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.