Insiders Guide Chicago Booth

Insider’s Guide to theUniversity of Chicago Booth School of Business

University of ChicagoChicago, IL

2012-2013

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Since Ambassadorial Speechwriter and MBA Jeremy Shinewald founded mbaMission in 1999, we have worked closely with business school candidates from around the world, successfully guiding them through the entire admissions process (“from start to finish”) and ensuring that each of their unique attributes is showcased in a creative, compelling and focused way. We are published authors with elite MBA experience who work one-on-one with clients to discover, select and articulate the unique stories that will force admissions committees to take notice. We work on all aspects of the application process, helping to reduce candidates’ stress levels and maximize applicants’ chances of gaining admission to top American and international business schools.

mbaMission offers all candidates a free half-hour consultation (www.mbamission.com/consult.php).

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After more than a decade of helping hundreds of MBA applicants get into top American and international business schools, we have learned a thing or two about what it takes to compel an admissions committee to send that coveted letter of acceptance. While we always work closely and meticulously with our clients to ensure their unique stories and qualities shine through in their applications, some of our advice boils down to key fundamentals: approach each essay with a brainstorming session, draft an outline, make personal statements truly personal, tailor your resume to the admissions committee’s needs, approach your recommenders strategically and prepare extensively for your interviews. Now, via this e-book, we offer you our thoughts on these subjects so that you too can begin your journey toward the MBA of your dreams.

Many applicants are terrified at the prospect of applying to business school, and some approach the application process in a haphazard and ill-advised manner. As a result, the process often becomes extremely stressful, and results can be disappointing. We truly believe that with some basic organization, a simple strategy and helpful professional guidance, applying to business school can actually be enjoyable and rewarding, not to mention successful!

We encourage you to visit our Web site, www.mbamission.com, which includes complete and detailed analysis of all the top American and international business schools’ essay questions, as well as a free weekly essay-writing tip. Explore our blog frequently, as we are constantly updating it and adding new, free resources.

Of course, the information in this guide and the analysis and tips on our site are no substitute for working with a dedicated mbaMission professional. Each MBA candidate is unique. We all have distinct personal stories to tell, and we all face challenges in telling them. mbaMission consultants are specifically trained to ensure that you tell your stories in the most interesting and compelling way—and that you take advantage of even the tiniest opportunity that might help you gain admission to your ideal MBA program.

We hope you enjoy this guide. If you need any advice at all with respect to any element of applying to business school, please feel free to contact us for a free consultation.

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The following guides are also available from mbaMission (online at www.mbamission.com/store.php), and more are being added regularly:

mbaMission Complete Start-to-Finish Admissions GuidembaMission Brainstorming GuidembaMission Essay Writing GuidembaMission Interview GuidembaMission Letters of Recommendation GuidembaMission Long-Term Planning GuidembaMission Optional Statement GuidembaMission Personal Statement GuidembaMission Resume GuidembaMission Selecting Your Target MBA Program E-BookmbaMission Waitlist GuidembaMission Insider’s Guide to Columbia Business SchoolmbaMission Insider’s Guide to Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business mbaMission Insider’s Guide to Harvard Business SchoolmbaMission Insider’s Guide to the Haas School of Business at the University of California-BerkeleymbaMission Insider’s Guide to the Indian School of BusinessmbaMission Insider’s Guide to the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern UniversitymbaMission Insider’s Guide to the MIT Sloan School of ManagementmbaMission Insider’s Guide to New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of BusinessmbaMission Insider’s Guide to the Stanford Graduate School of BusinessmbaMission Insider’s Guide to the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of MichiganmbaMission Insider’s Guide to the Tuck School of Business at DartmouthmbaMission Insider’s Guide to the UCLA Anderson School of ManagementmbaMission Insider’s Guide to the University of Chicago Booth School of BusinessmbaMission Insider’s Guide to the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business Administration mbaMission Insider’s Guide to the Wharton School of the University of PennsylvaniambaMission Insider’s Guide to the Yale School of Management

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7 The MBA Program in Context: Choosing Chicago Booth8 Location: Urban Campus Versus College Town12 Class Size: Smaller Versus Larger14 Curriculum: Flexible Versus Mandatory Core18 Pedagogy: Lecture Versus Case Method20 Academic Specializations/Recruitment Focus: Resources and Employers24 Alumni Base: Opportunities to Engage26 Facilities: Shaping the Academic/Social Experience28 Rankings and Reputation: Important Metrics or Arbitrary Measures?

The Chicago Booth School of Business32 Summary34 Professional Specializations34 Consulting36 Entrepreneurship, Private Equity, and Venture Capital38 Finance40 International Business42 Marketing45 Nonprofit/Social Entrepreneurship47 Notable Professors and Unsung Heroes49 Social/Community Life51 Academic Summary53 What Is the Admissions Committee Saying?57 mbaMission’s Exclusive Interview with University of Chicago Booth School of Business Associate Dean for Student Recruitment and Admissions Kurt Ahlm

Appendix: Chicago Booth Facts and Figures62 Basics62 Admissions (Class of 2013)63 Employment Statistics (Class of 2011)

67 Bibliography

Table of Contents


Over the years, we have met many aspiring MBA students who have tried to identify their target schools and quickly become overwhelmed, wondering, “What are the differences between the top MBA programs?” and “How do I choose the one that is right for me?”

Frustrated, many applicants short-circuit the process and choose schools based simply on rankings or the opinions of friends or alumni. Although rankings and alumni opinion have a place in your evaluative process, you should do all the necessary research to identify the program that best fits your personality. In doing so, you will find significant differences between the University of California’s Haas School of Business in Berkeley, California, with a class size in the low 200s, and Harvard Business School (HBS) in Boston, Massachusetts, with more than 900 students per class. As you are undoubtedly already aware, an MBA is a huge investment in the short term and a lifetime connection to an institution in the long term. So we strongly encourage you to take the time now to profoundly contemplate this decision and thoroughly consider your options. We hope this guide will prove helpful to you in doing just that.

At mbaMission, we advise candidates to consider the following eight specific characteristics (in no particular order) that shape MBA programs when evaluating their potential target schools:

1. Location: Urban Campus Versus College Town2. Class Size: Smaller Versus Larger3. Curriculum: Flexible Versus Mandatory Core 4. Pedagogy: Lecture Versus Case Method5. Academic Specializations/Recruitment Focus: Resources and Employers6. Alumni Base: Opportunities to Engage7. Facilities: Shaping the Academic/Social Experience8. Rankings and Reputation: Important Metrics or Arbitrary Measures?

You will not likely find a single MBA program that meets all of your needs and preferences across the eight criteria listed here, but you might identify the factors that are most important to you and then screen for programs that match these specific criteria. Although this guide is intended to help you identify your target schools, nothing will prove more valuable in your decision making than visiting the schools that appeal to you and experiencing them firsthand. Inevitably, even after you have conducted your research, some schools will

The MBA Program in Context:Choosing Chicago Booth


simply “click” with you and others won’t. So, collecting information about programs using tools such as this guide is an important step, but should not serve as the sole basis for your final decision.

Note: The authors at mbaMission have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the information included in this guide. However, some discrepancies may exist or develop over time between what is presented here and what appears in the school’s official materials, as well as what may be offered by other content providers in print or online. For the most up-to-date information, always check with your target school directly. The opinions expressed by the people interviewed are those of the attributed individuals and may not necessarily represent the opinion of mbaMission or its affiliates.

We also wish to thank the students, alumni, faculty members, and administrators who gave generously of their time to provide valuable insight for this guide.

1. Location: Urban Campus Versus College Town

MBA programs can be quite intense, and at times, students can feel as though they live at the business school, yet the environment and community surrounding the school can still profoundly affect and even shape students’ MBA experience. For example, imagine yourself stepping out of a class at New York University’s (NYU’s) Stern School of Business and finding yourself caught up in the energetic bustle of New York City’s West Village. Now imagine yourself walking outside after a course at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and finding yourself surrounded by the tranquility and natural beauty of New Hampshire’s Upper Valley. Neither scenario is necessarily “better” than the other, but one may speak to you more.

Urban Campus Schools Urban/College Hybrid Schools College Town Schools

Chicago BoothColumbia Business SchoolHarvard Business School

MIT SloanNYU Stern

UCLA AndersonUPenn Wharton

Northwestern KelloggStanford GSB

UC-Berkeley HaasYale SOM

Dartmouth TuckDuke Fuqua

Michigan RossUVA Darden


An urban campus can undoubtedly offer students social and cultural opportunities that a college town simply cannot match. This is not to suggest, however, that college towns are devoid of culture—indeed, intense intellectual and cultural programs exist in college towns precisely because the academic institution is at the core of the community—but, for example, Ann Arbor (home of Michigan Ross) clearly cannot offer the scale of opportunities that a cultural capital like Los Angeles (home of UCLA-Anderson) can.

Still, proponents of college towns will argue that students make trade-offs when they choose an urban campus, where “distractions” abound and can even, in some cases, undermine a sense of MBA community. Quite often, students at business schools that are located in college towns live very close to campus (or even on campus, as in the case of Tuck), and the school grounds are truly the focal point of students’ academic and social lives. In these college towns, many students tend to “work and play” with classmates exclusively and thus have few social relationships outside their class.

While college towns tout their intimacy and the tight bonds classmates form in such a setting, this environment can be welcoming for some students and overwhelming for others. In contrast, urban campuses are more decentralized, with students often living all over a city and even in surrounding suburbs. Someone who has a greater need for privacy might therefore find this environment more appealing. In addition, in major urban centers, many students—particularly those who lived in the city before enrolling in business school—may already have well-developed social groups, and this scenario may again be better for those who find an academically and socially all-encompassing environment less attractive.

One aspect of the MBA experience that students often overlook is weather. Although factoring such an element into your MBA school decision may initially seem superficial, if you know you cannot comfortably manage a tough winter or a particularly hot summer, certain schools should be stricken from your list. You may scoff at this idea, but we encounter many candidates each year who wisely stave off a potentially miserable experience by choosing to not apply to certain schools in locations that they just do not feel are “livable” for them.

In summary, for some, the intimacy of a college town can be appealing in that it creates strong bonds, whereas for others, it can be overwhelming because it can undermine privacy. Furthermore, for some, a slower pace of life is calming, whereas for others, the beat of the city is a necessity. If you strongly prefer one or the other, you should be able to quickly eliminate certain schools from your list.


Greater Chicago, known as “Second City” because of its long-held status as second to New York City, boasts a population of eight million and is well known to most candidates. So, rather than discussing everything that Chicago has to offer—and it indeed offers plenty in the way of arts and entertainment (five major sports teams, the world-renowned Art Institute of Chicago, and an array of architectural styles amid hundreds of towering skyscrapers, just to scratch the surface)—we have chosen to focus on the specific neighborhood in which students at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business primarily study and live, starting with Hyde Park, where Chicago Booth is located.

For years, Hyde Park was maligned as a dangerous part of Chicago, but the neighborhood has gentrified significantly and appears to have even earned some cachet. Hyde Park is now perhaps best known for being the Chicago home of a certain former Illinois senator who is now President of the United States. Some Chicago Booth students are not concerned about Hyde Park’s safety but told mbaMission that the area is fairly quiet at night and that students who do not live downtown might miss out on all that Chicago has to offer. Still, Hyde Park has its charms, being a neighborhood where both professors and student families live, and it is economical, with one-bedroom apartments costing approximately $1,000 per month, compared with approximately $1,750 per month downtown. Students who live in the neighborhood told mbaMission about eating at Medici’s, a pizzeria with a rooftop balcony, and hanging out toward the end of the week at “The Pub” at Ida Noyes Hall, located only feet from Chicago Booth.

Within Hyde Park, a concentration of students resides in the relatively inexpensive Regent’s Park high-rise complex, where studio apartments rent for between $1,250 and $1,550 per month, and three-bedroom apartments cost up to $2,400. Meanwhile, the former executive director of marketing at Chicago Booth told mbaMission before he left the school that in recent years, students have been moving away from Hyde Park and gravitating toward the South Loop and Millennium Park. More than one hundred Chicago Booth students currently live in a building called Aqua, a spectacular 92-story high-rise, built to comply with LEED green building certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Students who want to relax after a tough day can swim in one of the facility’s two pools, watch a movie in the media room, work out in the fitness center, or just enjoy the view from the observation deck. At Aqua, which is located approximately 13 minutes from campus on the “L” (Chicago’s elevated subway system), students pay between $1,600 per month for a studio and $3,500 a month for a two-bedroom apartment.


Regardless of where students choose to live—and according to much of the information shared in the Chicago Booth admissions chats we consulted, more and more seem to be choosing downtown—taking advantage of everything Chicago has to offer is reportedly quite easy. Said one first year in a March 2010 Chicago Booth online admissions chat, “I have really enjoyed living downtown because I can explore Chicago’s restaurants and nightlife while still being a quick Metra [the northeast Illinois commuter rail system] ride away from campus. A large portion of my classmates live downtown as well, so we can share taxis and go out together. However, my friends who live in Hyde Park really enjoy it because they have the convenience of living near campus.”

According to the Chicago Partners Group, the school’s club for the significant others and families of Chicago Booth students, approximately 20% of students with families live in university housing. Graduate student housing is offered in 28 buildings on a first-come, first-served basis and is available in the Hyde Park area, with units from efficiencies to three-bedroom apartments. In addition, international students have the option of residing at International House. This residence hall is open to graduate students at the University of Chicago as well as third- and fourth-year undergraduates, both domestic and international. Rents at International House are paid quarterly and range from $2,125 for a single to $2,960 for a suite.

One international student with whom mbaMission spoke cautioned that some prospective students may not realize how expensive the city of Chicago can be: his rent in the downtown (Gold Coast) area was $1,700 per month for a one-bedroom apartment. (Still, some Chicago Booth students quickly pointed out to mbaMission that their rents dropped significantly when they moved from New York.) He added that he also had to stop taking public transportation to campus because the trip was taking him a full hour, and instead bought a car, which reduced his commute to 35 minutes.

Chicago Booth represents an urban campus within a large city, thereby offering its students both neighborhood and downtown living. Candidates should consider how they feel about a decentralized community (and possibly a significant commute) when deciding whether to apply to Chicago Booth. Further, applicants might consider whether the general ambience of a major metropolis is ideal for their personal lifestyle as well as their study style.


2. Class Size: Smaller Versus Larger

Another element that affects the broader environment of a school’s MBA program is class size. Indeed, the small class size at UC Berkeley Haas offers a very different experience than does the medium class size at New York University’s Stern School of Business and the large class size at HBS. You might want to reflect on your high school, college, and work environments to help you determine whether you would feel more comfortable in a large class or a small one, or whether this is even a factor for you at all.

