myice

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!

myice

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.

myice

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.

myice

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.

myice

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.

myice

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.

myice

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.

myice

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.

myice

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?

myice

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"