UVA / Darden MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Applicant-initiated interview at Darden / Adcom

My interviewer was an Admissions Committee member. I hadn’t submitted my application and the surprising thing was that I didn’t even have to submit my resume before the interview. When I handed it to my interviewer, she turned it face down and said she would read it only while filling out the interview report. The school really seems to want to get to know you as a person. I was asked just one question “Tell me your life story – everything that you consider to be important. Along the way, cover your career so far, why you want to do an MBA, why at Darden and your short and long-term goals”. So it was very open-ended. My interviewer kept interjecting with questions – she was paying close attention to what I was saying and seemed genuinely interested in learning about all the aspects of my life. It was really a conversation – a refreshing change from the usual B-school interview scene. It lasted 55 minutes and I was given a chance to ask questions at the end. One interesting question during the interview was “Was it hard to get your first job?” It wasn’t tough to answer – just one I hadn’t heard or read about before.