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01 Apr 2019, 06:12
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This article is written as part of the MBA Chronicles project. For more such articles, check MBA Chronicles
BB asked me to put together a “Day in the Life” post for Booth, so I happily obliged. GMAT Club was a great resource for me on my application journey and I hope that this post will help you as you think about your transition from applicant to a student. I’ll caveat this post by saying that there is no normal day in business school. You will have more options of things to do than you will ever have time for, but I will try my best to present a fairly “normal” school day.
For background, I am a first-year student at Booth in the full-time program and live, as most Booth students do, in downtown Chicago.
6:30AM - 7:30AM: Morning Routine
I make a hot breakfast and read an article or two of The Economist while I eat.
7:45AM – 8:15AM: Train to Campus
The Metra train from downtown to Hyde Park takes 20 minutes, so I usually skim a few “daily” news emails on my phone or finish up an assignment on my laptop. Sometimes I just stare out the window. The train platform in Hyde Park is an ~8 minute walk from the Harper Center (Booth’s Building) and is a straight shot past I-House (UChicago undergrad’s International House) and the Lab School (UChicago affiliated K-12 “Laboratory Schools”). I’m envious of the little kids that get to attend the Lab School – it’s gorgeous.
8:15AM - 8:30AM
Mingle with classmates in Harper Center and make my way down to the classroom level. Sometimes I’ll grab one of the free granny-smith apples that are left in baskets on the classroom level.
8:30AM - 11:30AM: Class
95% of Booth’s classes are once a week for 3 hours with a 15-minute break halfway through. Classes are either 8:30-11:30am or 1:30-4:30pm with the option to take evening classes downtown. Because we are on the quarter system (really the trimester system since no full-time MBAs take classes during the summer quarter) we take 3-4 classes per quarter for a total of 10 per year. Booth’s “flexible curriculum” means that you can choose how many classes you take in any quarter and what those classes are. I’ve enjoyed the freedom of the curriculum - I took two electives during first quarter and am taking a class at the Law School this spring. I try to take only one class per day but did take two in one day during the fall quarter.
11:45AM – 1:15PM: Lunch “Hour” – Recruiting, Clubs, Speakers
Between the morning and afternoon classes is a two-hour period where there are a variety of happenings. I will typically either have recruiting events, club meetings, or will attend one of the many on-campus talks. Recruiting events range from meet & greets to lunch & learns to interviews. Club events are usually to prepare for an annual conference or an outing. As for speakers, Booth brings in a ton of interesting speakers and I regret that I haven’t been able to attend more of them. Some notables I’ve seen are: Satya Nadella (CEO of Microsoft), the President of Slovakia, the Italian Ambassador to the U.S., and talks from a few of our professors like Steven Levitt (Freakonomics author) and Raghuram Rajan (former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India).
I also occasionally do campus tours during this break, so be sure to say hi next time you visit!
1:15PM - 3:00PM: Study
I love the UChicago campus, so I will often venture out of the Harper Center to grab food or post up at one of the many libraries. My favorites are the Mansueto Library and the Harper Library (Harry Potter vibes).
3:30PM – 4:30PM: Gym
If I am on campus in the evening, I will head over to Ratner, the school’s gym. If I am back downtown, I will use the gym in my building. I will also run/bike on the lake if the weather is nice.
4:30PM – 6:00PM: Tutoring, Meetings, Recruiting
I am on campus late a few times a week to attend afternoon meetings and recruiting events or volunteer tutor high schoolers. For tutoring, I just show up and work directly with the kids. A lot of MBA students want to be the leader of everything, but don’t stress about taking on “leadership roles” for everything you do.
6:00PM – 6:30PM: The Pub
UChicago has a basement bar next to the Harper Center called The Pub. It requires a membership ($5 per year!) and a UChicago ID to get in. When I say The Pub is awesome, I am in no way overstating the fact. It is awesome. You walk through a discrete castle-like door, down a set of stairs, and find yourself in a dark, mahogany-covered bar that seems to be stuck in time. The drinks are cheap, the food is good, and there are posters on the wall from when UChicago’s football team actually mattered. The best part about the pub is that it is a favorite of students from every grad school at the University. I’ve played pool with someone from the Divinity School and had an argument about chicken-wing flavors with a PhD student from the Physics department. It’s a weird and wonderful place.
6:30PM – 7:00PM: Train back Downtown
The nice thing about taking the train at this time in this direction is that no one is on it. I’ll usually catch up on emails during the ride.
7:00PM – 8:00PM: Housekeeping / Dinner
Laundry, Groceries, etc. and Dinner
8:00PM – 9:00PM: Group Meeting
Many classes have weekly assignments, and some are group assignments, so in the evenings I will meet with 2-3 classmates to go over the work.
9:00PM – 11:00PM
Homework, reading, recruiting prep, club responsibilities.
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01 Apr 2019, 06:34
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Thanks for the write up. +2 kudos to you. 
Best,
Gladi
Best,
Gladi
Corneroffice
Joined: 07 Nov 2018
Last visit: 13 Apr 2020
Posts: 1
Given Kudos: 4
Location: United States
Schools: Wharton '22 (A)
GMAT 1: 760 Q51 V42
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Updated on: 09 Apr 2019, 14:36
Originally posted by Corneroffice on 06 Apr 2019, 16:20.
Last edited by Corneroffice on 09 Apr 2019, 14:36, edited 1 time in total.
Last edited by Corneroffice on 09 Apr 2019, 14:36, edited 1 time in total.
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Thanks for the write up
Can you please explain why so few Booth MBAs live near/on Hyde Park campus? One hour of commuting per day doesn’t sound like the best use of one’s time
Posted from my mobile device
Can you please explain why so few Booth MBAs live near/on Hyde Park campus? One hour of commuting per day doesn’t sound like the best use of one’s time
Posted from my mobile device