Students at smaller schools (which we define as having approximately 350 students or fewer per class) tend to interact with almost all their peers and professors during the typical two-year MBA period. Therefore, the smaller schools are generally considered more “knowable,” and their communities tend to be quite closely knit. Also, consider that assuming a leadership position is easier in a smaller environment, because, for example, the Finance Club may have only one president at both a small school and a large school, but obviously the competition for such a position would be greater in the larger program.

Schools are listed in order from largest class to smallest within each category.

Class Size


Again, for some, a tight-knit community may be overwhelming, and such students might prefer to be at a larger school where they have the option of maintaining their anonymity if they so choose. A student at a school with 900 or more people in each class will not likely get to know each and every one of his/her classmates by the end of the program, and some might prefer this. Further, advocates of larger classes tout the advantage of being able to interact with more people during one’s MBA experience—and to thereby develop a broader network of peers. Note that many schools, both large and small, divide students into “sections,” “clusters,” or “cohorts,” in which approximately 60–90 students take a number of classes together, and this approach can help foster a stronger sense of community within the larger programs.

SchoolSections

Average # of StudentsYes No

Harvard 90

Anderson 75

Duke 70

Ross 70

Stern 65-70

Tuck 60-70

Wharton 60-70

Columbia 65

Darden 60-65

Haas 60

Sloan 60

Yale 60

Kellogg 55

Chicago

Stanford

With a class of almost 580, Chicago Booth is one of the country’s larger MBA programs. Although a class of this size is too large to allow every student to truly get to know one another, Chicago Booth


is contained within a single building—the Harper Center (see the Facilities section)—which has a massive public meeting space at its core, and this helps facilitate and encourage student interaction.

Chicago Booth does not divide its incoming students into dedicated sections for the first full year of its MBA program, but all students must participate in the LEAD (Leadership Education and Development) Program and are divided into sections of approximately 60 for that purpose. LEAD begins two to three weeks before the start of the first semester and ends just before the semester ends. In the LEAD class, students are further divided into small squads (of six to eight members) and participate in a variety of team-building experiences on- and off-site. Some students reported to mbaMission that they appreciate the LEAD course as an opportunity for socialization, and some of the program’s student sections—or the “squads” within them—arrange reunions to stay in touch with one another after the program is over.

Still, LEAD is Chicago Booth’s only mandatory class; thereafter, students take classes of varying sizes with both first- and second-year students. Oftentimes, Chicago Booth’s full-time students will take classes with students in the school’s Evening and Weekend MBA program at the downtown Gleacher Center. These elements serve to broaden the community beyond the approximately 580 students with whom one will graduate.

Meanwhile, a recent graduate we interviewed explained, “It is easy to build strong relationships with classmates, so long as you get involved. Whether it be through joining student groups, attending TNDC [Thursday Night Drinking Club, a weekly social activity for the entire MBA student body that is not a school-sanctioned event, but is informally arranged], or just hanging out in the Winter Garden, there are many ways to not just meet, but actually socialize with classmates.”

3. Curriculum: Flexible Versus Mandatory Core

Almost all top business schools have a “core curriculum”—a standard series of courses that students must take, usually as part of the initial stages of the MBA experience. However, these core requirements vary tremendously from school to school. For example, HBS teaches its “required curriculum” for the entire first year of the MBA program and then follows with its “elective curriculum” (which is flexible) in the second year. In contrast, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business is known for its flexibility, stipulating only one specific course that all students are required to take (the LEAD [Leadership Education


and Development] Program). After completing LEAD, students may take whichever courses they please, provided they fulfill a few basic parameters. While HBS and Chicago Booth represent two extremes, many schools fall somewhere in the middle.

The rigidity or flexibility of a school’s first-year curriculum affects students’ education and socialization. At a school with a rigid core curriculum, all students take the same classes, regardless of their professional experience. At Darden, for example, even CPAs must take the required accounting course; at some other schools, students can waive courses if they can prove a certain level of proficiency. Again, both approaches have pros and cons, and what those are depends on your perspective.

Can Waive/Test Out of Classes Cannot Waive/Test Out of Classes

AndersonChicago Booth

ColumbiaDukeHaas

KelloggRossSternTuck

Wharton

DardenHarvard

SloanStanford

Yale

Proponents of a strong core curriculum would argue that academics understand that students need certain skills to become true managers and that when students “overspecialize” in one area, their education can ultimately suffer. A significant body of academic writing has been devoted to critiquing programs that give students a narrow view of business, notably Henry Mintzberg’s Managers Not MBAs: A Hard Look at the Soft Practice of Managing and Management Development (Berrett-Koehler, 2004) and Rakesh Khurana’s From Higher Aims to Hired Hands: The Social Transformation of American Business Schools and the Unfulfilled Promise of Management as a Profession (Princeton University Press, 2007).

Further, proponents of a core curriculum would also argue that having all students take the same classes creates a common language and discussion among the classmates, because, for example, the students can share the experience of the day’s case. In addition, advocates contend that a rigid core curriculum facilitates student learning, because students who have applicable experience bring their knowledge to the classroom


and can thereby help teach others. Finally, schools with rigid cores generally keep students together in their sections each day, and students who interact every day for a semester or longer forge strong bonds—this can quickly create a sense of community among the students.

In contrast, advocates of a flexible curriculum model feel that students benefit from the opportunity to specialize immediately—that time is short and students need power and choice. So if, for example, a student were determined to enter the world of finance, an advocate of flexibility would argue that the student should be able to study finance in depth throughout the MBA program, possibly even from day one, so as to gain as much experience as possible in this area—and especially before interviewing for a summer internship.

School # of Core Courses # of Other Required Elements*

Anderson 11 2

Chicago Booth - 1

Columbia 14 -

Darden 10 1

Duke 10 3

Haas 12 1

Harvard 10 1

Kellogg 9 2

Ross 9 4

Sloan 8 -

Stanford 19 2

Stern 8 2

Tuck 15 1

Wharton 18 2

Yale 17 2

* Includes pre- and between-term sessions, projects, special programs, retreats, mandatory international experience, etc.Note that (1) the number of required core courses includes both half-semester and full-semester classes and that (2) the length of a semester varies from school to school, so numbers may not be directly comparable.


Furthermore, advocates for flexible curricula caution that experienced students could end up “wasting” hours taking courses in subjects in which they already have expertise. Finally, they would argue that a flexible schedule allows students the opportunity to meet a greater number and wider variety of their classmates, though such interactions would be less consistent and less likely to result in strong, long-lasting relationships.

The academic calendar at Chicago Booth is divided into three ten-week quarters (fall, winter, and spring), and students take three to four courses per quarter, for a total of 21 classes (including LEAD) over 21 months. Although a great deal of flexibility does indeed exist within the Chicago Booth curriculum, students do not enjoy a truly “open buffet.” Beyond LEAD, the school breaks its first-year course selection down into different categories, and students must choose from among the options within each category to fulfill certain requirements.

First, students must take three Foundation courses, one from each of the following three divisions: financial accounting, microeconomics, and statistics. Each of these divisions includes between four and six course options from which students may choose. Second, students must complete six Functions, Management, and Business Environment courses, which are divided into seven subsections. Functions includes finance, marketing and operations; Management includes decisions, people, and strategy; and Business Environment includes just business environment. Each subsection offers between three and ten courses from which students may choose. Thereafter, 11 elective options remain for students among the 21 total courses (including LEAD) they need to graduate.

Although this flexibility has its academic advantages, it also requires students to make certain academic choices early on. One Chicago Booth second-year student told mbaMission, “I was lucky. I knew what I wanted to do after school and had a clear academic path in mind to meet my needs from day one, which is when I had to make my academic choices. I felt that some who were unsure of their paths were at a disadvantage with such limited structure.” Another second-year student told mbaMission that she, too, felt fortunate to have a defined path. Still, she seized the opportunity to discuss her academic and career plans with second-year students via the Career Advisor program—a peer advisor program in which experienced and trained second-year students discuss career options and approaches with first-year students—and felt that it was of such benefit that she became one herself in her second year.

In a January 2011 Bloomberg Businessweek online chat, a second-year student noted, “Booth’s flexible curriculum enables each individual to tailor his or her individual experience. I think being able to


customize your MBA is a differentiating feature of the program.” One recent graduate with whom mbaMission spoke credited the program’s flexibility with his ability to obtain a banking internship in a difficult economy. He told mbaMission that he overloaded on quantitative and financial courses in his first semester to allay recruiter concerns about his rather qualitative background and then planned to take marketing, operations, and strategy courses thereafter.

Further, the Graduate Business Council (student government) offers what is called “The Mentor Program”—a kind of first year/second year buddy system—to help incoming students acclimate to life at Chicago Booth. So, candidates who are attracted to the school but have concerns about whether they can manage the flexibility should know that they will have resources available to help them effectively navigate and shape their Chicago Booth MBA experience.

4. Pedagogy: Lecture Versus Case Method

Students will likely encounter many different styles of learning during their time at business school, including participating in simulations, listening to guest speakers, and partaking in hands-on consulting projects, but the two most typical “everyday” learning styles are case method and lecture.

What exactly is the case method or case-based learning? Pioneered by HBS, case-based learning requires students to read the story (called a “case”) of an either hypothetical or real protagonist who is facing a managerial dilemma. As the student reads, he/she explores the protagonist’s dilemma and is provided with various quantitative and qualitative data points that will facilitate further analysis. After reading the entire case, the student typically understands the profundity of the problem and is often asked a simple question: “What would you do?” In other words, how would the student act or react if he/she were in the protagonist’s place? (Cases can vary in length but are typically 10–20 pages long.)

After completing his/her analysis using the facts provided about the case, the student typically meets with the members of his/her study group or learning team (if the school in questions assigns such teams), and together the group/team members explore and critique one another’s ideas and teach those who may not have been able to progress as far on their own. Often, though not always, the team will establish a consensus with regard to the actions they would take in the protagonist’s place. Then, in class, the professor acts as facilitator and starts a debate on the case that he/she will steer throughout the classroom session. Class discussions can often become quite vigorous, and the professor will guide the class toward resolving the dilemma. At times,


though, the professor might introduce the protagonist’s actual decision and the subsequent results—or may even bring the protagonist into the classroom to discuss the process and outcomes in person.

In short, the case method places the analytical process at the forefront, emphasizing that the problems presented have no clear-cut right or wrong answers. For a student to disagree with the protagonist’s chosen path—even after it has proved to be successful—is not unusual. After all, another approach (or even inaction) may have produced an even better result.

Note that case-based learning is not specific to one academic discipline. Cases are available in finance, strategy, operations, accounting, marketing, and still other areas. Further, many cases are interdisciplinary, meaning that they may address more than one skill area at a time, such as requiring students to think about how a financial decision might affect the operations of a manufacturing company, or the ways in which a marketing decision may involve significant financial considerations. Importantly, students in case environments are often graded on their “contribution” to the class discussion (measured by the level of one’s participation in discussions and analysis, not on the frequency with which one offers “correct” answers), so the case method is not for those who are uncomfortable speaking in class—though it can be incredibly helpful for those who want or need to practice and build confidence speaking publicly.

Lecture is the method of learning that is familiar to most—the professor stands in front of the class and explores a theory or event, facilitating discussion and emphasizing key learning points. Often, students have read chapters of a textbook beforehand and have come to class with a foundation in the specific area that will be explored that day. Although the case method gives students a context for a problem, many of those who favor lecture believe that the case method is too situation specific and prefer a methodical exploration of theory that they feel can be broadly applied across situations. In lecture classes, the professor and his/her research or theory are technically paramount, but students still participate, challenge ideas, and debate issues.

Note that at some schools, professors may alternate between cases and lectures within a single semester of classes.

True to Chicago Booth’s reputation for flexibility, the school allows its professors to decide which method of instruction they prefer on a case-by-case basis. Some professors use cases, others use lectures, and still others use both, switching back and forth from class to class. Assessing the ratio of lectures to case method classes is difficult, because the choice of methods varies from professor to professor and even from class to class, as courses are constantly being revamped. One recent


graduate with whom we spoke noted the advantages of flexibility as it pertains to pedagogy. He felt that he was able to specifically target classes in which case-based learning would be more effective and then engage in lecture courses when he wanted more of a theoretical grounding.

5. Academic Specializations/Recruitment Focus: Resources and Employers

Schools’ brands and reputations develop over time and tend to endure, even when the schools attempt to change them. For example, many applicants still feel that Kellogg is only a marketing school and that Chicago Booth is only a finance school, even though both programs boast strengths in many other areas. So you should make sure you are not merely accepting stereotypes but are truly considering the depth of resources available at each school. (Indeed, this was the initial reason mbaMission started producing these guides—we wanted applicants to see beyond superficial “market” perceptions.)

School Top Industry for 2011 Graduates % Entering the Industry

Anderson Financial Services 26.50%

Chicago Booth Financial Services 41.10%

Columbia Financial Services 50.30%

Darden Consulting 20%

Duke Consulting 30%

Haas Technology 31.50%

Harvard Financial Services 39%

Kellogg Consulting 37%

Ross Consulting 27.60%

Sloan Consulting 33.70%

Stanford Financial Services 36%

Stern Financial Services 46%

Tuck Consulting 33%

Wharton Financial Services 38.54%

Yale Financial Services 39%


We have dedicated the majority of each Insider’s Guide to an exploration of the principal professional specializations for which resources are available at the school being profiled, and we encourage candidates to consider whether a school meets their academic needs by supplementing the information we present here with additional context from the target school’s career services office and even by connecting with the heads of certain clubs on campus.

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ams

Ava

ilabl

e

No

Offi

cial

Pro

gram

s

Anderson

Chicago Booth*

Columbia

Darden

Duke

Haas

Harvard

Kellogg

Ross

Sloan

Stanford

Stern

Tuck

Wharton

Yale

* Chicago Booth offers one certificate attainable through a joint degree program only.


When mbaMission interviewed then admissions director Rose Martinelli in June 2009, we asked whether she felt Chicago Booth’s reputation as a “finance school” was fair. Martinelli responded that the school is indeed an “economics powerhouse” and that economics underpins finance, strategy, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Still, economics is a theoretical discipline for MBAs, whereas finance is a practical discipline. So, even though Chicago Booth is broadly identified with finance—given that many of its standout theorists have made a name for themselves in this area and most of the program’s students aspire to enter this field—the school certainly offers more than a finance education and has been making a concerted effort to broaden its reputation beyond this industry. In fact, in an exclusive interview with mbaMission, Associate Dean of Student Recruitment and Admissions Kurt Ahlm noted, “Our graduates are analytical problem solvers who can apply what they learn here to successful careers in any number of fields. Booth has strength in many areas beyond finance, including entrepreneurship and marketing.” (This interview appears in full later in this guide.)

