How do FY Darden exams work?

When I was a prospective MBA student, I had my list of questions. Are the classes interesting? (Yes; the case-study method really helps there) Are the professors actually accessible? (Yes, far beyond my expectations) Are the students down-to-earth? (Yes, wonderful and nice, and OK, yeah, I'm biased)

I never thought to ask about the exam format.

So let me ask for you: What are exams like at Darden?

A: Long

Each first-year exam is allotted five hours, with one per day. During Q3 exam week, for instance, we had Decision Analysis on Monday, Strategy on Tuesday, Finance on Wednesday, Global Macroeconomics on Thursday. (I should note: This post details the format for first-years this year, but it could always be different next year.)

That means I've taken 70 hours of exams.

Seventy hours. So far.

Let us pause for a moment of reflection.

Whew.

Each exam day, the test is available in paper or online that morning. You can't start until 8 a.m., at the earliest, and you must hand in your work by 3 p.m. Of those seven hours, you pick the five continuous hours for the exam. Bathroom breaks, lunch, walks around the room to clear your head – they all count as part of the five hours. Honor code. Seriously.

However, all the things I was excited about with this exam format turned out to be totally not cool.

Like: Pick your time. Awesome! No more getting up at 7 a.m.!

Potential disaster alert. I tried in Q1 to eek out as much extra brain slumber as possible. And in at least one exam, I ended up sprinting to grounds at 2:58 p.m. Rookie mistake. Now I wake up early and nap after 3 p.m.

Like: open-book, open-note. Great, right? How hard could this possibly be?

Well. If you don't understand what's going on, all the textbooks in the world won't help you in a mere 300 minutes. By the time exams come, you either get it or, well ...

Like: Take the exam wherever you like. A coffeeshop? Your room?

Except: Coffeeshops are noisy. Five hours is a long time to nurse a mocha. And even at home, distraction are EVERYWHERE! What's in the fridge? Maybe I should make some tea. Hmm. Maybe I should see if it's nice outside. NO. NO. NO.

The secret, I have finally realized, is to be lucky. And enter the room lottery.

Learning team rooms and conference rooms at Darden are the money. There is a drawing to be assigned a room, all to yourself, for the entire week. Finally, after losing out Q1 and Q2, I hit the jackpot in Q3.

And this is the best part:



Yes, it's a printer. I know, not very sexy. But it means you avoid the madhouse at the community printers at 2:43 p.m.

Ah, it's all the little things your heart turns on when you are a student again ...

That ends our Exam Pontification. Now back to your regularly scheduled trips and eats.