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.

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Calling All 2011 Booth Applicants!!

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earlycareerMBA

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06 Oct 2010, 08:57

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I might dedicate the last two slides to show more of the personal side of me... I was even thinking of just throwing together random pictures of my travels (from singapore to thailand to sri lanka) for one slide, and haven't really thought about the final one yet.

Unless you have some really interesting travel photos I would advise against it. I spoke with a Chicago adcom member at a Forte Foundation event about the slide essay. She said that last year they got a lot of family pictures and travel pictures and were hoping applicants would move away from that this year, as it was not very helpful.

Although, if you can use your photos to highlight some specific characteristic, it may work for you.

adalfu

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06 Oct 2010, 17:06

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thanks for the pointer. i have 4 themes going, and I think at least a few photos will serve their purpose (for my last slide). I will keep them at a minimum though.

Nick2010

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07 Oct 2010, 05:17

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Hi! Anyone knows if it´s normal for the Chicago application status to say "Online Application In Progress", even after you have submitted the application, paid the fee and got your recommendations sent?

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07 Oct 2010, 05:56

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Nick2010

I believe that it is. I recently received an email saying that my application status has changed to "Complete," which signifies a verification that they have everything they need. It took a couple of days for that status change to happen.

Nick2010

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07 Oct 2010, 06:54

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Thanks, then I will wait till monday before doing anything...

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07 Oct 2010, 07:23

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Interviews notifications on November 10th.

Dear XXXXX,

Your status has changed to "Complete". The next step in the process is to allow for the admissions committee to review your application. All applicants who are invited to interview will be notified by 5:00pm, November 10th.

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Office of Admissions and Financial Aid
5807 South Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60637
voice 773.702.7369 | Fax 773.702.9085

futurestrategist

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08 Oct 2010, 14:53

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Regarding the first essay, I see that each of the three-four subquestions have a 300 word limit for a total of 900-1200 words, greater than the usual 500 to 750 words. However, when answering these subquestions, I noticed that I am averaging only 150-225 words per subquestion. To reach 300 words per section, I will have to provide significantly more detail than I have in my other applications.

Have people filled out their answers to reach the 300 word maximum? Is it acceptable to be only at 2/3s of the limit and answer the question concisely? I am unsure of the optimal strategy here. Advice here would be awesome.

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08 Oct 2010, 15:38

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I would try to get close to 300. More real estate space only helps your story/cause at the end.

If you're struggling to get only +/- 200 words, I recommend starting from stratch and not "piggyback" off another school's essay.

I have approx 320 words per section. (Trying to trim them down so I meet the 300 max).

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08 Oct 2010, 15:43

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gkumar

Hmm, being 30% under is definitely low. I'm currently over 30% in each of the three sections, trying to whittle it down to just 10% over.

https://mbastudio.net/tag/word-limit/

Can you go under the limit? Similarly, I advise clients not to go less than -5% on any essay. In one sense, like all professional communicators, I believe strongly in “say what you have to say; say it once, strongly and clearly and then stop talking.” This is the royal road to more powerful communications. Certainly there’s no merit in padding, wafffling, and repeating yourself. But admissions essays are relatively short pieces of writing, and you — if you merit a place at a top b-school — are a multifaceted, talented individual with an valuable track record, and if you can’t find things to say to take up the word count this in itself flags that you have not been able to (or haven’t bothered to) properly investigate your own motivations or fully argue your merits.

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08 Oct 2010, 16:09

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w103psp

gkumar

Hmm, being 30% under is definitely low. I'm currently over 30% in each of the three sections, trying to whittle it down to just 10% over.

https://mbastudio.net/tag/word-limit/

Thanks w103psp and adalfu! Although my sub-essays are good and answer the question, your reasoning makes sense. I am going to fill out my sub-essays with a more detailed story by starting from scratch this weekend!

BruceLee

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09 Oct 2010, 09:36

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When I transferred my essays in the online application, for some reason question marks appeared instead of apostrophes. Did anybody else experience the same thing?

earlycareerMBA

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09 Oct 2010, 10:07

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BruceLee

When I transferred my essays in the online application, for some reason question marks appeared instead of apostrophes. Did anybody else experience the same thing?

I had the same problem at first. I think it had something to do with copying and pasting the responses into the text boxes they provide. I went back and changed all the question marks to apostrophes manually. They were still apostrophes when I printed out the PDF of my final application. Hope that helps.

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09 Oct 2010, 10:10

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earlycareerMBA

BruceLee

When I transferred my essays in the online application, for some reason question marks appeared instead of apostrophes. Did anybody else experience the same thing?

Yeah, I am doing the same thing. Thanks

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09 Oct 2010, 13:09

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earlycareerMBA

BruceLee

When I transferred my essays in the online application, for some reason question marks appeared instead of apostrophes. Did anybody else experience the same thing?

Same issue and same solution for me. I'm not sure why some of the schools elect not to use ApplyYourself. I've had issues with all of my schools that have chosen to use alternate software.

futurestrategist

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09 Oct 2010, 13:11

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I actually prefer Booth's interface over ApplyYourSelf. ApplyYourself doesn't allow you to copy and paste materials from documents, especially for awards, duties, etc.

lionvish

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09 Oct 2010, 15:30

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Hey Guys

Got a question!

I am thinking to start my re-application to chicago booth. Do i need to create a new log in or can i use my old log in and start a new application. It seems like Chicago booth online application allows me to use my old log in since my past application is shown below in a separate window.

Thanks for your help!

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09 Oct 2010, 15:32

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lionvish

Yes, you should use your old login.

lionvish

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09 Oct 2010, 15:33

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Thanks BruceLee! appreciate the quick response

zinfandel

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10 Oct 2010, 00:03

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Hi guys,
Is there any difference between R1 and R2 in terms of admission rate?

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10 Oct 2010, 06:01

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zinfandel

Hi guys,
Is there any difference between R1 and R2 in terms of admission rate?

I don't believe that there is a significant difference for Booth.

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