UPDATE: This article was originally posted on August 29, 2018. It has been updated with new information and tips below.
With more Nobel Laureate professors than any other MBA program in the world and its unique flexible curriculum, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business offers those lucky enough to be admitted access to an unparalleled array of academic and extracurricular opportunities.
However, as data becomes increasingly important in today’s business world, Booth’s data-driven approach to business has become even more sought after, making it more challenging than ever to secure a spot at this world-class business school.
That’s why we’ve prepared this guide to help you use your Booth admissions essays to stand out. We’ve rounded up our best tips and links to Chicago Booth MBA sample essays to ensure you give your Chicago Booth application your best shot.
1. Who is Chicago Booth looking for?
Photo courtesy of @chicagobooth on Instagram
“Since 1898, we have produced ideas and leaders that shape the world of business. Today, we empower bold thinkers and inquisitive minds to dig deeper, discover more, and shape the future.” Booth Admissions
Every year, Booth’s admissions team selects just over 600 students for the honor of joining their prestigious MBA program. With a focus on academic and career excellence, Booth admits have an average of 5 years of work experience and tend to have outstanding test scores (the median GMAT score for the Class of 2024 was 730, down from 732 last year, and the average GRE score was 164 Quant, 163 Verbal).
Booth also places an emphasis on diversity, admitting students from 57 countries (totaling 37% international students overall). The most recent class also contains 40% women, 7% LGBTQ+, and 11% first-generation students.
Beyond impressive stats, however, Booth also looks for applicants who distinguish themselves in three specific areas: Curriculum, Community, and Career.
For curriculum, “We look for applicants who have both the ability and desire to thrive within a challenging and stimulating environment. The qualities we seek include academic preparedness, intellectual curiosity, and communication skills.”
For community, “We look for applicants whose unique personal and professional experience will contribute to a strong, congenial community that supports its members and pushes them to be the best they can be. The qualities we seek include leadership, collaboration and teamwork, respect for others, philanthropic tendencies, strong interpersonal skills, fit with Chicago Booth and contribution to school community/culture, and a unique perspective.”
Finally, for career, Booth states, “The qualities that contribute to your future success may be evident early in your career. The qualities we seek include a track record of success, resourcefulness, sense of personal direction, time-management skills, realistic expectations for the MBA.”
In addition, Booth highly values interview performance, specifically focusing on a candidate’s ability to communicate clearly and effectively, as this skill is critical to succeed in Booth’s culture of intellectual debate.
If this sounds like a community in which you’d be right at home, you’ll first have to prove you’ve got what it takes by successfully answering Booth’s open-ended admissions essay question.
2. How should I answer the Chicago Booth essay questions?
2.1. Essay 1 Tips
Instructions: We’d like to hear more about your aspirations, your goals, and the passions and experiences that have and continue to shape you. Please respond to both essay prompts below. We have intentionally only set a word count minimum; we want to allow you the space needed to convey your thoughts, while using your best judgement regarding the length of response.
Essay 1: How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (Minimum 250 words, no maximum.)
This year, Booth has again maintained its very traditional, straightforward goals essay.
Often overlooked by applicants, goals essays are incredibly important, as they give the admissions committee your most important argument — why do you need an MBA from their school and what are you going to do with it?
For all goals essays, you should first begin with context, as goals without context often lack clarity or impact. You may want to include one mini-story or several small anecdotes to provide this context.
Then, after you set the stage, clearly present your goals to the admissions committee. The section on your goals should include clear short-term and long-term goals, meaning you should list job title and industry for each. Furthermore, stating the motivation you have for wanting these goals and the impact you envision generating while pursuing them is an excellent way to take your essay from good to great.
If you’re not sure exactly what your goals are, it’s a good idea to think through your arguments and define your goals before you sit down to write!
Finally, end with a section on how Booth’s MBA program can help you continue to grow to reach your goals. You will first need to research the Booth experience in-depth, and considering the flexibility of the Booth experience, we suggest you consider much more than which classes you plan to take.
