Christos Papandreou is a Full-Time MBA student at Chicago Booth who applied through our deferred MBA program, known as the Chicago Booth Scholars Program. Christos was born and raised in Houston, Texas. He is a proud Double Maroon and graduated from UChicago in 2022 with his bachelors in Economics. Christos grew up visiting Chicago pretty regularly, so when he finally started doing college tours he soon realized that UChicago was his dream school.
Now, why did Christos decide to further his education at UChicago for his MBA pursuits? It started with him being able to take six Booth MBA classes during undergrad, which allowed him to immediately see the value in pursuing an MBA at Chicago Booth. Around that time, Christos recalls being able to explain complicated hedging strategies thanks to Booth and his summer internship experience. Nonetheless, Christos still desired a formal business education, so he decided to apply as a Chicago Booth Scholar.
Read on to learn more from Christos Papandreou about the Chicago Booth Scholars Program and benefits of applying to a deferred MBA program.
The Chicago Booth Scholars (CBS) Program is Chicago Booth’s deferred MBA program open for undergraduate students to apply during your senior year. This program is great for college students who have interest in pursuing an MBA in the future. Because you apply during undergrad and secure your seat early, you alleviate any stressors associated with applying to Booth’s Full-Time or Part-Time MBA Programs while balancing job responsibilities. The added flexibility to defer your admission for 2-5 years allows you to go out and explore your career interest.
The program is unique in that it affords its members amazing flexibility in the length of the deferral period. I knew I wanted to get an MBA, but I wasn’t really sure when in the two to five year period that would be. The ability to have flexibility drew me to Booth.
What attracted you specifically to the Chicago Booth Scholars Program?
I found the application process fun! It’s not as common to sit and think through your professional goals long-term right out of undergrad, so I found the application process to be a good exercise to help me think about my career trajectory early on.
My advice to applicants is to be yourself in the essays. The admissions committee is trying to figure out how you fit into the classroom and our community at large. If you’re not being your true self, how can they tell?
What was the application process like? Any advice for individuals also considering a deferred MBA from Chicago Booth?
The best thing about the CBS Program is that once you get in, you can focus 100% on your career while having the MBA admission already secured. It can be stressful to apply while you’re working, especially in a demanding job early in your career.
As a UChicago undergraduate student, I was able to receive a test waiver.
*As of March 2026, if you are an undergraduate student at the University of Chicago or have graduated from a UChicago program, the GMAT/GRE is test optional.
I worked as a banker at J.P. Morgan on the financing of energy companies. I primarily worked on upstream independent operators, but I did some midstream, downstream, and energy services work as well. I learned a lot and made lifelong connections.
I am going to be a management consultant in San Francisco post graduation. I think the most beneficial resources at Booth have been Career Services, the Management Consulting Group as they helped make recruiting an easier process, and the second-year students who “paid-it-forward” to ensure I could secure an internship and ultimately a full-time job.
How did you decide to spend your deferral period?
I’m involved at Booth in a few different ways. First, I am a career advisor, so I help my fellow students (primarily first years) with recruiting. I’m also an Admissions Ambassador, a member of our rugby team (which I picked up along with one of my friends after our Random Walk in New Zealand), and I had the pleasure of being a TA for Professor Laura Born’s Cases in Financial Management class.
Tell us more about your involvement at Booth and how it’s contributed to the connections you’ve made throughout your MBA journey thus far.
Click here to learn more about the Chicago Booth Scholars Program.
If applying to a deferred MBA interests you, we encourage you to connect with us to receive more information about the program and its benefits before applying.
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