Editor's Note: BusinessWeek collected graduate comments in 2000 during its ranking of full-time MBA programs. The next ranking is scheduled for fall, 2002.
The Darden community is noteworthy. Students that attend here form a special bond that helps to enhance the strength of our alumni base. Class discussions are intense, but they are not cutthroat. I've been very impressed with how supportive my classmates are to each other. --Anonymous
Darden clearly transformed my life. The program greatly enhanced my business, management, and personal skills. Darden has elevated my thinking, analysis, and leadership skills to a new level. I feel that the Darden experience is absolutely amazing! Yes, Darden is an intense program, but the rewards for the hard work are well worth the effort. Fellow students, professors, and staff go beyond the call of duty in providing support throughout the program. I am amazed by the quantity, bredth, and depth of knowledge I obtained during my two years at Darden. I honestly can not imagine a better MBA program. --Consulting
The Darden school has made a valiant attempt to be more diverse and to cater to the needs of the international students, but it still has a long way to go before being a fully-integrated school. Part of the problem is that the excessive workload in the first-year fall semester prevents the students from making the effort to cross racial and international boundaries, and this tends to carry over into the second year even when the workload is substantially reduced. The 100% case method was not optimal for learning across all courses, particularly when combined with the excessive workload. The faculty and administration were not responsive to this concern which has been expressed time and again by the student body. Changes were implemented for the class of 2001, but it remains to be seen whether these changes are merely cosmetic in nature.
The mandatory learning team (study group) in the first year can be a nightmare, as it was in my case. It is a question of whether you are lucky enough to receive the guidance of an accountant, economist, or marketing expert within your learning team, otherwise the group sessions can descend into a case of the blind leading the blind. The recruiting office performs its duties very perfunctorily. Unless you're a domestic student keen on consulting and investment banking, you should look elsewhere. --Entrepreneurship
At Darden, I was delighted to discover a caring and committed faculty. As I reflect on my MBA experience, many wonderful professors come to mind because they were engaging and challenging in the classroom as well as helpful and real outside of class. The support of my professors encouraged me many times, and I am very grateful for the contributions they have made in my personal and professional development. --Human Resources
The Darden School does more to support its students with partners and children than any other program that I looked at. Dean Snyder says that the Darden MBA program is designed to stretch and support its students. I can think of no better way to show how the Darden School supports students like me than through its Darden Partners program. I came to Darden as a married student with one child, age 1 1/2. My wife and I came here with a long history in the Navy, an organization that has extensive experience with its members working in stressful environments with exceedingly long family separations. Darden works with families much like the Navy does.
The Darden Partners program is a support group that helps the partners to adapt to the new surroundings and to understand what the student is going through. The partners program is funded by the school and provides many social events and activities, especially for those with children. Every event at the school is open to children and they become an like extended family get-togethers. Darden understands that students with partners and children have different needs from other students and the Darden School provides the network to support those needs. --Consulting
Enrolling at Darden is more than just attending a B-school, the entire experience is unique. The culture created by the intensity of the school creates an atmosphere that simulates intense work environments. You can talk about leading people and managing teams in class all you want, until you interact with individuals who are under pressure or have a desire to perform, in my mind you can never really learn. Darden's facilities are top-notch and the alumni base, though smaller than other schools, is extremely loyal and supportive. They are active in the classroom and in the interview process. --Venture Capital/Private Equity
I considered applying to Harvard and Columbia but decided not to submit my applications to those two schools once I was accepted at Darden. I had spoken to several Darden alumni in the Philippines and learned what I knew about the school from them. Darden has not let me down. In fact, it has exceeded all my expectations. Darden's faculty are the best teachers I've ever had. They truly have a passion for teaching and more. Every single professor I've had at Darden maintains an open-door policy and is more than willing to give help or advice in both academic and non-academic matters.
Career Services has been amazing. Last year, our class suggested that they improve their support for job search in non-traditional industries such as the information technology and e-business. This year, they hired a new career consultant who is primarily responsible for the off-ground job search process precisely to address that issue. --Consulting
Darden has been been an awesome experience, I wouldn't change it for the world. --Operations
I don't think people who want to breeze through a program and focus on networking and the MBA "stamp" are a right fit for the Darden experience. I would also not recommend it to someone who wants to "major" in a particular subject. I would STRONGLY recommend Darden to someone who is looking for a strong general management education, for an active learning experience (unlike lectures and problem sets, the case method really gets students engaged in the learning process), and to become a part of a small community.
On another note, one of the aspects that is continually debated at Darden is the intensity of the first-year program. This intensity is something that I feel is an important part of Darden's character. It really helps some people learn an important lesson about saying no and making efforts to balance life and work (in this situation, reading cases). I know that the faculty and administration are putting forth a great effort to balance this load, and from what I have seen they have done well in getting more towards "stretch and support" instead of having first year students drinking from the perverbial fire hose.
Darden has given me a strong understanding of basic business principles and the chance to get my hands dirty in the subjects I was unfamiliar with. I feel extremely confident that I will be able to apply these as I enter back into the working world. --Entrepreneurship
Darden provided me with a great deal of value. Not only did I triple my salary but I also got my first choice job. I was able to get on-campus interviews at all the companies I was interested in talking with. The workload is heavy at Darden, but not excessive. I learned a great deal and still had plenty of time to pursue career related and personal activities. The rigor of the first-year curriculum kept my uninterrupted attention, and prepared me very well for my summer internship on Wall Street. I felt better prepared than any my other summer intership co-workers with regard to financial modeling and financial accouting. Darden taught hard skills, and more importantly they taught me how to work effectively in diverse teams, and to how to a approach a complicated problem. I would strongly recommend Darden to anyone considering business school. --Venture Capital/Private Equity
I think Darden is a wonderful place. It is more supportive and more team-oriented than any other school I've visited or heard of. The faculty are dedicated to teaching and to each individual. The administration under Dean Snyder has been tremendously responsive to our needs, particularly in the areas of e-business and diversity. I learned a great deal at Darden about business and even more about myself. If I could change one thing about Darden, it would be to build a little more flexibility into the first-year curriculum. The integrated curriculum is a hallmark of Darden, but if we could have broken up one or two weeks a year into interest-specific groups, particularly for cross-functional learning, I think that would have made the program even more impressive than it already is. --Marketing
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