Instead, show how you are going to take advantage of Booth’s offerings to become a more high-potential, driven professional who leaves a meaningful legacy behind. Doing this well means connecting how Booth can help you grow with specific outcomes tied to your goals.
TOP TIP: Though Booth does not specify a word limit, we suggest keeping your essay to around 500 words.
Need more guidance?
Our MBA Resource Center has dozens of Chicago Booth MBA essays that worked to get our clients admitted to help you plan out a winning Chicago Booth essay.
Our library also includes guides for all top global MBA programs, detailed essay brainstorms, interview tips and mocks, CV templates, and recommendation letter guides.
2.2. Essay 2 Tips
An MBA is as much about personal growth as it is about professional development. In addition to sharing your experience and goals in terms of career, we’d like to learn more about you outside of work. Use this opportunity to tell us something about who you are. (250-word minimum)
One of the hallmarks of Chicago Booth is its flexible curriculum. This format for the Booth MBA means that students are forced to create order out of chaos and make difficult decisions about what to pursue — and what to leave behind — each and every day.
Booth’s second essay strikes at the core of this ideal, giving candidates the chance to explore who they are beyond their career goals. More importantly, it gives you the chance to show you are a self-aware leader with a clear vision for your future.
This essay should show Booth who you are and what makes you tick.
When considering how to approach this essay, first take a look back at your personal and professional experiences to identify the “tipping points” in your life. What has led you to the point you are at now? What has made you YOU?
Then, describe not only what these experiences were, but also how they impacted who you are and your life choices.
This essay allows you to describe your personal and extraprofessional examples (though you can also work in a few professional examples too!) to show Booth a complete view of who you are as a candidate.
Make sure, however, to choose a single theme and follow it all the way through. Jumping around without logic or connection will cause this essay to miss the mark.
2.3. Optional Essay Tips
Is there any unclear information in your application that needs further explanation or additional details you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? If so, please use this section to clarify. (Optional)
First of all, Booth has made it very clear that this essay is for extenuating circumstances only.
This is not a place for you to retell your life story or sum up your interest in Booth or need for an MBA, or copy/paste another strong essay you wrote for a different school. Make sure you focus only on unclear elements of your application such as a low GMAT score, not receiving a recommendation from your current boss, etc.
Remember, excuses will not get you very far, so make sure to provide sufficient context for the weak spots you mention here.
2.4. Reapplicant Essay Tips
Upon reflection, how has your perspective regarding your future, Chicago Booth, and/or getting an MBA changed since the time of your last application? (Maximum 300 words.)
Here, make sure you clearly demonstrate how you have improved since your previous application. We have written extensively on the topic of reapplying to business school here.
Looking for Chicago Booth MBA essay examples?
Check out our real sample essays that got our clients admitted here.
3. Need help?
Landing a spot at Chicago Booth is no easy task. You’ve spent years building a track record of professional success, dedicated yourself to getting a good GMAT score, and carefully developed your application strategy.
Now is the time to make sure your accomplishments truly shine, and the only way to do so is to write a clear, compelling admissions essay.
Ellin Lolis Consulting began with one mission: provide the best possible service to our clients and get them the best possible results. Serving our customers is at the core of our company, and we know that applying for an MBA can be a difficult, long process, but our goal is to take away as much of the stress as possible by acting as your ally in the process.
So if you need much more than just a few comments on your essay, but instead want focused help shaping how you present your life’s greatest hits to one of the world’s toughest critics, you can count on us.
In the words of our client Bruno,
“Anyone who wants to have a solid application should work with Ellin Lolis Consulting. I really think it would be extremely difficult for me to have had such a strong application to Booth without Ellin’s support. So, I always recommend Ellin to my friends who are applying for any MBA, because I have seen in practice the difference that Ellin makes.”
Get in touch and let our award-winning team of writers and storytellers help you make an unforgettable first impression.
4. Chicago Booth Deadlines
Here are the deadlines for the 2023-2024 season. You can access the Chicago Booth application here.
Real MBA Essays That Got People In
School-specific sample essays that got our clients accepted
