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Application Advice: How to Approach the Booth Essay
Starting your application here are five questions to ask yourself before drafting your essay..
- By EW Admissions FT Admissions
- July 16, 2024
- Share This Page
Alumni and students routinely describe applying to Chicago Booth as a life-changing decision. This is why we encourage candidates to use our application not only as a means of gaining admission, but also as an opportunity for self-reflection and to prepare for this exciting next step. One of the best ways to communicate your MBA motivations and connection to Booth is through the essay portion of the application. The essay prompts for this cycle are as follows:
Part-Time MBA Program:
- Why are you seeking an MBA from Chicago Booth, and why is Chicago Booth's Evening MBA or Weekend MBA your program of choice? (maximum 400 words)
- Optional Essay: If there is any important information relevant to your candidacy you were unable to address elsewhere in the application, please share that information here. (maximum 500 words)
Full-Time MBA Program:
- How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals? (250-word minimum)
- 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)
Before starting your application and writing your essay, here are five questions we suggest you ask yourself:
- What inspired me to pursue an MBA? Take time to reflect on your personal and professional experiences, relationships, and goals. Did you know you wanted to pursue an MBA during your prior educational training? Is there a family member, friend, mentor, or professional colleague who influenced you to pursue an MBA? Are you looking to better understand your industry, develop leadership skills, or improve your career? There is no right or wrong answer, we just want to understand why an MBA is important to you at this stage in your life.
- What do I hope to accomplish professionally? There are innumerable ways our students and graduates use an MBA to transform their careers. Whether it's a job promotion or a career pivot, a Chicago Booth MBA will open doors that can change the trajectory of your career and influence your professional goals. Have a clear plan for what immediate and future success might look like for you. Take time to assess where you’ve been, where you are now, and where you want to be. Think deeply about how a Booth MBA can fill any gaps and help get you there.
- How will I apply what I learn in and out of the classroom to my current or future role? The Chicago Booth MBA experience will provide you with the space to learn frameworks you can directly apply to your current role (for Part-Time students) or future role (for Full-Time students). The skills you develop at Booth continue to be one of the biggest returns on investment Booth students rave about. With the instant impact a Booth MBA can have on your career, we encourage you to be clear about the MBA experiences, resources, and relationships that will help you meet your desired career goals.
- How will the collaborative culture at Booth be a part of my experience? Boothies are well-known to help one another. Whether it's through referrals for new opportunities, collaboration on group projects, or providing the confidence to embrace new challenges, support is at the heart of our culture. Consider how you can give back to the community by leveraging your unique strengths and skills to contribute and help others, ultimately creating a cycle of support that extends well beyond graduation. Let us know how these values resonate with the MBA experience you seek.
- How can I show my true self? Be honest. Share your experiences, thoughts, and emotions truthfully. Admissions directors appreciate authenticity and value your unique perspective. The optional essay provides a great platform to reflect on your personal experiences, challenges you've faced, and how they've influenced your growth.
Whenever you decide to apply, we wish you the best of luck! Looking for more application tips? Check out more application advice from Boothies and Admissions. We’re also hosting events ( Full-Time ; Part-Time ) throughout the summer, where you can get your questions answered in real time. We wish you the best of luck with your application!
Start Your Application Journey Today
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- Part-Time MBA Blog
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This collection of 50 successful HBS and GSB essays, with smart commentary, can be downloaded for $60. They are two of the most selective schools, routinely rejecting nine or more out of every ten applicants. Last year alone, 16,628 candidates applied to both schools; just 1,520 gained an acceptance, a mere 9.1% admit rate.
Sample 1: Leadership-focused MBA application essay. This sample is particularly focused on leadership traits. If your essay is about explaining your leadership quality experience, this sample is right up your alley. The best thing about the essay is that it is written in a simple, engaging, and humorous style. It defines a great experience in a ...
Barbara Coward, founder of the MBA 360° Admissions Consulting firm based in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area, notes that the first step in the essay writing process should be ...
3. Get Vulnerable. Most MBA admissions essay prompts are written with the goal of getting to know as much about you as possible in the shortest number of words. To do that, you're going to have to share real things from your life — to get personal, intimate, and vulnerable. Do not shy away from this.
A STRONG BUSINESS SCHOOL APPLICATION ESSAY WILL MAKE YOU STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD. You want to get into a top business school, but you need to stand out from the tens of thousands of other impressive applicants. According to US News, the average top 20 b-school acceptance rate is 12.37%, but our MBA clients enjoy an 84% ACCEPTANCE RATE. How can ...
6. Submit an application full of typos and grammatical errors. A sloppy application suggests a sloppy attitude. 7. Send one school an essay intended for another—or forget to change the school name when using the same essay for several applications. Admissions committees are (understandably) insulted when they see another school's name or ...
