Darden Invites Reapplicants to Sign Up for Feedback Sessions
The University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business has long stood out for the resources it devotes to helping unsuccessful applicants understand how they can strengthen their candidacy and reapply. This year is no exception.
In a blog post late last week, Darden announced that its admissions committee is currently offering 15-minute phone sessions with candidates who are seeking to reapply to the school in the fall and would like feedback on their applications.
“This is an opportunity to find out how you can improve your candidacy for your Darden application for the coming year,” read the blog post. There are a couple of caveats: Feedback appointments are not available to applicants who are currently on the waitlist, and reconsideration for this year’s admission cycle is not an option.
Darden is not the only school that encourages reapplicants. In fact, that vast majority of MBA programs do. Harvard Business School (HBS), for its part, shared publicly this year that 94 students of the most incoming class—which is to say 10 percent—were reapplicants. Darden, though, is unique in that it devotes specific resources to helping reapplicants improve.
Sara Neher, who heads MBA admissions at Darden, took to her video blog earlier this spring to remind applicants of this fact. “At Darden, we give everybody personalized feedback over Skype or the phone,” she said. “So if the worst happens and you don’t get in you actually will still get feedback from an admissions committee member about how to improve your application for the following year.”
So, if you weren’t successful in your initial attempt to get into Darden, now’s your chance to regroup and retool. Signing up for an appointment couldn’t be easier: Just visit the Application Feedback page and select a time slot in June, and within 48 hours you can expect an email with the name and phone number for an Admissions Committee member to call at the designated time.
If you are considering reapplying to Darden or any other MBA program, don’t miss Clear Admit’s Reapplicant Guide, which features valuable tips on the best approaches to take. Best of luck!
Though essay questions tend to vary year to year, the two things that nearly every prospective student can count on being asked are “What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals?” and “How will Business School X help you achieve these goals?” Even those schools that do not ask this question directly in their essays will likely ask the question in their data forms, or during the interview.
These are the fundamental questions of the entire application process; identifying clear answers will help in everything from creating a list of target schools to communicating effectively with recommenders and interviewers down the line. As such, it’s a great idea to begin drafting answers to the Career Goals essay early and often! To help you get started, here are some general pointers:
Whether the question is asked in an essay of 1,000 or 500 words, or posed in an interview, the adcom looks for applicants who offer fully defined long- and short-term career goals, sound reasons for pursuing an MBA at this point in their careers, well-informed interest in School X and specific plans to contribute to the campus community if they are admitted.
The key to successfully tackling each of these components is specificity. In presenting future goals and explaining one’s motivation for seeking an MBA, it is crucial to present well-defined and feasible objectives. Unlike the undergraduate experience at many American colleges and universities, MBA adcoms believe that students need a fair amount of direction at the time they enter the program in order to take the right classes, join the appropriate clubs and seek the best internship. Everything is oriented towards preparing for the post-MBA job, so specifying a specific industry and function for the short-term is of the utmost importance. In addition to identifying goals for the adcom, it is also important that applicants explain their interest in their particular plans. Along the same lines, applicants should comment on what they hope to accomplish in their target positions.
Admissions officers understand that successful students are focused in their ambitions, and one of the best measures of this is what they have done so far. Not every school asks for this explicitly, but in most situations a Career Goals answer is more compelling when it includes a brief but coherent career history summarizing the applicant’s work history to date. This should reveal the continuity between one’s previous professional experiences and goals for the future. A great response manages to thoroughly and efficiently address each of these elements, with a nice balance between the “career progression” content, the “career goals/why MBA” content and the “why School X” content.
Another critical part of a response is the explanation of one’s interest in a given program, as the adcom is sensitive to whether or not applicants are serious about attending if admitted. Individuals who name specific classes that are relevant to their goals, recount their impressions of the campus culture based on a class visit, or share what they’ve learned from discussions with alumni and students will be in good shape. The aim is to convey the fact that the applicant has conducted extensive research and is making an informed decision in applying.
Beyond convincing the adcom of their genuine interest in the program, it is also important for applicants to keep the following concept in mind: Any fair trade necessitates mutual benefit. In other words, in addition to showing that School X is the best MBA program for one’s needs, the applicant should demonstrate to School X that he or she will enrich its community. A strong candidate describes insights he or she could contribute in class, and offers detailed intentions for getting involved in campus activities.
These general pointers should set applicants on the path toward crafting a great response to the MBA Career Goals question, the centerpiece of any compelling candidacy. Happy writing!
In this weekly series, we provide a brief rundown of what we know is happening in the week ahead, as far as admissions related MBA deadlines and decisions are concerned at the top business schools.
This upcoming week we have a few decision release deadlines as well as a number of deposit deadlines.
Tuesday, May 31, Indiana / Kelley is scheduled to release its Round 4 decisions.
Wednesday, June 1, CMU / Tepper is scheduled to release its Round 4 decisions. NYU Stern is also scheduled to release its initial notifications for Round 4. Georgetown / McDonough, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg and UVA Darden have their Round 3 deposit deadlines. Notre Dame / Mendoza has its Round 4 deposit deadline.
Thursday, June 2, Michigan / Ross has its Round 3 deposit deadline.
Friday, June 3, Dartmouth / Tuck’s has its Round 3 deposit deadline
For those who have made their decision regarding which school to enroll, please access MBA DecisionWire and share your story, anonymously. More than 680 decisions have been submitted. You can also use the “filter” function to see how decisions are made for the programs you are targeting.
For those of you waiting for final decisions, or simply wanting to get the latest “buzz” in terms of what is going on, check out MBA LiveWire to stay on top of real-time MBA admissions decisions.
That’s all for this week! Good luck to everyone!
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? "I will fight.
The summer before Harvard, I heard the news. Trayvon Martin's murderer would go free.
During my time here, countless others, including 12-year-old Tamir Rice from my hometown, would be killed. Their murderers, often police officers, continue living as if they'd simply exterminated a roach.
Each incident left a stain on my spirit.
While studying social welfare at HKS, I worked part-time so my pregnant sister wouldn't become homeless after she lost her job while on bedrest. During pharmaceutical case discussions at HBS, my mind wandered to my mother's medication—unaffordable since Texas didn't expand Medicaid. I received recruitment emails from the same predatory lending institution attempting to prematurely foreclose on my family home.
Despite the privilege granted by my Harvard credentials, America will not let me ignore the injustice. My community continues fighting for quality education and health care, living wages, voting rights, fair treatment by police, even access to healthy food and water. For an America we all love to believe in, but which doesn't exist when you're poor and black.
A prestigious job, positioned atop the system complicit in my pain, could insulate me from the worst of this struggle. But only by grappling with the injustice—placing it square within my sights both professionally and personally—is there any chance of liberating my spirit.
I will fight harder and smarter than ever.
Because my life isn't the only one that matters." —Mickey Millar (MBA 2016)
Each year we ask MBA students a question taken from the last lines of a poem by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Mary Oliver. Read more: http://hbs.me/22t7daR
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