Notably, Martinelli had also explained to mbaMission that entrepreneurship and marketing are areas of growing academic interest among the school’s MBA students. In a January 2012 Chicago Booth admissions chat geared specifically to applicants interested in entrepreneurship, a coach in career services noted, “There is so much support here for students who are interested in starting their own entrepreneurial venture. Between courses, the Polsky Center [for Entrepreneurship], student clubs, conferences and meet-up groups, an active alumni network, and support from career coaches and peer advisors, the possibilities are strong. If you bring your passion, we provide the ways to channel it!” In addition, Arthur Middlebrooks, who is executive director of the school’s James M. Kilts Center for Marketing, noted in an October 2011 admissions chat, “The number of recruiters coming to Booth for marketing continues to be on the rise. Beyond CPG [consumer packaged goods] marketing, we see growing interest in high tech, pharma, and consumer services industries. And more firms are looking for students to fill digital marketing roles.”

Even amid a significant downturn in the economy and the disappearance of several major recruiters at Chicago Booth, members of the Class of 2011 overwhelmingly entered the field of finance. Although consulting was the largest single job function (27.8%) for which graduates were hired last year (edging out investment banking [19.2%] and marketing [9.6%]), in aggregate, investment banking, investment management, and research (7.0%); sales and trading (5.3%); private equity (3.6%); and several other less-represented banking functions accounted for a total of 44.5% of all 2011 Chicago Booth graduates. These numbers seem to show that Chicago Booth students can find placement in the field even during difficult times.


The following table shows the significant shift among employers recruiting at Chicago Booth:

Employer Class of 2011 Class of 2010 Class of 2009

McKinsey & Company, Inc. 39 24 23

The Boston Consulting Group 19 19 9

Bain & Company, Inc. 17 15 16

Morgan Stanley 15 11 5

Booz & Company 12 0 6

Credit Suisse 11 12 15

Deutsche Bank AG 11 10 12

Bank of America Corporation 8 12 13

JPMorgan Chase & Co. 8 7 10

Accenture 7 4 6

Citigroup, Inc. 7 13 12

Barclays 4 16 10

Deloitte Consulting 4 6 7

Chicago Booth offers 14 concentrations that, according to the school’s Web site, allow students to “enhance or complement [their] experience and fit [their] career goals.” Concentrations are not required, but students typically fulfill one to three of the following options:

• Accounting • Analytic Finance • Analytic Management • Econometrics and Statistics • Economics • Entrepreneurship • Finance • General Management • Human Resource Management


• International Business • Managerial and Organizational Behavior • Marketing Management • Operations Management • Strategic Management

6. Alumni Base: Opportunities to Engage

The size and depth of a school’s alumni base may be important to you as you seek to break into specific fields or certain regions/countries. Some schools have had large classes for many years and can thus boast sizeable alumni networks, whereas others may have pockets of strength in particular parts of the world or in specific industries—or can claim a smaller but tighter-knit alumni network overall. For example, Dartmouth Tuck has a smaller absolute number of alumni than most top U.S. schools but has been said to have the highest rate of annual alumni giving.

Although acquiring a country-specific breakdown of each school’s alumni base is sometimes difficult, you may want to consider whether the school you are targeting has alumni clubs in your chosen professional area (i.e., some schools have industry-specific alumni groups) or preferred post-MBA location. Furthermore, if you are determined to live in a particular city/country/region after graduating, then earning your MBA in or near that area, if possible, may be a good idea, so that you can more easily connect with alumni while you are in school, particularly if you are going to pursue a niche professional area and do not expect to participate in on-grounds recruiting.

Nevertheless, keep in mind that on-grounds recruiting allows students to more easily find job opportunities across the United States and around the world. Indeed, major firms want to maintain relationships with all top MBA programs and have access to their students. So, for example, Columbia Business School and Stern are certainly not the only Wall Street feeder schools, just as Haas and Stanford are not the exclusive feeders for Silicon Valley. Further, technological developments have greatly facilitated outreach, meaning that alumni are no longer a flight away, but are now just a phone call, email, or even Skype session away.

Chicago Booth has almost 43,000 alumni who stay connected to the school via more than 75 alumni clubs (32 in the United States, 38 international, and 7 special interest). The school’s special interest alumni clubs include the Chicago Booth Black Alumni Association, the Chicago Booth


Energy Network, the Chicago Booth Pakistan Club, the Chicago Private Equity Network, the Chicago Booth Real Estate Alumni Group, the Chicago Women in Business Alumnae Network, and the University of Chicago Women’s Business Group. Chicago Booth alumni have reportedly even started corporate networks at Kraft, Motorola, William Blair, GE, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, and Northern Trust.

Chicago Booth also has a unique roundtable program, in which groups of alumni meet for events and speakers— predominantly in Chicago, but also around the world—so they can stay connected. These include the following:

• Business Book Roundtable • Career Management Networking Roundtable • Consulting Roundtable

Alumni Base

Note: Some schools include MBA program graduates only in their alumni total; other schools may also include alumni from their part-time, executive, doctoral, and/or other programs, so totals may not be directly comparable.

Schools are listed in order from largest alumni base to smallest within each category.


• Entrepreneurial Roundtable • European Private Equity and Entrepreneurship Roundtable • European Wealth Management Roundtable • Finance Roundtable • Healthcare and BioPharma Roundtable • Innovation Roundtable • International Roundtable • Marketing Roundtable • Sales Leaders’ Roundtable

Indeed, the school offers a wide array of events and functions for alumni, both nationally and internationally—in fact, too many to list here. To learn more, view the alumni events calendar online at www.chicagobooth.edu/alumni/events. Potential students should be encouraged to learn that they will have a variety of ways in which to stay connected with the school after they graduate and to network with their fellow alumni around the world. From its 476 alumni in Japan and 228 in Canada to its three alumni in Kenya and two in Mauritius, Chicago Booth has an impressive global presence. For an up-to-date and interactive map of Chicago Booth alumni locations, go to www.chicagobooth.edu/alumni/maps/map_world.aspx.

7. Facilities: Shaping the Academic/Social Experience

When contemplating an MBA program, you should not overlook the school’s facilities. In recent years, we have seen a building boom (an arms race of sorts?) on MBA campuses, as some schools have gotten bigger and others have unified disparate areas or upgraded existing spaces. Some schools boast on-campus housing or athletic facilities, others have new green spaces and meeting places, and still others have updated or added classrooms, theaters, libraries, and more. Keep in mind, though, that just because a school has not updated its facilities in the past few years, this does not mean that the school’s offerings are outdated or subpar; the lack of updates may simply be because none have been needed. A campus visit is always the best way to evaluate firsthand what a school has to offer, but we nonetheless dedicate this space to a discussion of the facilities available at the profiled school.

http://www.chicagobooth.edu/alumni/events

http://www.chicagobooth.edu/alumni/maps/map_world.aspx

http://www.chicagobooth.edu/alumni/maps/map_world.aspx


School

Facility Updates

Completed Within the Past Five Years

Ongoing/Planned Neither

Anderson*

Chicago Booth

Columbia

Darden

Duke

Haas

Harvard

Kellogg

Ross

Sloan

Stanford

Stern

Tuck

Wharton

Yale

* With the exception of updates made to the Jim Easton Global Connection Classroom in 2009.

Designed by world-renowned architect Rafael Vinoly and completed in 2004 at a cost of $125M, the Charles M. Harper Center houses Chicago Booth’s full-time MBA program. The Harper Center’s Winter Garden—a towering atrium with six-story, glass Gothic arches—is at the heart of the building and serves as a central place where students can study, socialize, and hold club meetings. With over 400,000 square feet of space, 12 classrooms (on the downstairs “classroom level”), offices for the entire administration and faculty (on the third, fourth, and fifth floors, known as the “faculty floors”), 31 group study rooms, a 3,500 square foot student lounge, and a 150-person café, the Harper Center helps shape Chicago Booth’s community and is part of the school’s bold new identity.


MBA students have access to the University of Chicago’s extensive library system, as well as the Kenneth G. Fisher Library (specializing in career-related information) located at the business school’s downtown Gleacher Center. The Gleacher Center houses conference facilities and classes for part-time MBA students. Students may also take advantage of the 150,000 square foot Ratner Athletics Center, which includes fitness centers, gymnasia, and a swimming pool and is home base for the university’s basketball, volleyball, and wrestling teams. Finding a parking space can be difficult at both the Harper Center and Gleacher, and the Chicago Booth Web site recommends allowing 30–40 minutes for parking alone. Parking permits are approximately $75 per month, and as the associate director of admissions stated in a March 2010 online chat, “Everyone starts work or class at 8:30 a.m., so the earlier you get here, the better your chances of finding a spot on the street.”

8. Rankings and Reputation: Important Metrics or Arbitrary Measures?

Rankings should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism, given that they tend to fluctuate dramatically from year to year and from publication to publication. For example, if you had relied on the Financial Times rankings to choose the Yale SOM as your business school in 2011, you probably would have been disappointed to see the school then slide from the 7th position that year down to 12th just one year later (2012). In contrast, if you had selected Haas in 2004, you would have been delighted to see the program rise from 17 in that year’s Bloomberg Businessweek ranking to 8 in 2010.

Could an MBA program—which is made up of so many moving parts—really change so much in just one or two years? Furthermore, how can one reconcile that Tuck stands in the number one position in The Economist ’s 2011 rankings but is in ninth position in the 2012 U.S. News & World Report rankings, in 11th (among U.S. programs) in the Financial Times rankings, and in 14 in the Bloomberg Businessweek rankings—all at the same time? Of course, the various rankings should and likely will provide some context for your decision, but resist the temptation to choose a school based on rankings alone, because rankings may ultimately betray you, possibly even before you graduate.

One thing to keep in mind, particularly for international students, is that a school’s reputation domestically can be quite different from its reputation abroad. Years ago, mbaMission worked with an international candidate who was accepted into the MBA programs at Johnson (Cornell) and Tuck. When this individual shared the good news with his manager, his manager said, “I thought you would have gone to an Ivy League school like Princeton!” Of course, Dartmouth and Cornell are in fact Ivy League institutions, and Princeton


does not even have an MBA program—the manager’s reaction illustrates how possible misconceptions can arise. So, after considering an MBA program’s strengths, you might factor in that some schools have greater brand power in certain parts of the world, especially if you plan to live and work abroad after you complete your studies.

We advise you to consider your MBA a long-term investment that will pay dividends throughout your life, and such an investment should be based on more than a one-time ranking. In fact, most MBAs who are five to ten years out of school are not even aware what their school is now ranked, and perhaps more importantly, if you were to ask one whether the school’s position in the rankings has any effect on his/her current career, the response would certainly be an ardent “No!”

When Edward “Ted” Snyder took over as dean of the business school in 2001, Chicago Booth saw its position in the rankings improve dramatically, jumping from tenth position in the Bloomberg Businessweek rankings in 2000 to second in 2002. Today, Chicago Booth is among the top ten in the four most prestigious MBA rankings and among the top five in three of them. Bloomberg Businessweek is generally considered the most eminent ranking, and Chicago Booth currently enjoys its top spot for the third time in a row.

Although Chicago Booth has “bested” HBS and the Stanford GSB—as well as its crosstown rival Kellogg—in the current (2010) Bloomberg Businessweek rankings, it cannot claim to be the number one school in terms of global prestige. Quite subjectively, mbaMission would state that HBS, Stanford, and Wharton have stronger global profiles, though one will have no trouble opening doors with the Chicago Booth name on his/her resume.

Dean Snyder was known at Chicago Booth—as he was during his earlier tenure at UVA’s Darden School of Business—as a dean who knows how to boost a school’s stature. However, Dean Snyder left Chicago Booth in 2010 to join the Yale School of Management and was replaced by Sunil Kumar from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, who assumed his duties as dean in January 2011. We at mbaMission will be interested to see how (or whether) the schools’ relative rankings change in the coming years, especially considering that although Chicago Booth seems firmly entrenched in the top tier currently, this was certainly not the case prior to Snyder’s arrival.


U.S. News & World Report (2012) Bloomberg Businessweek (2010)

1 Harvard Business School (tie) 1 Chicago Booth

1 Stanford GSB (tie) 2 Harvard Business School

3 UPenn Wharton 3 UPenn Wharton

4 MIT Sloan (tie) 4 Northwestern Kellogg

4 Northwestern Kellogg (tie) 5 Stanford GSB

4 Chicago Booth (tie) 6 Duke Fuqua

7 UC-Berkeley Haas 7 Michigan Ross

8 Columbia Business School 8 UC-Berkeley Haas

9 Dartmouth Tuck 9 Columbia Business School

10 Yale 10 MIT Sloan

11 NYU Stern 11 UVA Darden

12 Duke Fuqua 12 SMU Cox

13 Michigan Ross (tie) 13 Cornell Johnson

13 UVA Darden (tie) 14 Dartmouth Tuck

15 UCLA Anderson 15 Carnegie Mellon Tepper

16 Cornell Johnson 16 UNC-Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler

17 UT Austin McCombs 17 UCLA Anderson

18 Carnegie Mellon Tepper 18 NYU Stern

19 Emory Goizueta (tie) 19 Indiana Kelley

19 UNC-Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler (tie) 20 Michigan State Broad


Financial Times (2012)1,2 The Economist (2011)1,3

1 Stanford GSB 1 Dartmouth Tuck

2 Harvard Business School 2 Chicago Booth

3 UPenn Wharton 3 UVA Darden

4 Columbia Business School 4 Harvard Business School

5 MIT Sloan 5 UC-Berkeley Haas

6 Chicago Booth 6 Columbia Business School

7 UC Berkeley Haas 7 Stanford GSB

8 Duke Fuqua 8 MIT Sloan

9 Northwestern Kellogg 9 NYU Stern

10 NYU Stern 10 UPenn Wharton

11 Dartmouth Tuck 11 Carnegie Mellon Tepper

12 Yale 12 Northwestern Kellogg

13 Cornell Johnson 13 Duke Fuqua

14 Michigan Ross 14 USC Marshall

15 UCLA Anderson 15 Cornell Johnson

16 Carnegie Mellon Tepper 16 Yale

17 UVA Darden 17 UCLA Anderson

18 Emory Goizueta 18 Emory Goizueta

19 Georgetown McDonough 19 Hult International Business School

20 Rice University: Jones 20 Michigan Ross

1 Excludes international schools and reranks only U.S. schools.2 The Financial Times ranks Chicago Booth 12 internationally.3 The Economist ranks Chicago Booth 2 internationally.


