This thread is for the Booth 2011 Application Year, meaning applicants that are starting School in the Fall of 2011. Please direct all of your questions for this year into the 2012 thread calling-all-2012-chicago-booth-fall-applicants-116701.html If you are a current student/admit, please consider visiting the thread for Admitted Students admitted-to-chicago-booth-class-of-2013-full-time-mba-thread-107432.html At Chicago Booth, you get more than just a world-class education. You become part of a global business force. Please use the following form to add your stats to the spreadsheet: Form link Edit Link: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Av3d03301eNIdFozSUpyT2lUQzN0TG41MTFDWG83eHc&hl=en#gid=0 Spreadsheet 0Av3d03301eNIdFozSUpyT2lUQzN0TG41MTFDWG83eHc GMAT CLUB STATS Round 1 Deadline: October 13, 2010 Notification: December 15, 2010 Round 2 Deadline: January 5, 2011 Notification: March 16, 2011 Round 3 Deadline: April 13, 2011 Notification: May 18, 2011 Evening/Weekend MBA Deadlines: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/parttime/a ... #deadlines SCHOOL INFO Excerpts from Admissions Chat Events Application Review Process At minimum three people will review an application. We do not review applications in groups but the reader will have access to the previous readers' reviews. Our office hires students to serve as Admissions Fellows. These students will review the files(and conduct our on campus interviews.) Once the Fellows complete their review an admissions officer reviews and will make a recommendation. At this time a candidate is invited to interview or recommended for denial. If denial the Associate Dean will review the file. If invited to interview, after the interview takes place, the file is reviewed again by an admissions officer. A recommendation is made and ultimately the Associate Dean makes the final decision. We do not compare students between rounds; we only evaluate applications based on each round. The chances of being admitted are very similar from one round to the next. Interview As for interviews, Interviewers will NOT have access to your applications. We conduct interviews either on campus by admissions fellows or off campus by alumni. All applicants have the option of coming to campus or interviewing with a local alumni. Academics The Booth MBA is based on a discipline based approach to business education, with finance being at the cornerstone. Chicago Booth boasts a legendary finance curriculum, covering both corporate finance and investments. In addition, our long-standing relationships and success in recruiting with the biggest investment organizations in the world. General Guest: what are the top features booth is looking for in an mba candidate and how can i improve my chances of admission Kurt: The best way to be successful in this process is to really know your story. Where have you been? What skill and experiences have fostered over time? How do these things prepare you for an MBA, and a career post MBA? And finally, how does a specific program i.e. Booth bridge the gap effectively between where you are and where you want to be. Think through this effectively and convey this story utilizing all the aspects provided in the application will give you your best chance of success. To be candid we expect that students applying to a top school are smart, engaged and demonstrate signs for leadership potential. With those things being staples it is at the margins where you can most directly impact your outcome. And your story and fit is what lives in the margins. Neel the overwhelming majority of our students in the FT program are looking to make a career change. To do so you have to think through what you know about the desired industry, what skill and experiences do they covet and what do you bring to the table. In most cases once you do this exercise you will realize where your strengths and weaknesses lie, and at Chicago because of our flexibility and commitment to analytics you will have every opportunity to round out your necessary skill sets and go after the role you desire. Essays 1. The Admissions Committee is interested in learning more about you on both a personal and professional level. Please answer the following (maximum of 300 words for each section): a. Why are you pursuing a full-time MBA at this point in your life? b. Define your short and long term career goals post MBA. c. What is it about Chicago Booth that is going to help you reach your goals? d. REAPPLICANTS ONLY: Upon reflection, how has your thinking regarding your future, Chicago Booth, and/or getting an MBA changed since the time of your last application? These short essays will require you to know yourself. You will need to understand where you have been and where you are going. Before you begin drafting the responses to these essays, take some time for self-reflection. Why do you want to return to school? Why is the MBA the right degree for you? We know that many of you will use your MBA experience to help you figure out what kind of job to pursue next. Even though your future career plans may not be clear at this time, you should still be able to discuss your goals and how they relate to obtaining an MBA. For our reapplicants, question 1d is where you can tell us what, if anything, has changed since the time of your last application. What has occurred in your life or career that has either reinforced or changed your goals? What lessons have you learned or how have you grown since you last applied to Chicago Booth? 2. Chicago Booth is a place that challenges its students to stretch and take risks that they might not take elsewhere. Tell us about a time when you took a risk and what you learned from that experience (maximum of 750 words). You’re probably wondering, “What kind of risk do you want me to discuss?” To be honest, we’re not looking for one kind of risk in particular. It can be a risk related to your professional, academic or personal life. It can be a risk that resulted in either a positive or negative outcome. We want to hear about a time when you challenged yourself and what you learned from that experience. How has that experience influenced your future actions? 3. At Chicago Booth, we teach you HOW to think rather than what to think. With this in mind, we have provided you with “blank pages” in our application. Knowing that there is not a right or even a preferred answer allows you to demonstrate to the committee your ability to navigate ambiguity and provide information that you believe will support your candidacy for Chicago Booth. Earlier this year, there was some discussion as to whether we would continue using the presentation as part of our evaluation process. With the presentation proving to be such an important tool in helping us determine who is a good fit for Chicago Booth, we decided it was necessary to include in our 2011 application. However, this year, we are giving applicants even greater freedom to decide what information they want to convey in the presentation. Since we’re providing you with “blank pages,” what you decide to address in your presentation is up to you. Look at the other aspects of your application. Are there messages or activities that you have not yet been able to communicate to the committee? If so, then the presentation will be an opportunity for you to provide us with this type of information. After reviewing your presentation, we want to have a better understanding of who you are and how you think. Also, please remember that it is the content – not the design – that should be the focus of the presentation. We understand that not everyone is a design guru. So, whether it’s through photos, images, graphs, or just words, the goal is to communicate your messages as effectively as possible.

