing. 他说，这是件很重要的事，对你对学校都一样。

最后十分钟我的提问时间，谈到读MBA的感受，他说：他去时年龄稍大，所以对他的职业生涯帮助没有想象中大，建议读B-SCHOOL要趁早。但即使如此，他认为无论如何都是非常值得的，对今后20年都会有影响。

闲言少续，问题有：(不过大多数人估计都面完了，留言在此供明年的申请人参考吧)

1.introduce youself (the only traditional question)

以下分阶段提问:

第一部分: education.

what's your average grade?
why isn't it above 95?
which subject you like most? why?
which subject you hate most? why?
第二部分:分公司提问,

what's your position in your organization? tell me about your organization.
one project you involved and impressive most.
how is your performace when interviewed by your third company.
style of leadership.
how do you understand Excel?
do you ever touch any field related to finance in your daily work?
why do you choose such career goal.
who is the general manager you admire most? who is the second one.(the current CEO of my comany was ever the CEO of his company).
tell me something you know about your CEO.

The interview was not a difficult one, I guess one major objective is to evluate the interviewee's English communication skill, which I am OK. I was quite nurvus when waiting for the interviewer - since I didn't do interview for almost 2 years, all the time was I interviewing others. But when the guys comes and we started to talk, all things get fine.

Tips - be clear on why MBA, why Darden, show your knowledge on Darden(I didn't do my homework well that when he asked me one question about what particular entrepreneurship in Darden attracted me, I didn't answer well).

Darden requires HUGE working pressure - we talked a lot on that. He asked about a typical week of mine - to understand if I can have good time management skill.

The guy is a quite nice guy, very flexible when we arrange the time and place, very nice.

今早晨印度时间8:15在孟买Parel一个宾馆的大厅进行了我的面试。回到孟买办，先是发了一个邮件给面试人表示感谢，然后就来写我的面试经验了.

和预期的一样，面试是比较放松的，面试我的是一个非常年轻的小伙子，他是02-04的毕业生。他也是IT行业的，所以我们共同的话题比较多些。他直接问我的问题比较少，上来就给我说你来说吧，个人背景，教育，工作什么的，以及为什么mba 为什么darden 之类的很多问题，列了一大堆出来，这样提问也还不错，可以让我随心所欲,天马行空，想到哪里就说道哪里，中途说到Dean Bruner亚洲之旅，去参观了泰姬陵，我说泰姬陵真是个奇迹，我一定还要再去看一次，可是很多印度人都没去过，很可惜，然后我说昨天帮我修电脑那个dell工程师也没去过。突然发现好像自己离题太远了，赶紧打住。

他问我项目中最大的挑战是什么 我说领导跨文化团队，举例我在德里做标书的事情，如何对不同的人进行不同的attention和关怀之类的。 我用了一个有印度特色的数量词lakh，他说看来你对印度确实还是挺熟悉的，这个词都习惯用，我内心挺得意,其实我由于习惯中国的万的进制，平时遇到million ,billion什么的都要进行半天的转换，没想到随口说了一下居然受到夸奖。 我又讲了在bangalore和我们的代理做项目的沟通，如何调动他们的积极性等等。说到印度和中国的比较，我说中国的硬件建设可能走在前列 可是软件，比如制度，经济体制等方面还是有待提高的，而印度的优势却正好是中国所缺少的，比如印度的金融体制，软件CMM等方面都是世界一流的。呵呵 我说中国和印度这两个国家是competitive yet complememtary的，很多方面存在共性，可以更好的偕同发展，然后还说道看报纸说中国春节期间很多中印关系会得到巨大推动。呵呵

