Chicago Booth School of Business

The Booth acceptance rate is just 24%. Learn more about this highly-coveted program here.

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business emphasizes innovation, intellectual curiosity, and flexibility. Students aren’t expected to absorb information, but to dissect, challenge, and argue it. This approach is popular with independent thinkers who like to blaze their own trail through the school’s diverse curriculum, but less so with those who prefer teamwork. With an emphasis on the conceptual and theoretical, Chicago Booth expects its graduates to be better-equipped than most to navigate the changing world of business, solving unprecedented problems and moving freely between careers.

Chicago Booth’s flexible, multi-disciplinary training is its distinguishing trait. Touts one recent graduate, a former pharmaceutical researcher who enjoyed Booth’s ambitious and free-wheeling program: “If I can come in as a scientist and leave working in finance for a tech company, that’s a statement in itself.”

Booth prefers to expand the boundaries of typical business school curriculum. Unlike most schools, there is no strict core class requirement. Instead, students work closely with guidance counselors and career coaches to select the classes that best complement their interests.

One of Booth’s great interests is diversity, and ideally students will graduate having learned much about foreign business and social cultures. Chicago is an active and engaged community; this is reflected in its alumni network of 40,000 graduates, spread out over 90 international countries.

We asked the former Booth admissions officers on the Stacy Blackman Consulting team to profile what Booth seeks. Their consensus is:

Booth looks for applicants who demonstrate alignment with their discipline-based approach and ‘pay-it-forward’ mentality. They seek students who will be involved in the growth of the institution and value a wide array of viewpoints. Booth loves diversity of thought. Booth students embrace the opportunity to learn and grow from each other’s unique perspectives. 

Contact us for an assessment of your Booth MBA candidacy today. Here’s a snapshot of our Booth expertise on the SBC admissions consulting team:

Admissions Stats

Here is a snapshot of how Booth differs from Kellogg.

Class of 2022 Admission Stats Kellogg Booth
Average GMAT 727 732
GMAT Range 630-780 590-790
Average GPA 3.7 3.5
Acceptance Rate 20* 23%*
*Estimated

Booth and Kellogg admit a high percentage of students who had majored in either business or economics when they did their undergraduate studies. Kellogg has retained more poets than Booth, with students who did their undergraduate work in liberal arts/humanities representing 21%, versus 11.6% at Booth. It’s surprising that Kellogg brings in as many students with STEM backgrounds because of Chicago’s quant reputation.

Undergrad Degrees* Kellogg Booth
Humanities 21% 11%
Engineering/Math/STEM 35% 32%
Business/Economics 49% 50.9%
*Estimated and doesn’t account for overlap
Enrollment Stats for Full-Time MBA Students Kellogg Booth
Enrolled MBA Students 1301 1229
International MBA Students 36% 38.9%
Women MBA Students 49% 42%
Minority* 44% 23%
*Estimated

chicago booth MBA application

Application Essays, Tips & Candidate Evaluation 

The Kellogg and Booth essay prompts vary, with Kellogg’s prompts embodying intrinsic, holistic and/or value-based attributes. While they may change each year, Booth’s essays are seemingly more straightforward overall, with its first prompt a career goal question. SBC’s essay tips can be found here.

Sample Booth Essays

Winning essays from our successful admits are new on the SBC site and can be found here:

Sample Booth essays

More Booth Application Tips

View our extensive overview of how the application for Booth varies from that of Kellogg here.

Booth Class of 2023 Key Statistics
Applicants: 5,037
Entering Full-Time MBA Students: 620 Students
Average GMAT: 732
Average GRE Verbal: 162
Average GRE Quant: 163
Percentage of GRE Test Takers in Class: 18%
Average GPA: 3.54
Average Age: 28
Average Work Experience: 5 years
Rolling Admissions: No
Women: 42.3%
International Students: 38.9%
US Minority Students: 44.2%
Veterans: 5.9%
LGBTQ+: 5%
First-Generation Students: 9%

Booth Important Dates
Round 1 Deadline: September 22, 2022
Round 2 Deadline: January 5, 2023
Round 3 Deadline: April 11, 2023

Contact

(323) 934-3936
info@StacyBlackman.com

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