quote="Arbitrageur"] Thanks! That was extremely helpful! Still working on my first drafts. I know it's bad , but the wharton and columbia essays consumed my life for the past month, in addition to calculus and statistics courses. I am just starting...that is what is bad. Hopefully my experience will show that you don't have to start your application in July to get in. The more I start to write, the more skeptical I am that I have a shot.

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Calling All 2011 Booth Applicants!!

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TiderInsider

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30 Dec 2010, 20:41

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quote="Arbitrageur"]

wiredo

When I visited Booth, I asked one adcom member whether, in essay 1a, they were looking for
(1) why MBA and why now, or
(2)why MBA, why now, and why full-time.

She said it was the latter. I ended up addressing the why full-time question in one sentence.

Thanks! That was extremely helpful!

Still working on my first drafts. [highlight]I know it's bad[/highlight], but the wharton and columbia essays consumed my life for the past month, in addition to calculus and statistics courses.[/quote]

I am just starting...that is what is bad. Hopefully my experience will show that you don't have to start your application in July to get in. The more I start to write, the more skeptical I am that I have a shot.

randomwalk

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Schools: Haas '16 (D) Sloan '16 (D) Kellogg MMM '16 (D) Booth '16 (D) Tuck '16 (WL) CBS '16 (D)

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30 Dec 2010, 21:31

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How have you guys approached the lessons learnt part in Risk essay?

The prompt merely asks ..
Tell us about a time when you took a risk and what you learned from that experience

I see that mine has only lessons learnt about taking risks. Did you guys also include lessons learnt about youself, lessons learnt from the experience itself etc. For example, the experience could be about taking football lessons and you learnt about teamwork from football, and that you are sometimes very hard on teammates. Do i have the leeway to include these as well?

Shawshank

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30 Dec 2010, 21:36

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randomwalk

How have you guys approached the lessons learnt part in Risk essay?

The prompt merely asks ..
Tell us about a time when you took a risk and what you learned from that experience

I see that mine has only lessons learnt about taking risks. Did you guys also include lessons learnt about youself, lessons learnt from the experience itself (For example, the experience could be about taking football lessons and you learnt about teamwork from football.) Do i have the leeway include these as well?

Good question. What I did was, after laying out the context and showing why my decision was a risk, i went through the 3 key lessons. They all dealt with aspects of personal growth, core values, etc. Two of them was the direct result of the job while the other one sort of resulted from the general state i was in. I think basically they want to know what you learned from either the actual risk you took and/or the situation you were in due to your decision.

TiderInsider

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30 Dec 2010, 23:12

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In the Extracurriculars section, are you guys listing dates for all activities, or just the Public service and community activities?

deechi

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31 Dec 2010, 05:12

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Arbitrageur

randomwalk

How have you guys approached the lessons learnt part in Risk essay?

The prompt merely asks ..
Tell us about a time when you took a risk and what you learned from that experience

I see that mine has only lessons learnt about taking risks. Did you guys also include lessons learnt about youself, lessons learnt from the experience itself (For example, the experience could be about taking football lessons and you learnt about teamwork from football.) Do i have the leeway include these as well?

Keep in mind that Booth and the UofC as a whole prides itself on taking risks. This is also a good opportunity to show fit with that culture and type of environment.

I used a fairly old example to explain the basis for my own philosophical outlook on life which is revolves around challenging limits and taking calculated risks.

mjb

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31 Dec 2010, 09:50

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randomwalk

In my risk essay I basically told the story of the 'risk'; what it was, why it was a risk, how it turned out, what I learnt, and finished with how I've applied what I learnt.

I don't think that there's any right or wrong answer about what you learnt, but from the chat transcripts, the interviews with admissions people, and just talking to the staff at Booth I get the impression that they do want to see you write about a real risk. That means that there needs to be some consequence of failure and a definite reward for success (remembering that rewards can come in many different forms).

Shawshank

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31 Dec 2010, 10:37

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I was reading the free Veritas Prep guide for Booth, and according to it, the 80% age range for first-year full-time MBA students is 22-37. So that means 20% of the class is either below the age of 22 or above 37? It doesn't seem right.

