Darden: Interview Transcripts & Notes
Darden uses a unique interview technique that often begins with "Tell us your story, from childhood on."
They may explain that at Darden they're very focused on "your story".
I was asked to start with talking about my background (where I'm from, college, etc.) then move to career, and then we'd end up with why business school/why Darden. Darden interviews are 30–45 minutes in length and your interviewer will not have read or reviewed your application or résumé.
Darden MBA Interview, admissions staff:
They asked me to tell my story for 10 minutes in monologue style.
I was then asked:
- Short and Long Term Goals
- Why an MBA and why now
- What is your leadership style?
- Tell me about a difficult situation at work
- Why Darden
- Is there anything else you would like to tell me about your story or work experience that we have not yet discussed?
It was a bit overwhelming that the person didn't have my resume in front of them. I had practiced my monologue and felt it went well but I noticed I was more nervous than I expected to be.
Darden Interview Report:
--> Story
--> Why MBA/Why Darden
--> Tell me about a time working with a diverse community or team
--> Tell me about a workplace issue/conflict and how it was resolved
, Rd 1 Interview, with AdCom member, in person
- Tell me your story (10/15 mins)
- Why MBA / Why Darden (infused a bit of goals into this one)
- Tell me about a time you worked in a diverse team & what you learned
- Tell me about a time you worked with someone who had a differing opinion / who you disagreed with
It sounds like they have a list of only 7 questions they can ask this year, and we covered all of those pretty easily so it left a lot of time at the end for chatting. We wrapped up around 45 mins.
Followup: Accepted with Scholarship
Darden Interview Report:
The interview was less formal than I thought. It was with one of the directors of admissions.
- Question 1: tell us your story, from childhood on.
I had practiced this so I was ready for doing most of the talking. Frequently, she asked me a very short follow up question such as why I did something or how did you arrive at that decision but it really felt more like a friendly conversation rather than an interview.
This led to a few unplanned sidebars, especially when she added a comment or story of her own quickly but I felt like I needed to improvise in those moments.
At the end she didn't even ask me if I had questions, she just asked me about my wedding planning and wanted to connect me with my student ambassador who would be taking me to class. She did ask me "why now" for an MBA
I was able to squeeze in the "why Darden" talking points at the end which felt significant as well. I sent her a brief thank you note afterwards and she sent back a kind response.
After the interview was done, I attended a class and got to see the case method in action which was cool. I then got a campus tour to wrap up my day. Overall, the day made it obvious that Darden is a top choice for me. Crossing my fingers!
Followup: Accepted
Interviewer was a 2nd year at Darden. Outside of the monologue, I was asked:
- Why UVA?
- Why MBA and why now?
- Describe your leadership style
- Best feedback you’ve received from your manager (this one actually threw me off for a second!)
- How do you plan on contributing to the Darden community?
Afterwards, we talked about the interviewer’s experience at Darden/tips and the entire interview took about 45 minutes with the first 30 minutes on the monologue/questions directed at me, and the next 15 minutes on the interviewer answer my questions.
Followup: Accepted with Scholarship
Darden interview report: Interviewer: Adcom
- Long “tell me about yourself” monologue with some follow ups mixed in
- What clubs / activities are you interested in at Darden?
- Tell me about your ideal job after graduation
- What can Darden do for you in helping achieve your mba goals? What was it that drew you to this program? (She really mixed those questions together, so I told the story about talk to NYU student and hearing about Darden)
- Time for questions for her
Followup: Adcom person who did my interview called today and let me know I was accepted!
ON CAMPUS WITH ADCOMM MEMBER:
He started by explaining that at Darden they're very focused on your story. Asked me to start with talking about my background (where I'm from, college, etc.) then move to career, and then we'd end up with why business school/why Darden.
While I was talking about my role at (ABC firm), he asked me how I'd describe my leadership style, and that was the only follow-up that I got the whole time. Left time at the end for me to ask him questions.
ON CAMPUS WITH 2ND YEAR STUDENT:
Tell me about yourself
Why did you relocate from X to Y?
Why an MBA?
Why Darden?
What does a typical day in your job look like, what do you do in your role?
How do you create buy-in with your staff?
What international experience do you have?
How do you stay focused when there is a distraction?
What are your extracurriculars?
With Adcomm
MAIN QUESTION: Take me through your life story, pointing out your key choices
Several injects:
Why do you want an MBA?
Why Darden?
Describe a team setting where one party did not agree
What do you admire in a leader?
Also, specific questions about undergrad selection, work responsibilities.
Lasted about 50 minutes
I have one main question, tell me your life story
and how that fits in with your planned next steps?
A few other questions we went through after that:
- Give me a bit more detail on your short-term goals?
- Three strengths and three weaknesses?
- Why Darden?
- Why not a one-year program in the UK?
- What about Oxford's Said school that has a very good reputation for socially responsible business?
- What are some cultural differences you have noticed in your time in the UK?
- Tell me about a time when you had a conflict in a team?
- Any questions for me?
Interview lasted about 1.5 hours.