Essay: Why Chicago Booth & Why PTMBA
Prompt: Why are you seeking an MBA from Chicago Booth, and why is Chicago Booth's Evening MBA or Weekend MBA your program of choice? (400 words maximum)
Begin by breaking down the essay question:
- What is your immediate career goal, just after you graduate from Chicago Booth? Tell them what job role that you seek; in which industry; and possibly your target companies. Tell them why this is your career goal (your motivation), and what experience and skills you will bring from your current professional experience.
- What is your long-term career goal (meaning 5-10 years after your graduation from Booth)? Tell them why this is your goal. Chicago Booth tends to be a "mission-based school," meaning that they like to admit people who have a definite, specific, and ambitious purpose for pursuing an MBA, outside of the simple "I will go up the career ladder."
- How will the Booth MBA help you achieve those goals?
For the last question, you should think of the answer in four ways:
- What skills or knowledge that you lack today that you need to pursue those goals?
- What skills or knowledge that you want to build upon that will help you achieve very ambitious goals? (You might achieve your goals on your own, but not as well or as easily.)
- What are Chicago Booth's specific offerings (courses, star professors, clubs, organizations, programs, events, etc.) that will help you gain what you lack or wish to build upon? How will you engage with those offerings to prepare to reach your goals? (Don't write a long list; focus on the offerings that you will really engage in and benefit from.)
- How will the Chicago Booth culture prepare you as a leader? Please read The Chicago Approach.
When you include your skills or knowledge, remember what Booth is looking for in an applicant:
- Academic preparedness, intellectual curiosity, and interpersonal skills, which includes an interest in areas outside of your immediate environment, and a willingness to engage in debate and to ask questions.
- Fit with the Booth community, which includes leadership, team-building skills, respect for others, philanthropic tendencies, community involvement, and a sense of passion regarding social, community, or political issues.
- Potential for a successful career, which includes resourcefulness and a sense of personal direction.
Optional Essay
Prompt: If there is any important information relevant to your candidacy you were unable to address elsewhere in the application, please share that information here. (500 words maximum)
By "unable to address elsewhere in the application," they are referring to something important that does not appear on your resume or transcript, or important context for something on your resume or transcript, or for your GPA and/or GMAT/GRE/EA score.
This space can be used to address any extenuating circumstances that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider. Use to address:
- why your current supervisor is not writing your recommendation
- gaps in work experience
- low GPA or inconsistent or questionable academic performance
- interruptions in academic career
- difficult issues (i.e., Driving Under the Influence or other types of arrests)
- areas of weakness (i.e., less than five years work experience - why you are not waiting to apply)
Use this essay to turn a potential weakness into a strength. Tell the Admissions Committee what happened and why it happened. Be honest in your self-evaluation. Most importantly, tell them what you have learned from a negative experience, and how this learning has influenced future actions.
Alternatively, you may need to reveal something important about yourself that is not clearly seen on your professional resume. To take one of many examples, you might be supporting a family business, a new startup, or a new philanthropy on the side; you might have an important "hobby" that is relevant to business school or shows great promise in your industry; or you might be a serious independent investor. You might have a personal aspect to your life that shows your resilience, ingenuity, or plain old grit.