In November 2008, as stock markets were falling in North America and academic institutions were growing increasingly concerned about shrinking endowments, the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business made a stunning announcement: alumnus David G. Booth (MBA ’71), founder of Dimensional Fund Advisors, had made a $300M donation to the school—the largest donation ever to a business school and one of the largest donations to any academic institution ever. The school did not receive $300M in cash, however, but became a partner in Dimensional Fund Advisors, from which it will receive dividends. Not surprisingly, the school subsequently announced that it had renamed itself the Booth School of Business in honor of its patron.

The Booth gift is yet another link in a chain of success that the school has experienced over the past decade or so, starting with the hiring (in 2001) of former dean Edward “Ted” Snyder from Darden (University of Virginia). Then, in 2004, the school opened a new, cutting-edge, $125M facility—the 400,000 square foot Charles M. Harper Center—which galvanized a community that had previously been housed in disparate, and some say dreary, quarters.

With all this momentum, Chicago Booth has also experienced a swift uptick in its rankings, consistently appearing at or near the top of all of the “prestige” lists. The school has a reputation for superior academic research, particularly in finance and economics, with six of its academics having won Nobel Prizes in these fields. Indeed, many prospective candidates consider Chicago Booth a finance school, which is a fair assumption, particularly given that approximately 44.5% of the program’s 2011 graduates (and 49.4% in 2010) accepted positions with a finance function (including investment banking, venture capital, private equity, and sales and trading).

However, consulting has overtaken investment banking as the single most popular job function among Chicago Booth students (19.0% went into investment banking in 2011 versus 29.1% into consulting), which we believe attests to the diversity of the school’s MBA program. Indeed, Chicago Booth is more than “ just” a finance school and offers a wide range of experiential opportunities—especially for those interested in consulting and entrepreneurship. And, although Chicago Booth will never be mistaken for Kellogg in terms of its offerings in marketing, we have learned that Chicago Booth does in fact have a surprisingly strong program in this field, and in the nonprofit sector as well.

The University of ChicagoBooth School of BusinessSummary


If “finance” is one buzzword for Chicago Booth, “flexibility” is another. The school is known to have a very flexible curriculum—its LEAD (Leadership Education and Development) Program is actually the only specific course that is mandatory for all students. Although students must meet certain requirements by taking courses chosen from among several foundations, functions, management, and business environment options, Chicago Booth has no rigidly defined mandatory core curriculum. Students told mbaMission that because the program is not rigid, they are able to focus on their professional ambitions as soon as they start the academic program, and can avoid redundant or even potentially irrelevant classes.

Today, we believe that Chicago Booth can certainly be said to be stronger than ever. At the beginning of 2011, Sunil Kumar from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business took over as dean of the school, replacing Edward Snyder, who had served Chicago Booth as dean for nine years. Kumar is expected to continue the school’s forward progress that began during Snyder’s tenure. Said John Huizigna, chair of the search committee and the Walter David “Bud” Fackler Distinguished Service Professor of Economics, in a July 2010 news release on Kumar’s hire, “We are confident that his vision, integrity, intelligence, energy, and commitment will ensure that Chicago Booth continues its positive momentum. We expect that under his guidance, Booth will reach an even higher level of achievement and recognition.” Kumar himself noted in a February 2011 Poets & Quants article, “Schools don’t stay terrific by sitting still … The lack of fires to fight gives me the luxury of being able to think strategically a few years ahead.”

A July 2010 Wall Street Journal article on Kumar’s hiring reported that the new dean stated that his primary goal would be “to strengthen and enhance what is already great,” while learning more “about the students, faculty and the programs.” And indeed, according to a March 2011 Bloomberg Businessweek article, one of the new dean’s early moves has proven to be quite a coup for the school: in that month, the school announced that Axel Weber, the outgoing president of the German central bank (Deutsche Bundesbank) would join the Chicago Booth faculty as a visiting professor. As Kumar told the Chicago Tribune in January 2011, his goal “to enhance and broaden the impact and reputation of the school” is “not a trivial one.” He affirmed, “We have a deservedly good reputation for taking rigor seriously. … So we want to broaden, but without giving up this fundamental value.”

Given the recent changes at the school and the infusion of new energy from the change in command, we are confident that Chicago Booth will remain an applicant favorite because of its remarkable faculty, well-regarded admissions office, and strong facilities.


Professional Specializations

Consulting

Although Chicago Booth has a reputation as a finance school, it still places approximately one-quarter of each graduating class in consulting positions. In 2011, 27.8% of Chicago Booth graduates took positions in the consulting industry (24.0% in 2010). For the past five years, McKinsey & Company has hired the largest number of Chicago Booth graduates—39 in 2011, 24 in 2010, 23 in 2009, 29 in 2008, and 33 in 2007. In addition to McKinsey, other firms that hired 2011 Booth graduates for consulting positions include Bain & Company and Boston Consulting Group. Students in a February 2010 online admissions chat affirmed that “consulting firms are one of the largest on-campus employers.”

Although Chicago Booth offers no specific consulting track, the school provides considerable hands-on opportunities in this area to its MBA candidates, particularly through its “lab” courses. Via the “Management Lab,” for example, teams of MBA students take on consulting assignments and work with executives from major companies to target a problem that the client firm is encountering or to conduct research on a strategic opportunity. The “New Venture and Small Enterprise Lab” and the “Private Equity/Venture Capital Lab” may seem to cater to niche groups, but in fact, they both represent opportunities for aspiring consultants to engage directly with senior management and make hands-on decisions with the assistance of teammates and mentors.

In addition, a variety of student clubs at Chicago Booth serve aspiring consultants, including the Management Consulting Group, the Corporate Management and Strategy Group, and the Business Solutions Group. While the Management Consulting Group and Corporate Management and Strategy Group educate students on the ins and outs of obtaining a job in this field—through resume preparation and reviews, case workshops, and lunch and learn sessions—the Business Solutions Group is unique in that it actively engages first-year students in high-quality consulting projects.

In short, the Business Solutions Group (BSG) is not so much about preparing for a consulting job as it is about gaining actual consulting experience. Each year, teams of four to five first-year students, along with a second-year mentor, work at a broad range of both for-profit and nonprofit firms, ranging from the well-known international restaurant chain McDonald’s, to the internationally renowned Art Institute of Chicago, to a small nonprofit such as Little Miss Giving’s (a bakery), to a start-up like Advanced Diamond Technologies (which applies diamond film to products to make them durable) to help these organizations solve various marketing, operational, and/or strategic problems.


Although the BSG actually managed 11 projects in 2007 and 14 in 2008, the group states on its Web site that its intent is to handle only eight to ten projects a year. In an interview with mbaMission, a BSG co-chair explained, “The decision to limit the number of projects at ten was a strategic choice. We have always had ample potential client interest in participating, but we’ve recently capped the number of projects in order to create a more competitive project selection process. This is also beneficial for the students, as it ensures that only the best projects are used for the group.” Subsequently, in 2011–2012, the group managed ten projects, as it also did in 2010–2011.

Finally, Chicago Booth’s one mandatory course, the LEAD Program, involves a series of events and activities that help MBA students better understand their personal communication and leadership styles. Throughout this 125-hour program, first-year students take on team challenges (e.g., the outdoor experience, which involves ropes courses, climbing walls, and other physical challenges that incorporate a mental component), learn about their personality type (via the Myers-Briggs test), and receive one-on-one coaching (e.g., on communication styles and negotiation strategies) from faculty and second-year student mentors. This course is not designed exclusively for consultants, but its teachings are broadly applicable to the team-based, leadership-oriented positions that consulting typically entails.

Similarly, Chicago Booth’s annual Management Conference is not solely for aspiring consultants, but serves also as a venue through which interested students can access cutting-edge research in the field of general management and can network with more than one thousand students, business community members, and alumni. The conference celebrated its 60th year in May 2012 and featured a keynote panel on “The Future of Transportation.” The panel was moderated by Robert H. Topel, the Chicago Booth Isidore Brown and Gladys J. Brown Distinguished Service Professor in Urban and Labor Economics, and examined energy markets and their impact on the future of transportation. Breakout sessions focused on topics ranging from “A Capitalism for the People” and “A Discussion of U.S. Corporate Tax Policy” to “Entrepreneurs Who Matter: Identifying and Building High-Growth Ventures.”

The previous year’s (2011) conference included a keynote panel on “The Economics of Social Media,” which was moderated by Steven Neil Kaplan, the Chicago Booth Neubauer Family Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance, and examined (according to the event’s Web site) the “influence of social media and … how it will change the face of markets and business.” Breakout sessions covered such topics as “The Future of Financial Regulation,” “Commercial Real Estate: Smooth Sailing or Rough Waters,” and “Energy Technology and the Future of Transportation.” Conference attendees also have the opportunity to network with one another during lunch and cocktail receptions.


Entrepreneurship, Private Equity, and Venture Capital

Chicago Booth and its Michael P. Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship provide a wealth of formal academic opportunities in the areas of entrepreneurship, private equity, and venture capital. Students may choose from among 25 entrepreneurship and related courses, such as “Building the New Venture,” “Developing New Products and Services,” and “Building Internet Start-Ups: Risk, Reward, & Failure.” The school’s experiential “lab” programs, however, are what appear to constitute the heart of its offerings in this area. For example, via the “New Venture and Small Enterprise Lab,” students work hands-on in small groups with the senior management of a new venture to identify and realize strategic and operational goals. For up to ten hours a week for an entire quarter, students in this lab work in a variety of functions within a firm or take on a dedicated project in a class designed to train those who intend to ultimately join start-ups or consult to them.

In the “Elfman Wareham Private Equity/Venture Capital Lab,” students’ classroom experience includes guest lectures by leaders in the field; simultaneously, students intern for a minimum of 15–20 hours each week with a private equity or venture capital firm, again working in a range of functions or on dedicated projects. Noting that the Private Equity/Venture Capital (PE/VC) Lab is as much about making contacts as it is about operational experience, a second-year student stated in a February 2011 Chicago Booth online admissions chat that “knowing someone in the community, like through the PE Lab, helps open doors and tap into the PE/VC network. And getting that first meeting is half the battle. It also makes internship and full-time conversations much richer with relationships you bring to the table.”

Continuing the school’s experiential offerings, the Polsky Center sponsors the annual Edward L. Kaplan New Venture Challenge (NVC), which bills itself on its Web site as Chicago Booth’s premier business plan competition. During the fall, students form teams—each of which must include at least one Chicago Booth student but can also include law, public policy, social services, and biological science students—and these groups pitch their business ideas and submit their feasibility summaries by the following February. Then, approximately 30 teams advance to the second phase of the challenge, and the Chicago Booth students who have made it this far join the “Special Topics in Entrepreneurship” class, where they develop their ideas and have them critiqued by venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, with eight to ten ultimately advancing to the finals in May. A second-year student described the NVC in a February 2011 Chicago Booth admissions chat as “one of the most thrilling experiences here at Chicago Booth.”

Finally, these fully developed ideas are presented to and judged by entrepreneurs and business leaders. Since 1996, the center has awarded more than $750,000 to help launch more than 75 companies that, in turn, have


raised $235M in capital in spaces as diverse as payment solutions, flexible solar panels, food preparation, and children’s toys. In 2011, the NVC awarded $75,000 to students as seed money for winning business plans. Up to four winners of the NVC are invited to join the ARCH Venture Partners New Business Incubator for one year (or until they receive funding to launch their businesses), where they benefit from access to phones, computers, office supplies, a conference room, and office and faculty support.

Meanwhile, in the Venture Capital Investment Competition, run by the Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital Group, students play the role of venture capitalists, evaluating business ideas and making investment recommendations to a panel of experienced investors and entrepreneurs. The winners, spurred on by real-world entrepreneurs and evaluated by practicing investors, compete in regional and sometimes even national competitions, ultimately vying for the grand prize of $10,000 in funds, but more so for the prestige of the win and the opportunity to catch the attention of the venture capital judges. In 2011, the team from Chicago Booth placed second in this national competition.

We should note that entrepreneurially minded students can also apply for funding from the Hyde Park Angels (HPA), a group of former Chicago Booth Executive MBA students who make investments of between $250,000 and $1M in start-ups. Although the HPA is an arms-length organization and does not source investments exclusively from Chicago Booth, it maintains a connection to the Polsky Center, which supports the HPA’s mission. So, students hoping to get in front of the HPA’s investment committee will have a built-in networking advantage. Further, the HPA offers students the opportunity to intern as associates and gain venture capital experience while pursuing their MBA at Chicago Booth. Tom Ancona, assistant director of the HPA, told mbaMission that eight to ten students generally serve as HPA associates during the school year, while two serve over the summer.

At Chicago Booth, entrepreneurship involves more than just facilitating seed-stage companies—it also encompasses small business. Via the Hamer Small Business Initiative, the Polsky Center can, according to its Web site, “reach deep” into the small business sector, both theoretically and practically (in the greater geographic region around the school). For example, the Hamer Small Business Initiative offers students access to research and practitioners through its Exploring Entrepreneurship Conference Series. In this yearlong program, students, faculty, and industry leaders explore what opportunities and challenges face industries that play a role in the economic growth of the region (such as the local food industry [2009], the educational system in the Midwest [2010], and impact investing [spring 2011]). The 2011–2012 conference series was themed “Big Problems, Big Ideas.” Director of Entrepreneurship Programs Linda L. Darragh told mbaMission, “We brought some cutting-edge leaders in the area of education, environment, public services,


and health care to talk about trends and identify business opportunities in these sectors. The speakers then worked with groups of students in thinking through business opportunities that they could develop.”

The Hamer Initiative also created the Entrepreneurial Internship Program, which allows students to intern, between their first and second years, with small businesses that may otherwise be unable to pay the interning students a salary. Through the program, students who work at eligible companies (start-ups or small businesses with less than $50M in revenue) receive financial support during the course of their internship. This support, which is made possible via sponsor donations, gives the students the opportunity to gain real-world experience in an entrepreneurial environment.

A resource specifically for female students with an interest in entrepreneurship is the Herman Family Fellowship for Women in Entrepreneurship, offered through the Polsky Center. This fellowship, formed in 1995, was established to alleviate the burden of the expense of business school and thus help the student recipient pursue an entrepreneurial dream. Each year, one female student receives $50,000 in funding, which spans her two-year MBA experience.

A total of 4.0% of the Class of 2011 entered the fields of private equity (3.6%) and venture capital (0.4%), joining firms such as Summit Partners, The Blackstone Group, Baird Private Equity Group, Mason Wells, and Profile Capital Management LLC. Nineteen graduates, or 3.2% of the 2011 class, chose to start their own business after graduation (these figures were nine and 1.5%, respectively, for the Class of 2010).

