Chicago Booth MBA Essay Tips for 2019-2020
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business ranks as a top choice school for many MBA students. Chicago Booth has a tradition of intellectual inquiry, non-conformity, and innovation. Along with strong academics, Chicago will be looking for leadership and team building skills, and community involvement. The Chicago MBA program has kept the same essay questions from last year. Review our Booth MBA essay tips to help strengthen your application.
Booth MBA Essay Tips for 2019-2020 Admissions Season
This set of essays focuses on career goals and an essay about your goals for your Chicago MBA experience. Also, note that Chicago is setting a word minimum for the required essay responses, while most schools set a maximum. This suggests that Chicago is asking for you to be thoughtful and thorough in your response. Your first step is to do as much school research as possible on Chicago. Visit campus. Attend events. Speak to alumni. Read the admissions blog. Do what you can to experience the community for yourself before starting your application. This research will be invaluable as you set pen to paper. The Chicago MBA admissions committee can see your academic skills from your GPA/GMAT, transcripts and other fixed data points. Also, focus on showing intellectual curiosity in the essays and the interview. In addition, personal qualities, leadership, and career goals can be covered in these essays. Contact Stacy Blackman Consulting for a free consultation on your MBA plans.
Essay Questions
Essay One: How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (250 word minimum)
This career goals essay is the ideal way to describe your track record of success. You can also show that you have realistic expectations for your Booth MBA. For example, while career goals should be aspirational, they should also be achievable with your career skills and a Booth education. Think about what you have done so far in your career. What have you learned? How can you use your past experience to inform your future goals? This question asks for both short and long-term goals. Also, the essay asks why Booth is the right place for you to pursue your MBA. Thorough research into your career path and the options for its development at Booth will allow you to answer this question fully and with conviction. 
Essay Two: Chicago Booth immerses you in a choice-rich environment. How have your interests, leadership experiences, and other passions influenced the choices in your life? (250 word minimum)
Chicago Booth is looking for self-aware leaders with a sense of purpose. If you are immersed in an environment that offers many choices, how do you find your own sense of direction? This is an opportunity to provide context for the choices that you have made and to tell the admissions committee about your leadership experiences. This essay should communicate who you are and what motivates you. Also, provide concrete stories about your interests, leadership experiences and other passions. And describe why those experiences impacted your life choices. This essay is an opportunity to describe personal and extracurricular examples as well as work accomplishments to present a full picture of who you are. Perhaps you chose your career path out of intellectual curiosity for the field, but you chose to work outside your home country because of a passion for travel and new experiences. Describing both the personal and professional thought process and decision making structure will add more detail to give the admissions committee a holistic sense of you and your potential. 
Optional Essay: Is there any unclear information in your application that needs further explanation? (300 word maximum)
This optional essay is flexible, allowing you to provide as much information as you need. Consider this essay if you have any areas that need to be explained in your profile. For example, some areas that may need to be explained are academic issues or gaps in work experience. If you have areas of concern like that, this is the ideal place to add more detail. Because the essay is open-ended you can also use it to add any additional information you wanted to add to your application. Perhaps you have an interesting personal story that didn’t fit in the other essays. If it adds to your application and helps the admissions committee understand you, it may be worth telling. Also, you might have a strong leadership story or a meaningful extracurricular to add context to your MBA application.
Re-applicant Question: Upon reflection, how has your perspective regarding your future, Chicago Booth, and/or getting an MBA changed since the time of your last application? (300 word maximum)
This is an interesting re-applicant question, because instead of asking how your candidacy has improved, Booth asks how your perspective has changed. This is more of a focus on your inner thoughts than your achievements. Improvements like better test scores, a promotion or a new job would still be useful information to communicate. However, the focus is to reflect on yourself and your goals since the last time you applied to Booth. Consider how you have learned more about your career path, formed new relationships, or changed your future direction. This is an ideal essay to demonstrate self-awareness and leadership qualities. Another important angle is to communicate a realistic sense of how the Booth MBA fits into your future plans. For more information on applying, visit the Chicago Booth admissions website.