University of Virginia Darden MBA Recommendation Questions

University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business is known for its case method approach, rigorous curriculum that attracts professionals from dynamic industries like consulting and investment banking, and world-class pedagogy and faculty. The school values critical thinkers who can keep up with its intense classroom pace, collaborate with a highly diverse and international community, and build relationships that support individual and organizational growth. The school’s focus on providing a world-class education also involves a fund for full-time MBA students to take on international experiences during their study. 

If you’re applying to Darden, you should demonstrate that you can act decisively, design innovative ideas, positively influence people and organizations to grow sustainably, and work well with diverse groups. When guiding your recommenders to write your Darden letters of recommendation, ask them to highlight how you embody these values to show your fit with the school. 

How Many Letters of Recommendation Does UVA Darden Require?

UVA Darden requires one professional letter of recommendation. You may choose to submit another, but it is optional. If you are submitting two letters of recommendation, the school asks you to ensure that both present different perspectives on your profile.

Typically, your Darden recommender will be your current supervisor or manager, or the supervisor or manager at your most recent firm, as they are best equipped to comment on your skills, leadership approach, and interactions with others. The school stresses that their title isn’t as important as how well they know you. So, don’t aim for someone higher up in the organization just because it looks more impressive! Focus on the content of your letter.

The school encourages applicants to share their resume with their recommender and talk to them before starting the application to help them understand your motivations for the MBA at Darden. 

UVA Darden uses the GMAC Common Letter of Recommendation format to frame its recommendation questions.

UVA Darden MBA Recommendation Questions 2024 - 2025

Recommender Information & Ratings

Section 1: Recommender Information

Context of Relationship:

Nature of relationship

How long have you known the applicant?

During which period of time have you had the most frequent contact with the applicant?

Please select the option(s) that most closely matches your affiliation with Darden or the University of Virginia, if one exists.

May we contact you regarding this applicant?

Did you use a translator?

Section 2

In this section, you will find 12 competencies and character traits that contribute to successful leadership. The competencies and character traits are grouped into five categories:

Achievement

Influence

People

Personal Qualities

Cognitive Abilities

For each competency, please select the one button that corresponds to the behavior that you have seen the applicant most consistently exhibit. We acknowledge that all applicants have both areas of strength and areas of development. Your candid and honest appraisal will assist in evaluation of the applicant.  Please assume that each level builds upon behaviors of the previous level.

Achievement

1. Initiative: Acts ahead of need/anticipates problems

• No basis for judgment

• Reluctant to take on new tasks; waits to be told what to do; defers to others

• Willing to step in and take charge when required to do so

• Takes charge spontaneously when problem needs attention

• Volunteers for new work challenges; proactively puts in extra effort to accomplish critical or difficult tasks

• Proactively seeks high-impact projects; steps up to challenges even when things are not going well

2. Results Orientation: Focuses on and drives toward delivering on goals, objectives, and performance improvement

• No basis for judgment

• Focuses on fulfilling activities at hand; unsure how work relates to goals

• Takes actions to overcome obstacles to achieve goals

• Independently acts to exceed goals and plans for contingencies

• Documents activities and outcomes to learn from past; introduces incremental improvements to raise the effectiveness of team

• Invents new approaches with measurably better results; works to deliver best-in-class performance improvements

Influence

3. Communication, Professional Impression & Poise: Delivers messages and ideas in a way that engages an audience and achieves buy-in; uses listening and other attending behaviors to reach shared understanding; remains calm and measured even in time of crisis or conflict

• No basis for judgment

• Struggles to get point across; neglects to understand audience’s input or perspective; lacks confidence and gets flustered under pressure

• Works to get point across; acknowledges feedback; reframes statements when necessary to make them clearer; speaks politely; remains composed in known circumstances

• Present views clearly and logically structures content for a broad audience; listens and responds to feedback; prepares in advance to appear confident; leaves a positive and professional impression; responds confidently in unfamiliar situations

• Uses tailored language that appeals to specific groups; restates what others have said to check for understanding; comes across as confident; responds rapidly and strongly to crisis; looked to for advice and guidance

• Structures content for senior-level meetings; maintains composure when challenged; solicits opinions and concerns, discusses them openly and adjusts communication; remains cool under pressure during conflict or crisis; channels emotion into positive action

4. Influence and Collaboration: Engages and works with people over whom one has no direct control

• No basis for judgment

• Does not seek input and perspective of others

• Accepts input from others and engages them in problem solving

• Seeks first to understand perspectives of others; takes actions to gain their support for ideas and initiatives

• Uses tailored approaches to connect with others, influence, and achieve results

