January 14, 2020 Live Chat Transcript
Chat Participant: What is the ideal number of courses recommended for the weekend MBA program?
Caitlyn Ward | Associate Director of Admissions Events and Recruiting Operations: All students are required to take 20 courses. That would shake out to 2 courses per quarter and you would graduate in 2 and a half years. Weekend students are also allowed to take courses on Friday evenings as part of their home program so if you have the flexibility to do this you could take three courses per quarter.
Chat Participant: Does weekend and evening MBA give the same placement opportunities as a full-time MBA?
Keenan Gannon | Senior Assistant Director of Admissions Operations and Analytics: If you are asking about the degree equivalency, The Evening and Weekend programs confers the same degree as the Full-Time MBA program.
Chat Participant: I was curious to hear more about a preview class? I heard from a current part-time MBA it is possible for someone, before applying to the program, to enroll in a class part time as if they were part of the program to see how the class works and how they perform in it. Is that still an option?
Stephanie Gunn | Senior Associate Director of Admissions: You are probably talking about taking a class through the Graham School as a Graduate student at large. This allows you to take a Booth class without being a Booth student. This is a great way to "test drive" Booth. You can learn more about Graham School at https://grahamschool.uchicago.edu/academic-programs/graduate-student/graduate-student-at-large.
Chat Participant: I was able to locate the 2019 Employment Summary Statistics for the Full-Time Program. Is there a similarly updated report for the Part-Time Program that shows top employers and other statistics?
Marcus Wordlaw | Senior Assistant Director of Admissions: Here is the link to the Evening and Weekend MBA employment data from recent graduates: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/programs/evening/career/impact.
Chat Participant: Is it possible to take the weekend class offerings and add or supplement with a week day evening class?
Patrick McHale | Assistant Director, Admissions: Yes! As a weekend MBA student, you will have priority registration for classes offered on Saturdays as well as Friday evenings. After priority registration is complete, it becomes open enrollment across programs, which will allow you to enroll in Evening MBA classes.
Chat Participant: Good afternoon, I'm a member of the US Army Reserves and based in California. I'm interested in the weekend MBA program. Since, I'll have to go to my reserve duty one weekend a month, I'd like to understand if there is any way to take classes online or through other ways during my drill weekend
Caitlyn Ward | Associate Director of Admissions Events and Recruiting Operations: Thank you for your service. This would be handled on a case by case basis depending on the course you are enrolled in and your faculty member. We do not offer any online courses however, most courses are offered by faculty on another day/time during the quarter so you would in theory be able to work with your professor to attend another section of their course when you have your drill weekends. Additionally, we will reach out to our Armed Forces Group to find out how other students in your situation have handled this in the past.
Chat Participant: I would also like to hear more about the 13 concentrations and how many are recommended (believe I heard two) and if there is any potential issue with taking 3?
Keenan Gannon | Senior Assistant Director of Admissions Operations and Analytics: Yes, many students end up earning two or even three concentrations! The complete list of concentrations and more information can be found here: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/programs/weekend/academics/curriculum.
Chat Participant: Is company sponsorship viewed favorably from an admissions perspective?
Patrick McHale | Assistant Director, Admissions: Company financial sponsorship does not have an impact on admissions standing. We just collect this information for internal data collection.
Chat Participant: Hello, my question would be if weekend/evening program are good opportunity for career shift compared with full time?
Patrick McHale | Assistant Director, Admissions: A career switch in the Evening MBA or Weekend MBA programs can take place at any point during their time in the program. Making a career switch in full-time is more dependent on when you are graduating.
Chat Participant: Can a student take more than 2 courses a quarter if his or her schedule permits?
Patrick McHale | Assistant Director, Admissions: That's right! Students can take more than 2 classes per quarter if their schedule permits.
Chat Participant: I am hoping to get some clarity on the optional essay portion of the application, should we be submitting something from our professional work or a newly written piece showcasing something that wasn't shared in the application?
Keenan Gannon | Senior Assistant Director of Admissions Operations and Analytics: The optional essay may be used if there is any important information relevant to your candidacy you were unable to address elsewhere in the application.
Chat Participant: For letters of recommendation, is there a disadvantage if I cannot get a letter from my current company? I have outside work and prior work experience where I can get letters, but my work culture has not permitted me to remain managed by one supervisor for more than a few months.
Patrick McHale | Assistant Director, Admissions: While we prefer at least one letter from a current supervisor, we understand that there are work dynamics that make it ideal to seek out others for your rec letters. We are open to this as long as you explain it to us in the application.
