Chicago (Booth) 2013 - Calling All Applicants

There is no status update after the interview is complete. The next update is the decision. Booth does not trickle out decisions. They call admits the day before the official decision day. WL and dings are communicated via status update on the 19th.

Can anyone speak to the on-campus culture at Booth? I mean how students interact, live, sense of community, etc.

Typical interactions include wrestling in the mud pit in the middle of the Harper Center winter garden and group naps in the study lounge. We tend to live in 100 people communes and eat from the land. We all love each other.

Can you maybe be a bit more specific?

I love the school and it`s one of my top choices, but it has a reputation as somewhat of a commuter campus - students take the train in, watch a Nobel prize winner teach a class, and go home to do homework. At least that`s the image Booth has at my firm, and some older alumni haven`t done exactly much to dispel that. More specifically, to what extent is this true or not true? How has it changed over the years? Has Booth have a stronger community now than in the past, or than the above stereotypes dictate?

I was wondering the same thing, but the person I interviewed with said that it was the best 2 years of his life. Even though people are spread around the city, you meet so many people and there are always social activities. He said the only time you're ever at home is when you choose to be.

You're right that most students live downtown and commute 20 minutes to hyde park everyday, but I wouldn't call it a "commuter school" in the traditional sense. There are so many club activities and meetings, guest speakers, study groups, recruiting events and other activities going on everyday at the Harper Center that most students are at Booth all day long. Furthermore, the majority of the students living downtown live within a 3 square block radius, so even when you're not at campus, you're within shouting distance of hundreds of other students.

In regards to what the older alumni have told you, I don't think Booth had as strong of a community 5+ years ago when the business school was decentralized and spread-out across campus. I'd recommend talking to more recent alumni or current students, who I think for the most part would agree with me.

That was a big reason I didn't apply to Booth.

I've heard the South Loop is an up-and-coming area and is full of Boothies. Is that the spot you're talking about?

Hyde Park is the 3rd safest neighborhood in Chicago. Please remember that Chicago is a major city so of course you need to be careful. However, that can be said of Philly, NYC, Boston, etc. Exercising common sense goes a long way toward staying safe.

As for trudging to campus for a recruiting event, it's not really like that. Most of the time you are here regardless, whether it be for class, study groups, club meeting, etc. Almost everyone keeps a suit in their locker so that they don't have to wear it all day or go home and change before a recruiting event.

Also a lot happens downtown at the Gleacher Center so you don't always have to come up to Hyde Park. No matter where I am most of my time is spent with my classmates. Very few people just come to school, do recruiting, and then go home, never to be seen otherwise. I would say that Booth has an amazing community that's very active. Am I around all 576 of my classmates all the time? No. That would be impossible to do. Is 80% of my non class time spent with other Boothies in some capacity? Definitely. And I would say the majority of my classmates would say the same.

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No, he's talking about the Loop, which is about a mile north of the South Loop. I actually do live in the South Loop. It's probably the 2nd most popular neighborhood for Boothies to live. Lots of restaurants, close to public transit, good grocery stores, and a bit cheaper. I think that's why more students are choosing to live down here. But I would say that we all hang out together anyways. Our cabs just have to drop us off a bit further south when we all go home.

That's true, I totally forgot about the lockers. Booth is a great school! I probably would have applied if the first round deadline wasn't so early.

Ah, good to know! I'll admit I was a little put off Booth at first because of the flexible curriculum and lack of academic cohorts. However, after talking to some current and former students and doing more research, I heard what you said time and time again - that the community really is more tight-knit and collaborative than the uninitiated give it credit for.

Did my Booth interview on campus. Not sure that I made my best impression, but the interviewer was nice.

I had a much better interaction with a current student who sat waiting with me and another guy for the 15 minutes before our interviews. Now, if I was running admissions, putting a second person to shoot the breeze with and casually evaluate the candidate in a comfortable setting before the interview is exactly the kind of thing I would do. Anybody know if that's possibly what was going on? We had a pleasant conversation and talked all about our backgrounds, but I was a little confused in what capacity she was there.

That's not what's going on. The students you interact with while you are visiting are not spies. We are there to make you feel more comfortable. No one asks us what you said to us. No one even asks us what we thought about you. We play no role in the decision making process.

Well, then you all do a good job. It was a really nice distraction and warm-up to have someone to chat with.

Too bad nobody is spying on me when I'm my most comfortable, charming self.

Just got back from my interview with an alumnus at Delhi.

Standard questions were:

Why MBA? Why now?
Short term, medium term and long term goals.
Why Booth?
Tell me a of a time when you turned a negative into a positive.
Tell me of a time when you were in a team.
Any leadership experience.

Went fairly well I reckon. The alumnus was very down to Earth. Kept taking a lot of notes which was a little unnerving at first.
Hoping for the best. The next one month seems longer already.

Had my interview with an Alum.. My interviewer just asked me 4 questions: 1.Resume 2. Goals 3. Why Booth 4. Why not XYZ.. It was all done in 15 min... And then proceeded to answer my question for 25 minutes... Is this good or bad??