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31 Dec 2010, 11:26

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Arbitrageur

They may have made an error. That looks a lot more like the 100% range.

randomwalk

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31 Dec 2010, 13:34

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mjb

Arbitrageur, Deechi and MJB. Thanks for all your insights. I just completed my Risk essay and I too feel it doesnt matter in what context you learn the lessons.
My structure is introducing the scenario, explaining the risk involved, how i took the decision to take it, opportunities i gained from the risk and lessons learnt, things i lost, and finally lesson learnt on risk.

Now back to my Goal essays .. ahem. I am sloggin at the last minute!

alienfluid

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31 Dec 2010, 13:51

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How are you guys approaching the presentation? Is there a need for a central theme for the entire presentation or could the slides be disconnected as long as they have something to convey?

randomwalk

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31 Dec 2010, 14:03

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alienfluid

How are you guys approaching the presentation? Is there a need for a central theme for the entire presentation or could the slides be disconnected as long as they have something to convey?

I think the idea is entirely upto you. As long as it is clear and serves your purpose go for it. This post gives you some guidance on how to start.

walker-s-guide-to-slide-presentation-80253.html?hilit=walker%20guide

alienfluid

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31 Dec 2010, 14:13

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Wow, that's some incredible advice. Thanks for the link.

jb88

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31 Dec 2010, 17:37

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Arbitrageur

alienfluid

Interesting observation - personally I didn't. Unless someone has a job in Chicago, I'm not sure how a part-time MBA fits in.

I read an analysis by some consultant who said that if you're "older," you might want to bring it up. I just turned 30 and work in chicago, so i'm wondering if i should delve into it. But with only 300 words, i don't think if i'll have space or if it's even necessary. I might be overanalyzing this.

It's definitely a bit awkward to weave into the essay, but for us Chicago residents I think it needs to be addressed. I think Chicago residents are fighting an uphill battle regardless.

Anecdotally, I have 2 friends who had applied full-time with competitive apps and were interviewed then denied FT but given the option to re-interview for the PT program. Both now attend PT.

Shawshank

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31 Dec 2010, 18:33

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jbharris88

Arbitrageur

alienfluid

Interesting observation - personally I didn't. Unless someone has a job in Chicago, I'm not sure how a part-time MBA fits in.

Yikes. I had no idea it was tougher for Chicago people.

I just wrote 1-2 sentences on the full-time vs part-time.

Atsushi

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31 Dec 2010, 19:56

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jbharris88

Arbitrageur

alienfluid

Interesting observation - personally I didn't. Unless someone has a job in Chicago, I'm not sure how a part-time MBA fits in.

Yikes. I had no idea it was tougher for Chicago people.

I just wrote 1-2 sentences on the full-time vs part-time.

I wouldn't expect the adcom to treat Chicago residents differently. Non-Chicago residents still have part-time schools available in the cities in which they live. So, making the case for full-time is important for them too. The only difference is that competitive Chicago residents who are rejected are likely pushed in the direction of the PT program since it is a viable option for them.

I didn't explicitly mention the full-time program but feel like the reasons I gave for "Why MBA" were benefits only the full-time program can offer. For example, any of the following reasons make the argument for full-time instead of part-time without your needing to call out the full-time program specifically:
(1) immersive business education with complimentary experiential opportunities
(2) study abroad to country x
(3) desire to change industries

I feel if your have a good answer to the "Why MBA" question, you'll likely already be answering the "Why full-time and not part-time" question. When the adcom sees these reasons, she will probably won't doubt your need for the full-time program. Of course, older applicants may need to be a bit more explicit, but even though I'm 31, I didn't feel the need.

It would be great to hear different experiences or perspectives.

Shawshank

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01 Jan 2011, 19:33

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For booth re-applicants, how are you addressing 1d? The question does not explicitly ask how your candidacy has improved, but every analysis i read says that it needs to include that. If so, why didn't Booth ask that in the essay prompt?

theacademist

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02 Jan 2011, 21:26

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Just pressed submit! Added myself to the spreadsheet (actually twice since I didnt realize it took five mins to update so the mod might need to remove the duplicate... sorry, I was enthusiastic)

Best of luck to all!!

theacademist

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02 Jan 2011, 23:48

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Oh and one more thing, after you put in your essays and everything looks fine, and you hit save and proceed, GO BACK again to make sure your essays dont have any questions marks or anything else substituted in there. I hit proceed and went back and looked again and my essay's were all goofed up again. after i re-fixed it the second time it all stayed in plac (trust me, i checked it like eight times)

Slightly disappointed in Booth for not fixing this problem.

driege

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03 Jan 2011, 00:14

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theacademist

I fixed it. You don't need to be a mod to delete things.

mjb

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03 Jan 2011, 00:21

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theacademist

I had the same issue when I submitted my application. I think it's down to 'smart quotes' in Word using characters that don't exist on Booth's system so when you copy, paste and submit your essays get mangled. It is a pain to have to go back in and correct stuff but then you were going to check your essays after uploading them anyway, right? :wink: