Chicago Booth 2011 Taking Questions

lcat1215

请教校友，我这样的履历对于申请Chicago有竞争力吗？（实话实说，不用担心。。：））
国内TOP10，商务英语专业,GPA3.3
GMAT720,TOFEL108
外资商业银行两年培训生加3年企业银行客户经理

我的担心有两点：
1，看上去booth招的finance背景的人没有commercial banking的。。
2, 尽管有很大的选课的自由，还是担心数学模型数量分析的课程跟不上。。。不知道没有finance背景也没有engineer背景的同学们学习吃力么？

谢谢！

Booth2011

To lcat1215:


1. your experience is fine. we have students from commercial bank background almost every year.
2. GMAT and TOFEL is fine.
3. GPA is not that impressive since you have only 5 years experience from bachelor degree (moderate, but not that long).


I would conclude that, as long as you come up with a good story of why you wanna do MBA for now at Booth, and how MBA will add value to your career path, you will find yourself competitive.


Good luck!

请教校友，我这样的履历对于申请Chicago有竞争力吗？（实话实说，不用担心。。：））
国内TOP10，商务英语专业,GPA3.3
GMAT720,TOFEL108
外资商业银行两年培训生加3年企业银行客户经理

我的担心有两点：
1，看上去booth招的finance背景的人没有commercial banking的。。
2, 尽管有很大的选课的自由，还是担心数学模型数量分析的课程跟不上。。。不知道没有finance背景也没有engineer背景的同学们学习吃力么？

谢谢！

-- by 会员 lcat1215 (2009/11/21 12:20:14)

lcat1215

谢谢LZ。关于你的建议想多问问。我关注了几个学校，从学校的essay和校友的介绍大致可以看出每个学校的偏好或者，比如berkeley可能会喜欢essay里面强调你的innovation,TUCK喜欢committment，想请教你的看法，BOOTH最期待的是什么？why MBA, why now, why this school几乎是每个学校想知道的，BOOTH更想看到的是为什么选择这个学校还是为什么这个时候要读MBA呢？对于个人素质，BOOTH是不是喜欢具有很强的思考能力的人？

cannedpineapple

Booth is a University of Chicago school. There is a reason why we want to train "The Life of The Mind", and at least two years ago when I was there, the front page of the brochure for Booth said- "Challenge Everything".

brass20y

谈论chicago的都是finance背景的兄弟
如果我要做biz dev manager->GM(工程师背景，现在转做biz dev了)，能否请校友给点意见和建议？(我知道chicago的GM和strategy课程相对不够强，但确实有部分是想做GM的兄弟进了chicago)

windboy

it is great to know that current chicago gsb student enjoys his/her time at school. hope the snowfall this year is not going to cause too much trouble..as a grad from chicago, I'd highly recommend any one with some serious academic interest to attend the programme if admitted. it is really a great experience second to none. i still remember some of the courses/lectures from some truely amazing professors, such as Veronesi.

for some one who is really into making a living solely out of professional network in the form of "leadership" etc, and to a less extend into technical skills, chicago may not be your top choice if you are lucky to get offers from other top schools.

piaopiao633

来到Booth一个学期了，一直没有时间上来，现在终于放假有点时间，希望写些东西来让大家对Booth多一些了解。在此，特别根据几个职业方向分开来谈：

Banking：无需多说，Booth的finance人人都知道很强。如果你将来想要做banking，我认为Booth应该作为你的首选，因为学校这方面的资源太多了，有一大群像你一样的banker-to-be，10月份一开始，各大银行陆陆续续过来，甚至来好几次。学校的investment banking group不停的邀请banker来做lunch&learn，向你讲banking knowledge，教你了解这个行业。Finance professor也是一流的，如果你细心查一查，不仅仅经济，不少金融原理和定价模型都是芝加哥的学者发明的，即使你接触不到这些学者，Booth的不少教授都了解他们的工作，可以和你深入的讨论这些理论的来源和应用，所以你的knowledge完全是first hand的。经济学就更不用说了，有时候你会惊喜地发现诺贝尔奖得主的名字出现在开课老师的名单中，当然，这些课都很hot，你要有足够多的point才能bid到。另外，芝加哥这个城市应该是仅次于纽约的最重要的金融中心，Booth有着先天的地理优势，很方便与各大金融机构的Chicago office联系。这些除外，我觉得最重要的是同学圈子，找banking的学生是Booth最大的一个群体，这个环境自然而然给你创造了非常好的学习环境。另外，也有很多ex-banker，这些人很多都是要换行作investment management或PE，但是他们的背景和knowledge都可以供你借鉴，而且booth的学生很容易相处，同学之间关系虽然不能说近如兄弟（毕竟是business school）但是并没有像一些学校的学生之间那样的竞争气氛过于激烈，事实上，同学们都非常乐于帮助，smart是不用说的。

