Darden has officially opened its application for the 2022-2023 application cycle. This year, Darden has changed some of the application details, including cutting down on the application essay questions from five (5) to three (3) (more information below). They continue to offer the test flexible and test waivers. They accept GMAT, GRE, EA, MCAT, and LSAT. The test waiver application opens in June.
They are also planning to resume class visits and in-person opportunities this fall.
Deadline:
Applications are due at 11:59 PM Eastern Time on the day of the deadline (review the full top-20 MBA deadlines for the 20222023 application here).
Early Action* - 9/8/2022 (limited open interviews); decision - 10/19/2022
Round 1 - 10/5/2022 (interviews by invitation**); decision - 12/7/2022
Round 2 - 1/5/2023 (interviews by invitation**); decision - 3/15/2023
Round 3 - 4/5/2023 (interviews by invitation**); decision - 5/3/2023
*Applicants can interview between August and September on a first-come-first-serve basis by requestion an interview once the availability is announced in early August.
**For the 2022-2023 application cycle, interviews will be conducted on-grounds and virtually.
Essay Questions for the 2022-2023 Application Cycle:
Q1: Community and Belonging (200 words)
Given that you will be forming lifelong connections with your classmates that extend beyond the classroom, what is important for your classmates to know about you that is not on your resume?
Darden is looking to put together diverse teams that inform and teach one another. This question enables the applicant to inform the Darden admission team about their strengths beyond what is written in their resume that may add to the classroom’s diversity of talents and experiences. An applicant’s resume may be filled with evidence of a solid quantitative background. In that case, an applicant should highlight their qualitative strengths. This may mean that an applicant is strong at rallying a team toward a particular vision, a skill that may not be evident elsewhere. Perhaps an applicant’s strength lies in their ability to enable others to bring forth their strengths. Or they may be able to serve as a bridge between diverse stakeholders. Whatever the strength, to successfully answer this question, applicants should consider their entire profile and identify talents that are not evident from the data points elsewhere in their application.
Once the applicant identifies the value they bring to a team setting, they should give a detailed example illustrating how they have enacted this talent in their professional or community engagements. Next, the applicant should add a sentence or two around why their talent will be of value to their Darden classmates, advocating for their own admission.
Q2: Inclusive Leadership (300 words)
Please describe a tangible example that illustrates your experience promoting an inclusive environment and what you would bring to creating a welcoming, global community at Darden?
Diversity and inclusion are integral to Darden’s mission. They believe that “when people of different backgrounds come together, they exchange ideas, question assumptions (including their own), and broaden the horizons.” Therefore, it is no surprise that this year’s question focuses on bringing together a cohort of students who value and promote inclusion. When considering what to share, applicants should evaluate opportunities where they have promoted the inclusion of those whose voices are not often represented or whose ideas are not always heard.
As to writing the response, applicants should consider providing context around the experience and what was at stake should said voices or ideas were not included. This gives the reader context and an opportunity to understand an applicant's way of resolving problems. Once the applicant has defined the problem, they should outline their role and how they went about promoting an inclusive environment.
The applicant must remember that this prompt is a two-part question. Therefore, they must also identify precisely how they would promote inclusion at Darden. For this essay to be successful, there should be a correlation between fostering inclusion in the applicant’s past and how they intend to promote inclusion at Darden.
Q3: Careers with Purpose (200 words)
At this time, how would you describe your short-term, post-MBA goals in terms of industry, function, geography, company size and/or mission, and how does it align with the long-term vision you have for your career?
This year, applicants are given more room to elaborate on their career goals. When answering this question, I suggest that applicants write their long-term career goals first, including the impact they look to make. Getting to the long-term plan requires developing skills and gaining hands-on exposure. Therefore, the applicant should research the straightest path to their long-term plans, enabling them to identify the logical post-MBA career goal. Applicants should be mindful to include the specific details the prompt requires – industry, function, geography, company size and/or mission. Without this detail, any response would be incomplete. Although not specifically asked, to strengthen this response, an applicant should consider writing a few sentences on how Darden will serve as a bridge to help them develop the skills required to obtain their post-MBA career goals.
If you you would like to discuss your profile and ways we can help, apply to work with us.