Executive MBA Recorded Admissions Events

Admissions Director 1: All right. Hi everyone, and welcome to today's information session on the Sokolov Executive MBA Program here at Chicago Booth. My name's Megan Vandenhemel, and I'm one of the assistant directors here at Booth, and I have the pleasure of kicking off today's presentation. My colleague, Trenton Ackerman, will also be sharing the presentation with me. We're also joined by one of our fantastic alumni, Bob Garces. Bob will be adding that student perspective throughout the session today. Please do know that your lines are muted, but we do want this to be as interactive as possible. So please use that Q&A box if you have any questions at any point, and one of us will either respond there or try to answer that question live. So here's what we've got for today's session. We're going to start with a brief introduction to the University, the Booth School of Business more specifically, and then we're going to talk in detail about the Sokolov Executive MBA program.

Admissions Director 1: We're going to do this through a combination of a video and a few slides. And then at the end, we're going to talk about the application process and next steps. Hopefully by today's session, at the end, we're going to leave you with a better understanding of our Executive MBA program and what we have to offer here. Again, please add those questions throughout the session into that Q&A box as they pop up. So let's begin with an overview of Chicago Booth and our educational philosophy. So the University of Chicago has been a world-renowned institution for more than a century, and we have academic leaders who have really changed the world in nearly every field in industry. We're going to kick off our presentation here with a nice video that provides a introduction to the university and our approach to learning. It's about three minutes long.

Video Voiceover: The University of Chicago has a set of lasting values and that continues to apply today and will in the future. We're very committed to sort of a free environment, freedom of expression, no restrictions on people having constructive debate about their ideas. It's an environment of open inquiry, an environment of learning, and those are lasting values that we are very strongly committed to maintaining now and in the future. The most unique thing about Chicago is its approach to education. The idea of the Chicago Approach is, although there are many varied things that people do in business, there's different industries, there's different job functions, and things change over time, sometimes in very striking ways, we think that there are some fundamental ideas from fields like economics, psychology, sociology that have lasting value.

Video Voiceover: We teach from the disciplines of psychology, sociology, economics. We are data-driven. We believe in empirical evidence. We try to not just go with theories alone, but with data and evidence, and we try to back up our claims. We are analytical and we are able to understand, to go deeper, to integrate and focus on fundamentals.

Video Voiceover: When you are sitting in a class with all these classmates, the insights that they voice out in class and in our study groups is just amazing. And then the professor would then add his or her comment on what this person said. And it just makes the learning to be very rich, contextual.

Video Voiceover: Each of the professors have made an impact in one way or another. I had a professor say to me, he thinks that I could be on a CEO track, and prior to joining Booth, I would've never have thought that, or I had those doubts in my head, am I ready for that next step?

Video Voiceover: Well, Chicago Booth has a great reputation. We are able to be exposed to the best economist in the world, not just in the US, but in the world. And then we can fuse that into our actual day-to-day business world to come up with real life solutions. I mean, how can you beat that?

Admissions Director 1: I really like that video. I think it does a great job highlighting the different accomplishments of the University as a whole, but wanted to drill in a couple specific areas from that video. So the first would be our distinguishing hallmark of all Booth MBA Programs is that Chicago Approach to learning. In the video, you heard two of our faculty members, Linda Ginzel and Phil Berger, talk about it, and it's easy to think about it in three defining characteristics. So first, the Chicago Approach is very rigorous. Our longstanding approach to education is rooted in the fundamental scientific disciplines at the heart of business. So things like economics, accounting, statistics, but also psychology and sociology. The Chicago Approach provides students with tools and frameworks to make better business decisions, and these frameworks are also guiding you through these issues and opportunities that you're facing in your current roles and position you to successfully meet business challenges of the future.

Admissions Director 1: Second, the Chicago Approach is highly analytical. It's data-driven and it's honing your analytical and critical thinking skills. It relies on empirical evidence to define problems, ask critical questions, and develop those robust solutions. And then lastly, the Chicago Approach learning embraces open discourse. So at Booth, we are fostering an inclusive community of individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints. We do believe that the diversity in thinking is what inspires lively dialogue, constructive debate, and then produces those lasting ideas with lasting impact. We like to say that ideas compete, but people collaborate. So in summary, the Chicago Approach is rigorous, analytical and free thinking. I think this is a great point to pause and turn it on over to Bob. Bob, I'd love for you to properly take a minute and introduce yourself, maybe tell us where you live, where you work, and when you graduated.

Alumni: Thanks, Megan. Can you hear me first off?

Admissions Director 1: Yes.

Alumni: Sound check. All right. So name's Bob Garces. I live in the Boston area. Currently, I serve as VP of Strategy for a clinical stage company known as AmacaThera. We actually have a very interesting hydrogel platform for delivering different types of APIs, and we actually have licensed one of our lead asset to a company called Pacira BioSciences recently as of last year. So we're hoping to start phase two soon, exciting times. I also do some consulting on the side. I also do some angel investing on the side. I do some mentoring on the side. I have a lot of different hats, but all those hats are there now, actually, I'd say in part or actually largely thanks to Chicago Booth.

Admissions Director 1: Excellent. Excellent. So now that the perspective students, I feel like they would love to learn why you chose Chicago Booth. Did you look at other MBA programs? What were the things that you evaluated and how did you land on our Executive Program here?

Alumni: I guess having spoken to a number of students as well, I find that everyone has their own unique perspectives and reasons for why they ended up joining Chicago. For me, it was a mix of a number of things. First, at the time when I was looking for an MBA program, this was back in 2016, I was looking, I wanted a program that was rigorous, that was solid, that was well respected. And of course you do a search and there were a number of schools that fall into that discipline. I was living in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the time, and I'm noting my geographic location because I also said to myself, for me, I didn't want to fly. I know there's a lot of students who do fly, they're fine, but for me, I want to go to a school within driving range of where I live.

Alumni: So I literally drew a circle around Grand Rapids. I said, "I'm willing to drive about three to four hours." And there's a number of top rated schools that fall into that circle, Chicago Booth, Kellogg, University of Michigan, I'm forgetting the name of it at the moment, Notre Dame. There's some other good schools within the area. And I applied to a number of them, actually got interviews with all of them. But then after I actually talked and spoke with both the admissions group, former alumni, I just seemed to really resonate very strongly with the Chicago group more than any of the others. And of course, as soon as I got the application, the admittance, then it just seemed like a sign that I had to go to Chicago and University of Chicago and Chicago Booth.

Admissions Director 1: Terrific. Thank you for your context there, and we'll certainly be turning it back on over to you throughout the presentation here. So moving on forward, the second facet from that video that I wanted to highlight a little bit further is our faculty. So here at Chicago Booth, our faculty are seriously impressive. UChicago is home to over a hundred Nobel laureates, 10 of which are across the fields of business. Most recently, Douglas Diamond won the award in 2022 for his works in the bank in the financial crisis. And Richard Thaler, you see up here on the screen, it's also another Nobel Laureate, won the award for behavioral economics back in 2017, who taught in our core curriculum very regularly. So all of our Booth faculty, they are globally focused, they're experts in their field, but they're bringing the expertise into the classroom. They're skilled teachers who are approachable and available to students, and they really do enjoy sharing their curiosity and love of learning.

