For those who are admitted by Darden and are interesed in Darden

efz31990

Chinese students in second year did a terrific job this year and the placement was outstanding.

Consulting (2), Corporate Finance (1), MKT(2),Operation (1), Corporate Strategic Planning (1), Leadership Program (2). Two students plan to go back to China direct, so they are not looking for jobs in USA.

Location: USA (6), London (1), Singapore (1), HK(1)

Personally, I think that ranking drop is tempory and has to do with the leadership. Dean Harris just stepped down and Darden is looking for a new dean right now. Darden definitely need a strong leader. Darden's last dean went to Chicago and dramatically lifted the rank of GSB. When that dean was in charge, Darden was #5 on BW. Though the ranking dropped in these two years, the intrinsic value of Darden has not changed. This year is Darden's 50th anniversary.The school is taking many initiatives to do something with the ranking. I am very confident on that.

Before 2004, Darden has no marketing budget. It never made Advertisement in last 50 years! The reputation of the school is built purely on the student quality and word-of-mouth. Darden's intense program, general management perspective, small class size, tight network, excellent teaching quality and case study approach prepared Darden students to excel in IB,consulting, and general management. Darden is not for everyone! You definitely need to see whether you are fit with this school. My wife and I are both studying in Darden right now in the same class and we have to say Darden exceeds our expectation. Darden can give you a lot of opportunites. All top IB, Consulting firms and a bunch of Fortune 100 firms are hiring here. It really depends on what you want to do and how you can seize the opportunity.

adrienphil

Thanks for sharing.

Anyone here decided to go to Darden?  I might go to Darden this fall.

I am now comparing Darden with Cornell.

If you might be my future classmates, please drop me a message. Thanks.

efz31990

Never let money to play the first role in your school selection! Select the best school you can have and select the best school you fit with and want to attend. You can quickly pay back the loan. I need to finance $200K to finance my wife and I to study in Darden at the same time.

Let's do the math here. You need to invest $100K to study in Darden. You can borrow the loan from school as did by most Chinese students. (You don't need to borrow up to the limit). The first payment of interest will start until 6 months after graduation with an amoun of about $200+ per month. The amount will increase in later years. The big assumption here is that every Chinese student is to earn average base salary $95K (You can also factor in some discount for international student). Average signing bonus is about $15K. Some firm pay you 2nd year tuition if you accept fulltime offer. If you find a decent intern, you can have $12K to $25K in 3 months. These $12K to $25K (before tax) can be your living expense in 2nd year. The point I want to make here is that the expense is managable.

I don't know much about the scholarship. We have 3 full tuition waive this year.