Darden Admissions News Blog

The Darden School of Business is busy this time of year hosting a variety of events for the Darden community. 

Earlier this week, the Black Business Student Forum arranged for Sergio Rial, Cargill’s Platform Leader of Food Ingredients & Systems and President and Regional Director for Latin America, to speak about global leadership. For more information on the talk, read the Leading With Your Brain and Heart article.

Today First Year student Georgi Yanchev is competing in the first ever UVA Entrepreneurship Cup, where he will pitch his concept KaioTeas.com (that won the Darden Business Concept Competition). The event forms part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, and to celebrate the week, Darden and the Batten Institute are hosting the annual E-Conference on November 19 and 20. The E-Conference includes a series of events and panels for alumni and students with entrepreneurial interests to mingle and find inspiration from other entrepreneurs. Read First Year student Brianne Warner’s blog post Quotable E-Conference for some of her favorite pieces of advice from the event.

Today is also the second day of the 9th Annual Darden Finance Conference, which is focusing on top financial institutions’ perceptions of “Looking Ahead to Economic Recovery”. The conference provides a platform for students to learn about various opportunities that exist for MBAs within finance, and it’s also a great way for corporate sponsors to interact with Darden students.

Finally, tonight is the ever-popular Marketing Brand Challenge, organized by the Marketing Club. The event is an educational and entertaining experience that gets students excited about careers in brand management and familiarizes them with issues surrounding product positioning and market research.

Darden’s Director of Admissions Sara Neher will be hosting a live online video chat on November 19^th through Chasedream.com, a popular Chinese website. It will take place at 9:00 AM (EST)/10:00 PM (Beijing time). Questions will be submitted and answered in English. Sara will introduce the Darden MBA program and answer questions regarding the application process, academic opportunities, and life at Darden.

For information on how to participate, visit the Chasedream.com event page.

If you are a military applicant and have questions about the application process or the transition from the military to graduate school and the private sector, please join us for an online video chat on Monday, November 23. Kathi Grant, Assistant Director of Admissions, and Mike Freed, a former Naval Officer, current Darden student, and president of the Darden Military Association, will be available to answer questions.

Darden Military Chat
Monday, November 23
1:30 – 2:30 PM (EST)

To participate, please register in our events scheduling system. Registered participants will receive login instructions via email the morning of the event.

Military applicants may also be interested in reading Dean Bob Bruner’s blog post titled “Generosity and Veterans Day” which offers reflections on military leadership, as well as information about Darden’s participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program.

Each year Darden students can enter the Entrepreneurial Concept Competition.  This year over 71 entreprenuerial ideas were submitted (up from 54 in 2008 and 30 in 2007). Seven teams were selected to present their ideas to the judges in Darden’s final competition, which took place last Friday. The winning concepts and teams are as follows:

• 1^st Place: Kaio Teas – Georgi Yanchev (Class of 2011). Prize: $3,000 and advances to the UVA Cup Finals.
• 2^nd Place: Patton’s List – Clark Herndon, Michael Fallon, and Steven Cunningham (all Class of 2011). Prize: $1,500.
• 3^rd Place: Carlo Woods – Carlos Camacho and Jamaica Wood (both Class of 2011). Prize: $500.

What’s new about this year’s competition is that for the first time five other schools at the University of Virginia are holding Entrepreneurial Concept Competitions of their own: Curry School of Education, School of Engineering & Applied Science, McIntire School of Commerce, School of Law, and the Schools of Medicine and Nursing. The winning team from each school will compete in the UVA Cup Finals for cash prizes of $35,000.

Director of Admissions Sara Neher gives an update on where we are in the Round 1 application process and what that means for interview invitations:

Sara Neher’s Video Blog 11-12-09

I consider myself one of the lucky ones because I love my job and meet incredible people all the time.  As a member of the Diversity Team in the Office of Admissions, I have been afforded the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and I get to work closely with several organizations focused on diversifying business schools and corporate America.  I hope that you’ve been keeping up with all of the blog entries, tweets and videos that we’ve shared with you throughout 2009 highlighting Darden’s commitment in this area.

One of the organizations Darden has been in partnership with since 1992 is the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management.  Not only does the Consortium offer a wonderful streamlined application process but it also offers a fantastic network for current students and alumni centered around a shared commitment to diversity in education and business.  I encourage ALL prospective students to learn about the Consortium as it is a great resource for the things mentioned above.  If you are applying via the Consortium, please remember that the first deadline is November 15, 2009.  I look forward to reviewing your application.

Kellie Sauls
Associate Director of Admissions
SaulsK@darden.virginia.edu
Twitter.com/SaulsK

Tonight Darden will be hosting an exciting panel discussion focusing on women who are using different styles of engagement with social media technologies. Participants in the panel include:

• Sonya Donaldson, Editor-At-Large for Technology, Black Enterprise Magazine
• Adrienne Graham, Founder and CEO of Empower ME! Corporation, a professional networking company for women
• Shireen Mitchell, an entrepreneur who is also chair of Media and Technology Task Force of the National Council of Women’s Organizations
• Angie Brement, Entrepreneur and blogger for “C’ville Entremoms”

The event will be webcast live starting at 6:30 PM (EST) at:  www.darden.virginia.edu/live

It will also be available on Darden’s YouTube channel and iTunes U later this week.

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.