The Booth 2013-2014 Application Essays

Posted By SWatts on Jan 4, 2014 |


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The 2013-2014 Chicago Booth Application Essays

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business has released its admissions essay prompts for the 2013-2014 admissions cycle. The Booth essay questions will consist of two parts (with a third part required for reapplicants). In part A, applicants will respond to two questions, as seen below.

Short Answer Questions

The 2013-2014 Booth application cycle will consist of two short answer questions, as seen below.

Please respond to the following two essay prompts:

  1. My favorite part of my work is… (250 words maximum)
  2. I started to think differently when… (250 words maximum) 

These two short answer prompts are a sharp deviation from previous years. In previous years, applicants were asked about short- and long-term goals with a maximum word count of 900 words total. This year, essays have been significantly cut into “short answer” prompts, which should altogether total a mere 500 words. Part A largely reflects Booth’s desire to gain insight into the applicant as a person, and not just the applicant as a reflection of his or her resume, while the word limit forces applicants to choose which skills to highlight, descriptions of experiences, and which eye-catching anecdotes to share very wisely.

In part B of the essay section, applicants will create a presentation or essay through PowerPoint, Word, or PDF under the following prompt:

The Chicago experience will take you deeper into issues, force you to challenge assumptions, and broaden your perspective. In a four-slide presentation or an essay of no more than 600 words, broaden our perspective about who you are. Understanding what we currently know about you from the rest of the application, what else would you like us to know?

Part B of the Booth essay set is the same as was seen in last year’s 2012-2013 application cycle. While the Booth presentation/essay portion of the essay requirement is a deviation from the traditional written-only essay standard, it is not unusual among business schools these days. We have seen a deviation from the traditional essay content applications in recent years from few other top business schools as well, including NYU Stern whose essay portion is known for encouraging creativity.

Reapplicant Question

Finally, there will be a third part required only for reapplicants. This question similarly mirrors the reapplicant question asked in the 2012-2013 cycle with no deviations. The question will appear as follows on the 2013-2014 application:

Upon reflection, how has your perspective regarding your future, Chicago Booth, and/or getting an MBA changed since the time of your last application? (300 words maximum)