• Uses tailored influence approaches to create and leverage a network of strategically chosen individuals to improve collective outcomes

People

5. Respect for Others: Acknowledges the value of others’ views and actions

• No basis for judgment

• Unwilling to acknowledge others’ points of view

• Open to considering others’ views when confronted or offered

• Invites input from others because of expressed respect for them and their views

• Praises people publicly for their good actions; ensures that others’ opinions are heard before their own

• Uses empathy and personal experience to resolve conflicts and foster mutual respect; reinforces respect with public praise when individuals solicit and use input from others

6. Team Leadership: Manages and empowers a team of formal or informal direct reports, including virtual teams

• No basis for judgment

• Struggles to delegate effectively (e.g. micromanages); does not organize activities or provide appropriate information to complete tasks

• Assigns tasks and tells people what to do; checks when they are done

• Solicits ideas and perspectives from the team; structures activities; holds members accountable

• Actively engages the team to develop plans and resolve issues through collaboration; shows the impact of individual/team contributions

• Recruits others into duties or roles based on insight into individual abilities; rewards those who exceed expectations; provides strong organizational support

7. Developing Others: Helps people develop their performance and ability over time

• No basis for judgment

• Focuses only on one’s own growth; critical of others’ efforts to develop

• Encourages people to develop; points out mistakes to help people develop and praises them for improvements

• Gives specific positive and negative behavioral feedback to support the development of others

• Provides overarching practical guiding principles and recommendations that are applicable in multiple situations to direct or focus efforts on specific areas of development

• Identifies potential in others; inspires others to develop by providing feedback, mentoring/coaching, and identifying new growth opportunities as well as supporting their effort to change

Personal Qualities

8. Trustworthiness/ Integrity: Acts consistently in line with or follows explicit values, beliefs, or intentions

• No basis for judgment

• Follows the crowd; takes path of least resistance; gives in under pressure

• Acts consistently with stated intentions, values, or beliefs when it is easy to do so

• Acts spontaneously and consistently with stated intentions, values, or beliefs despite opposition

• Initiates actions based on values or beliefs even though the actions may come with reputational risk; demonstrates the values of the team or organization publicly

• Demonstrates high personal integrity even at personal cost; holds people accountable to the team or organizational values

9. Adaptability/ Resilience: Adapts to changing demands and circumstances without difficulty. Maintains calm optimism in the face of challenge, problems, or apparent failure

• No basis for judgment

• Prefers existing ways of doing things; fears failure; becomes anxious under challenging situations

• Adapts to new methods and procedures when required to do so; remains calm in unfamiliar situations until confronted with obstacle

• Champions adoption of new initiatives and processes; exhibits level-headedness in most environments including challenging ones; persists until obstacle is overcome

• Seeks out disruptions as an opportunity for improvement; remains optimistic and forward-looking in difficult situations that may result in failure

• Energized by projects with high uncertainty but potential for high reward; seeks to be the first into unknown or unfamiliar situations; welcomes learning opportunities created by failure; learns from mistakes and rebounds quickly from setbacks

10. Self Awareness: Aware of and seeks out additional input on own strengths and weaknesses

• No basis for judgment

• Lacks awareness of how he/she is perceived; denies or offers excuses when confronted

• Acknowledges fault or performance problem when confronted with concrete example or data

• Describes own key strengths and weaknesses accurately; welcomes feedback from others and discusses opportunities to change with select individuals

• Actively seeks out feedback to explicitly address desired improvement areas or build on strengths; explores reasons for problems openly, including own faults

• Seeks out challenging and potentially risky experiences to improve; identifies and engages with resources—people, processes, or content—to maximize strengths or mitigate weaknesses

Cognitive

11. Problem Solving: Frames problems, analyzes situations, identifies key issues, conducts analysis on the issues, and produces acceptable solution

• No basis for judgment

• Avoids problems; when faced with problems, sticks to what worked before, or chooses an obvious path

• Offers solutions when the risk is low; focuses on immediate, short-term implications instead of the big picture

• Looks beyond the obvious; identifies and focuses on the critical information needed to understand a problem, identifies root cause(s), and comes up with reasonable solutions

• Gathers and analyzes key information using complex methods or several layers deep; integrates perspectives from a variety of sources to arrive at unexpected but practical and effective solutions

• Applies logic to break complex problems down into manageable parts or sub-problems; solves tough and interconnected problems and can explain how the pieces are connected

12. Strategic Orientation: Thinks beyond one’s span of control and into the future to reshape the approach or scope of work

• No basis for judgment

• Focuses on completing work without understanding implications

• Understands immediate issues or implications of work or analysis

• Develops insights or recommendations within area of responsibility that have improved near-term business performance

• Develops insights or recommendations within area of responsibility that have shaped team/organization strategy and will have impact on long-term business performance

• Develops insights or recommendations beyond area of responsibility with impact on long-term business strategy and performance

(Optional) Is there anything about your competency ratings on which you’d like to comment?