Admissions Director 1: It's also interesting to note that at Chicago Booth, our faculty teacher costs all four of our MBA formats, so including our Full-time, our Evening, our Weekend, and our Executive MBA programs. It's a unique model that all four of our programs are academically aligned with the same faculty and rigor across all four. So at this point, I'd love to turn it back to you, Bob, before we move on. Can you share some of your experiences with faculty? Did you find them approachable and did you have a favorite

Alumni: Class? Favorite classes are hard to pick from, and the faculty for the majority, 99% of them, fantastic to be taught by, to listen to, to engage with. And the nice thing was I was even being able to engage with them subsequent to joining. I still have a pretty good relationship with Professor Michael Gibbs and as well as Linda Ginzel from the program. But what I really love about the entire program and how the faculty teaches, not only are they conveying information, but they really are able to draw in from the unique experiences and needs of the class and then integrate the desires from the classroom, from the students in the cohort into the lectures to actually turn them to make them more relevant to what the needs of that specific group are. A really fantastic group, enjoyed all of it.

Admissions Director 1: Perfect. Thank you for your perspective there as well. So far we have talked about Chicago Booth as a business school overall with the different consistencies across our MBA formats, but now we're going to talk more specifically on our Sokolov Executive MBA program, which is designed for mid to senior level professionals who are looking to continue their career while also earning their MBA at the same time. So for this, I'm going to go ahead and hand it on over to my colleague, Trenton, to talk a little bit more about the program specifically.

Admissions Director 2: Thank you so much, Megan. Excited to talk more in depth about the Sokolov Executive MBA Program. And there are two additional elements that I really want to highlight and I think set our program apart from other programs. And the first of those is the global nature of the program. So not only was Chicago Booth the very first Executive MBA in the world founded in 1943, it is the only US-based Executive MBA program that has three permanent campuses around the world in Chicago, London, and Hong Kong. And Chicago Booth faculty teach at all three campuses, like Megan says, our faculty are teaching all programs, so they are flying from Chicago across the globe to ensure all students receive a Chicago Booth education. This is not a joint venture or a partnership with another institution. And the program is taught as one global curriculum, meaning all students from around the globe are taking the same classes at the same time.

Admissions Director 2: And Executive MBA students spend time studying on all three campuses, building a truly global peer network, which provides valuable insights into how organizations operate around the world and how cultural differences can impact them. And while our students join a network of powerfully connected people in their own classrooms across each campus, they're also becoming a part of the broader Chicago Booth community of over 58,000 alumni worldwide who all hold the same degree, an MBA from the University of Chicago. These alumni are based in over 120 countries worldwide and thousands of them hold C-level positions in a vast variety of companies and industries, and access to this international network is part of the return on investment of a Booth MBA. So Bob, I'd love to turn it back to you. Do you mind to share your perspective on the global aspect of the program, maybe talk about where you traveled? I know it's shifted some over the past few years, as well as the impact of studying with people from all around the globe.

Alumni: I was lucky enough, actually, I did get to go to London and Hong Kong, though I have not visited the new Hong Kong campus. It was under construction when I was in the program. So we drove by it. I saw the fence, what it looked like before it was built, but have never stepped in the new building. In terms of the perspective of the global program, I never truly appreciated how important having a global perspective is, particularly when it comes to business until being immersed in it in the program. In fact, always told not to put down other schools, but I've heard that from some of my other friends who have been in other so-called international programs, their international program amounted to what they call the field trip to another country. In this case, because you're really working with students who are in different countries at their different campuses, and then you get to go to those campuses and immerse yourself, not just in the campus, but then in the culture of the city, the culture of the country that the campuses are residing in, you actually really see and feel how business decisions, when faced with the same problem are deeply affected by different ways of doing business in these different areas.

Alumni: What matters in some areas, the cultural aspects, what particular key drivers that influence different people from different countries becomes so much more apparent when you're actually immersed and when you're working and having these deep discussions for when you're doing your problem set with your fellow classmates who you're looking at the same problem going, why are you coming to a different answer than I have? Shouldn't we just see things the same way? And then the answer is no, but then why? And then actually how do you build consensus based on these different perspectives and then the amount of value that I really gained both from my classmates as well as from the faculty who are able to weave all this together was just incredible.

Admissions Director 2: Yeah, absolutely. I know that we are currently in the midst of kickoff week with students taking Managerial Psychology and being a part of a global study group. And I know that, like you said, sometimes those conversations can go a little late in the night as everyone's trying to navigate, well, how did you come culturally you came to this answer, we came to this, where can we meet in the middle? So I think it's a great example.

Alumni: Exactly.

Admissions Director 2: Thanks, Bob. So the second differentiator of the Sokolov of Executive MBA program is the global career and leadership support. So many students consider pursuing an MBA because they're looking to make some sort of change. So maybe you're looking to advance in your career, make a career pivot or start your own business. And at Chicago Booth, our EMBA students are supported throughout their 22 months by our Global Career and Leadership Development Team or GCLD as we like to call them. And career and leadership support is an integral part of the program and designed to help students develop confidence and leadership. And our staff work with students on their career and leadership development needs through three primary elements. And the first core component of the program is lead your professional journey. So GCLD facilitates two required sessions during kickoff week and your international week, so your time in London and Hong Kong.

Admissions Director 2: And in these sessions, students explore ways to express their identity as a leader and build strong foundations with their classmates. It also lays the foundation for how students grow as a leader and advance in their career and helps them to learn and leverage all the resources GCLD offers during the program and beyond. The second component of the Executive MBA career support involves educating and preparing students for the career marketplace. Our career coaches arrange a wide variety of opportunities to explore industries and functions through various sessions that connect students to our alumni community, and they also offer workshops focused on building specific professional development skills. And then the final element of GCLD is executive coaching. These are one-on-one sessions in which students navigate their next steps in their career journey. So that could be advancing in their career, pivoting, or starting their own business. And this can take the form of various items such as resume or LinkedIn reviews, mock interviews, leadership assessments, salary negotiations, and discussions on market awareness, transitions, and advancement.

Admissions Director 2: And students may utilize these coaching sessions without limit during the program as well as beyond as a Booth alumni. So again, Bob, would like to turn it over to you. Can you talk a little bit about how your Booth MBA has impacted your career and if you were able to utilize any of the resources GCLD offers?

Alumni: Yes. Thanks, Trenton. I made actually a decent amount of use of GCLD's resources, everything from resume review to doing some mock interviews to help improve my confidence, improve my phrasing. I still think I talk too fast sometimes, but I've learned to slow myself down also as needed, again, thanks to having the opportunity to practice in a safe environment that Chicago Booth provides. And this, I would say, has definitely allowed me to accelerate my career trajectory since graduating from Booth.

