The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business’s full-time MBA program is located on the University of Chicago’s main campus in the Hyde Park neighborhood, just seven miles south of Chicago’s downtown center, the Loop. Chicago Booth offers a two-year, full-time MBA program and part-time evening and weekend MBA programs, as well as an Executive MBA program. Hallmarks of the Chicago Booth full-time MBA program include its extensive finance program and faculty, flexibility in curriculum and course scheduling, and broader international and experiential learning opportunities.
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FAQ
What is the tuition for Booth's MBA program?
The tuition for Booth’s MBA program is $84,198 per year. The total cost of the Booth MBA program is $125,937 per year; this includes budgeted living expenses.
How hard is it to get into Booth’s MBA program?
The acceptance rate for Booth is 32.6%. It is important to consider the acceptance rate in the context of the student profile of those who are admitted. For example, the average GMAT score is 729.
What is the average GMAT score for admission to Booth’s MBA program?
The average GMAT score for the incoming class at Booth is 729. The GMAT range is 590 to 780.
Does the Booth MBA program accept the GRE?
Yes. The Booth MBA program has accepted the GRE for a few years now.
What is the average GRE score for admission to Booth’s MBA program?
The average GRE scores for the Booth MBA Class of 2026 were: 161 Verbal and 163 Quant.
What is the minimum number of years of work experience required for admission to Booth’s MBA program?
Booth does not state a minimum requirement for years of work experience. However, it is important for candidates to be aware that they are being considered against other candidates with an average of 5 years of experience.
What is the average number of years of work experience for admission to Booth’s MBA program? (or, What is the average age of a Booth student?)
The average number of years of work experience among students in Booth’s MBA program is 5.
What is the median starting salary for graduates of the Booth MBA program?
The median starting salary for Booth MBA graduates is $180,000. The salary will vary by industry, with consulting and finance jobs generally commanding the higher salaries.
How long is Booth’s full-time MBA program?
Booth offers a traditional 2 year MBA program.
What are the application deadlines for Booth's MBA program?
The Round 1 MBA application deadline is September 19, 2024. The Round 2 application deadline is January 7, 2025. The Round 3 deadline is April 3, 2025. The Chicago Booth Scholars deadline is April 29, 2025.
What percent of Booth MBA students are women?
The percentage of the class at Booth that are women is 42%.
What type of interview does Booth use for MBA admissions?
Booth offers interviews by invitation. The interviews are resume-based. This means the interviewer has not had access to the application materials.
Admissions
The Class Profile
Chicago Booth’s Class of 2026 is comprised of 632 students. In total, 35 percent of students in the Class of 2026 are international and 42 percent are women. Based on Federal guidelines, 30 percent identify as Asian American, 10 percent as Hispanic/Latinx, 8 percent as Black/African American and another 4 percent as multi-race.
Twenty-seven percent of Chicago Booth’s Class of 2026 pursued degrees in business during their undergraduate studies. Twenty-three percent had studied engineering while 22% majored in economics. Thirteen percent had majored in liberal arts. The average undergraduate GPA for domestic students, based on a 4.0 scale, was 3.6.
Upon matriculation at Chicago Booth, students averaged five years of full-time work experience. Twenty-seven percent came from consulting. Financial services was the next most popular pre-MBA career choice, at 18 percent of students’ experience. Thirteen percent had worked in the tech industry before matriculating and 11 percent in the non-profit and government sectors. PE/VC round out the top industry choices at eight percent.
Incoming Booth MBA students who took the GMAT (56%) landed an average score of 729. Thirty-eight percent had taken the GRE, and those test takers averaged 163 Quant and 161 Verbal scores.
Application Procedures
Chicago Booth gives its applicants the choice of applying in one of three admissions rounds, which usually take place in late September, early January and early April. The application requirements for Chicago Booth include completing the school’s application forms and submitting two essays, a résumé, two letters of recommendation, and unofficial college and graduate transcripts. Applicants must also report their GMAT/GRE scores and, when applicable, TOEFL/IELTS/PTE/Duolingo scores. There is a $250 application fee. Interviews are required for admission, and Chicago Booth holds interviews by invitation only. Interview invitations are extended approximately a month after the round’s initial deadline.
Application Checklist
- Completed application with required personal background
- Completed essay questions
- Professional resume
- Two letters of recommendation
- Unofficial (scanned) transcripts from all post-secondary educational institutions attended. Note: Official transcripts are requested from admitted students only.
- GMAT or GRE score
- TOEFL, IELTS, PTE or Duolingo scores (international applicants only)
- $250 application fee
Essay Topic Analysis
Recommendation Questions
U. Chicago Booth Q&A's
U. Chicago Booth LiveWire and DecisionWire
Academics
Faculty
Chicago Booth employs nearly over 270 faculty members, more than 140 of whom are in tenure or tenure-track positions. These faculty members teach across 10 academic areas and contribute to Chicago Booth’s 13 research centers and initiatives, with missions ranging from fostering entrepreneurship to advancing artificial intelligence.
