PhD Frequently Asked Questions

No. The program is full time and takes about five years to complete:

• First Year: Students take a full schedule of courses (9–12 courses) and work on a research project during the Summer Quarter.
• Second Year: Students take a full schedule of courses (9–12 courses), work on a research project during the Summer Quarter, namely the curriculum paper, and must register for and attend the weekly workshop in their dissertation area all three quarters.
• Third Year: Students take only a partial schedule of courses (if needed) and begin their dissertation proposal in the Spring and Summer Quarters, and must register for and attend the weekly workshop in their dissertation area all three quarters.
• Fourth Year: Students take courses (if needed) and make substantial progress on their dissertation proposal. Often they propose their dissertation.
• Fifth Year: Students devote their full time to writing a dissertation and proposal (if they haven't already) and defending their dissertation.

Yes. If you take all the required courses for the MBA, you may receive the degree after you successfully propose your dissertation.

Students are generally awarded a fellowship that includes tuition, student-only premiums for the university’s student health insurance plan, and a stipend. Visit the Financial Aid page for additional information.

Please visit the Financial Aid page.

No. Prior coursework at the graduate level will not reduce your time to degree. There is very little overlap between MBA and PhD level coursework (even if your MBA was earned from Chicago Booth).

Explore predoctoral opportunities on the Pathways to Research and Doctoral Careers (PREDOC) website. PREDOC is a consortium of universities and research institutions that aims to foster a talented, diverse, and inclusive population in the quantitative social sciences.

The application reviewers base their decisions on all the information in an applicant’s file including the essay, academic background and performance, research interest and potential, prior exposure to academic research, the strength of the recommendations, and scores on the GMAT or the GRE. Note that the GRE/GMAT is required of all applicants to the Stevens Doctoral Program.

Please note that GRE or GMAT is required of all applicants for admission to the Stevens Program in Fall 2024. 

See below for area-specific score requirements:

Economics: GRE is required.
Finance: GRE is strongly preferred
Joint Program in Financial Economics: GRE is required
Joint Program in Psychology and Business: GRE is preferred.

There is no minimum cutoff score for the GRE/GMAT. Please note that GRE or GMAT is required of all applicants for admission to the Stevens Program in Fall 2024.

See below for area-specific score requirements:

Economics: GRE is required.
Finance: GRE is strongly preferred
Joint Program in Financial Economics: GRE is required
Joint Program in Psychology and Business: GRE is preferred.

The GRE or GMAT is required of all applicants for admission to the Stevens Program in Fall 2024. Please check requirements for a valid GRE/GMAT score.

GRE/GMAT test scores are required for all applicants in Fall 2024. Your scores will be considered expired if the test was taken more than five years prior to the application deadline. If you took the test before December 15, 2018, your scores will be considered expired. Our office retains received test scores for two years.

Test scores should reach our office by the application deadline, December 15. Therefore, applicants should consider taking the test by September, since the results of later tests may not be available until after our admissions deadline.

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is required of international applicants whose native language is not English. For TOEFL/IELTS waiver policies, please see the International Applicants page.

TOEFL/IELTS scores are valid for two years. Your score will be considered expired if the test was taken more than two years prior to the December 15 deadline.

GMAT: H9X-9F-05
GRE: 1501
TOEFL: 1819
IELTS: Please email your TRF number to phd@chicagobooth.edu.

We require all applicants to submit a minimum of two letters of recommendation (preferably from academic sources) as part of their application, although we will accept up to four.

Please see the International Applicants page.

Yes. You must submit both original (native) language records and official English translations. All translations must be literal and complete versions of the original records, and must be prepared or verified by your institution or someone whose position requires knowledge of both English and the original language (e.g., a certified translator).

Unofficial transcripts and facsimiles of transcripts are not acceptable. If your institution’s teaching medium is English, you should submit the transcript with an official letter from your institution stating that they provide transcripts only in the English language.

Our application fee is $80, is nonrefundable, and must be paid online by credit card.

All applicants meeting the following criteria and providing appropriate supporting documentation will be considered for a fee waiver. You will be prompted to submit a request form in the application. Please note that processing fees are nonrefundable, so you will not be refunded if you submit your fee before receiving a determination. Find more details about eligibility categories and the related documentation needed to verify your status on the How to Apply page.