Admissions Director 2: Excellent. Thank you so much, Bob. So we've kind of talked about the aspects of the university, the aspects of the program in general. So now let's move on to how does it work? So as you can see on the screen, this is just a broad overview of the format of the program. The Executive MBA Program launches one cohort each year in September across all three campuses and starts with all students across the globe spending a kickoff week together in Chicago, currently happening. And the program is 22 months long, culminating in a global graduation celebration in Chicago. So regardless of what campus you're on, kind of bookending your experience here in Chicago. And the format varies slightly by campus. So here in Chicago, classes primarily meet in periodic Thursday to Saturday weekend class sessions. That happens about once every two to three weeks or four times a quarter.

Admissions Director 2: Meanwhile, students in London and Hong Kong, they are studying in week-long modular class sessions that's happening approximately every five weeks or twice a quarter. So these differing structures reinforce the fact that we are sending Chicago Booth faculty to teach around the world. Most of them are located here in Chicago, so it's a lot easier for them to have more frequent class sessions here at the Gleacher Center downtown. But when they're flying to London and Hong Kong, having that buffer, staying there for a week and then having about a month in between helps them recover before flying back. And in addition to these local sessions, students immerse themselves in global residency weeks in which they study with classmates from all three campuses. So one of those is happening currently during kickoff week, then there'll be time in both London and Hong Kong for everyone. And then we also have our two elective weeks, which happen in August, which we'll discuss later.

Admissions Director 2: And the format allows students the flexibility to continue working while pursuing their degree, attending class for a few days at a time, and then immediately applying what they learned to their current role. And the multiple campuses help ensure that this is flexible for almost everyone regardless of where they are in the world. It should be noted as well that transferring between campuses is also permitted. So even if let's say you move or change jobs or your job says, "Hey, I need you to go to London," it's easy to continue your studies without interruption. You can transfer to the London campus. However, it should be noted that due to that differing program structure across campuses, you may only transfer between quarters. So you couldn't take two class sessions in Chicago and then switch to London or Hong Kong. You would need to say start in London and then you have to finish that whole quarter in London.

Admissions Director 2: A lot of students choose to transfer usually in summer just because it's a little bit easier. But Bob, I'd love it if you could elaborate on how the logistics of the program worked for you. I know you were driving here, but there was some flying involved as well as how did you balance work, school, and your personal life during the program?

Alumni: Right, thanks, Trenton. Yeah, a little hard to drive to Hong Kong and London from Grand Rapids, but the logistics, obviously it's a little bit different now. There's a little bit more time because for me, it was every other weekend, but the idea is still the same. You're going through a stretch of classes and then you have some time to breathe in between. And what I would use the time in between the class periods for was obviously doing some review, doing the homework, but more importantly for me, I was actually looking at can I actually apply what I've learned to my actual work to test how well these theories and discussions in the classroom actually translate into something tangible for improved efficacy in the office environment I was in. So I actually got to test things. A lot of things worked, some things not so much, but I also had the frameworks thanks to Booth.

Alumni: In terms of balancing the whole work, school, life, personal commitments and all, that was something had it in place, not even in place, sort of negotiated even before starting, had to make sure, especially because of the number of days I was going to be out traveling to Chicago or to the international sites, make sure that my own boss was okay with the number of days I would be working remotely. Also, I had to have plans in place for work to make sure that work goes on, whether you're there or not, how would the work that I was responsible for be continued and supported in my absence? And I made sure I had everything lined up for that to make sure it was a nice smooth process. And in fact, because I was applying stuff that I learned from Booth, it turned out that actually I made my work even easier.

Alumni: With family life, of course, you end up spending time away from family. I actually had a young son at the time, just went to university now, but he had to make sure that he also understood that Daddy might be away for a little bit. So it was okay. As long as you've had a clear, honest conversation and have the things in place, I managed to balance things. But in terms of balancing the schoolwork together with my actual work, sometimes there's some days where during work I have a little bit of extra time, I'd book myself a conference room and do some homework if I could actually spare a couple of cycles during the day or spend a little bit of time after dinner reading some assignments or reading some of the lecture notes so I can stay on top of things and doing a little bit of time. So for me, that always works best. I know other people, some of them would cram, some of them were doing their assignments on their flights, whatever works best for you is I'd say what works. So there's lots of different ways to balance and still be successful in the program.

Admissions Director 2: Absolutely. I think you hit the nail on the head. Everyone kind of has their own sweet spot that works for them. And I think if you speak to anyone who's gone through the program, they'll tell you it's not just you who's getting your MBA, you need buy-in from family, from your company. You're trying to navigate studying and finding time for that. I think it was another alumni who said that the program was great because they also had young kids and they were like, "Yeah, it was a great example because my kids were like, Oh, Mommy or Daddy is taking time to study and they're taking schoolwork seriously, so they were setting a good example. So there are certainly different ways to, while it is a lot, to handle their bright sides to everything.

Alumni: In deed. Just one little note. I hope this doesn't renege my degree, but I did have my son help me out with a couple of the multiplication programs so he can actually practice his multiplication while I was doing some of the accounting work. It was good. He double checked me.

Admissions Director 2: Yeah, good practice for him too. All right, so talking about financial accounting and things like that, let's move on to talk about the classes that you will be taking throughout the program. So this slide does pretty succinctly break down classes students take during the program. The focus is on general management and the curriculum is lockstep. So each course builds upon the previous one. The program begins with foundational classes including statistics, microeconomics, and financial accounting. So the building blocks of business and sciences one needs to effectively lead an organization. And then from there, classes diverge into the functions of business, so looking at finance, marketing, and operations, then advancing on to address the subjects of managing people and making decisions. Students also take classes emphasizing the impact of the broader business environment, including macroeconomics, strategy courses, an ethics course, and a data course that incorporates a study of the impact of AI, which is also being incorporated into most classes at this point, I believe.

Admissions Director 2: And then within the second year of the program, each student chooses four electives through which to customize their educational experience. Finally, ending the program with their choice of one of two capstone experiential courses focused on either business strategy or entrepreneurship. And then of course, after they graduate, alumni may also come back to take additional courses and continue to expand their knowledge during elective weeks. So it should be noted as well, while flexibility is a large hallmark of Booth, the Executive MBA is pretty structured. The curriculum was created very deliberately. As I mentioned, it is lockstep so that you are taking classes and building upon them the further you go through the program, and then being able to utilize all the skills that you have learned within the capstone course, which is also unique to Booth. So I think it's a great setup for the program and it's helpful for anyone regardless of industry or where they are in their career.

Admissions Director 2: And I'd like to dive a little bit deeper into electives and the Capstone course, because as I mentioned, all previous courses up to this point are taken together, but these are your opportunities to pursue your passions. So electives are really a chance to tailor the program to your specific interest. They provide an opportunity for students to expand their knowledge of a field or function in which they currently work, or you can explore a completely new subject. There's usually approximately 20 to 25 courses available, and those are offered between two weeks in August, and each student will pick four. So you'll take two classes in the first week and then two different classes. In the second week. And then the Capstone experiential learning course, like I said, unique to the Executive MBA program is just a great way for you to customize that final experience. So you're choosing either between our Global New Venture Challenge or Integrated Strategic Management.