Chat Participant: I am seeking a more significant career change, but I am thinking about the weekend program because my current employment can provide some me some support on the tuition. Would this case impact my chance to be accepted by the Weekend MBA program? I am recommended to consider more for the full time MBA? Thank you
Marcus Wordlaw | Senior Assistant Director of Admissions: You may certainly pursue a career change with Booth. You are able to use all of our Career Services resources aside from On Campus Recruitment if you are receiving $8,000 or more from your employer per year (unless you have their written consent). If you are receiving less than that amount per year, you are able to use all of the resources within career services. Either way this would not impact our decision on your admission.
Chat Participant: Are part-time students invited to the same recruiting events and career fairs as full-time students invited to?
Keenan Gannon | Senior Assistant Director of Admissions Operations and Analytics: The experience will be very similar in terms of resources offered. The only exception is internship recruiting is only exclusive to the Full-Time program. All other resources, including our online job posting site and on-campus recruiting are shared across all programs. Not every Evening MBA and Weekend MBA student is seeking a new employer, so these students can take advantage of these job-changing resources if needed.
Chat Participant: Do the Evening and Weekend MBA programs follow the same policy of grade non-disclosure as the Full-Time MBA?
Stephanie Gunn | Senior Associate Director of Admissions: That is correct. The grade non-disclosure is the same across Evening, Weekend, and Full-Time.
Chat Participant: For the IBEP, can the two courses be split up into different quarters?
Caitlyn Ward | Associate Director of Admissions Events and Recruiting Operations: The way the IBEP courses work is that you can either participate in a short-term or long term IBEP program. The short-term programs last from two to three weeks depending on the program chosen and you would complete one course toward your degree. The long-term programs are a full academic quarter abroad and each program differs in the amount of courses that would count toward your degree but you would enroll in a full-time course load while abroad. You can participate in up to two short-term or one long-term IBEP programs while at Chicago Booth to count toward your degree. I hope this helps to answer your question.
Chat Participant: How diverse is the Booth student body in the weekend/evening program? What is the percentage of women? LGBTQ? People of color? (If this info is available!)
Patrick McHale | Assistant Director, Admissions: About 30% of Booth's Evening MBA and Weekend MBA programs are women. While we do not report the percentage of LGBTQ students, we have strong participation from part-time students in our diversity groups such as Booth Pride, African American MBA Association and more.
Chat Participant: I graduated with MS degree from the University of Chicago two years ago, I see some similar courses that I completed during the previous degree, is it possible to apply some credits toward MBA courses?
Keenan Gannon | Senior Assistant Director of Admissions Operations and Analytics: Unfortunately we would not be able to accept transfer credits in this case.
Chat Participant: Could admission team provide some insights on interview? For example, the length, the format, topics related and etc.
Stephanie Gunn | Senior Associate Director of Admissions: the interview is a lot of fun! It is more of a behavioral evaluative assessment to help us determine fit within the Chicago Booth community. Interviews are conducted by students or alumni who sit on the admissions committee. The interviews are blind, very conversational in nature, and tend to last approximately 45 minutes. Here is a helpful blog on our interviews from our Director: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/blog/ewadmissions/2018/interview-tips
Chat Participant: Hello, regarding the work experience portion of the application. In an effort to remain consistent to my resume but also taking the opportunity to take advantage of conveying all relevant skill-sets, is it common for the work experience to highlight skills/achievements the resume didn't allow space to capture. Of course, ensuring it’s relevant and complementing.
Keenan Gannon | Senior Assistant Director of Admissions Operations and Analytics: Yes that would be fine! There is a section on the application for professional certifications /accomplishments. As you mentioned, it is important to keep it consistent with your resume as the Admissions Committee reviews your application.
Chat Participant: I'm currently finishing up a graduate Masters at another school. Is there an opportunity to use those finished courses/credits to cover foundation courses that are the same at Booth? For example, if I took Statistics 1 at the grad level at that school, could that credit be transferred to the Booth MBA program and used to "test out" of the foundation course?
Patrick McHale | Assistant Director, Admissions: Chicago Booth does not accept transfer credits. However, if you have previous coursework completed, it could potentially serve as a prerequisite to take a more advanced class to fulfill that particular framework area.
Chat Participant: What is the estimated total cost of attendance for the evening/weekend program?
Patrick McHale | Assistant Director, Admissions: The estimated cost for the program is about $146,000. This link will provide a better breakdown of tuition and fees: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/programs/evening/admissions/tuition-financial-aid.
Chat Participant: As a Software Engineer with mostly technical experience and a little leadership experience, looking forward to making a career switch into Consulting. What you think from your past records, going into a Weekend/Evening program will be a good route? Has anyone in past have done such a career switch?
