Application Deadlines and Essays for Darden

The Darden School of Business has released its application deadlines and essay questions for 2007.

Deadlines are:

Round 1 (Early Action) - Complete application and interview by October 19; receive decision week of December 8

Round 2 - Complete application and interview by December 5; receive decision week of February 9

Round 3 - Complete application and interview by January 11; receive decision week of March 23

Round 4 - Complete application and interview by March 1; receive decision week of April 20

Darden has posted the text of its essays for 2007 to this webpage:
http://admissions.darden.virginia.edu/criteriaEssay.htm

We were somewhat surprised to see that Darden has introduced word limits on essay length this year. In the past, Darden simply asked applicants to use their best judgment to determine how long their essays needed to be to say what they wanted to say in them.

This change is a plus for applicants in that it's easier to write an essay when you know exactly how long it can be. It also presents a challenge, however, as the word limits Darden gives are tight -- 500 words for two of the required essays, and just 250 words for one required essay and for the optional essay. This year's Darden applicants will have to make sure that every word in their essays counts.