Chicago Booth Cut Their Essays. Here’s How to Tell Your Story.
If you read my recent blog post "Shaking Things Up," you are already familiar with my strong opinion on Booth's essay changes. They went from two essays with unlimited word counts to four short answers of 300 characters each. Given that I usually recommended applicants write about 500 to 600 words per essay, we are going from roughly 1,000 to 1,200 words down to 1,200 characters, which is about 200 words. That is an 80 percent drop.
Here are the four short answers:
What is your immediate post-MBA career goal?
What is your long-term post-MBA career goal?
Upload an image and explain its significance to you.
Share a fun fact or something unique about yourself.
We are being very strategic with how we are using our 1,200 characters (and photo), but it is really not a lot of space to tell your story in the traditional form. I will not let you apply to a school without them knowing who you are and why you are applying to their program, so here is where you can tell your story now that essay space is limited.
1. The optional essay.
You have 300 words to share additional details with the admissions committee. What would you like them to know about you that they would not learn from the four short answers? Most other top programs ask not only where you are going and why you want the MBA, but who you are and the values that led you to this point. I typically recommend sharing that content with Booth in the optional essay.
That said, there is no formula here, and the optional essay is not a must. Don't fill the space with 300 words just because the field exists. Use it when you have something meaningful to say, which, given how little room the short answers leave, you almost certainly do.
2. The activities section.
You get 500 characters for each activity, so use it. Share all of your involvements, both formal organizations and hobbies. Describe your involvement, and do not simply repeat bullets from your resume. Reflect, and explain why each activity is meaningful to you.
3. The video.
Once you are invited to interview, there will be a video exercise, which is new this year. While the questions will be a surprise, you can certainly prepare a range of answers to behavioral questions that would show sides of you that you may not have been able to cover in the short answer prompts. We will lay out ideas to ensure your performance on the videos aligns with your overall application strategy, and practice with a question bank pulled from other schools with similar exercises.
As always, the narrative is yours to own. Booth's decision to cut the main essays does not mean you stop telling your story. We just need to find new ways to tell it.