最后问我有没有什么问题提问。我问了case study是不是挺tough的啊，我说我跟在校学生联系(我和dukesongyi电话聊过，得到他的很多帮助，也在此表示感谢) 他说确实有的时候非常紧张，然后说如果你想在你的mba学习中enjoy life那darden绝对不适合。呵呵 我说我和校友聊天的时候校友对我说，像我这种习惯每个星期工作70-80小时的人来说这个不是什么问题。然后他又说了darden的国际推广和提高知名度，这是dean bruner的重要环节。像上文提到的Dean Bruner的亚洲之行，我说我本来想趁dean来印度的时候来一下印度，请adcom帮我安排面试，可惜他们那个时候正在审材料，没来得及为我安排。他说Darden现在正在着力提高全球的知名度，他说在ISM (Indian School of Management)有客座教授等待。我后来又问，相对印度学生来说，中国学生的语言方面肯定是不足的,这是个事实，问他情况如何? 他说这个你不用担心，你的英文和我一样好，厚厚，他说我绝对属于well above avarage的，听他这么说，心里很开心，连说thank you。他说确实印象中有的中国学生英文不是很好，但是第一个学期过后，他的进步是令人吃惊的，因为他先前在中国公司，而且也是对内业务,英文用的少。

中间还海聊了很多的，说到我的印度同事，跳槽到Nortel 还经常回公司看我们,说到我参加他的婚礼的情景。还是我们的商务专家毕业于印度著名的管理学院IIM-B等等.

大概就这么多吧，值得一提的是，他确实非常忙，我们把时间安排在早晨8点，上班之前，我估计其实是白天确实太忙了，本来我的面试是安排在周一的，已经推迟到了今天。他今年好像面试了8位申请人，工作量比较大，呵呵。说这个周末会给学校反馈的。

Round 2 / 2nd Year Student (Published April 2nd, 2010)

The interviewer said I would have about 30 minutes to "Tell me your story, you can start from wherever you want, high school, college, your choice" He said he would chime in with questions every so often but after 30 minutes he would have some additional questions. It was very relaxed, more like a conversation than an interview. My advice would be to make sure to get through the early part of the story pretty quickly because my interviewer asked a lot of questions and I had to shorten the second half of my story because of it. After he asked the basics:

Why MBA?
Why Darden?
Why now?
Goals?

Round 2 (Published March 10th, 2010)

Tell me about yourself. I want to get to know you.

Very informal and conversational (most conversational by far!!! of 7 interviews I completed)

Round 2 / Adcom / Video Skype (Published March 8th, 2010)

The interview was blind (i.e. the interviewer had not seen my application), and was conducted by Kathy Grant, the Assistant Director of Admissions. As mentioned by several candidates, the interviewer simply asked me to "tell my story", but to hit points like Why I picked my undergraduate degree, Why an MBA, Why Darden, Why Now, and also asked to highlight issues of leadership.

The interview was quite informal and pleasant, and the interviewer seemed to be trying to gauge my personality more than my experiences. She asked very few follow up questions and obviously expected me mostly to lead the discussions.

She seemed to be genuinely interested in my experiences and travels, and was generally enthusiastic. Only time will tell.

Round 1 / Adcom / Telephonic (Published January 28th, 2010)

I applied to Darden in round 1. Got interview invite in last week of December. It was a telephonic interview with adcom on January 7th. It was a telephonic interview and it was very casual. Adcom interviewed me and it was a blind interview. Adcom had no access to my application or resume. As I was an international applicant, I was offered an telephonic interview.

There was only 1 main question - tell me your story. But the interviewer asked me to cover information about my childhood, my education, my jobs and why mba would make sense. Also touch upon why you made certain decisions in your life.

Be ready to give a 30 minute monologue. Practice a lot because there will be no hint from the interviewer regarding how you are proceeding. So you should be able to drive the interview in the right way. Be ready to show a great fit with Darden.

Round 2 / Adcom (Published February 26th, 2009)

I interviewed on 16 Feb. The interview was with an ADCOM member.