Finance

With names like Eugene Fama, Gary Becker, and Robert Fogel associated with the school, the word “finance” readily—and not surprisingly—comes to mind whenever Chicago Booth is mentioned. We should note that Professor Fama, generally regarded as “the Father of Modern Finance,” served as the inspiration for David Booth, who learned about Fama’s philosophy on indexing (purchasing a broad number of stocks that are representative of the market at large, rather than picking a small number of potential winners) and formed Dimensional Fund Advisors as a manifestation of Fama’s theories. Now, years later, Chicago Booth is a $300M partner in the company.

Indeed, the school has a long history of economic and financial scholarship, thanks to its multiple Nobel Prize–winning and distinguished faculty in these fields. Chicago Booth has 41 professors dedicated to teaching almost 30 finance classes and has recently been sending just under one-half (41.1% in 2011 and 45.0% in 2010)


of its graduates into careers in this industry each year, even during this most recent economic downturn. To put this into perspective, Chicago Booth requires the completion of only 21 courses to graduate. So, a student could not possibly exhaust his/her options within finance while at the school—something committed finance types may consider a shame. Noted one second year during a February 2010 Booth admissions chat, “I do think that Booth’s flexible curriculum is very helpful for students to tailor the type of finance courses and level of complexity that would suit their background and intended post-MBA career.” Courses in the finance concentration include “Financial Instruments,” “Cases in Finance Management,” “Topics in Asset Pricing,” and “Analytics of Financial Crises.”

As further testament to the interest on campus in finance, Chicago Booth has seven student groups that focus either fully or partially on the industry: the Investment Banking Group (IBG, the largest on campus), the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Group, the Private Equity Group, the Distressed Investment and Restructuring Group, the Hedge Fund Group, the Investment Management Group, and the Buffett Group (which focuses on value investing and organizes an annual trip to Omaha to meet—who else?—Warren Buffett ). The IBG offers its more than 500 members an extensive array of events and resources each year, including resume reviews and mock interview sessions, valuation and modeling seminars (taught by outside professionals, not club members, to help ensure success in the interview process and during summer internships), the IPO Challenge (wherein first-year students present to a board of second-year students to win a mandate to take the board’s fictitious company public), Bank Week (when students descend on New York City en masse to job shadow and network), and the IBG Conference.

The IBG Conference takes place each fall and offers career panels and networking opportunities with industry leaders in banking, sales, and trading. A second-year co-chair of the IBG described the conference to mbaMission as “one of the capstone events provided to full-time students to continue learning about careers in investment banking, network with bankers, and attend functional workshops.” A first-year organizer of the 2011 event reported that the conference attracted 250 attendees, including students and banking professionals, and “was focused on providing students with first-hand perspectives of the investment banking industry as well as opportunities to directly interact with investment banking professionals of all levels, ranging from associates to vice presidents to managing directors.” Conference panels at the 2011 event explored such topics as “Successfully Navigating the Recruiting Process,” “Day in the Life of a VP or Associate,” and “Unique Perspectives from Industry Senior Experts.” Workshops covered interview tips, an analysis of industry trends, and an exploration of a day in the life of an associate. Such industry leaders as Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Goldman Suisse, UBS, Citi, and Wells Fargo sponsored the conference.


The Investment Management Group (IMG), another large campus organization, offers Day in the Life panels and resume guidance, though its largest annual event is the Fall Investment Management Conference—the most recent took place in November 2011 and drew approximately 150 attendees. The keynote speaker for the conference was John Cochrane, a Chicago Booth professor of finance. Other speakers included a portfolio manager from Citadel, a managing director and portfolio manager with PIMCO, and a principal with William Blair Income Funds. A second-year student who was involved in the planning of the event told mbaMission, “Our speakers’ specific areas of expertise ranged from equities to fixed income to commodities, but the primary commonality is all spoke generally about how they approach investing. I think it’s hard to pick out one standout experience (from the event).”

Perhaps most important to some students interested in finance is the opportunity to participate in the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF), a $1M portfolio controlled by second-year students and originally established in 2006 to, according to the fund’s Web site, establish “a real-world portfolio management environment which allows students to improve their equity research and stock-picking abilities.” First-year students can apply to become SMIF portfolio managers through the IMG. In the spring quarter, current SMIF portfolio managers choose the portfolio managers for the upcoming year based on the first years’ involvement with the IMG throughout the year as well as the quality of their stock pitches. What is unique about the fund is that 25% of its profits are placed into a scholarship fund each year and distributed among rising second-year students. In the past, surplus funds have indeed existed. We wonder whether the SMIF turned a profit during the recent financial upheaval, but information on the fund’s year-to-year performance is not readily available.

In 2011, Chicago Booth sent 41.1% of its graduates into the financial services industry at firms such as American Express Co., Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Morgan Stanley. According to a second-year student we interviewed, the job scene proved strong in 2011 for those interested in this field. “The market for IM [investment management] recruiting definitely picked up,” he said. “Thankfully, most of my classmates [were] very successful with their recruiting efforts.”

International Business

Chicago Booth’s international credentials seem quite strong: international students make up 36% of the most recent incoming class (Class of 2013), 25% of the faculty is international, and alumni can be found in more than one hundred different countries. Further, each April, the school offers an annual Worldwide Chicago Booth Night, wherein prospective students, current students, and alumni gather in more than 40 U.S. cities


and more than 40 international locations to network and socialize—no doubt an advantageous program for prospective MBAs, to say the least. And Chicago Booth students benefit from 13 national/regional clubs at the school:

• Belgian Business Students• Booth Caribbean Club• Canadian Business Group• Chicago African Business Group• Chicago Asia Pacific Group• European Business Group• French MBA Club• Greater China Club• Japan Club• Korean Business Group• Latin American Business Group• Middle East and North Africa Group• South Asia Business Group

Chicago Booth offers students the opportunity to earn what is formally known as the International MBA Degree by taking at least five courses in international business, pursuing an international exchange program for one semester at one of the school’s 33 partner institutions in 21 countries, and achieving proficiency in a second language. Students can complete the five-course requirement by taking any five of approximately 15 courses offered in international business/macroeconomics. Sample courses in this area include “Understanding Central Banks” and “Topics in Global Economy.”

The Initiative on Global Markets research institute is prominent on campus, offering the Myron Scholes Lectures, through which it has hosted former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo and the CEO and president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago—not to mention Nobel Laureate Myron Scholes himself. A January 2011 panel featured the topic “Budget Options for the U.S.” while topics during the fall of 2011 ranged from “The China-Hong Kong Nexus Again: Another Look at the Twelfth Five-Year Plan” to “What’s Holding Back the U.S. Economy?” In addition, the multidisciplinary George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State (engaging the university’s law school and the Harris School of Public Policy) is devoted to interaction between private and public economies. The center’s predominant focus is research, and its publications could fill niches or perhaps be a bit esoteric for the casual student of international affairs.


Also noteworthy for candidates interested in emerging markets, Chicago Booth and Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy join forces with Kellogg each year to host the Chicago Microfinance Conference, an approximately 300-person event that, according to the conference Web site, seeks not merely to introduce people to microfinance, but “rather … to advance the strategic debate and help participants uncover new approaches to microfinance.” The daylong conference engages panelists from industry, government, academia, and nonprofits. The May 2011 conference featured keynote addresses by the president of Kiva.org and the CEO of Opportunity International.

Finally, candidates should note that the school offers a program called “random walks,” through which students can take any one of 25 available trips to an international location (e.g., Chile, Egypt, Vietnam) or to one somewhat exotic domestic location—Alaska—as a preliminary orientation to the school. Although this program is not part of the school’s curriculum, it represents an opportunity for students to gain enhanced global exposure. (See the Social/Community Life section for more information.)

In 2007, Chicago Booth inaugurated the Entrepreneurial Immersion Program (sponsored by the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship), for which students took a weeklong journey to meet with entrepreneurs and private equity firms in China. In 2008, the second event followed in (you guessed it!) India—specifically, in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore—where students spent time with the school’s local alumni at the Chicago Booth Club of Mumbai, took a tour of Infosys, met with private equity leaders, visited the head of corporate development for Google India, and even did some touring, including visiting the Taj Mahal. According to Linda L. Darragh, director of entrepreneurship programs for the Polsky Center, the India Immersion Program in 2009 was the last offered by the center. Instead, the center has been focusing its efforts on opening new centers in Beijing and India. The Beijing Center is now open and, according to Darragh, “being developed from all areas of the university,” and India’s should be open in the near future.

International firms that hired 2011 Chicago Booth graduates include Angra Partners, China International Capital Corporation Limited, Nomura International PLC, Samsung Group, and Standard Chartered Bank, with nearly 17% (16.9%) of graduates accepting positions outside the United States.

Marketing

Arthur Middlebrooks, executive director of the James M. Kilts Center for Marketing, told us at mbaMission that Chicago Booth offers students “a full-service marketing curriculum” with roughly a dozen marketing electives and, true to its quant-heavy reputation, its 21-professor marketing department integrates marketing, economics, and statistics in its courses. (Second-year students we interviewed informed us that “Data-Driven


Marketing” is a “quant-marketing” class popular among aspiring marketers and consultants.) Other sample courses in this study area are “Marketing Research” and “Pricing Strategies.”

Although Chicago Booth is not primarily known for marketing, by establishing the Kilts Center for Marketing in 1999—named for the 1974 alumnus who was formerly CEO of Gillette and Nabisco—the school has attempted to bolster its reputation for excellence in the field (possibly in hopes of gaining an edge over its crosstown rival, Kellogg). More recently, Kilts donated $1M, via a challenge grant, to the school to attract and fund top students interested in marketing. As a result, since the 2006–2007 academic year, Chicago Booth has been providing five to eight students from each class with $50,000 each (over a two-year period) in financial support, as well as mentorship from a senior marketing executive.

Early in the academic year, the Kilts Center sponsors the Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME) Conference, which helps facilitate and encourage interaction among researchers in the field. Although the event was sponsored by the Kilts Center, the September 2011 QME Conference was held at the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester. The conference’s goal, according to the center’s Web site, is “to provide a forum for interaction among researchers in this growing and important area.” This day and a half event featured sessions on “Targeting Political Advertising on Television,” “Competition in Status Goods Market,” and “Social Ties and User-Generated Content: Evidence from an Online Social Network,” as well as a breakfast and a dinner reception. The winner of the Dick Wittink prize for the best QME paper, which is announced each year at this conference, in 2011was Toker Doganoglu, an assistant professor with the Center for Information and Network Economics at the University of Munich, for his paper “Switching Costs, Experience Goods and Dynamic Price Competition.”

The Chicago Booth Marketing Group hosts a half-day Marketing Conference that covers topics that are less esoteric than those examined in the QME Conference and provides the requisite networking opportunities with corporations. The theme of the October 2011 Marketing Conference was “A New School of Thought,” and the event featured panels on such topics as “Innovating in the New Economy: Tapping into Your Entrepreneurial Spirit” and “Turning Consumer Insights into Marketing Results.” The CEO of Liz Claiborne gave a keynote address in which he provided insights on the recent sale of Liz Claiborne to JCPenney.

Further, the school offers “day at” opportunities, wherein students visit various marketing firms in the greater Chicago area to learn firsthand about those companies’ career offerings and corporate culture. Participating “day at” companies in recent years have included Abbot, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Wrigley, and Kraft. In addition, Wrigley, General Mills, Deloitte, Campbell’s Soup, and BCG have all offered Lunch and Learn sessions.


As soon as December exams are done, interested students partake in Brand Week Trek, a networking blitz during which they visit firms in the New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia areas. In 2011, 25 students visited such firms as American Express, Campbell’s Soup, Dannon, Reckitt Benckiser, Diageo, and Pinnacle Foods. In addition, according to a second-year member of the marketing club, the group sponsored a Retail Trek (coordinated with the Retail, Apparel, and Luxury Group), which ran concurrent to the Brand Week Trek and visited Coach, Cynthia Rowley, Rue La La, and Urban Outfitters.

In doing research for this guide, mbaMission learned that Chicago Booth is working to grow its experiential opportunities in the marketing field. The school’s Web site lists six management labs dedicated to the marketing function, with firms such as Abbott, Barclays, and Honeywell International, Inc. sponsoring these lab classes, for which students take on semester-long consulting projects. Arthur Middlebrooks, executive director of the James M. Kilts Center, explained to mbaMission that each management lab consists of eight to ten students with one or two coaches per team who meet three days a week. The class involves no curricular component: the class is the consulting project. Said Middlebrooks of the lab course, “You learn a ton about the subject and a lot about your own work style.”

In addition, professors in Chicago Booth’s marketing department realized opportunities for increased practical involvement and created “hybrid” classes in “Marketing Research” and “Consumer Behavior” that involve a lecture component but that also allow students to work on shorter-term projects with more narrow scopes for firms large and small. More than 200 students participate in these courses each year and work in teams of five with such companies as GE Healthcare, Procter & Gamble, and Chicago Public Radio. Plus, in 2009, Chicago Booth started a marketing mentorship program, wherein students are paired with one of approximately 40 Chicago Booth alumni mentors from leading marketing firms (e.g., General Mills, PepsiCo) who provide their assigned students with career guidance and support.

Chicago Booth continues to expand its experiential learning opportunities through its partnership with A.C. Nielsen, a global market researcher. Chicago Booth houses both Household Panel and Retail Measurement Services store data for Nielsen that, according to the school’s Web site, “will make Chicago Booth the premier location in all of academia for consumer marketing data.” Middlebrooks told mbaMission that through classes such as “Data Mining,” “Data Driven Marketing,” and “Integrated Marketing Communications,” faculty teach students how to use this kind of data in their decision making. For example, the Household Panel data provide a record of what people buy in 60,000 homes, and through these records students can, notes Middlebrooks, “infer shopping behavior and track spending.” Students can access the data only through Chicago Booth courses and with faculty supervision. According to Middlebrooks, this partnership will create “a clearinghouse for data for the academic community.”


Nearly 10% (9.6%) of Chicago Booth graduates accepted positions in marketing in 2011 at companies including Campbell Soup Company, E. & J. Gallo Winery, General Mills Inc., Kraft Foods Inc., MillerCoors, PepsiCo Inc., and Sara Lee Corporation. In a January 2010 Chicago Booth admissions chat, a second-year student told prospective marketing students, “What I’ve heard from companies is that they recruit from Booth because they find that the students come out of the MBA program with very strong business and analytical fundamentals, as well as great marketing fundamentals, both of which are extremely important to succeed in marketing.”

