Tuesday Tips: Chicago Booth Fall 2016 MBA Essay Tips
Chicago Booth School of Business is consistently rated in the top echelon of MBA programs in the United States and is known for a strong intellectual community. This application is designed to evaluate candidates on their ability to handle the Chicago curriculum, contribute to the community, and grow in their careers. This year Chicago has asked an entirely new essay question, focused specifically on the Chicago Booth community and your fit within it.
Academic ability will largely be communicated through your GPA/GMAT, transcripts and other fixed data points, though intellectual curiosity can be demonstrated in the essays and the interview. Along with academics, Chicago will be looking for 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.
Consider how to work in leadership and work accomplishments into your application. Certainly you can use the essay to discuss both in the context of community, or you may be able to use your resume and certainly the interview.
Essay Prompt
Chicago Booth values individuality because of what we can learn from the diverse experiences and perspectives of others. This mutual respect creates an open-minded community that supports curiosity, inspires us to think more broadly, take risks, and challenge assumptions. At Booth, community is about collaborative thinking and tapping into each other’s different viewpoints to cultivate new ideas and realize breakthrough moments every day.
Using one of the photos below, tell us how it resonates with your own viewpoint on why the Booth community is the right fit for you.
Essay Guidelines
Choose the format that works for you. Feel free to submit a traditional essay, slide presentation or any format that you feel best captures your response. Please use the format you feel most comfortable with, the Admissions Committee has no preference.
Determine your own length. There is no prescribed minimum or maximum length. We trust that you will use your best judgment in determining how long your submission should be, but we recommend that you think strategically about how to best allocate the space.
The new Chicago Booth essay question gives you a set of photos depicting a range of student activities at Booth – from the classroom to experiencing the city of Chicago – and asks you to choose one that illustrates why Chicago Booth is the right community for you.
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. Whatever you are capable of doing to experience the community for yourself before starting your application will be invaluable as you set pen to paper.
Chicago Booth’s open-ended essay format may be daunting. Whether you choose to write an essay or prepare a presentation, take a step back from the unique format and think about the question strategically. The format’s agnostic setup simply gives you the freedom to express who you are in words, images, graphics or some combination.
The best essays will be simple, evocative and expressive. Remember, content is far more important than visual drama of presentation. Stacy Blackman Consulting has significant experience coaching applicants through the Chicago creative essay. Contact us to learn more about our strategic approach.
As your one opportunity to showcase why Chicago Booth is the right place for you to pursue an MBA, consider the photo that resonates most specifically with you. If it’s a classroom photo, make sure you cover additional elements that may not be obvious at first like the interaction between students depicted, along with the professor and learning aspects.
Keep in mind what Chicago Booth represents in whatever option you choose. Booth is a school with a tradition of intellectual rigor, non-conformity, and innovation. When you introduce yourself to Chicago Booth you can share anything from any context, from work to home to extracurricular activities.
If you decide to write an essay response, you have enough space to tell a story that describes something new about yourself. If you decide to prepare a PowerPoint in response to this essay question, refine your story to its key elements. To keep a visual essay interesting and high-impact, consider how you will format. 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.
