While their backgrounds and post-MBA ambitions vary widely, the UVA Darden MBA Class of 2028 students featured in this edition of Real Humans: MBA Students share an appreciation for Darden’s case method, close-knit community, and emphasis on learning through the perspectives of their peers.
Leading off, Advait Date arrives in Charlottesville from Pune, India, with a deeply analytical finance background. A Chartered Accountant and CFA charterholder, he moved from audit roles at KPMG and UBS into equity research and fund management at Go Digit. Then, Shelby Birch brings nearly a decade of experience across education, public policy, government, international development, and nonprofit consulting. Her career has included service with City Year and the Peace Corps, work with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and most recently consulting at Management Leadership for Tomorrow.
Davide Guarino, meanwhile, is trading demand forecasting for a broader education in business. A biologist by training, the Italy native spent six years with Haleon, working across three countries in consumer health and CPG. His scientific training taught him to form hypotheses, test them against evidence, and adjust his thinking—an approach that translates naturally to Darden’s case classroom. Next, after a decade as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy, Stephen Sawyer came to Darden ready to redirect his leadership and service experience toward organizations and communities at home. The Naval Academy graduate viewed business school as a bridge between his military career and a future in which he could combine strategy, leadership, and organizational impact.
Rounding out the group is Matthew Pettus, a Richmond native whose career has taken him from a neuroscience degree at Yale to life sciences consulting and healthcare startups, including work in Berlin. Exposure to stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem sparked his interest in the business decisions shaping the industry and ultimately motivated him to pursue an MBA.
Across their stories, these members of Darden’s Class of 2028 highlight what makes the MBA experience distinctive: an academically rigorous environment built around active participation, a community where classmates invest in one another’s success, and opportunities to learn as much from peers as from professors. Read on to learn more about their journeys to Charlottesville, their advice for prospective applicants, and what they are most looking forward to during their first year at Darden.
