Darden Admissions News Blog

This weekend is the 22^nd Annual Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville.  The Festival’s program is designed to resemble a “comprehensive course on a cultural theme, which illuminates the social and artistic impact of moviemaking.” The Festival selections range from Hollywood premiers to classic, documentary, and experimental films and videos, and also include a variety of speakers and panels. “Funny Business” is the theme of the Festival this year and several special guests will be participating in events, including Matthew Broderick, Alan Ball, and Cherry Jones.

The Darden School of Business participates in the Virginia Film Festival by hosting the Darden Producers Forum, coordinated by the Media, Entertainment & Sports Club. Mike Million (Founder, Third Story Films) and Marc Liberman (Co-founder, Cavalier Films) will be speaking this afternoon about the current business climate of the film industry, particularly for small budget films. 

In this week’s video blog, Director of Admissions Sara Neher talks about the Darden Partners Association (DPA), an active group that helps spouses, families, and significant others of Darden students make a smooth transition to Charlottesville and business school life. Watch the video to learn more:

Sara Neher’s Video Blog 11-5-09

Darden’s Health Care Conference, focusing on public policy and patient access, will take place this Friday, November 6.  The event, sponsored by Darden’s Health Care Club, will include a panel discussion moderated by Professor Martin Davidson as well as the following speakers:

• Carolyn Engelhard – Assistant Professor, UVa School of Medicine
• Sarah Wells-Kocsis – Executive Director, Amgen
• Dr. Jane Orient – Executive Director, Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
• Peter Slone – Vice President, Medtronic

Visit Health Care: Resources to Get Involved for information about other health care related MBA opportunities at Darden.

Watch the following videos of Philippe Sommer, Darden’s Director of Entrepreneurship Programs, for information about a variety of entrepreneurship-related MBA opportunities:

Darden Business Incubator
The Darden Business Incubator is designed to help MBA students develop promising early-stage business ventures. In addition to fostering an entrepreneurial community, the Incubator provides participating students with $13,000 in non-dilutive funding to be used on their business ventures.

Darden Business Incubator

Darden Business Projects
Darden Business Projects (DBPs) are for-credit MBA projects in which students design their own applied business project in consultation with Darden faculty. There are three types of DBPs: venturing, consulting, and case writing.

Darden Business Projects

Batten Venture Internship Program
The Batten Venture Internship Program provides Darden students with the opportunity to pursue summer internships with venture capital firms and their portfolio companies or other start-ups.

Batten Venture Internship Program

Technology Accelerator Course
The Technology Accelerator course is designed for MBA students who wish to learn first-hand how to commercialize inventions. The course explores the process of finding a new patent or technology and taking it to market.

Technology Accelerator Course

Last week Darden started a 5-week pilot project (organized by the Darden Student Association, in conjunction with the Darden chapter of Net Impact) called the Darden Community Farmers Market. Through November 19, vendors from Charlottesville’s City Market are setting up shop every Thursday afternoon for two hours in Flagler Courtyard on the Darden Grounds. The local farmers and artisans offer organic, locally-grown fruits, vegetables, and baked goods to the Darden community. Second Year student Tack Richardson notes, “Charlottesville has a lot of great farms. My hope is that the Market continues to be a great community event where Darden students can support local farmers and learn about the local food movement.” For more information, read the full article on the Darden website: Local Farmers Set up Market at Darden.

This week, the Darden School of Business is hosting the annual Sustainability and Renewable Energy Forum. The event is co-sponsored by Darden’s Net Impact and Energy clubs, with support from the Marketing, General Management and Operations, and Finance clubs. The Forum includes panel discussions on the role of sustainability in the “new economy” and opportunities for utilities, smart grid, and renewable power. The forum also features two keynote speakers and a networking reception.  Senior representatives from a variety of companies, including GE, MeadWestvaco, APEX Wind, Constellation Energy, Suzlon North America, and Interface, are in attendance. For information on panelists, speakers, and photos from the event, visit the Forum website.

The first application deadline for Darden’s full-time MBA program is Wednesday, October 28^th at 11:59 PM (EST). The Admissions Office will have additional technical support working throughout the next two days.  If you have any difficulties in submitting your application, please email admissionstechsupport@darden.virginia.edu. If you are not able to submit your application due to technical difficulties, we will grant you an extension—please just stay in touch with our office if you encounter a problem.

We look forward to reading your applications soon!

Greetings from Charlottesville!  The leaves have started to turn, and we are enjoying the beautiful fall colors of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  This is Kathi and Haley, the European recruitment team. Kathi just returned from some exciting adventures in Europe—she visited Brussels, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Lisbon, Madrid, and London.  Photos from Frankfurt, Milan, and Lisbon are included in this blog post. We also have events coming up in Moscow and Copenhagen (visit Events & Receptions for more information). It is an exciting time as we travel the globe and share what Darden is all about. We were also very fortunate to have some of our faculty and numerous alumni attend the events to represent the School.  They served as wonderful resources for the prospective students’ questions regarding the case study method, entrepreneurship, the benefits of a general management degree, and recruiting opportunities.

And there is so much here on Grounds to enjoy—we recently hosted the annual International Food Festival, which is always a crowd-pleaser, not to mention the U2 concert earlier this month.  Bono came with an unbelievable stage set-up and quite an entourage!  As you can see, we really do have the best of both worlds, and we hope to see you in Cville soon.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions!

Kathi Grant, Assistant Director of Admissions
grantk@darden.virginia.edu

Haley Whitlock Gyory, Associate Director of Admissions
gyoryh@darden.virginia.edu

Robert F. Bruner, Dean of the Darden School of Business, recently wrote a blog post titled “Getting an MBA: When and Where”.  He discusses his travel over the past couple of months and his conversations with prospective students who often ask him “is now the time to get an MBA?” and “where should I consider applying?” Bruner offers his views about why he thinks it is a good time to get an MBA and suggests thoughtful questions that applicants should ask themselves as they decide where to apply to business school.

The Aspen Institute Center for Business Education just released their Beyond Grey Pinstripes ranking, “a research survey and alternative ranking of business schools that spotlights innovative full-time MBA programs leading the way in the integration of issues concerning social and environmental stewardship into the curriculum.”  The Darden School of Business was ranked #8 among U.S. business schools and #5 in research.

For more information on the ranking, visit the Aspen Institute website or read the Reuters article on the topic, “The Aspen Institute’s Top 10 Business Schools Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility”.  Visit the Darden Sustainability & Social Enterprise web page to learn about various academic, career, and co-curricular opportunities.