Based on your professional experience, how do you rate this candidate compared to her/his peer group?

Unable to Assess

Below Average

Average

Very Good (well above average)

Excellent (top 10%)

Outstanding (top 5%)

The best encountered in my career

Overall, I…

Do not recommend this applicant

Recommend this applicant with reservations

Recommend this applicant

Enthusiastically recommend this applicant

UVA Darden MBA Recommendation Questions

Please answer the following questions and provide specific examples where possible.

1. How would you characterize your relationship with the applicant and, if applicable, the applicant’s role in your organization? (Word limit: 50 words)

   
   

2. How does the performance of the applicant compare to that of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? (E.g. what are the applicant’s principal strengths?) (Recommended word count: 500 words)

   
   

3. Describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response. (Recommended word count: 500 words)

   
   

4. Is there anything else we should know? (Optional)

Sam

Jon

Zack

Alex

Malvika

Rowan

Nanako

Analysis

Recommender Ratings

The UVA Darden Letters of Recommendation form provides your recommender with a grid of 12 leadership competencies grouped under five major categories: Achievement, Influence, People, Personal Qualities and Cognitive Abilities. 

As your recommender checks the options for each of these competencies, they will find a unique rating scale designed to measure the applicant’s degree of engagement and workplace attitude. 

As consultants, we recommend that you ask your recommender not to choose the highest ratings for all competencies. This may suggest that the answers lack authenticity. Ideally, you should choose the highest ratings for 9-10 questions, second highest for 2-3 questions and the third highest for 1, considering this an area for improvement. 

For the optional question, advise your recommender to add their comments about the ratings, especially the lowest marked rating. Overall, your recommender should select 'Enthusiastically Recommend this applicant.'

Recommendation Questions

1. Please provide a brief description of your interaction with the applicant and, if applicable, the applicant’s role in your organization. (Recommended word count: 50 words)

This question aims to establish your recommender's relationship with you and provide credibility to their assessment of your skills. They should then briefly state how frequently they interact with you and what role you play within the organization.

2. How does the performance of the applicant compare to that of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? (E.g. what are the applicant’s principal strengths?) (Recommended word count: 500 words)

When answering a "Strengths" question, your recommender's response should include their evaluation of your performance in the workplace. They should highlight your strengths and qualities and compare them to those of your peers in a similar capacity.

To make the response more compelling, we recommend including 2-3 anecdotes that illustrate specific qualities or strengths. Your recommender shouldn’t try to “sell” you to the AdCom; their goal should be to provide an objective and accurate account of your achievements and actions in your role, which speak for themselves. Real-life examples that demonstrate quantifiable impact will provide AdCom with “evidence” of your success and future potential.

Consider using the SCAR method of writing to structure the anecdotes. Begin by describing the Situation, then discuss the Challenge or task at hand. Next, explain the Actions you took and the Results you achieved. Ensure that the strengths highlighted in the response align with Darden's values. Business schools often prefer applicants who fit well within their culture.

3. Describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response. (Recommended word count: 500 words)

When answering a ”Feedback” question, the school is actually asking about any personal or professional weaknesses your recommender has observed during their interactions with you or witnessed in a stressful situation. The school wants to see that you can receive feedback positively, use it to improve your approach/performance (again, this should be quantified where possible), and become a better leader through it. 

Your recommender should provide an example in the SCAR format to effectively illustrate the weakness and explain the specific guidance they offered to help you improve. Additionally, they should describe how you constructively received and acted upon their feedback. Focus on the results obtained and the lessons learned from this experience.

As an applicant, you naturally want to present your best self in your applications. However, schools want to assess your ability to self-reflect and grow from your mistakes, as this is a key leadership skill. Therefore, it's important to resist the temptation to disguise a strength as a weakness, like “I’m too much of a perfectionist”. Instead, share a genuine example that provides a holistic view of your profile.

4. (Optional) Is there anything else we should know?

If there’s anything important that your recommender has not been able to cover in the other questions, you can encourage them to write it here. Typically, this is not the case and most recommenders leave this blank. Don’t add extra examples here just because you can!

Our complete Recommender Guide course on MBAConsultant.com has all the advice (and sample letters based on real applicants) you need to create a compelling letter of recommendation. Check it out here.

Go to the Recommender Guide

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