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Chicago Booth MBA Essay Tips
The updated Chicago Booth Essay Questions are posted for this admissions season, along with the deadlines. The overall goal of this application is to evaluate candidates on their ability to handle the Chicago curriculum, contribute to the community, and grow in their careers.
Academic ability will largely be communicated through your GPA/GMAT, transcripts and other fixed data points, though intellectual curiosity can be demonstrated in essays and the interview. Community focuses on your demonstrated leadership, team building skills and community involvement, as well as your fit with Chicago Booth and the perspective you will share with your classmates. All MBA candidates are ultimately looking for a degree that will enhance their career. Chicago Booth wants to know about your track record of success, expectations for the MBA, and plans for the future.
Chicago Booths open-ended power point question is back this year, and confounds many candidates. This year you have the opportunity to write an essay rather than preparing a power point presentation. Either way, take a step back from the unique format and think about the question strategically. The power point format simply gives you the freedom to express that answer in words, images, graphics or some combination. The best presentations will be simple, evocative and expressive. Remember, content is far more important than creativity of presentation.
1 Essay
What are your short- and long-term goals, and how will an MBA from Chicago Booth help you reach them? (500 words)
Re-applicants 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? (300 words)
As you explain what your goals are and incorporate your background into that discussion, make sure you describe both why you made the choices you did, and think about why you didnt make other choices. Self-awareness about your career goals will go far to distinguish you in this essay.
When you address how a Chicago Booth MBA will help you reach your short and long-term goals, think about the specific classes and programs at Chicago Booth that appeal to you. Are you looking for flexible program? International experiences? How will these aspects of the program fit with your future career goals?
If you are reapplying, make sure you have done the work to evaluate your candidacy and have made changes this time around. The word reflection is explicit in the question, and the admissions committee will be looking for your revised thinking as well as any new accomplishments you can describe. This is your opportunity to show the admissions committee why Chicago is a great fit for you and your refined career goals.
2 Short Answer Essays
a. What has been your biggest challenge, and what have you learned from it? (200 words maximum)
b. Tell us about something that has fundamentally transformed the way you think. (200 words maximum)
New this year to the Chicago Booth application are two brief questions that require focus. With only 200 words to address question one, you will need to present your example of the challenge very quickly and then use some of the space to talk about what you learned. This question provides an opportunity to demonstrate your maturity, flexibility and leadership qualities. As you consider what to write about, think about challenges that taught you something about yourself and provided insight into your decisions about career and life.
Chicago is a school with a tradition of intellectual rigor, and the second short answer focuses on how your thinking has evolved over time. This question gives you an opportunity to discuss something that has changed your thinking fundamentally. This could be an experience at work, home, or in an extracurricular activity. It could even be a travel experience or something that you saw someone else go through. For example, perhaps a trip to another country changed fundamentally your ideas about society and economics. Or watching a family member struggle with an illness convinced you that preserving health was a fundamental goal of your own life. Whatever the experience was, make sure you are able to succinctly describe it and the way it changed your thinking.
3 Presentation/Essay
The Chicago experience will take you deeper into issues, force you to challenge assumptions, and broaden your perspective. In a four-slide presentation or an essay of no more than 600 words, broaden our perspective about who you are. Understanding what we currently know about you from the application, what else would you like us to know?
This creative essay offers you a blank slate to express yourself with any content you choose. When approaching the question focus first on content, and then on delivery.
This is the ideal opportunity to bring in any aspect of your overall story that does not fit in any other essay. Think about the aspects of leadership, teamwork and intellectual curiosity you have already presented in the previous essays, and where the gaps are. If you wrote about your professional experiences in the prior essays, essay three could focus on personal stories.
If you decide to write an essay in response you have enough space to tell a story that describes something new about yourself.
If you decide to prepare a power point in response to this essay question, refine your story to its key elements. Four slides is a limited amount of space to communicate a lot of detail. Can you use photos? Drawings? If you use words, keep them clear and focused. Take every point up a level, so you are communicating a vision rather than a thesis.
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If you are looking for guidance on your MBA application, Stacy Blackman Consulting can help with hourly and comprehensive consulting services. Contact us to learn more.
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