In this Admissions Director Q&A, we welcome back Donna Swinford, Associate Dean for Student Recruitment and Admissions for MBA Programs at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Donna is a longtime Chicago resident and has been at Booth since 1997. She joined the Office of Admissions in 2005 and has seen the admissions process at Booth from pretty much every angle over the course of her tenure by serving in several roles, including head of Operations and Evaluation before transitioning to her current position as Associate Dean for Student Recruitment and Admissions. Most recently, Donna has been heading up the admissions efforts for Chicago Booth’s new Master of Management and Master of Finance programs.
Join us as we discuss what it’s like to be a “Boothie,” what you can expect from this year’s MBA application process, and some of Donna’s favorite aspects of the program.
Clear Admit: What is the one aspect of your program that you wish applicants knew more about?
Donna Swinford: It’s important for people to know that Chicago Booth has cohorts. They are not traditional curricular cohorts like many MBA schools have, instead they are built into the start of your first year for our LEAD programming. After LEAD ends, all cohort activities are for fun and socializing!
How it works is students are placed in cohorts of 60 people for our Leadership Development course, which occurs during the orientation period. Students work through modules together, get to know each other really well, and form a basis for their networks, which will expand as they take different classes and join student groups throughout the rest of their two years. Once LEAD is completed, students continue to hang out with their cohorts socially—attending events, planning trips, exploring Chicago, engaging in cohort competitions, etc. Boothies get the benefit of making friends and building bonds early on; sort of jumpstarting the sense of community. Then, as you meet more and more people through taking classes and getting involved in what interests you, your friendship circle grows and the sphere of connection points multiplies exponentially.
What’s more, anywhere from 60 to 70% of the class choose to live in very close proximity to one another in downtown Chicago. There is a cluster of apartment buildings within a few blocks of each other in the Loop, near our downtown campus at the Gleacher Center. You literally can’t walk out of your door without tripping over another Boothie! Cohorts aside, Booth students are always hanging out together and enjoying this amazing city we’re a part of. They love Chicago because it is an entertaining, convenient, cultural homebase that’s comfortable, affordable, easy to get around, and central to many major industry hubs. I always say, it’s the best of collegiate lifestyle with the advantage of modern amenities in a metropolitan setting.
CA: Walk us through the life of an application in your office from an operational standpoint. What happens between the time an applicant clicks “submit” and the time the committee offers a final decision?
DS: First of all, we do not review applications until after the Round deadline. Once the round is closed, all submitted applications enter a preliminary review process. We do an initial check of every single application to ensure it is complete and nothing is missing. If there are any outstanding materials, we reach out directly to the applicant to request the missing piece(s) and allow a grace period for them to be submitted.
At Booth, we take a holistic approach to our evaluations and believe each section is an essential part of the assessment. We do not weigh application components and no section is more important than another (your test scores do not have more value than your essay or letters or rec or anything else!). We review your submission in its entirety—background information, academics, test scores, recommendations, resume, career goals, essay responses, etc. And each application has multiple readers who provide input during the first read.
Next, all of the evaluations are accumulated and a decision is made on whether or not to interview the candidate. All interview invitations are released on the same day and time via our status portal, no early invites are sent out. Those who are not invited to interview will also find out via the status portal. Interviewees can choose whether to schedule their interview in person on campus or virtually with a member of the Booth community. They are also asked to submit a short video in response to a supplemental question.
Following the interview, our team once again reviews the application in its entirety, this time including the interviewer evaluation and video response. A recommendation for admit, waitlist, or deny is made and the application goes through one last review by the Admissions Committee before a final decision is determined. On the day of decision release for the Round, applicants will receive a notification to log into their status portal to see whether they got in, were denied, or waitlisted. We know applying to business school is quite a process and we truly hope people get something out of the experience regardless of the outcome!
CA: How does your team approach the essay portion of the application specifically? What are you looking for as you read an essay? Are there common mistakes that applicants should try to avoid? What is one key thing they should keep in mind as they sit down to write?
DS: Throughout the entire application, we are looking to get to know candidates and the essay is a great opportunity to share your personality with us and to let your authentic self shine. Our admissions team wants to understand who you are as a whole and what you hope to achieve with your Booth degree. Help us understand your motivation for an MBA from Chicago Booth as well as what unique perspective you have to bring to our community.
Our essays are fairly open in that they have no word max—you are free to use the space how you see fit. That doesn’t mean we need you to write a novel, but do take advantage of the opportunity to be yourself and to shed light on why this is the next step you want to take in your professional development. Don’t be afraid to dig deep internally, this is often a learning process for people and they uncover a lot about themselves. We want to know what inspires candidates and how that influences their MBA paths.