Admissions Director 2: So the Global New Venture Challenge, or GNVC, is the global extension of Chicago Booth's New Venture Challenge put on by the Polsky Center. And through this capstone, student teams develop a comprehensive business plan, pitch their new idea to peers, and then faculty and outside experts as well. They receive feedback, and then teams refine their business plans iteratively throughout the class to eventually compete for prize money during the GNVC finals. The alternate capstone is integrated strategic management or ISM. So with this capstone, students use a multi-round simulation game in which teams compete in a market environment where they make strategic business decisions, negotiate with other teams, and manage their own tasks and team members with the goal of accumulating cashflow and future profit potential. And the course culminates in presentations to a panel of judges who then value each company. So turning to you again, Bob, can you tell us what your elective experience was like, maybe the classes you took, as well as which capstone experience you chose?

Alumni: So for the electives, I remember three of the four I took. I took Entrepreneurship through Acquisition, Governance, How to Live a Good Life. And the fourth one is escaping my head right now, but they were all fantastic. The challenge with electives weeks is, as Trenton noted, it is two weeks, and that's two weeks being immersed in the program. That's two weeks of a lot of material going at you. The nice thing is that you were immersed in it. The not so good thing is that you're pretty much cut off from the rest of the world if you're trying to actually get stuff done well because there is a lot of material that you want to cover within those times. I remember spending many a late night/early morning trying to get things done, ready for the next class the next day. And then of course you need to then rinse and repeat the next day with the weekend having in between the two weeks as a little bit of a buffer break, but a chance to also connect more with the entire cohort because it would've been a while since you had last seen everyone in the group since international weeks.

Alumni: So fantastic. And the other nice thing about the electives, as Trenton noted, is that you are actually getting to engage and choose select courses that are of interest to you. And you're actually getting to see the entire, maybe not quite entire, but the majority of other professors who may not be necessarily regular teachers in the core part of the curriculum, but since they offer electives courses, you get to see some of the other strengths in the other areas of Chicago Booth. In terms of the capstone class, having been working in tech transfer at the time, I knew how much work Global New Venture Challenge would be, so I opted against that and stuck with Integrated Strategic Management. Happy to talk to anyone who wants to know a little bit more insight as to that choice. What was a little bit surprising to me is for a capstone class, integrated strategic management is akin to playing a computerized simulation of building a company and competing for market share with your fellow classmates, which on the surface sounds a little bit, is this really the culminating work of my 22 months in the program?

Alumni: And I can say without doubt that was one of my favorite classes. What made it so good is the simulation itself worked for what it needed to do. It provided enough optionality. It provided a good platform for which we can experiment and a nice way of evaluating how our results and how we were doing compared to others. What turned it into a true experience of what business is like is because you're actually making these side deals off the computer platform. You're talking in between, you're working within your groups to actually try to come up with a better plan of how do you do better business, but then you're also doing side deals by walking in between and trying to negotiate different terms or trades with other group members. And the experience was just really, really fun. So both I know people who've taken GNVC love that and I can definitely say I really enjoyed integrated strategic management. Definitely a great capstone course for the program.

Admissions Director 2: Yeah, that's great to hear. And while, like you said, elective weeks can be a lot, and one thing I do love, I know it can be difficult to take advantage of, but our alumni are able to come back during electives weeks. So it's great to just take a look at the list of classes and see if anything sparks your interest. Also, usually less overwhelming because you can just choose to take a morning class in the second week of electives and that's it. So you're in class nine to noon and then you get to have a bit of a break. And then yeah, certainly I don't think you can go wrong with the capstone classes. It's truly just culminating in applying everything you've learned. And again, depending on what you're wanting to get out of it, I know another alum says that he wishes he would've taken GNVC because he was like, "When would I have ever gotten that opportunity?" He's like, "I'm not an entrepreneur guy," but he was like, "It would've been cool to have that experience." Or sometimes kind of like you, Bob, if you're just like, "That's a lot, I'm going to stick to ISM," or whatever makes the most sense for each individual.

Admissions Director 2: So now this slide is a quick snapshot of our class profile. So this is for the class that entered in 2025. We're still finalizing numbers for those who are here right now for kickoff week. But as you can see, a total number of 193 students, so this is worldwide, a third of whom are women. And in each Executive MBA cohort, while the numbers vary slightly, the diversity of the class is consistent. So there's always a vast range of industries, functions, and nationalities that are represented, and each of these aspects layers onto the expansive Chicago Booth network. It's also worth pointing out that the test scores and work experience statistics are averages. So if you're looking at this and saying, "I don't have that much work experience, I took a test and I'm not quite at that level," that does not summarily disqualify you from the program.

Admissions Director 2: Megan and I are happy to meet with each interested student to discuss professional background and goals and offer advice regarding fit for the program. But now I am going to turn things back over to Megan to cover the application and next steps.

Admissions Director 1: Excellent, thanks, Trenton. So for the application requirements here, we are pretty streamlined application process and we've just launched our application for the 2027 cohort. So to start at the top, we do have a test score requirement. We do accept the GRE, the GMAT, and the Executive Assessment or the EA equally, but generally we do encourage the Executive Assessment just for the fact that it was created specifically for Executive MBA applicants, and it's the same quality of the test, but it's significantly shorter. So in some circumstances, in addition to that, you may also qualify for a test waiver. You can check our website or reach out to us for some more information there as well. For transcripts, we do allow you to upload unofficial copies during the application process from anywhere that you've earned credit. And then upon acceptance into the program is when we will need official copies to be sent to us directly.

Admissions Director 1: We do also require a letter of recommendation. Preferably, it's to come from your direct supervisor, but the main purpose is to hear from somebody who knows you really well and can speak very strongly on your behalf. So if you've got a brand new supervisor, you've only worked together for say six months, you are welcome to choose somebody else who can speak stronger on your behalf. We also recognize that some of our applicants are self-employed and they may not have a supervisor. So folks like mentors, previous supervisors, skip level supervisors, anything like that is totally appropriate, business partners, anything like that. The resume is a pretty straightforward piece here. We want to see all of your professional experience and growth in your career, including all of your work experience. We don't have a cap on the resume length, but do keep in mind that we do have to read all of the resumes.

Admissions Director 1: So typically a two to three page length is appropriate. We do also have one required essay, and there's a few optional short answer questions that you are welcome to complete to give us a broader picture as far as who you are, but they are truly optional. Don't fill them in unless you feel like you have additional information to add. And then all of these pieces are required for you to hit submit on your application. And then once that part is done, we'll do initial review. And if we think that you could be a good fit for our program here, we'll invite you to interview with one of our alumni like Bob, who better to assess your ability in the program than somebody who's been successfully through it themselves. So turning it back over to you for one last question to wrap us up here. If you want to think back to your time of being a prospective student, what kind of advice do you have for folks that are in this stage preparing for their MBA program?

Alumni: Thinking about how to prepare for the MBA program, I think the biggest advice I would give is really consider - Chicago Booth is a fantastic program, but for you to get the most out of it, you need to be able to put the most into it. So are you at the right time? Is this the right stage of your career development where you feel that going to Chicago Booth will create a significant positive change in your career trajectory? And if you can then devote the appropriate amount of time and effort to actually make the most of what the program has to offer, and there's so much that has to offer. If I could look back, I would've spent a little bit more time socializing than I did. I went to a number of social events, but looking back, I could have pushed this couple of my assignments to do them the next day and gone out a little bit more just because building those relationships, I still have relationships with a number of the fellow cohort members.

