UVA Darden Podcasts

What happens after you press submit? Who is reading your application? What does ‘holistic review’ actually mean? Director of Admissions Catie Yeilding answers these questions – and many more – as she shares insights about Darden Admissions’ evaluation process.

At Darden, the Admissions interview is conversational. But what exactly does this mean? Managing Director of Admissions Whitney Kestner offers tips for approaching this conversation, including the importance of knowing your story, the value of focusing on your “why” and why the interview is a great opportunity for you to continue to learn about Darden. Interested in even more interview-related advice? Be sure to check out our longer Experience Darden podcast episode all about the Darden interview.

You’ve pressed submit. Congratulations! But now what? Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions Dawna Clarke offers advice for how applicants can stay engaged and use this time productively.

The Additional Comments section of the UVA Darden application is just that – additional. However, it is also space for applicants to offer context for information in their application, including academic performance, career path, recommender choice and more. Managing Director of Admissions Whitney Kestner shares tips for utilizing the Additional Comments section of the application.

Who makes a good recommender? Director of Admissions, Women’s Recruiting Haley Whitlock Gyory chats about the UVA Darden recommendation process, including tips on recommender choice, the value of getting organized before approaching your recommender and why it’s important for your recommender know your target deadline.

In the Darden application, there are several short essay questions. Senior Director, Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Recruiting Christian West offers advice for applicants as they approach this section of the application, including the importance of considering how your responses align with your broader application narrative, why the essay questions are a great opportunity for you to demonstrate your authentic voice as well as why every writer needs an editor.

Standardized tests can be helpful way for an applicant to provide a more recent data point regarding their readiness for an MBA curriculum. However, some applicants may wonder if a test waiver could make sense for them? Director of Admissions Catie Yeilding shares advice for applicants weighing these options, including the importance of thinking about your candidacy objectively as you build your academic readiness case.

Director of Admissions Catie Yeilding offers advice for how you can demonstrate your academic readiness for an MBA curriculum across a number of sections of the UVA Darden application – including degree-related coursework, non-degree-related coursework, professional certifications, work responsibilities, standardized test scores and more.

You will share information about your professional background in not one but two places in the Darden application – The Employment History section as well as in your resume. Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions Dawna Clarke offers tips about how you can maximize both of these parts of your application as well as how the resume can be a place for you to display your personality and interests.

The application process is a storytelling exercise. Managing Director of Admissions Whitney Kestner discusses the importance of thinking about your candidacy as our Admissions Committee will – holistically and objectively – as you approach your application.  

A little planning can go a long way. Managing Director of Admissions Whitney Kestner returns to share more advice for getting organized as you approach the Darden application.

You’ve decided to apply to Darden. But where to start? Managing Director of Admissions Whitney Kestner offers tips for getting organized as you approach the application process, including the value of working backwards from your target deadline, why you should read through the application before doing anything else and more.

When is the right time to apply? In short, when you feel like you can put together the strongest application. However, there are important considerations to be weighed as you finalize your plans. Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions Dawna Clarke offers tips for navigating Darden’s application deadlines.

Did you apply to one of Darden’s MBA formats in the prior application cycle? If so, this episode is for you! Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions Dawna Clarke shares advice for reapplicants – including insights about the reapplicant request process, application timing, recommendations and more.

The MBA application process can be quite a journey and applicants often feel uncertain or vulnerable during the process. However, as Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions Dawna Clarke shares, there are several steps you can take to help prepare yourself to navigate the ups and downs of applying to business school.

Do you know about the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management? Senior Director, Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Recruiting Christian West offers insights about the organization, the benefits of applying to Darden’s Full-Time MBA program through the Consortium, new changes to this year’s Consortium application and more.

Calling all international applicants! Associate Director, Global Recruitment Merav Frazier outlines key considerations for international applicants, including application timing, English proficiency requirements, visa processes and more.

Applying to one of Darden’s many dual degree programs? In this episode, Associate Director, Global Recruitment Merav Frazier shares her favorite tips and resources for dual degree candidates.

In this episode, we catch up with Managing Director of Admissions Whitney Kestner about the importance of intentional engagement when researching business schools. As Whitney notes, there are distinct phases in the MBA research process, and you probably have more time than you think to get all of your questions answered.

In this episode, we talk with Director of Admissions, Future Year Scholars Katherine Alford about the MBA research process. Katherine shares insights about utilizing MBA rankings, how to network effectively with current students and alumni as well as the value of using a spreadsheet to help you stay organized.  

Welcome to our application tips series! In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcasts, members of the UVA Darden’s Admissions Committee share advice insights for applicants targeting Darden’s MBA formats – Full-Time MBA, Part-Time MBA and Executive MBA.

Our Admissions podcast feeds have split and moved to their new homes!
You can now find new separate subscription feeds for both The ExecMBA Podcast and Experience Darden here on Podbean or on other popular listening outlets such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Sticher, Google Play, TuneIn and iHeartRadio!
You may also find The ExecMBA Podcasts new episodes here: https://dardenexecmbapodcast.podbean.com/ and Experience Darden new episodes here: https://experiencedarden.podbean.com/.
And as always... THANKS FOR LISTENING!

In advance of Darden hosting ClimateCAP: The Global MBA Summit on Climate, Capital and Business, keynote speaker Scott Price discusses the challenges and opportunities for a global logistics company to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions while cutting costs and improving its competitive position. He discusses commercialization of new technologies, including robotics, autonomous vehicles and drones, changing the way UPS conducts business in an increasingly urbanized and resource-constrained world. He shares the importance of pursuing mission alignment across the organization, and the necessary partnerships for progress. Hosted by Erika Herz from Darden’s Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Taison Bell. Taison is a Global Executive MBA (GEMBA) format student in our Class of 2020, and he is also a physician and a founder. We recently sat down with Taison to talk about his background, why he decided to pursue an MBA, why he thinks business and leadership training is important for medical professionals as well as Owl Peak Labs, the start-up he founded with his classmate and recent podcast guest Tim Harvey.

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Tim Harvey. Tim is a Global Executive MBA format student in our Class of 2020, and we recently caught up with him to talk about his decision to pursue an MBA, what attracted him to our GEMBA format as well as the start-up, Owl Peak Labs, he recently founded with his classmate, Taison Bell. Pro Tip: Keep an eye out in the next few days for our conversation with Taison!