Darden Selection Process - Tips for Applicants

mbaMission: How are candidates’ files reviewed at Darden?

SN: Each file is reviewed at least three times, and it may be reviewed as many as eight times, because there are eight people on the Admissions Committee. We spend a lot of time with your file. It is very important that we read everything about you. We don’t triage by score—every reader gets a set of files, and they’re randomly assigned initially so that we really are treating everyone equally and giving everyone the same amount of time. And we will read everything that comes as part of your application: your essays, your recommendations, everything. The first two readers combined will make a decision about whether to invite someone for an interview. If someone’s invited for an interview, that could be here, or if they’re overseas, that could be overseas. Or, we’re going to be trying Skype this year. We’ll also do some by phone.

mbaMission: Will the Skype interviews be with video or without?

SN: Both, probably. We’re going to try the video and see how it goes. We’re going to use video with some of our recent grads this summer. We already know them, so we can see if we actually can get a sense for them via the video or not, and see if it’s a distraction. But I think we’re going to at least try it in some places. Next. the evaluation comes in from the interviewer, it’s read again, and then it’s read by me last, and I will review all the files and make all the final decisions. If [the application] doesn’t go to interview, it will come to me sooner, after a second read instead of after a third read.

mbaMission: When you read the application, how do you do it? What do you read first?

SN: I am looking at what my previous readers have highlighted for me, but I’m also going to look at most of the transcripts, the interview. You would be amazed at how often the interviewer uses the same language to describe someone as the recommenders do. It is uncanny. You are who you are. I think our interview process draws that out a little bit because it’s a little bit longer and a little bit more personal than some, but you can’t really trick us. Someone who’s recommending you has known you for a while, and the interviewer often uses the very same language to describe someone. That is so comforting, to feel like you’re really getting an accurate picture of someone. And then you read their essays and get that. When I’m reading, I’m looking for inconsistencies, to make sure there isn’t something that I’m missing or that doesn’t make sense to me. But if everything is consistent and we want you to be a part of our class and we think you’ll add value, then it’s an easy decision. The hard ones are in the middle, where something is inconsistent or we’re not sure we’re getting enough of a picture of you. That’s challenging. It’s also amazing, the stories people have and what we learn about business and different parts of the world and the United States. It’s just a wonderful job. I love to hear people’s stories.

mbaMission: In those cases where people are “in the middle,” what happens?

SN: Sometimes if we still don’t feel like we know who you are, that’s a problem in and of itself that will prevent you from getting in. We feel like at that point, we’ve given you many opportunities to let us know who you are, and if something’s still not feeling right or is inconsistent, or we don’t feel like you gave us enough information—we feel like your essays were incredibly vague and could have been written by somebody else; not written for you, but just don’t tell us enough about you, that I could have had the same story—then you haven’t done your job, and you won’t get in, no matter what your scores are. If I really like you but I’m concerned about your ability to do the work, you’re also not going to get in. And that’s also not based on one score or one grade; that’s going to be [based on] what everyone says about your work ethic or your drive. And then if I don’t feel like you’re a leader, you’re not going to get in. If you haven’t been showing us that you’ve been involved in enough activities and that you’re willing to take initiative and work with others, I’m going to be concerned about that. So it’s not so much that you could provide us with anything else at that point. I really want to see it in the application and in the other pieces. But sometimes we’ll call or e-mail someone and ask a question, or we’ll find out if someone’s going to be at an event and talk to them there. But this is an opportunity, these applications, and it’s pretty thorough. Please give it all that you can in the space we provide.

mbaMission: How much coaching do you feel is appropriate for a recommender? Do you think it should be a completely hands-off process, or do you think it is okay for applicants to discuss their goals for business school with their recommenders?

SN: Please sit down and talk to them. It will be a good process for you, too. It will be introspective for you. When I write a recommendation for someone—which I’ve done a fair amount, especially in my previous job—I ask the person to send me their resume. I ask for bullet points; never write actual paragraphs, because that leads to too much of your own language potentially going into the recommendation, but bullet points that cover your key accomplishments or the reasons you want to go to that school. I also ask for the mission statement of the school or something from the school’s Web site so that I know what that school is about, so I can think about how that person would be a fit for that school. A little bit of a package to give to the person so that they’re ready to write the recommendation. And then sit down with them and talk about the goals and the purpose and the why. Hopefully there is someone that you do that with anyway, a mentor or a manager that already knows your career plan. But if not, certainly spend that time.

mbaMission: How can a candidate best reveal his or her fit with Darden?