The only question was “tell me your story”. This is typically a 30-45 min interview and we are looking to get a better sense of who you are as an applicant. This leaves a whole lot of wiggle room in how you approach the question but this is the only “question” that was asked…everything else was guided based upon how you answered the question…From the 1st question in talking about myself I she asked about my major (why I picked it), why I thought I would be a good fit to the case study method, what my aspirations were after graduating. The interview took 35 min and left me about 10 min to ask questions (asked about how internships were filling up and how the economy has impacted the application numbers)….All in all I left and felt it was a really friendly, easy interview. It seemed very “stress free” and I definitely walked away confident in how it all turned out.

Round 1 / Off-campus / Alumni / Admitted! (Published February 25th, 2009)

I was told by alumni and friends to prepare well for the 20 minute monologue in response to 'tell me something about yourself' opening. While I was getting ready to embark on the monologue, the first question came from the most unexpected quarters of my resume. I was asked - 'What did you do differently that you were able to record highest sponsorship in your undergraduate festival'. My interviewer was as ex-Mckinsey Associate Principal and I guess he was adept at startling candidates.

I was thoroughly probed on the reasons for choosing a US business school over IIMs (India) which give equally good ROI. He wanted to see if I have a good enough reasons to invest a fortune in the US MBA education. I was able to convince through the argument of diverse class profile at Darden, compared to IIMs where more than 60% of class comprised of engineers.

I was then questioned on my experiences of leading teams on client projects and how I improved my team's performance. Here my interpersonal skills were thoroughly evaluated. I had sufficient content to appease the appetite. But a person who has had limited people interaction would have not fared well. Overall, almost 25% of the interview (~15 min) time was spent discussing my experiences with colleagues, clients and peers. One needs to prepare well for this section.

Finally, my interviewer spent around 10 minutes evaluating my business acumen (I guess he was validating my professional achievements). I was probed on some client projects (consulting). I was able to strike chord with the interviewer when I told him about my experiences of working in a restaurant. He also had similar experiences during his graduate education and we had lot to talk and laugh about. So if you have anything interesting or out of place to talk about, do not hesitate to share as it will make you stand apart.

Finally, I was able to improvise my questions based on my interviewer's background which I think was well appreciated. I asked him about his experiences of working in Consulting vis-a-vis Industry and his recommendations for me (I told him earlier that I would not pursue consulting after MBA).

Overall the interviewer was very friendly but with no-non sense demeanor. He had not read my essays and only had access to my resume prior to the interview.

I received admit, so I guess all went well. Good Luck!

Round 1 / On-campus / 2nd Year Student (Published December 16th, 2008)

Based on my own experience, and from what I heard from other applicants while I was down there, these are not difficult interviews. As other people have mentioned, the only real question that they ask you is to 'tell us about yourself,' and the applicant takes it from there. While I was expecting this question, and went through it a bit in my head before hand, I would recommend that folks sit down for 30 minutes and practice it. Even record it if you can and listen to yourself speak. In my case, I found that I had to track back a few times to provide context to something that I was saying as well as to ensure that I was headed on the right track. That part went on for about 40 minutes and I led my remarks towards any potential follow up that could be asked, or at least that I had anticipated. I then used the next 15 minutes to ask questions, and I was surprised by the frankness and honesty of the student. All in all a great experience.

This was my second visit to campus (I had already participated in an open house day in September) and I have to admit that every interaction that I've had with Darden has been exceptional. From the receptions that they've hosted in DC to the actual campus visits, I've found the entire organization to be extremely well run, professional, and frankly warm and welcoming.

Round 1 / On-campus / Adcom / Admitted & Matriculating! (Published April 15th, 2008)

Darden's interview is meant for you to succeed. With an invite only format, the adcom stresses that they like what they have seen and the interview is nothing, but a conversation. They have one question, tell me about yourself. You'll likely be able to talk straight for 10-15 minutes before they interject with questions. They may push, but in my opinion, they're trying to see if you'll crack. The course is case study after all. If you don't feel yourself getting your point across, take a deep breath and try and approach it from a different angle. Also, relate what you say to your personal experiences. Quote from my interviewer: "I could have read that in the Wall Street Journal". Obviously, I needed to change my tactics. Finally, know why MBA, why now and why DARDEN! Darden stresses 3 points almost everywhere you look and if you are truly interested, the latter part of this question should be easy.

