Darden MBA Essays
Darden MBA Essays 2011 - 2012
Darden has only one essay this year! That's incredibly weird. I'm not convinced that the admissions people can effectively evaluate candidates based on a single 500-word statement. Worse still, it's a strange question that, in my humble opinion anyway, reveals little about the candidate. Not sure what they're smoking in Charlottesville but maybe they should stop.
Essay 1: Share your perspective on leadership in the workplace and describe how it has been shaped by the increasing influence of globalization. (500 words maximum)
Note to Applicants: Last year I wrote the following comments in this space regarding the Darden application:
"The Darden School has distinguished itself this year by the quality of its application questions (the worst), the incompatibility of it's Web site (doesn't work with IE9), and the crappiness of its online application contractor (Symplicity).
"This is one of my favorite MBA programs, but the user experience for applicants is total crap! Hate to say it, but Darden wins the award as this year's worst MBA application."
Clearly I had an impact, as Darden made its essay section even worse this year and less relevant in terms of evaluating applicants. I'm glad to see that I have so much influence with the admissions staff. Keep up the great work, guys.
Darden MBA Links
Current Essay Questions!
The essay
questions that appear on this page are for candidates
who plan to apply during the fall of 2011 or the winter
of 2012 and start classes in the fall of 2012.
To return to a list of the essay questions from all schools, click the link below.
Darden MBA Application Deadlines
The Darden School has three
application deadlines:
The deadlines below are for the full-time MBA
program. The other programs have
their own deadlines.
- Round
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Deadline
- October 17, 2011
- January 12, 2012
- April 4, 2012