Curriculum
Professors utilize a mix of teaching styles at Chicago Booth, from case studies to lectures. Regardless of approach, the school prides itself on creating classroom environments that promote discussion and debate. The academic year is broken into seasonal quarters, which last an average of 12 weeks. Fall Quarter classes generally begin in late September and end by early December. Classes resume for the Winter Quarter in early January and conclude in mid-March. After a short break, Spring Quarter begins in late March and finishes by the first or second week of June. In the summer after their first year, students are encouraged to prepare for their post-MBA careers by completing summer internships in their desired fields.
Chicago Booth’s curriculum gives its students the flexibility to create their own tailored educational path from the start. While students must take one “foundation course” in each of three disciplines—Financial Accounting, Microeconomics and Statistics—students already well versed in the basics of these fields can choose more advanced alternatives to fulfill this requirement. Students must also take one course in each of seven out of eight categories: finance, marketing, operations, decisions, people, strategy, economy, and society. The sole required course that all students must take is the Leadership Effectiveness and Development (LEAD) course, which teaches students about successful leadership techniques and how to motivate others. LEAD starts with team building activities and social events during first-year orientation; additional LEAD-associated classroom sessions and other activities are held throughout the rest of the year.
Once foundational requirements are met, students are then given the opportunity to take 10 elective courses to round out and deepen their education. Through their choice of electives, students may pursue one or more of the 14 offered concentrations, which vary in focus from entrepreneurship to strategic management. In addition, students are given experiential learning opportunities through the school’s lab courses, in which teams of students help companies resolve issues across industries such as social enterprise and clean technology. Booth also allows students to gain international exposure by studying abroad for a quarter at one of the school’s 30 exchange partner schools.
Other MBA Degree Options
Along with its 21-month full-time MBA program, Chicago Booth offers Evening and Weekend MBA programs, which allow students to earn an MBA in about 2.5 to 3 years. The school also has a 21-month long Executive MBA program hosted in Chicago, London or Hong Kong for individuals at a more advanced stage in their careers. In addition to these part-time options, Chicago Booth partners with the larger University of Chicago to offer joint degrees in nine different disciplines, including a JD/MBA with the Chicago Law School, an MPP/MBA with the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, an MA/MBA with a focus on social policy from the Crown Family School, an MPCS with the Department of Computer Science, an MBA/MS in Applied Data Science, an MBA/MS in Biomedical Sciences, an MBA/MA in International Relations, an MBA/MA in Middle Eastern Studies, and an MD/MBA with the Pritzker School of Medicine.
Starting in the 2024-2025 academic year, Booth is offering a Master in Management degree and a Master in Finance degree for recent college graduates.
The Master in Management targets students who studied humanities, arts, social sciences, biological sciences, or physical sciences in college, and are interested in jobs that value business-oriented skills and knowledge. Booth’s 10-month program builds upon a student’s critical-thinking skills with an analytical course of study. Students in the program learn the fundamentals of business by taking five required courses: Microeconomics, Financial Accounting, Business Decision Modeling, Behavioral Foundations of Management, and Data Analytics. To round out their education, students take four classes in one area of study of their choice: Analytics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Marketing, or Strategic Management. Finally, students select one elective drawn from a variety of Booth courses. Prospective students may begin applying for admission to the program September 1, 2023, to begin studies in August 2024.
Meanwhile, the Master in Finance is designed for accomplished recent college graduates in quantitative fields of study. The degree builds on their analytical aptitude for a career in finance such as in asset management, fintech, and investment banking. Students take four core courses, Investments, Corporation Finance, Data Analytics, and Financial Accounting, along with nine electives for a total of 13 courses. There are five finance elective requirements, and students choose the remaining four electives from select MBA courses.
Concentrations at Booth
- Accounting
- Analytic Finance
- Behavioral Science
- Business Analytics
- Econometrics and Statistics
- Economics
- Entrepreneurship
- Finance
- General Management
- Healthcare
- International Business
Degree Offerings at Booth
Full-time MBA Program
https://www.chicagobooth.edu/mba/full-time
Evening MBA Program
https://www.chicagobooth.edu/mba/part-time/evening
Weekend MBA Program
https://www.chicagobooth.edu/mba/part-time/weekend
Executive MBA Program
https://www.chicagobooth.edu/mba/executive
Joint Degree Programs
MBA/MPP, MBA/JD, MBA/MS in Applied Data Science, MBA/MS in Biomedical Science, MBA/MD, MBA/MA in Social Work, Social Policy, and Social Administration, MBA/MA in International Relations, MBA/MBA in Middle Eastern Studies, MBA/MPCS, Certificate in Health Administration & Policy, University of Chicago Obama Foundation Certificate
https://www.chicagobooth.edu/mba/joint-degree
Master in Management Program
http://www.chicagobooth.edu/master-in-management
Master in Finance Program
https://www.chicagobooth.edu/master-in-finance
Campus Life
Clubs, Conferences & Competitions
Chicago Booth students have a variety of opportunities to get involved with the school community. The first such opportunity are the optional Random Walk trips, which are led by second-year students and take place in August before the first-year orientation commences. Past trips have taken place in Argentina, Jordan, Turkey, Nicaragua and South Africa, among many other locations.