Alumni: So can you truly engage and make the most of the course and of the program? And that's really a question for you. Can you find that balance? Because you'll get so much more out of it the more you'll be able to put into it, again, engaging with the faculty, engaging with your classmates, engaging with your TA, and just engaging really with yourself, learning about everything you never knew you can know and become thanks to the insights that you can get from the program.

Admissions Director 1: Fantastic point. Absolutely. You certainly do get out of it what you put into it. So nice way to tie this into a little bow. Thank you, Bob. So for our application dates, they are opened, as I mentioned, and we are approaching our first deadline on November 2nd. We do accept applications throughout the whole year, so I always tell people to hit submit when they feel like they have the strongest application. Don't feel like you have to rush for our first deadline. And then if any of this has piqued your interest for some next steps here, we do encourage you to sign up for a CV review. It's a good way to start the conversation with our admissions team to start having conversations on fit and how the program might align with what you're looking for. We also encourage you to visit campus. We offer a lot of campus opportunities from Experience Booth Day, which is an all-encompassing event, class visits.

Admissions Director 1: It's a really nice way to understand what you're getting yourself into. Other than that, feel free to start an application. We'd love to see that come through. And then if you have any types of questions, ways that we can be helpful, please reach out to us directly at mba.chicago@chicagobooth.edu. I want to thank you all so much for joining us. Bob, thank you so much for your perspective throughout this session here today. We hope this has piqued your interest and we look forward to staying in touch. Everyone have a great day. Thank you so much.

Admissions Director 1: All right. Welcome everyone, and thank you so much for joining our Creating Your Best webinar or Creating Your Best Application Webinar, excuse me. During today's session, we're going to give you a handful of tips and advice for preparing your strongest application. So for introductions, my name is Megan Vandenhemel. I'm an Assistant Director of Admissions, and I have the pleasure of kicking off today's presentation for us. My colleague, Trenton Ackerman, will also be sharing the presentation time with me today. We're also joined by alumna, Brittany Williams. Brittany graduated from the Chicago Booth Sokolov Executive MBA Program back in 2025. So as such, she's been in your shoes not too long ago looking at different MBA programs, working on our application, and she's going to be able to provide some valuable insights to the discussion today. We've muted your mics to avoid any background noise, but we do want to make sure that this session is interactive. So as we go through the presentation, please feel free to share your questions in that Q&A box. Now, since you are ready to work on your application for the Chicago Booth Executive MBA Program, I am hopeful that you've had the chance to attend one of our previous presentations or have the chance to connect with one of us on the admissions team directly. Through these events and connections, hopefully you've had a solid understanding of what makes Chicago Booth unique. It's the Chicago Approach to education, it's our global powerful network, our career and leadership support, as well as our world-class faculty. With the background on the program, we're going to move into the main component of the event, helping you prepare your best application. So before we dive deeper into each component of the application, we're going to look at a macro view of the application process to really help identify where you are in the journey. So at the top here, we've got goals and research. So you should start by understanding your goals and your motivations for pursuing an MBA. What is most important to you? Is it a global network? Is it your career goals? Get a really good understanding of your why. This part's not easy. It's a really highly complex set of questions. However, making a big decision in investing your time, money, and energy on the program, it has to be the right fit. In true MBA fashion, I always recommend building out a spreadsheet to track the different attributes that are important to you, different areas like curriculum, faculty, network, the global component, career support, different things like that. And then after you've got your spreadsheet, ideally your top schools are going to rise to the surface. We always recommend attending events, talking to alumni and students, and getting to know the staff. This is going to give you a good feel for the culture and whether it's a good fit for you to move forward with the application itself. And then once you're ready to apply, familiarize yourself with each school's application requirements and deadlines. We're going to talk about Chicago Booths' in just a little bit. Most students do apply to a couple schools, and then the application process can take a few weeks, even a month or two. Be mindful of application deadlines to get your application in on time. And in general, it's good to keep in mind that more scholarship awards are typically available and more seats are open in the classroom in earlier rounds. And then from there, the interview. The interview is the last step of the application process here at Chicago Booth. We will talk in detail about that later in the presentation. And then from there is the decision. So after your interview, your work is done and you'll wait for your decision. The waiting is typically the hardest part, but timing from submitting to an application when you have a decision here at Chicago Booth, we advertise about five weeks. The dates are available on the application instructions for your timelines to keep in mind. And then that last piece is onboarding. So after you've been admitted, the fun part begins in preparing to return to the classroom. We offer a series of events and activities to help you get integrated into the Booth community and ready academically before you'll hit the ground running for your program. So at this point, I want to go ahead and turn it on over to you, Brittany. If you wouldn't mind giving yourself a proper introduction and maybe let us know if this is generally the process that you followed while you were applying for Executive MBA Programs.


Alumni: Sure. Hi everybody. Thank you so much Megan and Trenton for having me and thanks everybody for attending. Just by being here, you're demonstrating interests in learning, which is awesome. I love that. I live in Chicago. I went to journalism school and then I got a master's in writing and I was having a great time working in an agency as an editor, eventually as an editorial director. And I started hitting my head on the ceiling of what I thought I could get done in my career. And it took several years actually. Megan, respectfully, the hardest part of the application for me was actually deciding to apply and deciding that going to business school at that time in my life was the right decision. I had a four-year-old daughter at the time, she's now seven. And it took a conversation with my husband and kind of knowing that I was going to have a support network around me that would support me through a rigorous academic program because I knew what I was biting off. I am not the kind of person that gets into something and just tries to sail through. I wanted to get as much as I could out of this experience. And so my process for researching and applying to schools was really going to events and deciding if I even wanted to go to business school at all and if this was the right choice for me at all, in addition to is this the right school for me? I met several incredible people at some in-person events, some people at Booth that particularly showed me a similar image of women, of other people from non-quant and non-finance backgrounds, of mothers, of just other people that I identified with that I was like, "Oh, okay, I can see myself here now." And especially, and I'll talk about this more as we talk about the application, but I had a lot of fear, and concern about whether my background was going to be a fit for this, but that ended up being a huge strength for me. So I'll tease with that. But yeah, the hardest part for me was should I apply and should I actually do this at this phase in my life? And this program is designed for people that do this at this time in their life. I think I was smack dab in the middle of the age group. I turn 40 next year, so I was like 37 or so when I started. So all of that seemed, it seemed like a cohort. It seemed like once I started meeting people, I was like, "Oh, I would like to be one of these people. I would like to be a part of something like this." And that really helped get me over the hardest hurdle for me.