Follow up questions are largely dictated based on what you say, so it's hard to tell you what they will be. Just be prepared for someone to delve deep into any and all statements you make.

Hope to see you on campus!

Round 2 / On-campus / Second-year Student (Published March 10th, 2008)

On Monday I took a tour of the Darden Grounds with a second-year and was surprised when one of the people in my tour group, having just completed his interview, told me "have your monologue ready because that's what they want to hear." On Tuesday I had my interview with a second-year. To start out, he impressed upon me that he wanted it to be informal, conversational, laid-back, etc., which was also supported by his unexpectedly casual attire. He told me the interview was blind and that he knew nothing about me. Although I can't remember the exact wording of any particular question, here's basically how it went.

He first asked "tell me about yourself." Because of the other interviewee's "monologue" comment the day prior, I asked "would you like me to give you a brief overview and let you ask more questions, or would you like me to give a 30 minute monologue?" As you can imagine, I was floored when he said "a thirty minute monologue sounds great." I probably spoke for approximately 10-15 minutes regarding my background and gave a number of specifics. I then felt like it was a good time to let him ask some questions, since I wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to hear.

He then asked "why MBA, why now?" When I mentioned the social/extracurricular part of the MBA as a reason, he raised his eyebrows and said "I don't think anyone has ever said that before, but that's a great point because it's a big part of the MBA." After I finished my response he asked "why Darden?" which wasn't a surprise. We then talked about my goals. After, he asked "assume it's the first day of class and I'm in your group, why should I be excited? Also assume it's a month later and I'm complaining to my wife about you, what would I be saying? This is not a strengths and weaknesses question." In all honesty, I'm not entirely sure what he was getting at by saying "this isn't a strengths and weaknesses question" but I thought I responded well enough.

He then asked "what concerns do you have about Darden?" which I also thought was a difficult question. I responded by saying "I think my concern was addressed during the tour I took yesterday" and went on to explain that I wanted to make sure that Darden's rankings, while impressive in my opinion, were viewed as such by all recruiters, since some companies focus exclusively on rankings. The answer I received during the tour, was that Darden's professors are so focused on teaching that they don't have as much published research as other schools, which tends to drag down their rankings. The way I positioned my response to the interviewer's "Darden concerns" question was I said something like "some companies focus exclusively on rankings and only hire, for example, top ten programs...but I've learned that's not a problem for Darden." By describing my "concern" that way I was trying to avoid sounding like I personally cared about the rankings, but rather, that I just wanted to confirm that Darden, indeed, would allow me to reach my career goals. I don't think I raised any red flags because I tried to be very cautious in how I responded and he seemed pleased that I had already proactively addressed my "concern" the previous day and could speak insightfully regarding Darden's rankings. In fact, I said that my "concern" really had become another Darden strength (having teaching-focused professors) and he wholeheartedly supported my response and went on to confirm and reiterate almost everything I said. He said Darden is placing more emphasis on publishing research to try to boost their rankings, so apparently it's something they are well aware of and are working to correct. For that reason I don't think I came across as unfair, or petty since the two second-year's almost identical responses seemed to indicate it's a subject that is discussed openly at Darden. Maybe I shot myself in the foot, but he appeared impressed that I could give the same favorable response that is likely widely used at Darden.

After that, he closed by asking me if I had some questions for him. The fact that he is going into consulting with Bain allowed me to slip in a consulting question, which I followed up with a quick one about life in Charlottesville. In retrospect there are some things I wish I had said differently, but I thought it went well. I have no way of knowing how my interview compared to other interviews so I guess we'll have to wait and see what they say at the end of the month. Based on the questions he asked after I spoke about my background for 10-15 minutes, I assume he was looking for basically a recitation of my first essay. I think that would have been the ideal way to give the 30 minute monologue he asked for initially. Essentially, background, why MBA, why now, why Darden, short-term goals, long-term goals.

