With less than a day to go, I still dont know why I should apply to Darden. I mean, i know who I am, what matters most to me, and whether I am a leader/entrepreneur/globally involved/etc guy. And it seems these qualities are as important to Darden as they are to me. So should I apply? Dont know! Why?
Well, for starters these are qualities that every top MBA school wants to be known for. And so does Darden. Maybe a bit more on some counts, a bit less on others, but roughly about the same as everyone else. I still dont know what their culture is like. I understand it is a very academically oriented campus, which is good. But how well are the students connected within themselves? and with the alumni? No clue…
I also know that Darden is more diverse (atleast they claim to focus more on it) but what does it mean for me, since that too is common with most other top schools like Wharton, Harvard, etc where I’m applying. So I still haven’t reached anywhere, have I?
Maybe thats why my 150 word “fit with Darden” essay is yet to start. And the reason why today’s reception becomes important. I need to go there to understand these things specifically for my goals. I need to be comfortable since I’ll be spending big bucks and two years of my life there. Not to mention the opportunity cost of missed promotions and zero salary. Hilton towers, I’ll be there!
All the best dude!! i am sure you will get a lot more info from there….else go to Darden site, read their mission statement and all, read earning mba at darden link and you will have a fair idea…
How did the info session go?
What was Dean Prof Bruner’s comments?
Any positives or negatives you could gather about Darden?
I couldn’t attend Darden as was busy submitting applications for R1 and also i live outside Mumbai.
Manoj- I was damn impressed with Dean Bruner. He came across as a person who’s really understood the mind of the student (and applicant) and tries to align it with his own principles.
I liked Darden’s focus on India – despite the fact they have only about 200 Indian alumni, of which only 30 are in India – since they’d got not just the dean, but also their dy.adcom dir. and head of career center. Plus the dean was participating in conf across Bom/Blr, which shows he’s prob done reasonable study on India. All this is good for ppl like me who want to come back to India either imm after MBA, most prob in 2-3 yrs (after the loan payback, that is)
If you want any more inputs, mail me at oopsagain2010@gmail.com; i’ll be glad to help