Booth School of Business
(University of Chicago)
QUICK FACTS
- Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Program Length: 21 months
- Program Cost: $155,682
- Average GMAT score: 729
- Acceptance Rate: 23% (2023)
- Average Work Experience: 5 years
Employment Reports (2022)
- Received an Offer: 96.8%
- Accepted an offer: 95.6%
- Median Salary: $175,000
- Accepted a job in consulting: 35.5%
RANKINGS
- #11 Financial Times 2023 MBA Ranking
- #1 US News – Best Business Schools
- #2 US News – Part-time MBA
- #3 US News – Executive MBA
- #13 QS Global MBA Rankings 2023
CLASS OF 2024
- Total Applicants: 4,352
- Total Enrollment: 621
- Women: 40%
- Average GPA: 3.6
ABOUT
With campuses in Chicago, London, and Hong Kong, Chicago Booth prides itself on being Analytical, Collaborative, and Bold. The Chicago Approach™ created at Chicago Booth, sets Booth apart on the international and national stage.
With their acceptance rate at 25%, Chicago Booth incorporates students from numerous backgrounds and disciplines to attend their world-class university.
The MBA programs are designed to meet the needs of their students’ busy schedules. Whether one is seeking a Full-Time MBA, Evening MBA, Weekend MBA, or a global Executive MBA, Chicago Booth provides world-class education for any type of student. Earning an MBA from Booth means students become part of a global network of 54,000+, master business fundamentals with 98% of alumni confident in their analytical skills, progress your career through a flexible curriculum, and make an impact on the world!
Students can learn under Nobel Laureates and scholars at the top of their career. Chicago Booth’s emphasis on analytical freedom, intellectual freedom, and successful collaboration propel students to succeed in their academic and professional field. Students at Chicago Booth not only dream big but also strive to become leaders in their field.
APPLICATION DEADLINES
- Round 1: September 21st, 2023
- Round 2: January 4th, 2024
- Round 3: April 4th, 2024
APPLICATION PROCESS
The application process at Chicago Booth is comprehensive and takes into account the unique backgrounds of the applicants. There are three total rounds of applications for a given matriculation period.
When applying to the Full-Time MBA program, make sure to double check the application checklist to prepare your documents on time.
Online Application
This process is pretty straight-forward and requires the application to register by creating a username and password on the online application site. This portal offers a complete guide to everything applicants need to submit and prepare to fulfill their application requirements.
Transcripts
Transcripts need to be provided from all schools of higher education. Unofficial transcripts are to be submitted during the application process, however once given a letter of acceptance, the university will expect a submission of all official transcripts.
GMAT or GRE
All valid scores are accepted whether the test was taken as a proctored, at-home exam or on-site.
Foreign Language Requirement
TOEFL, IELTS, PTE Scores: International applicants whose native language is not English must submit proof of English proficiency.
2 Recommendations
Applicants are required to submit 2 letters of recommendation. The Booth admissions committee focuses on the written content of the recommendation rather than the title or reputation of the recommender selected.
One letter of recommendation needs to come from a supervisor with the other being a professional or a fellow co-worker from your previous professional or volunteer experience (such as an organization, club or volunteer project).
Resume
Make sure to highlight your professional and volunteer activities which show that you are a prime candidate for the program.
Essay Description
There are two required essay questions that applicants need to respond to. Applicants can also choose whether or not to respond to option essay questions if they need to explain gaps in a resume or reasons for applying multiple times to the booth Full-Time MBA program.
The two required essay questions both have a minimum word count of 250 words with no maximum. The required essay questions are:
1. How will a Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals?
2. 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 the office. Use this opportunity to tell us something about who you are.
Application Fee
The application fee is $250 and must be paid upon submission of the application.
NATALIA’S TESTIMONIAL: CHICAGO BOOTH
“I’m thrilled to share the news that I got into Booth ! Thank you for all your help and support, the tutoring really made the difference to get a competitive GMAT score.”
PROGRAM STRENGTHS
LEAD
Chicago Booth has only one required course (LEAD) which all students must take. From there, students can select one course from each of the three foundation areas that best suit their needs and interests: Financial Accounting, Microeconomics, and Statistics.
Students can then expand their MBA toolkit by choosing to take from 1 of 3 subjects and their subcategories.
LEAD: Students start out taking the LEAD course. Here they learn skills in negotiation, team building and interpersonal communication.
3 Foundations: The 3 foundations of Financial Accounting, Microeconomics and Statistics offer basic and advanced courses in each subject.