Admissions Director 1: Absolutely. Excellent. Well, thank you so much for being here. We're excited to hear your perspective throughout, but you are certainly right. The first step is always the hardest. So thank you for being here and thank you all for being here for joining on this process. So proceeding forward, we're going to talk about each specific element of the application for our Chicago Booth Program. So the checklist of the topics that we're going to cover are the test scores, transcripts, recommendations, resume, our essay, as well as the interview component. We'll get into the weeds on each. So to start, because this is where most folks start in the application process, we'll talk about our standardized test requirement. We do accept the Executive Assessment, the EA, the GMAT, or the GRE. Primary question, why do we ask for an admissions test? And our honest answer is because it's good preparation for you. The Chicago Booth Executive MBA Program really is one of the most academically rigorous programs in the world, and taking an admission test is a really good way to prepare for the MBA classroom. Studying for the test allows you to focus on a lot of concepts that you might have not faced within your exposure in the business world since undergrad, so it offers a really good way to dust off some of those cobwebs. Taking a test is also a strong signal to us that you're serious about pursuing an MBA. When I hear someone say that they don't have time to focus on an exam, oftentimes it's raising the question on how you're going to have time for an MBA overall. So as you prepare for the test, I really do recommend looking into practice materials and different exams that are available. Practicing the questions and getting comfortable with the timing is very valuable in effort to be successful in the exam itself. So we consider your entire application when we are assessing your ability to succeed within the program. So things like your test scores, your transcripts, and your resume, we review all of those equally. So with that, if you've got lower grades on your transcripts, you're likely going to want to shoot for a stronger test score. And then if your test score is a little bit lower on the flip side, you'll ideally have some stronger previous grades to exhibit your academic ability. We don't have minimum test score requirements, but in transparency, we are looking for a minimum of 10s in the quantitative and integrative reasoning subsections for the Executive Assessment. We do also have a newly launched automatic test waiver for candidates who do meet specific criteria as well as a formalized process of requesting a test waiver if you don't meet these criteria areas specifically. More information about the specific criteria for the test waiver can be found on the website and in the application itself. The waiver request option is available for those who feel like they've been able to demonstrate their strong analytical and quantitative abilities through their transcript and resume and are offered on a case-by-case basis. You're able to submit that form within the 2027 application and you'll be notified of that decision within about five to seven business days. Now, Trenton, before I move on, are there any questions in the Q&A box that popped up regarding the test requirement?


Admissions Director 2: Looks like there's a question asking if we have a preference for any tests when it comes to what the applicant submits.


Admissions Director 1: Excellent. That's a great question. So we don't technically have a preference and we are willingly taking all of these different exams. However, I will say if you haven't already taken a test or started preparing, I do typically recommend the Executive Assessment. The test was designed specifically for Executive MBA candidates with professional experience. And with that, it's a shorter test, which means it's also likely shorter in prep time. Now, question for you, Brittany, what steps did you take to prepare for your test?


Alumni: Oh, I bought books. It took me back to being like 18 and trying to get back into college. I hadn't taken a standardized test like this in a while. I took the EA. I studied for, again, I came from a non-quant background, so part of choosing this program was choosing one that was going to, give me a strong experience in finance and quant and I learned so much from my classmates that did have that. But yeah, for the test, I probably spent two or three months studying and bought a couple books, took those on planes with me, old school, doing problems in the margins and stuff. But it was good. And I will say, I do think the biggest drop-off and one of the biggest, the hardest things starting the MBA while still working is that first quarter where you're trying to remember how to be a student and you're trying to remember how to balance all this. So I 100% agree with what you said of if you can get in the mode of treating test prep like you're going to treat school, you'll have a step ahead on everybody else because you'll be in that mindset a little bit. And it took me a solid six months to settle into that after the program started until I was really used to kind of the trade-off of my time. So the earlier the better, test is a good way to do it.


Admissions Director 1: Absolutely. Thank you so much for your perspective there. I love that you went old school with the hard copy books. It's my approved approach as well. So really like that and thank you so much for sharing. So proceeding on forward here to our academic transcript section. So academic transcripts are needed for any higher education courses you've completed. So while you're building out your application, do note that we accept unofficial copies of your transcripts. And then when you're submitting these documents, please do make sure that both sides are included so we can view the grading scale, which varies pretty heavily between schools. When scanning, please do make sure that nothing's cut off. We do need courses taken, credits, marks or grades, class rank if provided, as well as dates of enrollment. So do keep in mind as well that we are a global program with students that have studied across the entire world. So as a result, we really are familiar with the education process across the world and we assess your application fairly and equally across the applicant pool. English copies of these transcripts are required to apply, and if admitted to the program, our team will reach out with a formalized evaluation process. We do pay attention to your transcripts and we are really looking for trends. So we are very, as mentioned, academically rigorous institution and we want to make sure that you're able to handle the material. So if you have a few low grades, don't panic, but if you have a poor academic track record, you will want to find ways to strengthen your application with the test scores and other elements of your application. I would also suggest using an optional essay to explain maybe what have been the driver of this, which we're going to discuss in detail a little bit later. And then if you're admitted and decide to attend the program, we will require official copies of your transcripts. These can be electronic, but official copies do have to be sent directly from the school to us to be considered official. So from here, we'll move on to our letters of recommendation. So at this time, we are asking for one letter of recommendation and preferably would love to have this come from your direct supervisor. This is generally the person who can speak really strongly to your abilities and it's important to have support from your employer for all the time off. If you're not able to ask your immediate supervisor, the next choice might be a former supervisor, someone your boss reports into, is familiar with your work, a manager from a different department, a client maybe you work close with. Once you've identified your recommender and you're entering in their contact information onto the online application, they're going to automatically receive a recommendation request via email. So it's a good idea to notify them in advance. Maybe schedule a meeting to talk through your MBA goals if they don't already know. Tell them about your motivations, tell them about the skills that you're planning to leverage in your application, tell them why you've selected Chicago Booth, and then they may have some advice for you and want to be able to highlight some skills you might not have thought of. So I'm going to kind of try to answer some common questions that we have here regarding our letter of recommendation. So something that we hear very commonly is I work for myself, so I don't have a supervisor. Who should I ask? We often recommend, sorry, we recommend using either a partner or a client, somebody who can speak really intelligently to your work. We have a lot of folks that are coming in without supervisors, so this is common. The next question is what matters more, the person writing the letter or the content? 100%, the content is way more important. If you have the CEO of your company's support and submit your letter, but she doesn't know your last name, that letter is not going to provide us any further insight to who you are and why you might be able to contribute to the classroom. Only choose the CEO if they can speak directly to the value that you're bringing. And then the last common question that we get is what information is requested in this letter of recommendation? So recommenders, they're going to be sent a message in that email provided directly by the applicant, so we'll reach out to them directly and they're asked to provide a skills assessment covering different areas like self-awareness, initiative, collaboration, interpersonal skills, as well as a peer-to-peer evaluation. Additionally, our recommenders must submit a formalized letter highlighting your strengths and achievements. There's no specific format required for that letter, however. A question for you, Brittany. Who did you choose as your recommenders?


Alumni: Yeah, I had my direct supervisor was one, and then I was also, I served as the president of an alumni club for my undergraduate, and I had the person who served as president after me because he could really speak to my leadership skills and my ability to kind of get people together, which to me was one of the big strengths of me as a candidate and of my application. So I chose him, which was a little, felt like an outside choice, but it was a really fun email to send when I got in, "Hey, I made it." It was the marching band alumni of all clubs.


