Chicago (Booth) 2013 - Calling All Applicants

Its a long ordeal and it can get pretty frustrating as the deadline approaches, but there's no need to get chippy here people. The reason we are on this forum is to try and help each other through the process.

By the way, does anybody know what the mid-decision dates are? The Booth web-site still hasn't listed them, and we are only a few days away from the R1 submission deadline. If you know what they are, please post them here (and your source), and I will update the main post on page 1.

31st October...

Agreed. For the record, I also think 750 words across 4 slides is WAY too much. Plus, you run the risk of the adcom thinking you are trying to game the system by going the Powerpoint route just so you could include those 150 extra words.

Not sure if I agree with that. What if the messaging in your PowerPoint and your theme are dependent on 600+ words? I think as long as the story makes sense and conveys the message, they dont care.

I believe there is a word limit (50 words) for the notes page of the PPT. They want each slide to stand for itself as much as possible. With that being said, there is no word limit to the text on the slides. However, I do not think that the purpose of PPT is to slap a ton of words in a text box on a pretty background. If that is what you're going do than you're better off just writing the essay. I've seen quite a few PPTs from my peers and while some had more text than others I do not recall any with 750 across the four pages. The point of this essay is to show your personality not just in terms of the content but also in the way you present that content. If I was a 2nd year on the adcom and saw that many words in the 4 pages I would think that the applicant is boring, lacks creativity, and more importantly isn't even willing to try to go outside of their comfort zone. Considering the fact that a large part of Booth's culture is about challenging oneself this is not a good perception to leave with the adcom.

Submitted! Good luck all...

What are you referring to by the notes page of the ppt?

Quick question guys. Are we supposed to provide reasons for leaving our current employers? Or is that field something that we need to fill only for former employers?

thanks

I dont think you need to.... But you can always write "pls refer to essay no.1" in that section....

I just put something to the effect of "Leaving to pursue a full-time MBA program and switch careers." It's fairly obvious but I didn't want to leave the field blank.

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No. It's not required. They review your application with the self reported score. When they need the official score they will ask for it.

In powerpoint there is a page underneath each slide of the presentation that allows you to type in notes. I believe the default setting keeps it hidden. A lot of people use it as a reference page to keep details that they don't want to put on the slide. Booth doesn't want people using the notes page to go into lengthy explanations of their slides, hence the 50 word limit.

Damn! I checked the application proof this morning and I spotted 2 typos (not in the essays though) I did not see yesterday when I submitted. What an idiot! Also it seems that some of my answers have been cut off even though I respected the word limits in the text boxes.

I am really pissed about fumbling like that. Booth was one of my favourite schools and I am sure I am going to get auto-dinged.

You can try to send an email to the AdCom, they may unlock your app and perhaps you will be able to correct it before tomorrow's deadline!

In the employment information there was not only a words limit but also a number of lines limit.

Dont worry about your answers being cut off.... It appears like that on your proof but the Adcom can view the entire thing... That is what it says atleast in applyyourself... But I think Booth's application software will also work on similar lines...