Category A: Current University of Chicago student or University of Chicago alumni from degree programs (includes current non-degree visiting students and past non-degree visiting students).
Category B: Current University of Chicago Staff (including full-time research professionals).
Category C: Current/recent participants in a qualifying program.
Category D: Current undergraduates receiving need-based financial aid from a U.S. institution (no citizenship requirement):
Category E: Individuals experiencing financial hardship

Yes. All applicants meeting the following criteria and providing appropriate supporting documentation will be considered for a fee waiver. You will be prompted to submit a request form in the application. Please note that processing fees are nonrefundable, so you will not be refunded if you submit your fee before receiving a determination. Find more details about eligibility categories and the related documentation needed to verify your status on the How to Apply page.

Category A: Current University of Chicago student or University of Chicago alumni from degree programs (includes current non-degree visiting students and past non-degree visiting students).
Category B: Current University of Chicago Staff (including full-time research professionals).
Category C: Current/recent participants in a qualifying program.
Category D: Current undergraduates receiving need-based financial aid from a U.S. institution (no citizenship requirement):
Category E: Individuals experiencing financial hardship

No. Because of the large number of applications we receive, we are unable to notify students when we receive applications and if they are incomplete. Chicago Booth uses a "self-managed application" for the Stevens Program. Once you have submitted your online application, you will be able to check the status of your application materials (both those submitted by you and those submitted by external sources, such as letters of recommendations and test scores) by logging back into the online application system and clicking "Open Application." From this screen, you will be able to determine the status of your application (submitted, received, etc.) and which, if any, of your supplementary materials have not been received.

During the application process, you may see a red X next to some of the items on your applicant check list (which can be viewed in your applicant status portal). This is not a cause for alarm and we have a few important things to note: 

• The red X does not mean that your application is being stalled from review, nor will it impact the review itself. We do not use this checklist to determine which files are sent for review, the checklist is purely for applicants to monitor the status of their external materials (such as letters of recommendation and test scores).
• If you have submitted your test scores, been granted an application fee waiver, or are eligible for a TOEFL waiver and are seeing the red X, this does not mean that your scores have not been received or that you are not getting one of these waivers (though for application fee waivers, you need to determine your eligibility from the FAQ page and contact the PhD Office at phd@chicagobooth.edu to confirm your eligibility, and for TOEFL/IELTS waivers, you will need to confirm your eligibility on the International Applicants page, and be sure to upload an official transcript from the qualifying institution in the case of eligibility by virtue of education). A red X next to an item on the checklist most often means that we simply have not reached your application for processing yet. Test scores, fee waivers, and TOEFL/IELTS waivers are all added manually by our team, and we will not match test scores or add waivers until an application has been submitted and we reach it in the queue for processing. Due to the high number of applications we receive and the timing of the deadline so close to our winter break, it will take us until around mid-January (or possibly longer) to finish processing all applications, in which case, the red X next to your checklist item may remain there for that long as well. However, as long as your have sent your test scores to the correct codes and/or confirmed your eligibility for one of the waivers and followed the necessary instructions, the red X will be removed once we reach your application for processing, and it will be replaced by a green check. If for some reason the red X remains, please keep in mind that this checklist is for your information only and does not prevent your application from going for review (unless all or most of the checklist items are marked with a red X and an "awaiting" status as reviews begin in late December/January).

Applicants from the previous year should complete a new application online for 2022 (available by early September 2021). The deadline will be December 15, 2021. Reapplicants should also contact the PhD Office to indicate that they are reapplying. Reapplicants must complete the following sections of the application:

1. Program information
2. Personal information
3. Test scores - GMAT/GRE taken within five years of application deadline; TOEFL/IELTS taken within two years of application deadline (send any updated test scores)
4. Academic background (upload previous and updated transcripts)
5. Work experience/resume (updated since last application)
6. Updated letters of recommendation (optional, but recommended)
7. Updated essays (optional, but strongly recommended)

We can use the test scores from your previous application (as long as the test scores are still valid). We recommend that you get new letters of recommendation and write a new essay, but that is optional. Reapplicants are required to pay the $80 application fee.