Admissions Director 1: Love, love. No, those are great choices. It really highlights the different areas that are important to you. While one letter is required, you are welcome to send an additional one if you had somebody that could really speak strongly on your behalf, like Brittany mentioned here. So thank you so much. So at this point, moving forward, we're going to talk about our professional resume portion, and for this, I'm going to go ahead and turn it on over to my colleague, Trenton.


Admissions Director 2: All right, thanks, Megan. So I'm sure most of you already have a resume, but maybe it's been a while since you've had to use it, or certainly using it in an academic space is probably slightly different from using it for an application. So I'm going to go ahead and cover a brief overview of a resume, which should really provide a snapshot of your professional accomplishments and your educational background. So obviously, a resume is a marketing tool that helps translate the relevance of your previous work to what you would like to do in the future. And we here at Booth and for the application are really interested in your major accomplishments. I see quite a few CVs that are a bullet list of job responsibilities and usually recommend rather than just including job duties, it's good to frame your resume in terms of your outcomes. So think about ways to quantify the impact you've had and tell that story on your resume. So you can provide examples of what you made or saved or achieved, and your accomplishments and educational background really help us to determine how you might be able to add value to classroom discussions and debates, and also it indicates your ability to manage the rigor of the program. So in addition to your professional experience in education, you may want to include an additional information section where you can list anything else that you believe is relevant. So if you sit on a board, if you participate in a civic organizations, maybe you have a side business you're running, this is a good place where you can include those activities. Or maybe you've undertaken some executive education courses or speak a number of languages or have different certifications. You can list all of these items in this section, and we usually try to recommend that you try to make these points very specific as well as unique and interesting if possible. And although we are more interested in the content of your resume, so you don't have to keep it to one page like you might feel like you need to for a job application, we do want you to keep formatting in mind. Provide a format and link that's easy to read and understand. Whoever is reviewing your application is going to be going through all of your materials. So if you have a 15-page resume, that can be a lot for the committee to read. So anything that you can do to make it both impactful but also concise is important to us. Megan, are there any questions that I should be answering before we move on to the essay?


Admissions Director 1: Yeah, one came in asking specifically if there's a required format for the resume.


Admissions Director 2: Yeah, we get this question a lot. There's not a specific format that we require, but we do have a template that can act as a guide for you. So someone on the admissions team can share that if it's been a while and you're wanting to completely rework your resume. But like I said, nothing is required, so whatever you have, if you're just looking to revamp it, edit it down, whatever makes the most sense, that should work. And we always have our CV review option as well. So if you want to talk to someone on the admissions team, feel free to submit through our CV review form and we can kind of talk about the strength of your resume and any other questions you might have. So let's go ahead and move on to the essay, which I like to say is kind of the main piece of the application where you can really let your personality shine and help us to get to know you better. So the essay truly is a chance for us to gain a better understanding of you to see kind of your self-assessment of where you are, as well as where you want to go for you to include your aspirations. And it is a chance for us to get to learn how you think, how you communicate your ideas, your writing skills, as well as your distinct viewpoint. So we want to know why you've selected Booth, what you hope to achieve, and also what you can provide to the cohort as well as is this program the right fit for you based on the things that you've listed? So there is one required essay and then two optional short answer questions. And the essay itself, the required essay is specifically why are you seeking an MBA from Chicago Booth and what unique knowledge and experiences do you hope to contribute to the program, which has a maximum limit of, I believe, 500 words or possibly a thousand. There's been some shifting with our application. And the essay, as I said, is a chance to sell yourself. So we can learn about your accomplishments in your resume. We have your transcripts to look at your grades, your academic work, but this is your chance to fill in the gaps. So you can tell us why you received a promotion on your resume or why did you change jobs or industries or careers, what's driving you to do the program or how do you hope to add value to the experience of your classmates? These are all important questions to ask as you're formatting your essay. And then the two optional short answer questions just give you the opportunity to share additional information about yourself that you feel would be helpful for the admissions committee to know. So the questions are to share a fun fact about yourself or if there are any additional insights that you believe might be useful for the admissions committee to know. And again, the short answers are optional, not required. So before just going in to fill them out, be sure to stop and ask yourself how relevant the information is and if it will actually add anything to your application. In your essay and short answers, it's important to also make sure to be genuine, focused, and honest. Don't tell us what you think we want to hear. It doesn't make sense for you to pull information from our website and just kind of tell us all about Booth. We already know all about Booth. What we want to hear is more information about you and your unique story and why Booth. So one helpful tip is to have someone else read your essay. Maybe it could be a spouse, a partner, someone in your family, a friend. Let them read your essay, but don't tell them what the question was and then ask them to identify the question based on your answer to make sure you're properly answering the question. And I know this sounds like a lot of work and rightly so. I've told many applicants the essay is kind of, I think, the main portion of the application where you really have to sit down and think beyond the test score, but you're putting yourself out there and it's meant to be an exercise to provoke introspection. And it really goes back to the first step in the application process that Megan pointed out. What are your goals? What's driving you to do this? What kind of classmate do you want to be? And what are you best at? And Brittany, I know that this is your bread and butter, so do you have any advice or insights to share on your experience crafting the essay?


Alumni: Of course I do. Yeah. So I'm a professional editor and writer. This is what I do. So the essays were always... So what I would say is don't leave yourself the essay... Don't think you're going to do it in one sitting and don't leave it to the end. It's so tempting to lead the hardest part to the end. I think the last thing I actually did was the test score, the test itself. I would really encourage you to start with the essay and explain it to yourself, especially if you were at all like me and you weren't quite sure what you were trying to do or what you're trying to get out of it. Writing is thinking and writing will help you explain to yourself what you're doing. I 100% agree, have someone else read it, your spouse, your a trusted friend. I had a few people read it and give yourself time. Don't leave it to the last thing. Don't leave it to the last sitting. Give yourself time to edit it because the more time you give, if you write it down and then come back to it, I know in best practice, everyone always says this, but this is one of the more important things you're going to write in the next span of time in your life. So give it some space to breathe. Professional editors do it all the time. Yeah, I come back to stuff over and I feel great about it if I've been able to revisit it like five times and that's not always reasonable. But for this, it probably is. So treat it as a piece of important writing. Start it first, do yourself the favor and just give yourself the space to really think about it. And you don't have to be a great writer to do a good essay also. I think a lot of people are afraid of writing, particularly if they're really math talented, but all you got to do is say what's true for you, and it doesn't have to be a poem.


Admissions Director 2: Although a poem would certainly be interesting if someone submitted that. I mean if you've


Alumni: Got a haiku in you, I mean, feel free


Admissions Director 2: To - You toss it in.


Alumni: Toss it in.


