Booth (Chicago): Calling all applicants - Class of 2016

We are a little more than 3 weeks away from Round 1 deadlines! How's everyone doing out here?

Heya, nice to see you back. And good to know that RW was fun!

I'm in 'wrestle with the ppt' phase. Its not exactly like a work ppt, so I'm a bit confused on how much text should go into it. My current version has tons of it. So, still thinking whether I should keep it or trim it.

Hope school's fun

Oh yeah, I wrestled quite a bit with the ppt. Took days to get an idea and finally put together the slides literally at the 11th hour. I remember that Cheetarah's advice was spot on in deciding the content . As for the amount of text, well I think only you can make that call. Powerpoint in the end is just a tool, and if you think your target audience can effectively process your message with more text, then go for it. Personally, I prefer very little text, because I can communicate more effectively with pictures and one liners, but that's just my style. Boothies have gotten in with both kinds of ppts. Just don't fall on the ends of the spectrum, i.e waaay too much text or waay too many pictures and annoying clip art.

School is awesome got orientation going on. Today we had faculty come and sell us on why we should take their courses. Tomorrow we get to lunch with them. My inner nerd is excited. And Boothies sure know how to party! Anyhoo, good luck to GMATclubbers this season! We are rooting for you!

Congrats on your admit and it's great to see you are enjoying school thus far! Application is underway, but it's going to be a long couple weeks for me to crank it out. Quick question - what are you referring to when you say "Cheetarah's advice was spot on" for the ppt? I am struggling with coming up with a strong strategy for this section. Thanks!

Sorry for the delayed response. Booth's application is a drop down field and the options are 'Married, Domestic Partner, Single, Unspecified." Would it make sense to leave this field blank, but then fill out the information below about her (name/job/level of education) without specifying our relationship? I am just not sure what the best approach is? Thanks!

(Yes, I agree that this is not a "make it or break it" type situation, but I still wouldn't mind hearing opinions.)

Anyone going to Chicago Booth Live on Oct 11?

I think Pru meant one of my blog posts https://cheetarah1980.blogspot.fr/2012/09/fill-in-blanks.html#more. I can't think of anything else she's referring to because I give the same advice anytime someone asks.

After 48 hours of brainstorming, sketching and looking around for inspiration, I finally got an idea and finished my powerpoint. I don't know if I'd call it "fun", but it definitely felt more creative and genuine than some of the other essays I've written. I'm no graphic designer by any stretch of the term, but I managed to implement at least some sort of aesthetic design.

Glad that's over.

Nice Work! It appears I'm 48 hours behind you. Currently staring at my screen looking for inspiration...

(Thanks Cheetarah - I found your blog-post helpful!)

Two quick questions.

1) I had a part-time job at the on-campus student store during college to pay for rent and expenses. I had a pretty significant leadership role at the store (created weekly schedule for staff, interviewed new hires, trained new hires, etc.). The Chicago app's work experience section only asks for full-time work experience. I was wondering if i should add this as a "college activity" in the Activities Section. I emailed the admissions office, and they said "Feel free to enter any work experience you would like us to review." For some reason, I still have doubts about entering this paid activity as a "college activity." It's not something that is worthy enough for the Optional Essay, but it was an activity that took up a significant amount of my time during college and helped me develop leadership skills, so I feel like it is worth mention. It should be noted that it is on my resume though, so maybe it doesn't need to be repeated in the actual app? What do you guys think?

2) "The second letter can be professional in nature or from an organization, club, or volunteer project with which you are associated. These letters can give us a different perspective of your skill-sets outside of your professional environment. There is no preference on who supplies your second letter of recommendation; our only guideline is that it should add new and valuable insights to your application." So does this mean that the second reference letter should not discuss the applicant in the context of the professional environment, even if the second reference is "professional in nature?" It says the only guideline is it should add new insights, so I take that as the two recs, if both are from professional supervisors, shouldn't repeat the same thing. Would it be acceptable if my first rec focused on my analytical abilities/performance while by second rec focused on personal qualities like drive/ambition for example? They would both be from professional supervisors though.

@Swoosh617:

1. We suggest putting the job on the resume. That doesn't fit into the "school leadership" category as we think of it. Working during the school year is still relevant so it's worth including it. It's up to you if you put it within the online app itself but it doesn't seem like it quite qualifies.

2. Your rec strategy sounds fine. Two professional recs is often the way to go; sometimes people use a non-professional rec and it just doesn't convey info that's as strong as if they went with two from work. Don't try to introduce diversity for diversity's sake in the choice of recommenders.

In regard to your second question I think it all depends on your overall app strategy. I applied with a recommendation from my current supervisor and another from the executive director of a non-profit that I volunteered with. This made sense for me because I had stated career goals in the social impact arena so the 2nd recommendation helped round out that part of my story.

As ES said, don't go looking for different recommenders just for the sake of having them. Think about what you want communicated in your application and if you feel that 2 recommenders from work best accomplish that then go for it. If you think someone you've worked with in a professional capacity outside of your job can shed some additional light on you candidacy go for them. Don't just think in terms of where you've been thus far. Also consider where you're telling Booth you're trying to go. If you have a recommender who can help tell that story then it's a good idea to use them. Hope this helps.

I think Pru meant one of my blog posts https://cheetarah1980.blogspot.fr/2012/09/fill-in-blanks.html#more. I can't think of anything else she's referring to because I give the same advice anytime someone asks.[/quote]

Sorry, I was at LEAD. Yup, that's the post I was talking about.

Anyone have any insight on this? We are given 700 characters to fill out this section. It is in the 'edit employer' section, in the work experience tab. The questions above it ask for Organization name, location, dates of employment, position, comp, function, and website. I just don't want to "waste" this section answering the wrong question. Thanks!

I did a one sentence description of my company, mostly because some of my companies are smaller companies that aren't that well known outside of my description. Then I wrote about some of my day to day responsibilities, my promotions/awards and my greatest hits. I then concluded with a line about why I left to go to my next job.

Thanks Ward!

I may have misunderstood you, but as an FYI - they do have a different section for "reason for leaving", so you may want to save that portion for this part. Good luck!

Thanks. Yeah, I just elaborated more about why I left because for a couple of jobs, there was a bit of a story.