Experience Darden

In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcasts, we share the 11th installment in our ongoing ‘Office Hours’ faculty spotlight series, a conversation with Professor Toni Irving. Irving is a Professor of Practice at the Darden School, and she teaches several courses in the Strategy, Ethics and Entrepreneurship area, including “Getting in the Room Where It Happens: How to Successfully Navi...

In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcasts, we share the 10th installment in our ongoing ‘Office Hours’ faculty spotlight series, a conversation with Professor Marc Lipson. Lipson is a member of the Finance faculty, and he teaches a wide range of courses at the Darden School, including First Year Finance, International Corporate Finance, and Innovators, Designers, and Entrepreneurs...

In this episode of the podcast, we welcome back an old friend, Director of Admissions Catie Yeilding. In this episode we talk with Catie about a wide range of topics, from her recent favorite podcast and college football to application tips and the Darden interview. Catie shares insights for applicants targeting Darden’s Full-Time MBA Round 2 application deadline. Essential listening.

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Olivia Pavco-Giaccia. Olivia is a second year student in the Full-Time MBA Class of 2022, and prior to arriving at Darden, she founded and ran a social enterprise, LabCandy, focused on breaking down gender barriers and educating young girls in STEM. We talk with her about her background in science and how she decided to pursue an MBA. Olivia is also...

In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcasts, we share the ninth installment in our ongoing ‘Office Hours’ faculty spotlight series, a conversation with Professor Casey Lichtendahl. Lichtendahl is a member of the Quantitative Analysis faculty and Co-Academic Director for the MS in Business Analytics program. He is also a Darden alumnus, and in this wide-ranging conversation, we talk w...

In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcasts, we share the seventh installment in our ongoing ‘Office Hours’ faculty spotlight series, a conversation with Professor Dan Murphy. Murphy is a member of the Global Economies and Market, and during this wide-ranging conversation, he touches upon everything from growing up in Denver and his twin passions for policy and economics to affordabl...

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Shuai Yao (Class of 2023). Shuai reflects upon her personal story, including relocating from China to the Washington and launching her own global social media talk show on which she interviewed passengers she picked up while driving for Lyft. Shuai also shares insights from her first couple quarters at Darden, including how her Learning Team has bec...

In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcasts, we recap the recent Darden Diversity Conference! This year’s conference was hosted virtually, and it marked the fourth occasion of this annual event. We catch up with two students who served on the Diversity Conference planning committee – Full-Time MBA student Khaliyah Legette (Class of 2022) and Executive MBA student Chi Lo (Class of 202...

This weekend marks the occasion of Darden’s annual Diversity Conference! In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Natalia Alvarez Diaz. Natalia is a second year student in the Full-Time MBA Class of 2022, and she is also the President of the Graduate Women in Business (GWIB) club. In this wide-ranging conversation, Natalia reflects on a host of topics, ranging from her MBA journey and what...

In this episode, we catch up with Second Year Full-Time MBA students Alex Goodman (Class of 2022) and Bridget Coburn (Class of 2022) to talk about plans for this year’s Graduate Women in Business (GWIB) Conference. Alex and Bridget also reflect upon their respective MBA journeys, what GWIB has meant to them during their time at Darden and what led them to serve on the GWIB Board as Vice Presidents...

In this episode of the podcast, we continue our spotlight on student founders with a conversation with Josh Rombach (Class of 2022). Josh has recently launched a business focused on bringing piquette wine to the masses,  Piiq . What is “piquette”? As the Piiq website notes, piquette dates back to Roman times, and it is an effervescent, sparkling wine. We talk with Josh about Piiq’s origins, how th...

In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcasts, we share the seventh installment in our ongoing ‘Office Hours’ faculty spotlight series, a conversation with Professor Ed Freeman. Freeman is a member of the Strategy, Ethics and Entrepreneurship faculty, and an academic director for UVA Darden’s Institute for Business in Society. We talk with Freeman and his background in philosophy, his...

