Deferred MBA Student Profile Patrick O'Keefe

1. If you think Booth might be the right place for you in 2-5 years, applying to the Chicago Booth Scholars Program is a win-win. You can always reapply when you decide you want to get your MBA if you’re not admitted to the CBS program, but if you are admitted that’s one less thing to think about as you start your professional career.
2. The CBS Program is a tremendous opportunity to start building community and learn from others who are planning to pursue an MBA. 
3. Booth has so many resources to take advantage of when you get here, so it was helpful to have the extra time to think about how best to utilize everything Booth has to offer.

My biggest piece of advice is not to wait until the last minute. Everyone says that the key to your application is to be yourself, and this is true! But writing about yourself, your goals, and your values takes a lot of reflection, and reflection takes time, so my key advice for working on the application is to give yourself enough time to really share who you are as a person! The people at Booth really have been what ultimately made it so special for me.

Extremely. Everyone talks about the robust network you gain from an MBA program, and especially at Booth, so being admitted to the Booth Scholars Program expedites that by 2-5 years. The early connection to Booth made it easier to start developing relationships with mentors before I arrived on campus.

Also, I am someone who is very curious and has lots of interests. With Booth having so many resources and compelling opportunities, I felt a bit like a kid in a candy shop. The deferral period gave me time to think more intentionally about which opportunities I wanted to pursue the most once I got here. 

I utilized the various resources offered by the Booth, such as virtual lectures and seminars. I also stayed in touch with my fellow deferred MBA classmates in New York, and we got together several times for brunch. These experiences were great for building community. I also loved learning about my peers' different backgrounds and how they thought through when to matriculate at Booth.

I worked at William Blair in New York for three years on the healthcare specialist sales team within their Equity Sales, Trading, and Research division. Outside of that, I spent a lot of time with a few nonprofit boards and committees working to increase equitable access to quality education in the US.

I came to Booth exploring careers at the intersection of social impact, strategy, policy, and investment. This summer, I’ll be interning at a consulting firm, as I ultimately decided that consulting would give me an incredible opportunity to explore and develop my niche.

• I took Competitive Strategy during my first quarter, and that class helped me affirm that I wanted my career to have a strategy focus.
• Booth’s Social Impact Lab course gave me the opportunity to do consulting work for the Obama Presidential Center ahead of its opening!
• BoothEd has also been a great club. I’m especially excited to take 10 Booth students to the ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego this April through the club!
• The pay-it-forward mentality at Booth has also been one of the most meaningful parts of my experience. I’ll be honest, I assumed this would be somewhat of a tagline, but I was immensely struck by how real it was in practice. For example, second year students were extremely generous during the recruiting process as they volunteered countless hours from the first day we (first year students) stepped on campus to help make the recruiting journey for us a success. It is a tremendous and distinctive culture to be part of.

• I am leading the Mystery Random Walk this fall after going on it before matriculating. Beyond being a fun and unique experience, it helped me start my MBA journey at Booth having already made lifelong friends.
• I’m part of several clubs but spend most of my time with the Net Impact, BoothEd, and BOLD (Booth Outdoor Leadership Development) Groups, all of which I am co-chairing this coming year. Another favorite group of mine is the Epicurean (food) club.
• I also play on the Booth Ice Hockey team and am super excited to face off against Kellogg in a few weeks.
• Lastly, I’ve gotten involved with the broader UChicago community, attending events at the Institute of Politics and taking a class in the Harris School of Public Policy.

Each of these experiences has honestly brought about lifelong friends. From the start of my MBA, the Booth community and overall MBA experience have far exceeded my expectations.