Here are five tips for compelling essays that will stick in the minds of the admissions committee and help you get into your top choice business school program. 1. Stay focused and answer the question asked. It's surprising how often candidates write beautiful essays but do not answer the question. While I certainly endorse thinking outside ...
Essays help us learn about who you are rather than solely what you have done. Other parts of the application give insight into your academic and professional accomplishments; the essays reveal the person behind those achievements. Essay Questions. We request that you write two personal essays. In each essay, we want to hear your genuine voice.
Samples of MBA essays submitted by real candidates who were accepted to Wharton, Harvard, Stanford, INSEAD and other top ranked business schools. MBA Essay Samples by SchoolClick on a school logo to see samples of real essays that helped ARINGO clients get accepted
First, MBA admissions committees want to see how you write. Communication skills—including concision, clarity, style, and fluency in English—will be essential to your success in business school. One way of discerning your level of writing ability is to require an original writing sample. In an MBA essay, you have to get your point across ...
The Importance of Your Business School Essays: What Admissions Officers Look For. Your business school essays make up one of the most important components of your application, as they provide admissions committees the chance to understand your personality, figure out what matters to you, and gauge whether you would be a good fit for the school.
MBA Application Essay #1: The Personal Statement. MBA admissions committees care about your core values, your moral character, and the passions that motivate you. For example, UC Berkeley's Haas Business School has four stated defining principles: Question the Status Quo. Confidence Without Attitude.
Word Count: 805. This sample essay is from The Harbus MBA Essay Guide and is reprinted with permission from Harbus. We highly recommend the book! If you would like advice on responding to this year's HBS essay question, (which is different from the 2014-15 prompt) please read our Harvard Business School essay tips.
These tips will help you craft the perfect answer. 1. Describe your specific career aspirations and your reason for pursuing an MBA. This may be the most important essay question you tackle. You must convince the admissions committee that you deserve one of their few, cherished spots. Reference your background, skills, and career aspirations ...
Submit A Written Application. To apply to Harvard Business School, we ask you to assemble and prepare a variety of materials that will help us assess your qualifications. Remember, all materials must be submitted to HBS online by the application deadlines. The following serves as a preview of what you need to prepare. + Transcripts.
Your MBA application essays are going to be crucial if you are competing for a spot at one of the world's top business schools. These resources will show you how to excel in the rigorous MBA essay writing challenges ahead of you, provide you with the guidance to create MBA essays that will impress admissions officers, and share MBA essay examples that illustrate our advice in action.
Sponsored by Admissions Gateway: Admissions Gateway has helped 800+ candidates, worldwide, achieve their dreams of gaining admission to the top MBA programs. We specialize in applying to the top ...
Exams. Connect with Schools. Exam Prep. How to Apply. Business School & Careers. Help Center. Explore Programs. Brought to you by GMAC, the global mission-driven organization of leading graduate business schools. ©2002-2024, Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).
Essays are a key component of master of business administration (MBA) admissions — and Harvard Business School just released its new essays for incoming candidates.. Harvard Business School applicants for the MBA class of 2027, who will head to campus in fall 2025, will respond to the following three essay prompts:. Business-Minded Essay: Please reflect on how your experiences have ...
One of the best ways to communicate your MBA motivations and connection to Booth is through the essay portion of the application. The essay prompts for this cycle are as follows: Part-Time MBA Program: Why are you seeking an MBA from Chicago Booth, and why is Chicago Booth's Evening MBA or Weekend MBA your program of choice? (maximum 400 words)
As a team at Clear Admit, we are very familiar with the ins and outs of MBA admissions. We offer advice on essay topics, review applicant profiles and welcome admissions directors to share their insider insights - and more. As we guide MBA applicants through the admissions process, we thought it would be fun to share our favorite essay topics (in no particular order) of the season and what ...
Columbia Business School requires that the work contained in your application (including essays) is completely accurate and exclusively your own. Columbia University permits the use of generative AI tools for idea generation and/or to edit a candidate's work; however, using these tools to generate complete responses violates the Honor Code.
Columbia Business School requires that the work contained in your application (including essays) is completely accurate and exclusively your own. Columbia University permits the use of generative AI tools for idea generation and/or to edit a candidate's work; however, using these tools to generate complete responses violates the Honor Code.
Two Flexible Entry Points for Your Full-Time MBA. Choose between our August-Entry with a 20-month program including a summer internship, or our January-Entry with a 16-month accelerated program. Each option is designed to fit your professional goals and schedule while maintaining the same competitive admissions standards.
The 2025 MBA application season is getting into full swing, with prominent business schools announcing deadlines and revamped essays. A decline in overall applicants has led to higher acceptance rates at many of the country's top business schools, according to a report from the international higher education consulting firm Quacquarelli Symonds ...