Alum. Round 1. (Published January 25, 2008) Dreamer

Here goes my Darden Interview process experience.

13th December: I got a mail about status change of my Darden Application. It was an Alum Interview call.

22nd December: I was contacted by Office manager at Darden Admission Office about the busy state of Alum and possibility of Telephonic interview. Disappointment it was as I wanted to have a face to face interview. When I asked a current student, he also told me that I should try my best for Alum interview.

9th January: Another mail from office manager stating alum shud be contacting me anyday and if he doesn't contact by friday, we'll have the telephonic interview scheduled.

12th January: Alumnus called me. He told me how busy he was and didn't have any plans to come down to bangalore. I said I was open to travel to mumbai. He said we could have it on saturday the 19th and he'll confirm by monday/tuesday.

Tuesday: I called him up and he said yes lets have it on saturday but he'll confirm me time by thursday.

Thursday: I called and we fixed the interview for saturday at his place in mumbai.

I have posted these details as I found lots of people cribbing on the internet questioning Darden's responsiveness. I would say I was kept pretty much informed about all that was going to happen. Alums are usually very busy and we must understand it.

Anyways, I had this interview on Saturday 19th Jan at Alum's apartment in mumbai. I booked my tickets on thursday for friday evening flight and returned to bangalore on monday morning (My brother stays in Navi Mumbai).

So here's how the interview went:

I reached at 2:50pm (3:00pm was the time). I roamed around the corridor for 5 minutes looking at the sea from the 12th floor just to calm myself down and pressed the doorbell at 2:55pm

After greetings, where-have-you-put-up and when-are-you-flying-back talks he asked me if I was familiar with the process. He asked me what other schools I have applied to and have I been interviewed somewhere else [].

Then he talked about himself, his native place, undergrad, job, darden and job after mba. Then started questions.

"Tell me about your job"
I answered which took form of a discussion and he gave his inputs and kept on acknowledging what I said.

"Why do you want to do mba now"
"Why Darden"
"What was the different thing you found in your undergraduate college"
discussions. he listened to me presented his views, i elaborated on my views and we agreed.

"How would your friends describe you"
"Career Goals"
Then it was my turn to ask questions. His answers also took shape of discussions and lasted till he had explained me everything.

After 45 mins we wrapped up.

Few words on face2face interview vis-a-vis telephonic interviews while I was preparing to leave. And I left by 3:50pm.

Adcom. Round 2(Early Dec). Offered Admission Mid-Feb (Published March 26, 2007)

It was a blind interview conducted by an adcom representative. The interviewer knew nothing about me other than my name. After brief introduction, she asked me, "Tell me your story from the cradle to this chair. Along the way, make sure to shed some light on the important decisions you made and the reasons behind those decisions." The interview lasted exactly 45 minutes. It was more conversational than anything.

Adcom and Student - (Published September 15, 2006)

The adcom along with a 2nd year student sat me down and asked me to explain my life story. This was the only question. The interview was basically a smooth flowing conversation back and forth.

Applicant initiated. Student interview - Early December. Round 2. Offered Admission 3 weeks later. (Published March 27, 2006)

It was a blind interview conducted by a second year student. I was basically asked to give my life story and discuss how and why I made certain decisions along my career path. I believe I was well-prepared to discuss and explain the rationale for my decisions to attend the undergraduate school, selection of major and career path. However, I was also sure to discuss what I believed to be the strengths of my candidacy, to include leadership experience.

Program Fit. I believe that you have to truly understand why you want to learn with the case study method. Additionally, to discuss why, it is also necessary for you to internalize the program strengths and characteristics as to how it will shape you as an individual. For me, I was able to discuss how I am a verbal communicator and how I plan to utilize the case study method to learn from other students.