It may be helpful to have someone else read through your essay(s) and tell you what they take away from it. Getting an outside perspective on your own words can be very insightful. My other piece of advice is to make sure you are directly addressing the prompt or question, as opposed to using the essay as a catch-all for everything you want the Admissions Committee to know about you. Regardless of the essay question, your response should be an authentic reflection of your individual viewpoint and hopefully it provides a glimpse into who you are as a person, both professionally and personally. Essentially, just be yourself and you’ll be alright!
CA: Could you tell us about your interview process? Approximately how many applicants do you interview? Who conducts the interview (students, admissions officers, alumni) and what is the nature of the interview (resume-based, application-based, behavioral)? Will your admissions interviews be in-person or virtual for the 2024-2025 admissions season?
DS: The number of applicants we interview varies from year to year, but all interviews are conducted by members of the Booth community. The interviewer only receives the applicant’s resume beforehand, no other elements of the application are shared with the interviewer. The candidate has the option to do an in-person or virtual interview. There’s no advantage or disadvantage to which you choose, it is meant to provide flexibility and ease in scheduling. For in-person, applicants can decide whether to come to campus and interview with a current second-year student or connect with an alumnus in their local area.
Regardless of the format, the intention of the interview is to connect you with a member of our community to a.) learn more about you and what makes you tick, and b.) give you a chance to learn more about Booth and what this place has to offer. We’ve always considered our interviews to be a conversation. It’s an opportunity to discuss your professional goals, why you’re seeking an MBA, and what in particular draws you to Booth. Come prepared with questions to explore whether Booth is a school and a community where there is a cultural value add and fit for you as well.
CA: What is your testing policy? Do you offer exam waivers? Why or why not?
DS: Test scores are required to apply to Chicago Booth’s MBA. For the Full-Time Program, we accept the GMAT and GRE (as well as the Focus Edition and shortened GRE). We have no preference which test you submit but test scores must be from within the last five years to be valid. We do not offer exam waivers except for the limited case of University of Chicago current students or graduates, who may be eligible for a GMAT/GRE waiver if they have a cumulative GPA of 3.4 or above.
CA: In the application data form, many schools ask for information about activities, hobbies, and much more. What advice would you give to applicants as they approach this component of the application process?
DS: As mentioned above, we evaluate applications holistically. Each component is equally important and all play a role in building your candidacy for the program. When you think about the sections relating to extracurricular activities or interests outside of work and school, this is a chance to showcase additional facets of who you are. Continue building out the complexities of what makes you, you by sharing your passions and pastimes. What about these interests most intrigues you and how has that shaped your world view? How do they allow you to connect with yourself and others? Why is it something you make time for and is it something you hope to continue during your MBA program?
Much of business school is about getting involved outside of the classroom, so help us understand how you envision yourself doing that. How will Booth allow you to explore and enjoy the types of things that excite you most? What opportunities to contribute to the community does that present, and how will that impact the experience you hope to have in your MBA program?
CA: Tell us briefly about two popular courses at your institution.
DS: There are some up-and-coming courses that have become quite popular at Booth. One is “Generative Thinking” taught by Sanjog Misra, which provides an overview of Generative AI, including foundational technologies, practical applications, and broader societal implications. Given the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, this course aims to equip students with a thorough understanding of generative technologies and its relevance to various fields. The class incorporates lecture and discussion, as well as course projects and exercises/demos. From synthesizing new data and automating content creation to optimizing processes and simulating scenarios, it has quickly become a crucial technology for managers across all domains.
Another interesting course from last spring was “Financing the Grid” with David Mordecai, John Birge, and Kevin Murphy. This course, which takes a look at the economics and engineering of the electrical grid, introduces students to foundational principles for fundamental pricing instruments applicable to electricity generation, consumption, storage, and transmission. Among other concepts, classroom discussions address corresponding established and prospective industry practice related to spatial organization and colocation of industrial electricity supply and demand, with additional implications for environmental and infrastructure regulation and finance, electricity trading, and asset pricing. Students also consider the broader implications and impacts for political economy, energy policy, and applied management science.
CA: Is there anything else you’d like to highlight about your MBA program or admissions process?
DS: Throughout the year, we provide many opportunities for applicants to learn more about our MBA program and to get to know various members of the Booth community. For instance, our team is currently on the road doing events all around the world to meet candidates and answer questions. We also host regular virtual coffee chats and Zoom In On Booth sessions to ensure everyone has a chance to connect. There are also a number of speaker series that feature our most notable faculty, alumni, and industry leaders. Take advantage of these touchpoints as you’re going through the admissions process as it can help inform your perspective on why Booth is an excellent MBA program for you, as well as provide insight on the type of impact our degree can have on your own career objectives.
Spending time with Boothies, whether it’s an in-person or virtual setting, can really be inspiring and useful as you think through some of the application components. I recommend you check out our upcoming offerings on our site.
