Continuing with our series of essay topic analyses for this season’s applications, today we’ll take some time to think about the 2009-2010 Chicago Booth application essay questions. The overall format of the program’s prompts is similar to last year; the school requires that applicants submit responses to three ‘essays’, asking candidates about their reasons for applying at the outset of the set and requesting a PowerPoint presentation for the third year running. As for noteworthy changes, the adcom has discarded last year’s tricky question that asked applicants to explain how an MBA from Chicago Booth would have helped them handle a past situation, featuring in its place a more straightforward situational prompt.
Let’s take a closer look at each of this year’s essays.
Essay 1: How did you choose your most recent job/internship and how did this experience influence your future goals? What about the Chicago Booth MBA makes you feel it is the next best step in your career at this time? (750-1000 words)
This is a broader framing of the goals/why MBA essay than last season’s inquiry (which focused solely on the timing of the candidate’s application to business school), but still a relatively ‘loose’ prompt in terms of the level of detail requested about candidate’s post-MBA plans. Rose Martinelli, the school’s Dean of Admissions, has actually stated in the past that Chicago Booth’s essays are less focused on specific short- and long-term career goals – a hint, perhaps, that they intend to save a more elaborate investigation of a candidate’s aspirations for the admissions interview. While all admissions committees are interested in the reasons behind applicants’ professional decisions and the reasons they’ve chosen to apply at this point in their careers, the fact that these are the sole topics explicitly covered by this prompt sets this Chicago Booth essay apart from those of other programs.
One approach to this topic would be for candidates to summarize what they’ve done thus far in their career, broadly explain their future plans and demonstrate why an MBA is necessary to move forward. While that approach does place this question into the career goals essay category, it’s important to keep in mind that the Chicago Booth adcom is most interested in the candidate’s assessment of their career trajectory and the reasons that a turning point has been reached. Finally, even though the question doesn’t specifically ask to explain why Chicago Booth, applicants should absolutely consider tackling this aspect.
As is the case with most schools, demonstrating an understanding of the unique merits of Chicago Booth’s program is crucial to an effective response to this question. Taking the time to learn about the school’s curriculum, special programs and extracurricular activities – whether through a visit to campus, conversation with alumni or reading the Clear Admit School Guide to Chicago Booth – will pay dividends here.
Essay 1a: FOR REAPPLICANTS ONLY: Upon reflection, how has your thinking regarding your future, Chicago Booth, and/or getting an MBA changed since the time of your last application? (250 words)
While reapplicants might have much to say about improvements in their candidacies since they last applied, it’s important to note that this prompt is focused solely on one’s goals and understanding of Chicago Booth’s program. Whether you’ve refined your vision of your future or made demonstrable progress toward the objective you mentioned last season, this is the place to show that you’ve been working to get closer toward your goal – and to get to know the Booth MBA even better.
Essay 2: Please choose one of the following (500 – 750 words):
Describe a time when you wish you could have retracted something you said or did. When did you realize your mistake and how did you handle the situation?
-or-
Describe a time when you were surprised by feedback that you received. What was the feedback and why were you surprised?
Situational questions are a common tool of MBA admissions committees, as they provide a window into an applicant’s past behavior and thought process and offer some insight into how they may act in the future. These two options are a bit unusual, meanwhile, in their focus on the candidate’s ability to recognize and address a misstep or a blind spot. Through these questions, Chicago Booth aims to get a sense of an applicant’s level of self-awareness and willingness to work to improve a situation, relationship or skill.
These prompts leave the door open to examples from all realms of one’s candidacy, examples from the academic, professional, extracurricular and interpersonal arenas may be appropriate. The main thing to consider when selecting an example will be the value of the lesson learned as a result of this experience. Because these questions focus on somewhat negative experience – saying or doing something you wish you hadn’t and being unaware of some area for improvement – it would be ideal to select examples from which you have some distance. This strategy will enable you to cover subsequent growth and discuss the ways you’ve applied any lessons you’ve learned since the experience you describe.
Essay 3: We have asked for a great deal of information throughout this application and now invite you to tell us about yourself. In four [Powerpoint] slides or less please answer the following question: What have you not already shared in your application that you would like your future classmates to know about you?
This is the third consecutive year that this unique task has appeared as part of Chicago Booth’s application. While certainly unusual, this approach isn’t exactly revolutionary – Stern’s usual Essay 3 asks for a personal expression that gives candidates complete freedom with content and medium (with the exception of edible/perishable personal expressions) – but it does speak to Chicago Booth’s interest in a candidate’s interests and personality.
All this “white space” might be daunting to some, but an easy way to approach this process is to ask oneself a few simple questions. Are there four personal themes to which you would like to devote a slide each? Would you prefer to use the four frames to create a sense of progression through a day, event or activity? We’re hesitant to provide too much guidance given the free-form nature of the task; the best advice we can offer is to think about who you are (and how this might be of interest to the Booth adcom), consider how you could translate this into words and images, and then give it a try. Showing the initial result to someone who knows you well could be a great way to determine the effectiveness of a working draft.