I talked to another applicant after my interview who happened to find the experience more challenging than he expected. He was caught on the "Why an MBA" decision choice, based on his prior experiences. It is my belief that you have to get this answered before interviewing. The answer should be concise and demonstrate a developmental process relating to how the MBA will allow your goals to be acheived.

Applicant-initiated interview at Darden, Adcom. (Published 2006)

My interviewer was an Admissions Committee member. I hadn’t submitted my application and the surprising thing was that I didn’t even have to submit my resume before the interview. When I handed it to my interviewer, she turned it face down and said she would read it only while filling out the interview report. The school really seems to want to get to know you as a person. I was asked just one question “Tell me your life story – everything that you consider to be important. Along the way, cover your career so far, why you want to do an MBA, why at Darden and your short and long-term goals”. So it was very open-ended. My interviewer kept interjecting with questions – she was paying close attention to what I was saying and seemed genuinely interested in learning about all the aspects of my life. It was really a conversation – a refreshing change from the usual B-school interview scene. It lasted 55 minutes and I was given a chance to ask questions at the end. One interesting question during the interview was “Was it hard to get your first job?” It wasn’t tough to answer – just one I hadn’t heard or read about before.

Adcom (Published 2006)

I interviewed at Darden with a member of the admissions staff. She interviewed me without referring to a resume or any other information, so the interview was completely blind--she just knew my name. The question that she asked was: "Tell me your story and specify why you made your choices and what you learned." During the story she asked me follow up questions about specifics: based on what criteria did you select Darden, what specific skills are you looking to gain by attending Darden (the "advance business skills" answer was too general, so I had to add a few). Some of the follow up questions were a bit odd with an American bias.

The interview lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes (I was the only person interviewing yesterday) and my overall impression of the interview is positive. Although, I would have preferred an interview with a student or an alumnus, since they would have more information about various aspects of the actual school experience rather than information about the admission process and school's marketing info which is widely available.

Darden Hub Interview, Adcom (Published 2006)

This was an interview with Ms. Kathleen Grant, a member of the Darden Admissions Committee. The interview was very relaxed. She talked a lot about Darden and how they are unique. Then, we moved on to the questions. The interview lasted nearly an hour.

QUESTIONS:

Introduction
Resume walk-through
Why an MBA?
Why Darden?
How did you first begin investigating Darden?
Describe how you experiences will help make a contribution to the Darden community.
Are there any questions about Darden that you wish to ask?

Off-campus, Adcom (Published November 2005)

I was interviewed by a member of the adcom at Darden. It happened at an international location in late Nov 2005 for Early Decision.

I was asked to "tell my story from the cradle to the chair" and at the end was given an opportunity to ask my questions.

It was a blind interview although my application was reviewed before inviting me for the interview.

Retrieved from "http://www.clearadmit.com/wiki/index.php?title=DardenInterview"

好贴~
smartfay 发表于 2010-6-5 14:50

积攒人品，发Virginia Tech面经

我是不是上动手最晚的人?报的学校几乎全是第三轮。不知道这个时候发面经还能不能对后人（呃……没别的意思）有帮助，就当回馈，积攒RP吧。

面试我的是Dean Stephen Skripak，男，话多，语速快，还算nice。

1、现在经济危机，毕业生工作不好找，美国政府又出台了对留学生就业的限制条款，为啥在这个时候还要来？

2、为啥MBA?

3、为啥申VT？

4、你认为一个好的领导需要具备什么优点？

5、设想你现在已经到了vt了，给你六个月时间，你打算怎么利用这段时间来适应环境，与同学老师交流，投入学习？

6、你的缺点？

7、学完MBA以后想要在美国工作还是回国，具体计划？

这个面试官的特点是会抓住你的回答不放，继续问detail，所以一定要充分考虑可能的追问方式，多多储量，提问不慌。