Nonprofit/Social Entrepreneurship

No research center or major is dedicated specifically to nonprofit work or social entrepreneurship at Chicago Booth. However, the school’s Net Impact Group emphasizes on its site that because of the MBA program’s flexible curriculum, students can define their own major in the area and might thus consider a variety of courses, including “Public Policies Toward Business,” “Population and the Economy,” “International Business Environment: Global Capitalism and International Governance,” “Social Entrepreneurship,” “A Guide to Business Ethics,” and “Corporate Governance.” Net Impact also notes that because students may take up to six classes in other departments within the University of Chicago, MBA students can take advantage of the extensive academic offerings available via the Harris School for Public Policy.

In addition, Net Impact offers students two significant experiential/leadership opportunities via its Service Corps and Board Fellows programs. In the Service Corps program, students use their burgeoning business skills to complete short-term, part-time projects with nonprofits in the Chicago community. Through the Board Fellows program, students join the boards of nonprofits as nonvoting members and complete a strategic project with the guidance of a board member who acts as a mentor. Students make a significant commitment to the nonprofit with which they align—projects often demand eight to ten hours per week for six months. Said a second-year student in a February 2010 Chicago Booth admissions chat, “I’d absolutely recommend the Board Fellows program. It was one of my most outstanding experiences at Booth.”

Although the Giving Something Back Group (its acronym, GSB, is now a bit anachronistic, but the group is keeping it for the time being) is less managerial than the Board Fellows or Service Corps, students interested in the nonprofit world may be interested to learn that it offers a wide variety of community volunteer opportunities. Currently, the GSB offers more than 20 project options. For example, students may commit to tutoring disadvantaged children, assisting families with tax preparation, or preparing food for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House. mbaMission learned that this program, which has more than 200


members, is quite popular among Chicago Booth students, and participants enjoy not only “giving back,” but also bonding with their classmates through these volunteer opportunities. A first-year GSB member told mbaMission that a goal of the group is “to reinforce the importance of volunteerism among business school students in an enjoyable and rewarding fashion,” adding, ”We hope that our efforts will promote long-term commitments and sensitivity to the importance of good citizenship.”

In addition, students can make an impact in the developing world through the International Development Group (formerly the Chicago Global Citizens Group), which harnesses MBA students’ skills to benefit those in need internationally. In recent years, Chicago Booth students have worked on consulting projects for the New York University/Gates Foundation Microfinance Project and the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Access Initiative, among other high-profile, international developmental projects. Further, the group sponsors a Spring Trek to a developing country—recent trips have been to Kenya (2007), Tanzania (2008), Botswana (2009), the Philippines (2010), and Columbia (2011)—where students spend one week volunteering, meeting with local nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations, and sightseeing.

On the 2012 Spring Trek, students traveled to Vietnam. For this trip, 12 “Boothies” worked on two projects: teaching English to the White Thai (one of more than 80 minority groups in the country) and assisting a local entrepreneur who employs disabled women in her handcraft business. A second-year student who participated in the trip told mbaMission, “We talked to some of the people that are investing in the country, among private equity funds and institutions like World Bank. In one week, we covered the more developed south with super lively Saigon, and the more traditional north, where we visited the capital Hanoi and surroundings.”

Students concerned with environmental issues will likely be interested in Chicago Booth’s Energy Initiative, a research center devoted to studying the economic, environmental, and geopolitical impacts of energy use. Although students do not typically deal with climate change “hands on” through the initiative, they have many opportunities to address energy use in academic forums through the speakers and workshops the initiative regularly hosts. For example, in November 2010, a research fellow with Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs came to campus to speak on “Black Gold and Blackmail: The Politics of International Energy Coercion.” In 2011, a manager with Toyota’s advanced technology group and one of the designers of the Prius spoke on “Energy, Technology, and the Future of Transportation,” and in 2012, the former undersecretary for science at the U.S. Department of Energy spoke on the energy problems currently plaguing the United States.


Organizations such as Computers for Youth, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, and the Cambridge Center for Adult Education have recruited Chicago Booth students for nonprofit positions in past years, and in 2011, graduates were hired by such nonprofit organizations as Civic Consulting Alliance and The Bridgespan Group. According to the school’s most recent employment report, five members of the Class of 2011 entered full-time positions in government/nonprofit.

(Note: Candidates interested in microfinance should see the International Business section for information on the Chicago Microfinance Conference.)

Notable Professors and Unsung Heroes

Sanjay Dhar (“Pricing Strategy”): If one were to say that a star marketing professor could be found in the city of Chicago, one would likely guess that he/she would be found at Kellogg. However, in line with our earlier statement that Chicago Booth is working hard to develop its marketing program, the school can boast that it can claim the professor who wrote what the Journal of Marketing Research deemed its best article of 2008 and who has received several other awards and citations, including being recognized as an outstanding faculty member in three Bloomberg Businessweek guides to the best business schools. In a March 2010 Chicago Booth admissions chat, Dhar was described as one of the school’s “amazing marketing professors.” In addition, students told mbaMission that they are pleased that Dhar is teaching more and researching less. He keeps the energy high in his classroom by constantly walking up and down the aisles during discussions and then literally running to the board to write down salient points.

Arthur Middlebrooks (“Marketing of Services” and “Developing New Products and Services”): A 1988 Chicago Booth alumnus, Arthur Middlebrooks is also a management consultant who has helped service companies—including the Bank of America, IBM Consulting, and BP/Amoco—develop new products and services. With these experiences in hand, Middlebrooks is prepared to take students in his “Developing New Products and Services” class through the product development process, starting from scratch. In his class, rather than being instructed to dream up a product, students are given raw data and hold focus groups as they strive to identify a consumer need. Recently, students in this course conceptualized new bag products for Ziploc and presented their findings to a panel of entrepreneurs. Students with whom mbaMission spoke described Middlebrooks as innovative and gushed about his passion and energy. Plus, several were impressed that he knew each student’s name on day one of class.


Kevin Murphy (“Advanced Microeconomic Analysis”): In 2005, Kevin Murphy, who has a joint appointment in the department of economics at the University of Chicago, where he teaches PhD-level courses, became the first business school professor to win the MacArthur Genius Grant, which he received for his groundbreaking economic research. Murphy’s course, “Advanced Microeconomic Analysis,” is affectionately called “Turbo Micro” because of its enormous workload. One recent graduate told mbaMission that a typical Chicago Booth course is supposed to be complemented by five hours of homework per week, but that Murphy’s course demands roughly 20 hours of work per week outside class. So, why take the class? The student raved that it was taught at the PhD level and that Murphy is deserving of his “genius” title, pushing students to think about their opinions in profoundly different ways.

James Schrager (“New Venture Strategy”): Although he has a PhD from the University of Chicago in Organizational Behavior and Policy, James Schrager is not just an academic, but also a practitioner, able to claim that he helped take the first private American company public on the Tokyo stock exchange and assisted in turning around aspects of the Pritzker family holdings, which were ultimately sold to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. Students we interviewed noted that Schrager brings his high-level experiences to class but remains entirely in touch with students’ more modest perspectives, adapting his anecdotes accordingly and creating practical learning points that pertain to what students will face early in their post-MBA careers. One second-year student told mbaMission, “He is not up in the sky, but very practical, and by the way, his class is always full.” Students’ grades in Schrager’s “New Venture Strategy” class are based in part on the success of a business idea the students present to their peers—the other students act as venture capitalists and give feedback on the idea.

Luigi Zingales (“Entrepreneurial Finance and Private Equity” and “Theory of Financial Decisions”): Luigi Zingales is known on the Chicago Booth campus for his charm, sense of humor, and humility, but students with whom mbaMission spoke also call him an innovator, citing as evidence his perspective on the discount rates used to evaluate the future cash flows of new and risky ventures (i.e., his ability to mathematically explain why some firms deserve a 30%–50% discount rate). Zingales’s novel approach to solving the mortgage crisis was profiled in The Economist, and Bruce Bartlett of the National Review Online called his book Saving Capitalism from Capitalists: Unleashing the Power of Financial Markets to Create Wealth and Spread Opportunity (coauthored with Raghuram G. Rajan; Crown Business, 2003) “one of the most powerful defenses of the free market ever written.” His students call him an “emerging finance superstar”—significant praise, considering the company he keeps at Chicago Booth.


Social/Community Life

Booth Partners: Booth Partners is an official school club with more than 175 members that, according to the school’s Web site, is “designed to provide support throughout the Chicago Booth experience by hosting social events, offering advice about moving to and living in Chicago, and providing a networking resource for members who plan to work and volunteer while in Chicago.” During the school’s admit weekend, sessions are run by current partners to inform admitted Chicago Booth students and their partners about life at the school, showing, said a Chicago Booth partner with whom we spoke, “that the partner is recognized as an important part of the decision-making process.” She added, “Upon acceptance to Booth, not only does the student receive a letter, the partner does as well!”

Partners, with or without children, who move with their students to Chicago Booth can take advantage of what the group has to offer by paying a $115 membership fee for the duration of the two-year MBA program. Membership benefits include invitations to partner parties; a weekly email newsletter called The Voice; and inclusion in sub-clubs, such as a Book Club, a Wine Club, etc. Events take place on average one to two times a week. The Booth Partners Web site offers information on moving to Chicago with links to descriptions of area neighborhoods and apartment buildings as well as specific resources for international students and their partners. In addition, the club has created a guidebook to life in Chicago that includes additional housing information as well as grocery shopping tips and other pointers.

Within the Booth Partners club is Partners of Little Ones (POLO), a resource targeted for students/partners with children. Information on weekly POLO play dates and other child-friendly activities are announced in The Voice. Said the Chicago Booth partner with whom we spoke, “There are lots of resources available to make everyone that is special to a Booth student feel welcomed and cared for! As a Chicago Booth Partner, I have found the Booth Partners club to be an excellent organization in which to meet new people and participate in fun, interesting activities.”

Chicago Booth Ski Trip and Tuck Winter Carnival: Candidates who decide to attend Chicago Booth can look forward—with approximately 500 of their closest friends in the community (partners are invited as well)—to the school’s annual ski trip, which takes place over winter break. The trip shifts locations each year, but in 2011, roughly 250 Chicago Booth students and partners traveled to Aspen, Colorado. Said a student ambassador in a December 2011 Chicago Booth student blog post, “All in all, I’d say that the Aspen ski trip was a huge success, thanks in big part to the team of second years who spent the last six months planning it.” Also, members of the Chicago Booth Ski and Snowboard Club participate in the annual Tuck Winter


Carnival (at Dartmouth), for which many of the country’s top business schools send teams to compete in a ski race, though we learned the event tends to be more about beer than competition.

Liquidity Preference Function (LPF): LPF is a play on a financial term coined by John Maynard Keynes and is held on Fridays at Hyde Park. Students and their partners/families gather after classes in a communal area in the Harper Building called Winter Garden for free food and drinks. LPF is a school-sponsored event organized by the Graduate Business Council (a group of students elected by the student body to organize activities). LPFs are often theme based. For example, one held during the 2011¬–2012 academic year was the Mentor-Mentee LPF, and one in the 2010–2011 academic year focused on the arts; at that event, the Booth Arts Group displayed the finalists in a photography contest it sponsored, and music and dance performances were featured.

Random Walks: Each year, Chicago Booth students can choose to take part in one of more than 25 trips abroad (and one domestic trip to Alaska), called “random walks,” as an orientation to the school and a way to kick-start their MBA social lives. Three to four second-year students organize each of the weeklong excursions, which take place toward the end of August each year. Because students organize these trips, they can become quite specialized—for example, in the past, two trips have been offered to Belize, one for singles and one for couples. As trips fill up, they become “suspended” to allow admits from Round 2 time to sign up. Still, students who have their hearts set on a particular destination would be wise to sign up as early as possible. And students who have not set their sights on any particular destination can elect to join the “mystery trip,” for which students do not find out where they are going until they get to the airport. (In 2011, the “mystery trip” was to Barcelona, Spain, and Dublin, Ireland. The 2009 “mystery trip” destination was Jordan, and in 2010, it was Portugal.)

Semiformal Event at Shedd Aquarium: Early in first year, students have a semiformal evening at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium. This event, organized by the Office of Student Programs and Events, is exclusive to first-year students and their partners and is intended to help facilitate friendships beyond the Harper Center. Students can tour the magnificent aquarium and then enjoy drinks, hors d’oeuvres, and dancing. Because the event can sometimes get a bit raucous, buses are available to return students safely to campus—that is, unless they continue on to afterparties downtown.

Thursday Night Drinking Club (TNDC): A November 2010 Student Perspectives Blog post called “Fun Times at Booth” notes, “At least twice a week there are two major events that all students are always invited to”—and one of these is Thursday Night Drinking Club, or TNDC. This event is organized by six second-


year students (“chairs”) who are hand chosen by the previous year’s chairs and who select a new location each week where students and their partners/families can gather in downtown Chicago. A member of the Dean’s Student Admissions Committee told mbaMission that TNDC is “ just one part of the vibrant city-based social environment of Booth.” Noting that attendance regularly numbers 200–400, a first-year student with whom we spoke remarked that “Booth frequently takes over the venue.” In a June 2009 student blog entry, a first year wrote of TNDC, “It is usually an open event, where friends and family are invited. People come, relax, and chat. You need not drink. You can just turn up. … You can meet other first years, second years, older years, part-time program students, weekend program students, and non-students.”

Winter Formal and Spring Fling: Later in the year, both first and second years don their tuxedoes and cocktail dresses to enjoy the Winter Formal. Students told mbaMission that they enjoy these opportunities to get their energy pumping and break up the long winter with a party. The Spring Fling follows, which students we interviewed likened to an American prom.

Academic Summary

Curriculum: Chicago Booth is renowned for its flexibility—its LEAD Program is the school’s only mandatory course. Nonetheless, this claim to flexibility can be a bit misleading. Chicago Booth breaks its course selection down into different categories; students must take three foundation courses from among 16 financial accounting, microeconomics, and statistics options. Then, students must take six courses from the selections offered in the functions, management, and business environment categories. Each of these three categories is broken down into subsets: the functions subset includes finance, marketing, and operations; the management subset includes decisions, people, and strategy; and the business environment subset is eponymously named. Students ultimately must take six courses from among these seven subsets, for which they have more than 40 options. Thereafter, 11 elective options remain for students among the 21 total courses (including LEAD) they need to complete to graduate. Students can take up to six courses outside the school at the University of Chicago.

Grade Disclosure Policy: Chicago Booth students vote each year on whether they should maintain the school’s grade nondisclosure policy. Currently, this policy is in place, and recruiters cannot ask students for information about their grades.


