A few weeks back I traveled to beautiful Charlottesville for my interview at Darden. This was my first time in Virginia, and it definitely left a great impression, although the flight out there was another story. Because of my work schedule, I was forced to take a red eye flight to and from my Darden visit/interview. My flight left around mid-night local time. I was already beat after a long day. I was looking forward to getting some sleep on the plane. However, a guy in the seat across the aisle keep getting into his bag that was sitting right on top of my suit in the overhead compartment. I kept waking up because I was paranoid he was going to wrinkle my suit!
I finally arrived in Richmond with just enough time to pick up my rental and head to Charlottesville. The drive from Richmond to Charlottesville was beautiful and very scenic. It was nice to have a little over an hour in the car to again mentally go over my answer to the famous Darden interview question, “Tell me your story.” I reviewed all the key points I wanted to emphasize. By the time I arrived at the Darden Grounds, I was feeling pretty confident about my interview.
It was a really pretty day. The weather was good, a little windy, but not too bad. I had a few minutes to kill, so I walked around campus before checking in with all the other interviewees. I was really impressed by the campus and the surroundings.
I checked in around 10:45am. I was greeted by a kind lady named Virginia. I got a kick out of that. I was just in time for the financial aid session. Afterwards I sat in the admission’s lobby chatting with some fellow prospective students. It was humbling to be around people who had accomplished so much. I had enough time to down a Dr. Pepper and wake myself up a little before my interview.
I interviewed with a member of the admissions committee. She was very friendly and made the interview very conversational. The interview was completely blind. She ask me to tell her about myself. She wanted me to go into my background, talk about my childhood, etc. She said she would interject from time to time with questions. The interview went great! Overall, I think it was the best one yet. Because of the format, I felt like I was able to paint a broad picture of myself. I didn’t feel limited by specific questions or anything like that. I left the interview feeling confident and very happy with the way things went.
After the interview, I had lunch with a few students, a professor, and other prospective students. It was great to get to pick the brain of a professor at one of the best business schools in the country. He provided some great school and career insight. After lunch we went on a tour of the Darden Grounds. Needless to say, it was beautiful. I am very impressed by the facilities. During the tour I ran into a student I had chatted with a few times on the phone. She knew I was interviewing that day, so she was on the lookout for me. We only had a couple minutes to talk, but it was nice to meet her in person and catch up.
When the tour was over, I walked around a little more and talked with a few other people that were interviewing that day. I knew I needed to get back to the airport, but it was hard leaving when the weather was so nice.
Overall, I was very impressed by the admission team, students, and faculty at Darden. I was also blown away by the caliber of the other individuals interviewing that day. I knew I would be lucky to be a member of that community. It was hard knowing that I wouldn’t hear back from Darden for another month. That is a long time to have your fingers crossed…
In the spirit of my Darden interview, here is an awesome quote by Thomas Jefferson:
"Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you." - Thomas Jefferson