Keenan Gannon | Senior Assistant Director of Admissions Operations and Analytics: Yes it is possible. Career services provides thorough training and guidance about how to best prepare yourself for your industries and companies of interest. Keep in mind that consulting opportunities are often geared towards those that complete internships, and this may be difficult if you are working full-time (which the Evening/Weekend programs are designed for). You mentioned you would like more leadership experience, and that is definitely an area that can be developed in the program, as all students are required to complete a LEAD course focusing on leadership. More information can be found here: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/programs/evening/academics/effective-leadership.
Chat Participant: I graduated with MS degree from University of Illinois as an international student; I have been working in the states ever since-for almost a decade-and now I’m a permanent resident. Would I be still considered under an International student pool during admissions? Am I required to take an English proficiency test?
Caitlyn Ward | Associate Director of Admissions Events and Recruiting Operations: It sounds like from the information you have provided, you would not be required to take the English proficiency test. You can find more information here: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/programs/evening/admissions/international/english-exams.
Chat Participant: What are some of the clubs and extracurricular that part-time students can participate in on weekday evenings and weekends?
Keenan Gannon | Senior Assistant Director of Admissions Operations and Analytics: Yes absolutely! There are over 40 EW clubs that have many events throughout the week. You can find out more information here: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/programs/evening/student-experience/beyond-classroom/groups
Chat Participant: I see that the current tuition rate is $7200 per course and not per credit. What are the total number of courses required for weekend or evening MBA program? Can a weekend MBA student enroll for courses from evening and full time MBA course schedule?
Patrick McHale | Assistant Director, Admissions: All students are required to take 20 classes. Weekend MBA students still have access to Evening and Full-Time classes as well if their schedule permits.
Chat Participant: Are Full time as well as part time mba students eligible for job offers? How does the school help students in getting a job after course completion?
Patrick McHale | Assistant Director, Admissions: Yes! In fact, they share the same job posting site that is only available to Booth students and alumni.
Chat Participant: How is the interview process conducted? What is the format of the interview process? Is it focused solely on our past work experiences based on resume or is it a behavioral based interview? Are all applicants are being called for an interview?
Caitlyn Ward | Associate Director of Admissions Events and Recruiting Operations: Admissions interviews are by invitation only. Interviews are conducted by members of the Admissions Committee which is comprised of a group of current students and alumni. The interview is what we call a "blind interview" where the person who is interviewing you has not read your application and does not know anything about you before reviewing your resume just before your interview. Please review this blog post for helpful tips on how to nail your Admissions Interview! https://www.chicagobooth.edu/blog/ewadmissions/2018/interview-tips.
Chat Participant: What is the CBF group interview process like?
Patrick McHale | Assistant Director, Admissions: We invite CBF candidates to come in at the same time around our relevant deadlines to participate in a CBF interview day. We break out the attendees into 3 group who rotate through 3 sections: the 1:1 interview, group interview led by a member of the admissions team, and our visual explorer activity. Candidates will be evaluated in each section.
Chat Participant: Does the weekend and Evening MBA program require any pre-requisite courses? Do we need to have a full time job to be eligible for the weekend and evening MBA programs?
Patrick McHale | Assistant Director, Admissions: No pre-requisite courses are required. Yes, we expect applicants for the Evening/Weekend programs to have a full-time job when they apply.
Chat Participant: Is the Minimum GMAT score before applying is 630?
Stephanie Gunn | Senior Associate Director of Admissions: The 630 GMAT is not a minimum. Our mid 80% range is 630-740 so it gives you a sense of where the bulk of our candidates fall. Keep in mind that the average is 680 and the GMAT is but one piece of your application.
Chat Participant: Would I be to submit an application and send in my gre scores later?
Marcus Wordlaw | Senior Assistant Director of Admissions: You should take the GRE and add your self-reported scores to you application before submitting the application itself.
Chat Participant: Even though CBF students have less work experience than traditional part-time MBA students, would CBF students have similar success in acquiring high-quality jobs post-grad that other part-time students are able to achieve?
Keenan Gannon | Senior Assistant Director of Admissions Operations and Analytics: All students have access to the same job postings through our internal job posting system. There are high-quality jobs at all levels posted in there. In addition to all the resources that all students have access to, CBF students have the unique advantage of having a small network of other students and alumni who have gone through the CBF program who post job openings at their companies to this group. You might also want to check out our employment data https://www.chicagobooth.edu/programs/evening/career/impact. This data is representative of all Evening and Weekend students, regardless of their previous work experience.
Chat Participant: Is there a process to switch from weekend MBA to executive MBA? Or is that considered a new application?
Marcus Wordlaw | Senior Assistant Director of Admissions: Unfortunately, you cannot switch from Weekend to Executive MBA. You will want to take time to consider which program will be best for you, as they are very different. The Executive program is lock-step with classes in Hong Kong and London in addition to Chicago, whereas the Weekend program offers more flexibility in class selection and pace without the mandatory international study.