SN: This is an excellent question, because I think each school I talk to and each staff member at each school that I talk to has a different feeling about this question of fit. I do think we want applicants who have really thought about the schools they’re applying to, but I think until you’re actually there, if you haven’t visited, it’s hard to know. I don’t always expect people to reveal as much about fit as I think some schools might. I think that if you tell me who you are, what you’re about and what you want to accomplish, I’ll be able to see if you’re a fit or not. It’s more important to me that we get personal details, because one of the mistakes people make is regurgitating the Web site back to us. You telling me that you want to take so-and-so’s class or the case method is important because of what we put on our Web site is just a waste of your word count. It shows me that you can read our Web site, but it doesn’t show me anything about who you are. Really spend that time with personal examples, incidents, specific stories that you think tell me something about yourself that would make you a fit for the case method. For example, something about presenting at a board meeting and the questions you were asked and how you had to manage that on your feet and what kind of preparation you had to do beforehand—that would completely tell me that you could accomplish the case method, right? But it doesn’t tell me exactly what I already know about the case method that I’ve told you on the Web site. Really personal examples from the workplace or from an activity, that’s how you can convey that the best. The best essays are always about a moment in time and not a laundry list or a chronology of everything you’ve ever done.

mbaMission: Do you judge applications differently in Round 1 versus Round 2? Is it better to get in during Round 1?

SN: It’s always better to do the first round. The main reason for that is because every seat and every scholarship dollar is available, so it’s open. In Round 2 it’s pretty similar in terms of the admit rate, but I would say that there are fewer scholarship dollars available per person because people from the first round accepted them. It’s impossible for us to make it even, so I would say always try to apply in the first round if at all possible. I welcome people to apply in the third round, especially if they’ve had job changes or life changes, but please explain why you’re applying in that round. If you’re reading an interview like this, you’re pretty prepared, so you should explain why. And it’s perfectly acceptable to say, “I wanted to take the GMAT again” or “I wanted to make sure my recommenders had time.” That’s okay. Your chances aren’t going to be as good as if you’d applied in Round 1, but having a reason like that is fine.

mbaMission: What kind of discrepancy in volume do you see from Round 1 to Round 2 to Round 3?

SN: It used to be a lot different. Round 1 has really grown in the last few years and is almost the same size as Round 2, slightly smaller, and then Round 3 is maybe a quarter the size of those, maybe a third. It’s pretty small.

mbaMission: What did you see in terms of application volume last year? Do you have a prediction as to whether the volume will increase or decrease this year?

SN: We were flat this year, which I felt was really fine, given that we lost our international student loan program earlier than many schools did. I felt like we really had very strong domestic growth, and it pretty much equaled the decline from India. If you look at GMAC’s data, GMAC’s test-taking in India is down, and so I expect that to be the trend going forward. But I think that there are some markets really growing, so I don’t expect the applications to go up this year, but I expect that we might be steady again. If you look at a 20-year trend, business school applications will go up preceding a downturn in the economy, and then they’ll level out, and then they’ll start to go down as the economy recovers. So, if the economy really takes off, as I hope it does, we could see a decline in applications. But I think it could be flat.

mbaMission: Has the student loan situation been resolved?

SN: The rising second years and the incoming students all have loans sufficient to cover all their expenses, and they’ve had that for a couple months now, and that’s all going fine. I think everyone’s expecting more banks to enter the arena in the next year, which will increase the competition, which will change all the rates, so we might want to change our programs to take advantage of lower rates. So I can’t really predict what it will be.

mbaMission: So all incoming students this year have loans?

SN: Yes.

mbaMission: Is there anything else you want people to know about Darden or about applying to the school?

SN: There are always things I want people to know. I would say, never be afraid to interview because you think it’s going to be competitive. Don’t try to differentiate yourself from others; try to be your best self. These are sort of cliché, but people get caught up in “There are so many consultants applying” or “There are so many bankers applying.” I still want the best and most interesting bankers or the best and most interesting consultants, so don’t let that dissuade you. I would say, do try to watch some of the videos and things, because you can get a much better sense for the program [that way] if you’re not able to come to Charlottesville. We will be releasing our list of our travel cities; we’re going to be going to over 60 cities this fall, so hopefully you can come visit us as we’re traveling. And the dean will be at many of those events. Our events are unique in that there’s usually equal numbers of alums to prospective students, so you really get to talk to a lot of alumni. And that’s really valuable, because I think very highly of our alumni, and I really believe that you can get a really good sense for the program if you talk to people who have been through it. We do not do PowerPoint at our events. You can get that from the Web site. So take a look at those things and those videos on the Web site beforehand, and come and talk to people.

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