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

Good question, randomwalk (great username btw).

Traditionally the Booth PowerPoint has been a great way to present the life story stuff as you've stated, and that's what many have done and seen success. And we don't really see how things need to change this time. Last year there was also just the two short-answer prompts - they were in fact even shorter, at just 200 words each. The main difference of course is there was also a standard career goals question, which is not there this time. We're gonna be talking about that on the blahg tomorrow.

What we invite you to do with this set of Booth prompts is look at the school. They've changed their tactics, but the prompt for the Booth presentation is actually the same as what they had last year. Has the school changed from last year? Or is it the same awesome place with the same great offering - and the same culture, and value prop, and people, and values?

If the answer to that question is no, that the school is indeed the same, and if this open-ended question that they're asking is the same, then we think it's a fine strategy to proceed with what's worked in the past - and a presentation of a life story is one example of that. Certainly not the only way to go, but we can green-light that idea as one that can work.

As always, it all comes down to the execution, and we're talking in hypotheticals and concepts here - not everyone's "life story" (in terms of how they construct it in a PPT) is created equal. YMMV and all that. But conceptually, sure, we don't see no problem with that - as one possible choice among many.

EssaySnark