Admissions Director 2: No, I think that's certainly great. And like you said, take your time, write it out, leave it, come back to it, have someone else read it because this is your moment to shine as an individual beyond so many things that are outside of your control, like your transcripts, their past, your recommender, they're writing their own thing. This is your moment to kind of take the reins, so take advantage of it. All right. So the final step in the application process is the interview. So at this point, you have already submitted your application, transcripts, resume, essay, your recommenders, everything has come in. So now once you've done that, the interviews are extended on an invitation only basis. So you'll be notified of this invitation shortly after submitting your application, after a brief overview of your materials has been done. And if you receive the invitation, then you'll be able to select the time for the interview via our online interview calendar. And I would say 95% of interviews are conducted virtually during the recruiting cycle. And again, 95 are conducted by a Booth community member. So for us, we have lovely alumni ambassadors such as Brittany who are there to help interview you as well. And then the interview takes around an hour and also receives equal weight within the review process as all other application items. I know Megan mentioned it, but it's truly a holistic process of reviewing your materials. So you've submitted your application, you're waiting, you're waiting, you're waiting. You get the email inviting you to interview. So now what? Hopefully at this point, you are feeling excited, maybe a little bit nervous, so I think it's important to consider what you can expect. We see this as an opportunity for you to get to know the school better as well as for us to get to know you better. So many of you have likely been on numerous job interviews before and preparing for your admissions interview is similar. So before the interview, it's important to do some research, review your application materials, make sure you are clear on your reasons for choosing Booth and be prepared to articulate this during the interview. And if you know current students, alumni, faculty members, anyone who has a connection to Booth, these are all good people to connect with beforehand to get some insights or to show that you've done your research. It's also important to spend some time thinking about questions the interviewer might ask. So a lot of these are, again, general interview questions that you can expect. What is your story? What are your skills and leadership traits? What's your career trajectory? What have you accomplished? It's important to be able to provide concrete examples to these questions. And of course, what are your goals? An Executive MBA requires a significant time investment. So articulating why you want to do this and why now will help us understand your fit better. I also have a few tips for the day of the interview. A lot of them seem very cliche or very obvious, but sometimes it helps just to reiterate or to remind yourself. Number one, the cliche one, try to relax. Like I said, you're interviewing with our alumni, as you could tell, very approachable, very friendly, nothing to be afraid of, and your authenticity is important. So make sure you take a breath and just go into it excited and ready to have that conversation. Number two would be to make sure you're listening, pay close attention to the question asked and make sure to answer the question specifically. If you need to, you can pause before you answer the question or if the question is not clear, ask for clarification. But your ability to process the question and provide a strong, concise answer really translates to the classroom as well. And then finally, show curiosity, bring along prepared questions and be ready to adapt your questions based on the conversation of the interview. And I think that's the biggest part of the interview for us is that it is a conversation. You have someone who's been through the program sitting right across from you on the other side of a screen. So this is a great opportunity for you to ask them what their experience was like. If you're a little leery on the travel aspect or if you're excited about the global aspect, ask them about their experiences and they will be happy to share those with you. Now, Megan, we've kind of come to the end of the application materials. Are there any other questions on the application itself before we move on to talk a little bit about what Booth is looking for?


Admissions Director 1: Yeah, there's an outstanding question on the company support letters. Could you share more about that requirement and who should sign it?


Admissions Director 2: Oh, yes. So yeah, if you already have an application open or if you've been looking through materials, we do require a company support letter, but it's actually not required until you've been admitted to the program and accept your offer. So I always indicate that the person who should write or sign the letter is the person in your organization who is acknowledging that they support your time out of the office to complete the degree. So this could be your director, it could be a direct supervisor or maybe someone in HR. And again, there are some templates within the application. You can start that conversation. I recommend starting it early, but the actual physical copy itself isn't required unless you are accepted into the program and you say, "Yes, I'm going to Booth." And it's usually just, "Hey, we understand the amount of time out of the office and we support it." There are a couple other criteria of being on company letterhead, having a signature, but again, all of that can be found within the application. So the interview's done and now everything is, I won't say out of your hands because you have had a hand in all of your materials, but now it's up to the admissions committee to evaluate everything. And we often get the question, what is Chicago Booth looking for? And I think a key area is alignment with Booth. Do your career path and your goals fit a general management program? Do your values align with the Booth culture? Do you demonstrate the ability to collaborate and add to the learning experience of your classmates? In your discussions with admissions representatives, we're going to be talking about a lot of this because truly it doesn't make sense for you to join the program if you want something very specific that the program can't offer you. So those conversations are important and also important for you as you're considering programs and is also what the admissions committee is going to be looking at. In addition, we're looking for capability. Does your experience and academic background show your potential to handle a rigorous curriculum? Have you prepared for the time commitment, both professionally and personally? So a lot of these are questions that might come up in your interview. Have you looked at the calendar? Do you know how much time out of the office is required? Have you talked to your supervisor about it? As well as the test score or your transcripts or what you do on a day-to-day basis. Are you ready to handle statistics and microeconomics in the first quarter? We want to make sure that if you get into the program that you are going to be successful and capability is a large part of that. And then the main key is that we want to make sure Booth is the right fit for you and that you are the right fit for us, and we want to make sure you're going to be successful. All elements of the application process receive equal weight and we do take that holistic approach that we've mentioned. So again, no one piece is more important than any other. And if you're on this call, hopefully it means that you've started an application or that you are about to start one. And our next deadline is set for November 2nd. So you still have plenty of time to complete the steps we discussed today and get the application submitted, or you can also submit by our January deadline. We are on a rolling admissions basis, so I recommend submitting when you feel comfortable. Don't rush things just to make it by November 2nd. Really take your time in choosing your recommender, writing your essay, studying for the test. Those are all important aspects. And before we close, I'd love to turn it back to Brittany for one final question, which is essentially, do you have any parting advice to everyone listening today as they prepare for a Booth MBA?


Alumni: I think just all the things that are going to lead to a good application require kind of clarity on your story and what you want. I'll be honest, I didn't actually know what I wanted out of an MBA. That was kind of my story though. And that's what I talked about in my essays was like, I know that I'm hitting my head on something in my career and I know that these are the kinds of qualities I want out of the next phase of my career. And if that's what this is, then I'm game. And Booth said yes and we agreed and we went forward. So I had a great experience. Reach out to the staff too. This admissions staff is so responsive and so willing to help and try to help everybody. So please do take them up on their offer if you have more questions. They're being honest. They really will answer. But no, thank you for having me. Hopefully I see some of you in interviews.


Admissions Director 2: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much, Brittany. And again, cannot reiterate enough what you said of just being genuine. And as Brittany said as well, we will do our best to be genuine as well. If it doesn't make sense, Megan and I will be upfront and say, "This might not work for you." We have other programs. We have our Evening and Weekend Part-time Programs that might be better for certain folks. But yeah, the whole point of the entire application process is being upfront, being honest, being genuine, and out of respect for you, we will do the same. So I appreciate that insight, Brittany. Yeah, as we close out today, we really encourage you to engage with us and our content online. So we do have some upcoming virtual events. We also have a few in-person events, specifically one in November that I know of. So take a look at our events page. As I mentioned earlier, we also have our CV review form, which is a great starting point if this is your first event with us. Like I said, we'll review your career trajectory. We'll kind of let you know at a glance if it seems like you could be a great fit for the program and then start those longer discussions as you possibly work towards your application. And then you can also reach out to us at any time. Megan and I are always available. We do have a general hotline that's usually the best place to reach us, which is emba.chicago@chicagobooth.edu. So a great place to send any questions you have. And with that, we wish you the best of luck as you move forward in your MBA journey, as you work on your application and your materials. Again, please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, and I hope everyone has a great rest of their day.