7 Categories: Students can select one course from six of the seven categories offered.
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Functions
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Marketing
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Operations
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Management
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Decisions
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People
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Strategy
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Business Environment
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Business Environment Courses
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Finance
Tailored Studies
Chicago Booth offers students a chance to tailor their education to their interests and needs. Students can select concentrations where they wish to expand their skill sets. Both Full and Part-Time MBA students can select multiple concentrations.
Students can pick multiple concentrations from the following list:
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Accounting
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Business Analytics
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Econometrics and Statistics
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Economics
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Entrepreneurship
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Finance
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General Management
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International Business
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Marketing Management
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Operations Management
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Strategic Management
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Behavioural Science
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Analytic Finance
Flexible Curriculum
In addition to their unique Chicago Approach™ to education, Chicago Booth Business School stands apart with their flexible curriculum, location and quantitative focus.
Due to LEAD being its only required class, students at Chicago Booth have the opportunity to design their class schedule around their needs and interests.
Living and studying in the Windy City means students experience all that the 3rd largest American city has to offer. Chicago is home to over 30 fortune 500 companies and almost 100 corporate headquarters.
Being a part of the University of Chicago means being a part of an historic university founded in 1890 by John D. Rockefeller. Students become part of an Alumni group of over 182,000 individuals and study alongside over 17,000 students.
STUDENT LIFE
The building housing Chicago Booth is a state-of-the-art modern architectural campus. All students and staff operate under the same roof which helps to create a lively and cooperative community.
Students studying at the Harper Center have access to 11 technologically equipped classrooms and 31 study rooms each with their own computer-capable plasma screens. Outdoor terraces, a gourmet cafeteria, workstations with printers, scanners, and Bloomberg terminals mean students always have access to the amenities they need. A communal 6-story glass atrium offers students the ability to chat and meet-up between classes.
Being a part of the Chicago Booth business schools means students have access to a $51 million athletics facility, an internationally-renowned archaeology museum, a student-run film society, and the bustling and central location of Hyde Park.
MBA PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The full-time MBA program makes its claim as the ‘world’s most flexible’ MBA program. Booth allows their students an array of freedoms.
From academic freedom to the freedom to take risks, Booth trains students in multidisciplinary approaches so that they can become knowledgeable and free thinking decision makers.
The Full-Time MBA program is 21 months in length, during which students can work alongside ambitious and intellectual professionals, fellow peers, and academics. Students can choose from 13 different concentrations and have over 70+ student-led groups.
First Year
The Full-Time MBA program at Chicago Booth emphasises its flexible curriculum. Because of this, there is only one required course: LEAD. Otherwise, students attend about 3-4 courses per quarter. The flexible curriculum at Booth allows students to create the MBA program best suited to fit their goals and aspirations.
Grading Scale
A: Excellent
B: Good
C: Satisfactory
D: Unsatisfactory
F: Fail
FEATURED PROFESSORS
Hans B. Christensen
Professor Hans B. Christensen is professor of Accounting and David G. Booth Faculty Fellow. He studies International Accounting Harmonization, Debt Contracting and Transparency Regulation in Financial and Non-Financial Markets.
He has published numerous papers in the Journal of Accounting Economics, the Journal of Accounting Research, the Review of Accounting Studies, and the Review of Financial Studies. Professor Christensen has professional experience working in the corporate world of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
He attended Manchester Business School in the U.K. where he earned his PhD in accounting. He has worked as a member of the Chicago Booth faculty since 2008. He has published numerous papers and research articles.
Research interests of Professor Christensen include international accounting harmonization, mandatory IFRS and disclosure behavior.
Steven Neil Kaplan
Steven Neil Kaplan is the Neubauer Family Service Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance as well as the Kessenich E.P. Faculty Director at the Polsky Center to Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He is also an associate researcher at the National Bureau of Economic Research and is an associate editor for the Journal of Financial Economics.
His entrepreneurial pursuits include co-founding the Booth entrepreneurship program and starting the New Venture Challenge (NVC) as part of Booth’s business plan competition. He attended Harvard College where he earned his AB in Applied Mathematics and then went on to earn his PhD in Business Economics from Harvard University.
He currently is on the board of Morningstar and since 1988 has been a part of the Booth faculty. His research interests include Private Equity, Venture Capital, Corporate Governance, Boards of Directors, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Corporate Finance. He teachers classes in Entrepreneurship and Finance and he has published numerous works in the Journal of Financial Economics and the Journal of Finance.