Majors: Rather than official majors, Chicago Booth offers students 14 available concentrations, which each require the completion of three to six courses within the study area. Concentrations are not required, but students typically fulfill one to three of the following options:

• Accounting• Analytic Finance• Analytic Management• Econometrics and Statistics• Economics• Entrepreneurship• Finance• General Management• Human Resource Management• International Business• Managerial and Organizational Behavior• Marketing Management• Operations Management• Strategic Management

Teaching Method: Chicago Booth does not adhere strictly to one method (case method or lecture). Professors are free to select the format that best fits the subject matter being conveyed. The school’s broad philosophy, repeated throughout its Web site and marketing materials, centers on “challenge everything” and “examine every idea.”

Total Full-Time Faculty: 187 (125 tenure track)

Research Centers and Initiatives:• The Accounting Research Center• Applied Theory Initiative• The Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory• Center for Decision Research• Center for Population Economics• Center for Research in Security Prices• Chicago Energy Initiative• George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State• Initiative on Global Markets


• James M. Kilts Center for Marketing• Michael P. Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship• Milton Freidman Institute for Research in Economics

What Is the Admissions Committee Saying?

The Chicago Booth admissions committee is quite possibly the most transparent such committee among all top MBA programs. The school hosts hour-long online chats on a monthly basis and gives very candid responses to all sorts of applicant questions. If you have a query or concern about the school’s MBA program or applying to it, Chicago Booth provides a forum in which to connect and get “straight talk” on the issue. The “Contact Admissions” page on the Chicago Booth Web site (www.chicagobooth.edu/fulltime/admissions/contact.aspx) lists biographies of each member of the admissions team, and members of the committee are not shy about offering up their email addresses, so you can even contact them directly (we choose not to list their addresses here, however).

Application Process: Once a complete application has been received, it is given to an admissions fellow (a trained second-year student or an admissions staff member), who reads the application and makes a decision as to whether to interview the candidate. The application is then passed on to an admissions director, who reads the application and makes a similar decision. If these two decisions differ, another director breaks the tie with a third decision. When a candidate is interviewed, a subsequent interview report is made, processed, and given to another director, along with the rest of the applicant’s file, for a third, or possibly fourth, read. That director then votes to either admit the candidate, deny the candidate, or bring the decision to committee for further discussion.

In a March 2011 admissions blog post (http://blogs.chicagobooth.edu/n/blogs/blog.aspx?nav=main&webtag=boothinsider&entry=23), Associate Dean of Student Recruitment and Admissions Kurt Ahlm describes the application process as such: “There is no formula that we use to determine who is admitted. We strive to select the people we feel most thoroughly embody the values that we live every day, which is why each admitted student is reviewed by at minimum five members of our committee (student fellow, first admissions director, interviewer, second admissions director, me). As we have tried hard to express to thousands of prospective students who read our materials, attend our events, or visit our campus, our applicant pool is full of interesting and successful people, but not all of them leverage the application in a way that truly conveys strong fit with those values. At the end of the day, it is fit that proves to be our final litmus test.”

http://www.chicagobooth.edu/fulltime/admissions/contact.aspx

http://www.chicagobooth.edu/fulltime/admissions/contact.aspx

http://blogs.chicagobooth.edu/n/blogs/blog.aspx?nav=main&webtag=boothinsider&entry=23



Admissions Rounds: Although applying in Round 1 rather than Round 2 may confer a slight statistical advantage—because Round 1 involves fewer applications, and no decisions have yet been made (thus, no limit exists at this point on the number of spaces available)—admissions staff at Chicago Booth have emphasized in various communications that quality is more important than speed when one is applying to the school and that candidates should wait until Round 2 to submit their application, if necessary, rather than rushing through their application to submit it in Round 1. By Round 3, fewer spaces and scholarships are available.

An associate director of admissions noted in an August 2010 online chat, “There are some differences between the rounds, but they are nominal. In Round 1, the slate is clean and we have yet to review applications. In Round 2, we typically receive the largest number of applications and make the largest number of admissions offers.” The admissions committee does recommend, however, that international students consider applying in Rounds 1 or 2 so that they may have sufficient time to acquire their visas.

GMAT/GPA Cutoffs: Chicago Booth has no GMAT or GPA cutoffs and stipulates no ideal score or average. Applicants are evaluated on a holistic basis, and all their attributes are considered (work experience, community/leadership activities, etc.).

Word Limits: Admissions committee members will not count words or cut off candidates, but they expect candidates to adhere to the guidelines provided.

PowerPoint Presentation/Essay 3: For the past several application seasons, Chicago Booth has offered applicants a virtual blank slate as one of the school’s essay questions: four PowerPoint slides with which candidates could do anything they pleased. Many questions in the admissions committee chats tend to be about the PowerPoint presentation (Essay 3), and in a July 2010 admissions chat, Associate Dean for Student Recruitment and Admissions Kurt Ahlm described the committee’s expectations for this part of the application, saying, “Essay 3 is an opportunity for you to complete your strategic message to the committee. We provide a fixed number of opportunities/tools for you convey your message in (essays, resume, recommendations, etc.). Essay 3 gives you a more open opportunity to share more of your story. We are looking to see how strategic you are in using this space to complete your story effectively.” In a September 2010 admissions chat, an associate director of admissions further clarified, “After reviewing your response to Essay 3, we want to have a better understanding of who you are and how you think.”

Community Leadership: Chicago Booth seeks well-rounded candidates but understands that some careers may limit the amount of activities in which certain applicants can participate. Sometimes, an individual


who is “too busy” now can make up for a lack of current involvement once he/she arrives at the school. In an August 2011 admissions chat, an associate director of admissions noted, “We value leadership and community involvement in whatever form it comes from each individual applicant. Some are really involved in traditional activities, while others choose to get involved in community organizations—churches, nonprofits, etc.” There is no right number of community engagements an applicant should have; the admissions committee is simply trying to understand the candidate’s interests—quality trumps quantity. Applicants should not be hesitant about discussing faith-based community engagements.

Unemployment/Layoffs: The school does not necessarily view a layoff or period of unemployment unfavorably. Said an associate director of admissions in a September 2010 admissions chat, “Unfortunately, as we are globally in an economic downtown, we do understand that many of our applicants will have had to experience layoffs or downsizing. It’s how you spend your time and what you do about it that tells us about you.”

International Quotas: Chicago Booth does not have any specific quotas by country or industry. Student numbers by country fluctuate a great deal each year.

Recommendations: If a candidate’s recommenders miss a deadline, he/she can email the admissions committee to ask for additional time and may be granted a one-week extension. Third recommendations are not recommended, but the school will read them, if they seem substantially different from the others. In a September 2010 online chat, an associate director of admissions noted, “We ask for two letters. If you submit more than two, make sure the third letter adds value by touching on points your other two may not. This is a place in the application where you’ll want to use your judgment as the committee really only requires two. Think quality over quantity.”

Interviews: Interviews are mandatory for admission for all candidates, including reapplicants. The percentage of applicants who are invited to interview is based solely on the quality of the applicant pool, and no set ratio exists. Traditionally, 40%–60% of applicants are interviewed. Interviews are conducted by admissions committee staff, students, or alumni and are held on campus or in a location convenient for the prospective student. All interviews, regardless of who conducts them, receive equal weight in the evaluation process. Interview invitations are randomly distributed. The timing of a candidate’s interview invitation has no bearing on his/her chances of admission.

A November 2010 post by Associate Dean of Student Recruitment and Admissions Kurt Ahlm on the admission staff’s blog (http://blogs.chicagobooth.edu/n/blogs/blog.aspx?nav=main&webtag=boothins



ider&entry=17) reminds candidates to dress in business attire and bring a resume to their interview. Ahlm also suggests that candidates ask themselves the following questions in preparation for their interview:

• What is my motivation to obtain an MBA? • What do I really want from my MBA experience?• What can I bring to the Chicago Booth community?• Why is Booth the right place for me?• Can I clearly articulate my career plan and future goals?• How do I plan to use my MBA in my career?

Although interviews are important, they are not “make or break.” Interviewers are primarily attempting to assess the candidate’s fit with the program (i.e., whether the applicant has done his/her due diligence on the school and understands how it connects with his/her MBA and career goals). An associate director of admissions said in a November 2010 online admissions chat, “Be prepared to tell your story, even if you feel like you’ve already done so. That includes your interest in Booth, your goals, and your motivation for the MBA. Finally, come armed with some great questions to ask your interviewer.” Said a second year in the same chat about his own experience interviewing at Chicago Booth as a candidate, “My interview was really conversational, and it was really about my interviewer getting to know me and having a feeling whether I would have a good fit with the community here.”

The Waitlist: According to the school’s Web site, “The waitlist at Chicago Booth is used to gauge the pool of candidates in a subsequent round before offering a final decision to those candidates placed on the waitlist.” If a candidate is waitlisted, he/she will remain on the list until at least the next round. While the school is unable to provide specific feedback to waitlisted applicants, it does not rank the candidates on the list, and applicants are welcome to submit supplemental materials. As of the 2010–2011 admissions cycle, Chicago Booth began evaluating applicants who were waitlisted for Round 1 as part of Round 2 admissions decisions. This means that while some applicants may remain on the waitlist, others may receive their decision earlier in the process. Some applicants will not receive a decision until Round 3, however.

A December 2011 Chicago Booth admissions blog post describes a new option available for those on the waitlist. Waitlisted applicants may now upload a 90-second video for the admissions committee as a way of introducing themselves. Noted an associate director of admissions in this blog entry, “In the age of digital media, we recognize that video is a common tool of communication, and want to provide any interested candidate with the opportunity to use it. A video provides the opportunity to create a personal connection in lieu of visiting campus.”



Financial Aid: Each year, approximately 25%–30% of Chicago Booth applicants are offered a merit-based fellowship ($10,000–$30,000) at the time of their admissions decision. These awards are based on the quality of the candidate’s application and on any specific criteria identified by the donor. An applicant cannot do anything to enhance his/her chances of gaining an award, aside from simply being a meritorious candidate.

Reapplicants: Reapplicants to Chicago Booth should understand that in the eyes of the admissions committee, they are not starting from a “penalty” situation. However, they are expected to have a more profound perspective on their decision to pursue an MBA and a stronger sense of fit with the school than someone who is applying for the first time. The admissions committee will look to the reapplicant’s current application to provide all the information needed and will only infrequently go back to and review the candidate’s previous file.

In response to a question about reapplicants in a September 2010 online admissions chat, an associate director of admissions stated, “We evaluate reapplicants much in the same way we evaluate first-time applicants. Your current application is reviewed within the larger pool, and we have your previous application on file in the event that we need to reference it. One of the major differences is the additional question for reapplicants, where we hope to get a sense of what has changed since you last applied.” Reapplicants are directed to a specific page on the Chicago Booth Web site: www.chicagobooth.edu/fulltime/admissions/reapplicants.aspx.

mbaMission’s Exclusive Interview with University of Chicago Booth School of Business Associate Dean for Student Recruitment and Admissions Kurt Ahlm

April 25, 2011

mbaMission: Chicago Booth is known for finance. What is it not known for that you believe it should be known for?

Kurt Ahlm: Chicago Booth is a breeding ground for critical thinkers. Our graduates are analytical problem solvers who can apply what they learn here to successful careers in any number of fields. Booth has strength in many areas beyond finance, including entrepreneurship and marketing. Our Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship provides unparalleled programming for our students, through labs in PE [Private Equity], VC [Venture Capitalism], Cleantech and Social Entrepreneurship, to lecture series and networking support, to helping students launch businesses through the New Venture Challenge. The Kilts Center for Marketing

http://www.chicagobooth.edu/fulltime/admissions/reapplicants.aspx

http://www.chicagobooth.edu/fulltime/admissions/reapplicants.aspx


provides similar support to marketing students and recently entered into an exclusive agreement with AC Nielsen to share three major databases which put Booth at the forefront of thinking about marketing and consumer behavior. Partnerships like this show that Chicago Booth provides analytics and critical thought across a variety of disciplines beyond just finance.

mbaMission: Chicago Booth is probably equally well known for its flexibility—where students do not have a prescribed first-year curriculum, but choose classes from core offerings. Could you discuss some of the support that students receive to help them ensure they choose wisely?

KA: Chicago Booth offers the most flexible curriculum of any of the top business schools and has done so since its founding over 100 years ago. We have decades of experience behind us in creating a culture that supports a multitude of choices a student is faced with while they’re here. We have one of the largest administrative staffs of any of the top business schools, despite enrolling a class that is smaller than [that of] many of our closest peers. These staff members are experienced professionals who offer one-on-one support for our students and who create the best academic experience for them. When you couple this guidance with second-year students who serve as a valuable resource for first years, you’ll see that Booth is unmatched in the amount of resources and support it provides its students to help them make the best decisions in planning their curriculum and careers.

mbaMission: Sticking with the theme of what the school is known for … clearly, Chicago Booth has a variety of distinguished professors—Nobel Prize–winner Robert Fogel and efficient market theorist Eugene Fama, to name only two. Does the school have any professors who may be less well known for their research but are instead known for their teaching styles? Can you tell us about one or two “true” teachers at Chicago Booth and how they bring creative or innovative methods to the classroom?

KA: There are far too many names to choose from. Being in a Chicago Booth classroom is a very special experience, no matter who is teaching. The commitment to teaching is embedded deep in our culture, and it is something we not only take pride in but we it is something we are recognized for. Among the top ten business schools ranked by Bloomberg Businessweek in 2010, Booth was the only school to receive an outstanding rating for teaching. Students here can explore any class and experience thought-provoking and innovative ideas every day.

mbaMission: Does the admissions office have any directives at all to increase a “type” of applicant—to accept younger applicants, for example, or to increase the proportion of international students or women? Does the school strive to have each class reflect something specific?


KA: No. At Booth, we do not employ any quotas in our review process. We simply look to enroll a diverse, smart group of students, who fit well with the values and culture of Booth. Innovation and world-changing ideas are born in an environment made up of people of all ages, ethnicities, backgrounds, professions, gender etc. We want to maintain that same commitment to welcoming a diverse mix that has propelled us for generations.

mbaMission: Do you consult with the career services office before making admissions offers?

KA: We work with many offices at Booth to help us to understand how we can refine our selection process. Together we explore what attributes correlate well with success here and after graduation. Understanding how Booth students navigate their academic and career objectives during their two years is tremendously important to how we think about the application evaluation process. So although we leverage our community to help us understand and recognize fit, it is solely the role of the admissions office to select those students who are eventually admitted to the program.

mbaMission: When you read an applicant’s file, where do you start? With the candidate’s resume? With the PowerPoint submission?

KA: At Booth our process is iterative, with many committee members reviewing an applicant’s file before a final decision is made. We calibrate our review process to make sure we all are looking for similar elements of fit, but we all investigate the application a little differently. I tend to follow the order of the application: personal information, professional information, academics, essays (including the slide presentation), letters of recommendation.

mbaMission: No business school is for everyone—who would you say Chicago Booth is not for?

