The Darden MBA Admissions Interview
Mar, 02, 2012
Categories: Darden | Interview Analysis | Interviews | Key Posts | MBA | MBA留学 | Steve Green
Steve Green has taken on the unique challenge of providing advice for Darden’s “one question” interview. Darden has been doing it this way for years. Steve’s graduate work in political science was conducted at the University of Virginia, so he is someone particularly familiar with the culture of Mr. Jefferson’s University. (If you don’t know what I am talking about, you should!) Information about Steve’s interview counseling services can be found here. Steve and I have been working together since 2001. Many of my clients do interview preparation with him for Darden and all other top MBA programs. A full-time professor, Steve exclusively focuses on MBA interview preparation.
Remember that UVA takes its honor code seriously, so this is not an interview to practice truth stretching, but one to engage deeply in truth telling. As in any interview, it is all in the way you interprete yourself.
-Adam
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In a nutshell, Darden’s single question is “Tell me about yourself.”
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to be given 20-30 minutes for your story (though the whole interview itself may last longer should you talk for a long time and follow up questions are saved until the end of your monologue.)
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to be interrupted sometimes with follow-up questions.
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to be interviewed by a current student, possibly with an adcom member present (unless, of course, you have arranged on an off-campus interview with an alumnus.)
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the interview to be blind (i.e. the interviewer will not have seen your resume.)
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a relaxed atmosphere: Darden interviewers seem genuinely interested in hearing applicants’ personal histories, from what I’ve seen in reports.
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to be given the chance to ask questions about Darden to the interviewer.
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Begin your monologue by saying clearly who you are. State up to 3 key points about yourself, including your guiding value(s) and core strengths. These strengths should not be limited to one field, e.g. finance, but the skill that allows you to succeed in particular fields, e.g. analytical thinking.
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Explain the experiences that forged these values and strengths. Darden allows you to describe events in your childhood and/or teenage years, as these are the periods in our lives when many of our core values, and even, in some instances, the foundations for our core strengths, are formed. However, don’t devote more time than necessary to talking about your pre-college years.
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Develop your story arc with these core values and strengths. Illustrate how they were enhanced and even challenged by experiences in college and how, as an adult, you have applied them in your professional and personal life.
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Illustrate your story arc with accomplishments that are on your resume. Emphasize turning points and setbacks, from which you learned something important that defines who you are now.
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Describe the experience(s) that gave form to your career goals and convinced you needed an MBA. This experience, by definition, would be a turning point in your life. Discuss what about it made you realize you cannot achieve your career goal with out an MBA.
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Explain how you discovered that the Darden MBA is the best choice for you.
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Your audience wants to know whether or not you would make an interesting classmate. Avoid jargon, and do not sound boastful or give the impression you have never made mistakes.
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Your interviewer may interrupt your story with follow-up questions about particular points in it. Do not be unnerved if this happens. Take it as a positive sign of interest in your story. After all, it is only natural to want more details about someone’s experiences. According to reports it is common, and, frankly, it probably makes the session more interesting for everyone involved.
– H. Steven (“Steve”) Green