Once on campus, there are over 70 student groups that students can consider joining, which cover everything from cultural affinity groups, such as the Hispanic American Business Students Association, to professionally oriented clubs like the Management Consulting and Investment Banking groups. Students can also explore their more personal hobbies or passions through groups focused on a variety of sports, the culinary arts, photography or volunteering.
Many of Chicago Booth’s student groups also contribute to the school’s events throughout the year. For example, each year the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Group puts on the annual SeedCon, which includes one day of fast-pitch competitions and keynote speeches for aspiring entrepreneurs. In addition, the Marketing Group hosts a one-day conference that gives participants the opportunity to learn from current marketing practitioners at companies such as Wrigley and Proctor & Gamble.
Campus Spaces
Located just east of the University of Chicago’s central quadrangles, the Charles M. Harper Center houses the full-time MBA program’s 11 classrooms, dozens of group study rooms, student lounge, workstations and other resources, such as Winter Garden atrium and two cafés. The Harper Center was designed by Rafael Viñoly and opened to the Chicago Booth community in 2004. Meanwhile, the Gleacher Center, located in “the Loop,” serves as the headquarters for the educational pursuits of part-time and EMBA students.
The University of Chicago does provide graduate students with the opportunity to apply for housing on or near campus. Students can apply to live in one of 300+ units owned by the University, many of which accept students with families or pets. Students are also welcome to live off-campus; approximately 75% of Booth students live in the Loop, and other popular neighborhoods include Lincoln Park and Wicker Park.
MBA Careers
Career Services
The Chicago Booth Career Services office provides many ways for students to develop professionally during their time at the school. These services include computer resources and tests to determine an individual’s potential fit with different industries, one-on-one job coaching with members of the office staff, résumé and cover letter workshops, and an on-campus recruiting schedule that regularly brings over 100 companies to campus for interviews. First-year students looking to find summer internships start their recruiting process in October with Meet-and-Greets and corporate networking nights, which give potential employers the opportunity to present their organization to students. In early January, first-year students participate in on-campus interviewing in order to secure internship offers. The recruiting schedule for second-year students starts with corporate networking nights in September. Second-year interviews are then conducted on campus in October.
Career Statistics
Of the 628 members of the graduating class, 527 were seeking employment. At graduation, 91.1 percent of these MBAs had received a job offer, and nearly 96 percent had received offers three months post-graduation. Job acceptances at the three-month mark landed at 94.3%. The median starting salary for Chicago Booth graduates was $180,000.
38.6% of the Class of 2023 pursued roles in the consulting industry and 32.6% joined financial services. Breaking down financial services further, roughly 11 percent entered investment banking/brokerage, and about nine percent entered private equity. Just over 15% pursued work in the technology industry while nearly 3% of the class entered the healthcare field.
Chicago Booth keeps with the general business school trend of placing a considerable percentage of its graduates in the region where the school is located. In this case, just shy of 30% of the Class of 2023 found work in the Midwestern U.S., with nearly all of that group remaining in the Chicago metropolitan area. The Northeast was the second most popular location for Chicago Booth graduates, with 27.2% of the class starting their careers there. 22.3% headed to the U.S. West and 6% to the U.S. Southwest. Nearly seven percent headed abroad for work, with Asia topping the list of destinations at about three percent of the class.
Financing
Chicago Booth’s 2024-2025 tuition is $84,198. With additional fees such as living expenses, health insurance and books, however, the estimated cost of attendance for nine months is $125,937. Though the school does not provide need-based aid to incoming students, it does offer a number of merit-based scholarships and fellowships. All applicants are considered for these awards upon admission to the program; applicants do not need to fill out any additional forms or applications to become eligible for consideration. U.S. citizens and permanent residents can also avail themselves of both federal and private loans. Students should complete the FAFSA form to determine eligibility for federal loans, including the Direct Unsubsidized Loan and Direct Grad PLUS Loan. In addition, Chicago Booth provides loan programs for students that do not require U.S. co-signers, regardless of citizenship.
Estimated Cost of Attendance (per academic year)
- Tuition, 10 courses $84,198
- Student Services Fee $1,452
- Admin. Fee (1st year only) $3,000
- Lifetime Cred. Fee (one time) $78
- Books and Course Materials $549
- Housing & Food $26,010
- Personal (includes health insurance) $7,250
- Transportation $1,800
- Computer (1st year only) $1,600
- Total $125,937
Recent News
Contact
Mailing Address:
The University of Chicago Booth
School of Business
5807 South Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
Phone: 773-702-7369
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.chicagobooth.edu
Blog: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/mba/mba-life…
X (Twitter): @ChicagoBooth