How a Deferred MBA Program Can Give You a Head Start

For Winnie Lui, earning an MBA is all about preparing to be a transformative corporate leader who can help people be their best selves—and at Booth, she’s building the skills she needs to reach that goal. “Getting an MBA earlier in my career is important to me because I wanted to apply the skills I learn at school to the corporate world,” she said. “An MBA would allow me to build out my expertise in management and leadership so I can positively influence others and motivate them to work towards a common goal.”

Meet Winnie

With an undergraduate background in engineering, Janani Gupta was drawn to Chicago Booth Scholars because it offered security for her first few years after college. “I was able to really focus on learning as much as possible from my full-time job because I did not have to worry about the stress of uncertainty surrounding MBA applications,” she said. “The reassurance of having admission to Booth allowed me to focus on the connections I was building, the skills I was developing, and executing projects during my early career.”

Meet Janani

As an undergraduate at UChicago, Gerri Zhang took six MBA-level classes at Booth and decided Booth was the business school for her. She chose the Chicago Booth Scholars Program primarily for its flexibility and convenience. “It was a great way for me to have an option after my first job,” she said. “After working in investment banking and realizing it was not my life-long passion, I was very happy to have Chicago Booth waiting for me after my two-year analyst program.”

Meet Gerri