I interviewed with a member of the adcom. They asked me to tell them about myself — it was open very open ended and the interview was blind. I was told by a friend beforehand that I should be expected to talk for 5-10 minutes in the beginning though. After my summary, I was asked about how I deal with conflict. The atmosphere was casual and my interviewer didn’t take notes/have pen or paper. It wasn’t my favorite format because I felt like it wasn’t engaging/conversational. Listening to anyone talking about themselves for 5-10 minutes is a long time and the listener only retains so much/gets inevitably bored. I could tell that I needed to do more to make them like me/engaged.
I asked questions about diversity and inclusion initiatives and regarding what they loved most about Darden/what they’d change. I could tell my questions and the conversation we had from them thereafter excited my interviewer, but it wasn’t so much my background/why MBA/goals.
