Telephone call to Darden

If you're on a school's wait list, you are expected to periodically contact them to let them know you're still interested. You can do this via email, or better yet, with a phone call.

I did the latter earlier. I called my account manager at Darden, whom I met during my class visit/interview in November. Talking to him on the phone is usually a "hit or miss," I have had conversations with him that have yielded useful information (like when he told me in April that my file was recently pulled for review) and I have also had other conversations where he was very evasive (like in mid May when I asked if they were going to pull students off the wait list in May and he said "we may or may not do that.")  

This most recent conversation with him was very interesting. He confirmed the rumors that Darden created a fifth round with a deadline of June 1. This round yielded 11 additional applications and he suspects most of them have low test scores. I then jokingly reminded him of my performance on the GMAT. He also said they met the day before to discuss what to do with students currently on the wait list and decided on a "wait and see" approach to see how many of the students that have already committed to Darden decide to cancel their matriculation. He said he has already received two cancelations since arriving in the office that morning. He said in past years, the incoming class has pretty much been set by mid to late July. So at least now I have a date in my mental calendar for when I would know which school I would end up in one way or the other.  

This past spring I took an accounting class at the UVA Northern Virginia center to show my initiatives in preparing for an MBA and earned an A in the class. Darden sometimes sends out an email to all wait listed applicants asking them to reply if they are still interested. I always reply with an email that ends with "if admitted, I will definitely accept" written in bold. There really isn't much more I can do at this point to improve my chances other than to wait it out.  

A friend of mine who recently graduated from a school similar to Darden thinks my odds at this point are 50%. He said if Darden continued to accept new applications right up until June, that's a bad sign for the school. I personally think my odds are lower, around 15%. According to Business Week, Darden wait listed 455 applicants last year and only 64 were offered admission.