Calling all members of the full plate club. In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with two of Darden’s dual degree students, Geoff Hansen (MBA/MSDS, Class of 2022) and Lyndsay Burke (MBA/M.Ed, Class of 2022), as well as Merav Frazier, Senior Associate Director, Global Recruitment. In this wide-ranging conversation, Geoff and Lyndsay share reflections on their decision to pursue a dual degree...

In this special edition of the Admissions podcast, we welcome back Darden faculty member and friend of the pod Greg Fairchild. In this wide-ranging conversation, Fairchild shares insights about one of Darden’s newest scholarship initiatives – the Breakthrough Scholars Program – a scholarship offering focused on creating new opportunities for diverse candidates to thrive in fields of asset manageme...

Curious about asset management? In this episode of the podcast we catch up with Rodney Sullivan, Executive Director of the Richard A. Mayo Center for Asset Management. We chat with Rodney about what led him to Darden, and the incredible resources and opportunities for Darden students interested in asset management – from courses – like Darden Capital Management, to summer internship support, to co...

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Kate Bishop (Class of 2022). Prior to Darden, Kate served in the United States Marine Corps, and we chat with her about her decision to pursue an MBA, what led her to Darden, how the Darden Military Association (DMA) supported her during her First Year, what she is looking forward to in her second year and more. Kate also shares insights about Build...

In this special episode of the podcast, members of Darden’s Admissions Committee’s and longtime friends of the podcast, Whitney Kestner, Catie Yeilding and Christian West, share tips for researching your target MBA programs. They offer insights and strategies for leveraging virtual events, social media, current students, alumni and more to learn about the people and the communities that will shape...

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Mary Swan (Class of 2022). Mary is a second year student in the Full-Time MBA Class of 2022, and prior to Darden, she attend the United States Military Academy and served as an officer in U.S. Army. We talk with Mary about her transition to Darden, how she spent her first year summer as well as her advice for prospective students. Interestingly, aft...

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Oluwaseyi “Seyi” Oyenekan (Class of 2022). Originally from Nigeria, Seyi is a second year student in our Full-Time MBA program, and she is also President of UVA Darden’s Black Business Student Association. We chat with Seyi about her MBA journey, how Darden ended up on her radar, adjusting to the Darden classroom and learning through the case method...

In this episode of the podcast, we chat with recent Full-Time MBA graduate Pranav Dalmia (MBA ’21). During his time at Darden, Pranav founded the Business Ethics club. We talk with him about his passion for business ethics, why he thinks Darden’s practical, hands-on orientation to business education is so impactful and how he decided to pursue a PhD after graduation.

In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcasts, we welcome back friend of the pod, Senior Associate Dean Yael Grushka-Cockayne, to talk about UVA Darden’s newest MBA format, the Part-Time MBA. We also take time to check in with Yael about her first year leading the Executive MBA program, what she’s currently researching, why she’s so passionate about project management and how she’s pro...

In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcasts, we share the sixth installment in our ongoing ‘Office Hours’ faculty spotlight series, a conversation with Professor Lili Powell. Powell is a member of the Communication faculty, and she also has a joint appointment with the UVA School of Nursing. We talk with her about her interest in mindfulness and resilience, as well as what she has le...

In this episode we continue our spotlight on student founders with an interview with Jing Xu (Class of 2022). Jing has launched a coffee kombucha venture, Cobouchy, focused on creating a fermented coffee beverage that is all-natural, sparkling, probiotic and caffeinated. We talk with Jing about her entrepreneurial journey and how the Darden community helped her get started with her business. Jing...

Please join our Admissions team for these special micro-podcast episodes giving you a step by step guide to the application process. There are two ways to listen to the playlist... here, on Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2EtyMkjZzi9ErgSjrTxKEl?si=1bffd345fee549ad

How do you get kids to read more? In this episode of the podcast, we chat with Daniel Dickey (MBA ’21) about his start-up venture, the Million Word Challenge, an app that was born from Dickey’s days in the classroom as a Teach for America volunteer and helps readers track how many words they read. Dickey also reflects upon his MBA journey, what led him to Darden, why he’s so passionate about educa...