KA: I would say Chicago Booth is not for people who are simply looking for a credential to add to their resume. At Booth, the MBA is the culmination of two years of exploring your interests, engaging your mind and learning how to think critically about markets and organizations. There is no cookie-cutter approach here, no single way to get a degree, so unless a student is prepared to step in, create a path and leverage the full range of opportunities in front of them, this will not be a good fit.

mbaMission: For joint degree applicants, is there any “pull”? Meaning, if you want to accept a certain joint degree applicant, will you advocate on his/her behalf to help the applicant also gain admission to, say, the Harris School? Similarly, when a married couple applies together, do you make admissions decisions with the couple in mind—trying to bring in both spouses?


KA: All applicants to Booth have to be able to get into the program on their own merits. Although we want to be mindful of applicants applying with a spouse, partner, or significant other, that will not tip the scale for someone who is not prepared to handle the challenges of an MBA program. My answer to this question is the same as the answer I would provide to a question on joint degrees.

mbaMission: How would you describe the tenor of the typical admissions interview at Chicago Booth?

KA: The interview process is not meant to be an intense experience, it is meant to be a conversation between two interested parties. It is an opportunity for us to meet a candidate and hear why they believe they are a good fit for Booth, while at the same time allowing the interviewer to convey what makes our program distinctive. Our goal at the end of the interview is to have both parties walk away feeling that they learned something meaningful from the conversation.

mbaMission: What advice would you give to a candidate to help him/her prepare to apply to Chicago Booth?

KA: Take time to thoroughly think through your objectives for business school. Why do you want an MBA? What skills or experiences do you hope to gain? How do you prefer to learn? How do all of these things put you in a better position to accomplish your short- and long-term goals? These are just some of the questions I push people to consider as they begin their application preparation. The more focused and on point an applicant is, the more compelling their application will be and the more prepared they will be to successfully start an MBA program. A two-year MBA program moves quickly regardless where you go, and if you have not fully vetted your reasons for being at that school, you can fall behind pretty quickly. The more thinking and planning you do on the front end, the greater overall success you will have throughout the entire MBA experience.

mbaMission: What percentage of Chicago Booth candidates are typically interviewed?

KA: This percentage can vary from year to year, depending on the strength of the pool, but in general we interview between 40% and 50% of those who apply.

mbaMission: How informed do you think candidates are in general? Do you think the average Chicago Booth applicant knows what he/she would be in for?

KA: Yes, because at Chicago Booth we strive to be as transparent as possible. Our staff and students work


hard to be accessible; we push a lot of content out to prospective students through email, our Web site and a variety of social media platforms. We have a comprehensive campus visit program and we conduct receptions in cities around the world. Because fit with program is so important to our selection process, we try to eliminate any ambiguity about who we are and how to prepare to be successful here. So my guess is Chicago applicants are well aware of what to expect from this place by the time they enroll.


Basics

Year Established: 1898Location: Chicago, Illinois; London, England; Tanglin Village, Singapore (London and Singapore are

executive campuses)Dean: Sunil Kumar (2011)Associate Dean for Student Recruitment and Admissions: Kurt Ahlm (2011)Programs (number of students): Full-Time MBA in both years (including International MBA) (1,177),

Evening and Weekend MBA (1,639), Executive MBA (569), PhD (115)Joint Degrees: MBA/MA in international relations or area studies (East Asia, South Asia, Eastern Europe/

Russia, Latin America & the Caribbean, and the Middle East), MBA/MPP with the Harris Graduate School of Public Policy, MBA/JD with the University of Chicago Law School, MBA/MD with the Pritzker School of Medicine, MBA/AM with the School of Social Service Administration

Living Alumni: 43,000

Rankings:• Bloomberg Businessweek: 1 (2010)• U.S. News & World Report: 4, tied with Northwestern Kellogg and MIT Sloan (2012)• The Economist: 2 overall, 2 among U.S. programs (2011)• Financial Times: 12 overall, 6 among U.S. programs (2012)

Admissions (Class of 2013)

Number of Applicants: 4,169Number of Full-Time Students: 579Average GMAT: 715GMAT Range (Median 80%): 660–760Average Months of Work Experience: 60Average Age of Candidates: 28

AppendixChicago Booth Facts and FiguresNote: Facts and figures in this section are prone to change. Currently, conflicts may exist between the school’s publications and its Web pages. Applicants are urged to recheck facts and figures for the most up-to-date information.


Minority Representation: 9%Female Representation: 35%International Representation: 36% (48 countries)Tuition: Approximately $53,400 per yearInterviews: By invitation only and conducted by students, alumni, or admissions staff.

Employment Statistics (Class of 2011)

Median Base Salary: $107,000Median Signing Bonus: $20,000

Graduates accepted positions in the following industries:• Financial Services: 41.1%

• Investment Banking/Brokerage: 19.2%• Diversified Financial Services: 9.3%• Investment Management/Research: 7.0%• Private Equity: 3.6%• Insurance: 0.8%• Commercial Banking: 0.4%• Mutual/Hedge Funds: 0.4%• Venture Capital: 0.4%

• Consulting: 27.8%• Technology: 9.9%

• eCommerce and Internet: 4.2%• Software/Printing/Publishing: 2.3%• Electronic Equipment: 1.9%• Computer-Related Services: 0.8%• Telecommunications: 0.6%

• Consumer Products: 5.7%• Energy: 2.5%• Retail: 2.3%• Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology/Health Care Products and Services: 2.1%• Manufacturing: 1.5%


• Transportation Services: 1.5%• Real Estate: 1.3%• Government/Nonprofit: 1.1%• Chemicals/Plastics: 0.8%• Advertising/Marketing Services/Communications: 0.6%• Arts/Media/Entertainment: 0.6%• Law: 0.6%• Agribusiness: 0.4%

Graduates accepted positions in the following functions:• Finance: 44.5%

• Investment Banking: 19.0%• Investment Management/Research: 8.2%• Company Finance (Analysis/Treasury): 6.5%• Private Equity: 4.4%• Sales & Trading: 3.2%• Real Estate: 1.3%• Mergers & Acquisitions within a Company: 0.6%• Other: 0.6%• Venture Capital: 0.6%

• Consulting: 29.1%• Marketing: 10.8%

• Brand/Product Management: 7.6%• Other: 3.2%

• General Management: 8.2%• Business Development: 2.7%• Strategic Planning: 1.7%• Operations: 1.1%• Law: 0.8%• Product Development: 0.6%• Other: 0.4%


Graduates accepted positions in the following locations:• United States: 83.1%

• Midwest: 32.5%• Northeast: 27.8%• West: 13.9%• Southwest: 3.6%• Mid-Atlantic: 2.5%• South: 2.5%• U.S. Possessions and Territories: 0.2%

• Asia: 7.2%• Europe: 5.1%• Latin America and the Caribbean: 3.0%• Canada/Mexico: 1.3%• Africa: 0.2%• Australia: 0.2%

Major Employers:• McKinsey & Company, Inc.: 39 • The Boston Consulting Group: 19 • Bain & Company, Inc.: 17 • Morgan Stanley: 15• Booz & Company, Inc.: 12 • Credit Suisse: 11• Deutsche Bank AG: 11 • Bank of America Merrill Lynch: 8 • JPMorgan Chase & Co: 8 • Accenture: 7 • Citigroup, Inc.: 7• A.T. Kearney, Inc.: 6• Goldman Sachs Group Inc.: 6 • L.E.K. Consulting: 6• Pacific Investment Management Co. LLC: 6 • Procter & Gamble Co.: 6• UBS AG: 6


• American Express Co.: 5• Pepisco, Inc.: 5• Standard Chartered Bank: 5• Barclays Capital: 4• Deloitte Consulting: 4• Google Inc.: 4• Lazard Freres & Co. LLC: 4• Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.: 4• United Air Lines Inc.: 4


Publications

“Ahlm, Kurt. “Preparing for a Successful Interview.” Booth Insider admissions blog. November 3, 2010. http://blogs.chicagobooth.edu/n/blogs/blog.aspx?nav=main&webtag=boothinsider&entry=17

Ahlm, Kurt. “Round Two Application Update.” Booth Insider admissions blog. March 3, 2011. http://blogs.chicagobooth.edu/n/blogs/blog.aspx?nav=main&webtag=boothinsider&entry=23

“Best Business Schools 2011 Rankings.” U.S. News & World Report. March 15, 2011. http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/mba-rankings

“Best Business Schools 2012 Rankings.” U.S. News & World Report. March 13, 2012. http://premium.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/mba-rankings

“The Best U.S. Business Schools 2010.” Bloomberg Businessweek. November 11, 2010. www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/nov2010/bs20101110_255552.htm

“Booth ‘After Hours.’” The Booth Experience student blog. March 3, 2012. http://boothstudents.blogspot.com/2012/03/booth-after-hours.html

Byrne, John A. “Chicago’s New Dean Pursues Globalization, Stronger Alumni Network.” Poets & Quants. February 27, 2011. http://poetsandquants.com/2011/02/27/chicagos-new-dean-pursues-globalization-stronger-alumni-network/

Challenge Everything: The Full-Time MBA Program. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, 2007.

“Chat Transcript: Chicago Booth Admissions.” Bloomberg Businessweek. January 24, 2011. www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/jan2011/bs20110120_354672.htm

Employment Report 2008. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, 2008.Employment Report 2009. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, 2009.Employment Report 2010. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, 2010.Employment Report 2011. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, 2011.Friedman, Allan. “Axel Weber, Bundesbank President, to Join Chicago Booth Faculty.” University

of Chicago News. March 10, 2010. http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2011/03/10/axel-weber-bundesbank-president-join-chicago-booth-faculty

“Fun Times at Booth.” The Booth Experience student blog. November 26, 2010. http://boothstudents.blogspot.com/2010/11/fun-times-at-booth.html

“Global MBA Rankings 2011.” Financial Times. January 31, 2011. http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-rankings-2011

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Harris, Melissa. “University of Chicago’s New Booth School Dean, Sunil Kumar, Taking a Broad View.” Chicago Tribune. January 27, 2011. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-01-27/business/ct-biz-0127-confidential--20110127_1_booth-school-sunil-kumar-global-strategy

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“Which MBA? 2011 Full-Time MBA Ranking.” The Economist. October 13, 2011. www.economist.com/whichmba/full-time-mba-ranking

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Admissions Committee blog): http://blogs.chicagobooth.edu/boothinsider/The Rose Report: Rose Martinelli on Full-Time MBA Admissions (University of Chicago Booth School of

Business Admissions Committee blog): http://blogs.chicagobooth.edu/rosereportUniversity of Chicago Booth School of Business: www.chicagobooth.eduUniversity of Chicago Booth School of Business Admissions Committee chat transcripts: www.chicagobooth.edu/fulltime/chat/University of Chicago Booth School of Business Entrepreneurship Conferences: www.chicagobooth.edu/

entrepreneurship/conferences/other.aspxUniversity of Chicago Booth International Business Group: http://student.chicagobooth.edu/group/ibg/University of Chicago Booth Marketing Conference: http://student.chicagobooth.edu/group/mktg/

conference.htmUniversity of Chicago Booth School of Business Partners Group: http://student.chicagobooth.edu/group/

chipart/


University of Chicago Graduate Student Housing: http://rs.uchicago.edu/graduate_housing/index.shtmlUniversity of Chicago International House: http://ihouse.uchicago.edu/

Interviews and Other

Administration Member, Chicago Booth. Personal Interview. May 17, 2011.Administration Member, Chicago Booth. Personal Interview. May 25, 2011.Ahlm, Kurt, Associate Dean for Student Recruitment and Admissions. Personal Interview. March 23,

2011.Ancona, Tom. Assistant Director, Hyde Park Angels. Personal Interview. March 18, 2011.Association of Graduate Admissions Consultants. Tour of Chicago Booth/Meeting with Associate Dean

for Student Recruitment and Admissions Rose Martinelli. June 18, 2008.Chicago Booth Alumnus. Personal Interview. June 16, 2008.Chicago Booth First-Year Student. Personal Interview. June 3, 2008.Chicago Booth First-Year Student. Personal Interview. May 15, 2010.Chicago Booth First-Year Student. Personal Interview. May 17, 2011.Chicago Booth First-Year Student. Personal Interview. May 24, 2011.Chicago Booth First-Year Student. Personal Interview. March 31, 2012.Chicago Booth First-Year Student. Personal Interview. April 16, 2012.Chicago Booth Partner. Personal Interview. May 26, 2011.Chicago Booth Second-Year Student. Personal Interview. March 29, 2009.Chicago Booth Second-Year Student. Personal Interview. March 31, 2009.Chicago Booth Second-Year Student. Personal Interview. March 9, 2010.Chicago Booth Second-Year Student. Personal Interview. March 11, 2010.Chicago Booth Second-Year Student. Personal Interview. March 11, 2010.Chicago Booth Second-Year Student. Personal Interview. May 15, 2010.Chicago Booth Second-Year Student. Personal Interview. June 1, 2010.Chicago Booth Second-Year Student. Personal Interview. March 11, 2011.Chicago Booth Second-Year Student. Personal Interview. March 19, 2011.Chicago Booth Second-Year Student. Personal Interview. May 16, 2011.Chicago Booth Second-Year Student. Personal Interview. January 3, 2012.Chicago Booth Second-Year Student. Personal Interview. March 1, 2012.Chicago Booth Second-Year Student. Personal Interview. March 7, 2012.Chicago Booth Second-Year Student. Personal Interview. April 2, 2012.


Co-Chair, Chicago Booth Business Solutions Group. Personal Interview. May 16, 2011.Darragh, Linda L. Director of Entrepreneurship Programs, Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship. Personal

Interview. June 3, 2010.Darragh, Linda L. Director of Entrepreneurship Programs, Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship. Personal

Interview. March 18, 2011.Darragh, Linda L. Director of Entrepreneurship Programs, Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship. Personal

Interview. April 1, 2012.Farrar, Janice. Associate Director of Relationship Management, Career Services. University of Chicago

Booth School of Business. Personal Interview. March 17, 2011.Kreft, Linda. Senior Account Manager, Accent and Travel MBA. Personal Interview. March 11, 2011.Martinelli, Rose. Chicago Booth Associate Dean for Student Recruitment and Admissions. Personal

Interview. May 8, 2009.Member, Chicago Booth Dean’s Student Admissions Committee. Personal Interview. May 25, 2011.Middlebrooks, Arthur, Executive Director, Kilts Center for Marketing. Personal Interview. April 5, 2011.

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Documents

Insiders Guide Chicago Booth