Chicago Booth School of Business

Program Overview

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business emphasizes innovation, intellectual curiosity, and flexibility. Students aren’t expected to absorb information but to dissect, challenge, and argue it. This approach is popular with independent thinkers who like to blaze their own trail through the school’s diverse curriculum but less so with those who prefer teamwork.

With an emphasis on the conceptual and theoretical, Chicago Booth expects its graduates to be better-equipped than most to navigate the changing world of business, solving unprecedented problems and moving freely between careers.

Chicago Booth’s flexible, multidisciplinary training is its distinguishing trait. One recent graduate, a former pharmaceutical researcher who enjoyed Booth’s ambitious and free-wheeling program, touts: “If I can come in as a scientist and leave working in finance for a tech company, that’s a statement in itself.”

Booth prefers to expand the boundaries of the typical business school curriculum. Unlike most schools, there is no strict core class requirement. Instead, students work closely with guidance counselors and career coaches to select the classes that best complement their interests.

One of Booth’s great interests is diversity, and ideally, students will graduate having learned much about foreign business and social cultures. Chicago is an active and engaged community; this is reflected in its alumni network of 40,000 graduates spread out over 90 international countries.

The Chicago Booth School of Business was ranked #3 in US News & World Report’s Best Business Schools 2024-2025.  The acceptance rate for the MBA Class of 2025 was 32%.

We asked the former Booth admissions officers on the Stacy Blackman Consulting team to profile what Booth seeks. Their consensus is:

Booth looks for applicants who demonstrate alignment with their discipline-based approach and ‘pay-it-forward’ mentality. They seek students who will be involved in the growth of the institution and value a wide array of viewpoints. Booth loves diversity of thought. Booth students embrace the opportunity to learn and grow from each other’s unique perspectives. 

Contact us for an assessment of your Booth MBA candidacy today. Here’s a snapshot of our Booth expertise on the SBC admissions consulting team:

Admissions Stats

Here is a snapshot of how Booth differs from Kellogg.

*Estimated

Booth and Kellogg admit a high percentage of students who had majored in either business or economics when they did their undergraduate studies. Kellogg has retained more poets than Booth, with students who did their undergraduate work in liberal arts/humanities representing 25% versus 14% at Booth. It’s surprising that Kellogg brings in as many students with STEM backgrounds because of Chicago’s quant reputation.

*Estimated and doesn’t account for overlap

*Estimated

Get Insider Tips from SBC Consultants Kim and Meg, Former Associate Directors of Admission at Chicago Booth

They’ll spill intel on:

• Unique elements of Chicago Booth
• Common misperceptions about the school
• Insights into the MBA admissions process
• Essay and interview advice for future applicants

Application Essays, Tips & Candidate Evaluation 

The Kellogg and Booth essay prompts vary, with Kellogg’s prompts embodying intrinsic, holistic and/or value-based attributes. While they may change each year, Booth’s essays are seemingly more straightforward overall, with its first prompt a career goal question. SBC’s essay tips can be found here.

Sample Booth Essays

Winning essays from our successful admits are new on the SBC site and can be found here:

Sample Booth essays

More Booth Application Tips

View our extensive overview of how the application for Booth varies from that of Kellogg here.