Consulting：找咨询的人是Booth的第二大群体。相信Consulting和banking在任何一个B-school的都是最popular的两个职业方向，recruiting程序也比较standardize。Booth的Strategic management显然被很多人都忽略了，但是如果你看一下career report，你会看到几大咨询公司在Booth招人甚至多过bank。而且四大咨询公司内都有很多alumni，公司会专门成立Booth recruiting team竞相来宣传，争夺Booth的学生资源。和banking一样，这些公司不停的来办活动：招聘会，各种networking，学生组织，lunch&learn seminars… 我想这种资源应该不亚于任何其他的school。。。

Entrepreneur: 我很难去比较创业方向和别的学校有何区别。但是Booth的Polsky center是全美最好的entrepreneurship program center了，有不少competition和VC资源。可以到Polsky center的网站去查一查以往的项目，不少成功的项目，比如iPhone的Bump technology就是源于Booth的一个学生团队。当然，大部分创业项目都不是solely school based的，项目与外界社会有着紧密联系，另外，很多项目是由跨学校的学生之间组队开展的。来到这里，发现这里也不乏那种不recruit任何别的工作，而专心搞创业项目的人。

我的了解有限，对于其他职业方向，等有了一定了解再来阐述。另外，在此谈一点职业以外的话题。

Culture: 有人说Booth太过于强调academic，学生之间关系不够close。从我入学开始，发现不是这样的，开学之前的各种social活动可以看到，同学都非常有趣，很有才华，环境非常dynamic，你也可以交到各种背景的朋友。当然，B-school是个特殊的群体，大家之间既是同学，也是某种意义上的同事，所以在B-school, act professionally是理所当然的，act professional是说，作professional student不可能像大学那样懒懒散散过日子，凡是等着学校教你怎么样。在Booth从一进来，你就要有很明确的职业和学习方向，明白自己加入哪些学生团体，主动接触哪些同学。和在公司工作类似，在待人接物、时间管理上要professional… 另外，从我的观察来看，Booth的同学之间不像有些学校竞争气氛那么强烈和紧张，同学们还是很乐于相互帮助的。可能是年龄和工作经历的缘故，Booth的学生成熟度稍微高一些，学校整个的风格就比较down-to-earth，有时候我觉得Booth在国内有点undervalued了，在美国，他的名声很不错的。

Study：不像HBS那种以学生讨论为主导的课堂，Booth大部分课还是seminar形式的，但是美国同学一般非常积极，会在课堂上不停的发言，发表自己的观点，不懂的话，会立刻打断老师问问题。每次上课，听到来自不同国家的同学提出自己的观点，甚至debate，是我觉得来美国读B-school最值的时候了，因为那种learning是很难在国内或者单纯的工作经历就能得到的。另外，每门课老师都会要求或者鼓励同学们组成３－５人的study group一起讨论和做作业，不少中国同学喜欢和中国同学组队，因为语言交流方便可以节省时间。但是我强烈支持和别的国家同学组队，因为和不同style／culture background的同学合作的经历本身就是非常宝贵的经验。

美国社会：来美国时间不长，可以贡献的观点不多，仅供参考吧。来之前HBO看多了，觉得美国是个很喜欢追求fun，生活很悠闲的国家，美国人也比较热情开朗，单纯，easy going。来了之后完全改变看法，可能是因为接触的人都是背景和教育都比较好，大家也相对都比较sophisticated和smart的professional，当然不会像电影里面那些喜剧演员一样的好玩儿，所以完全不能stereotype美国人。而美国社会是个很competitive的社会，经常会提到loser，winner，这点从美国人非常verbal、喜欢争强好胜的性格可见一斑。中国学生过去不要把自己看得过高，即使中国发展比较快，ＧＤＰ排第三了也不能有优越感，毕竟不是所有美国人都了解中国或者对中国感兴趣，骨子里面他们还是认为美国是最富有的国家。而美国人处处讲平等，美国同学，美国公司都不会因为你是外国人就treat you differently，不会觉得你有什么不一样，该用什么语速和你说话就是什么语速，对和你共事时对你的期望也一样。这一点好也不好，好在你们机会均等（当然也不排除你和公司networking的时候很难谈的有深度），不好在于你的china background不见得被人value。在此再加一点感受：因为我对创业比较感兴趣，我发现在美国，大家比较敢想敢做，就像Nike的广告词说的“nothing is impossible”，当你谈到一个想法，人们的第一反应都不会是马上嘲笑或者告诉你创业多难，创业没有你想象的那么简单，大家会觉得有创业想法是个很自然的事情，无可厚非，通常是持有积极态度的。而在国内，我得到的反馈最多的就是“别异想天开了，老老实实做事吧”…或许这就是所谓的美国精神、american dream吧，这个国家有过太多的神话，也喜欢创造奇迹。

说了这么多，最后，希望对Booth有兴趣的朋友不要错过这个不错的学校。祝申请成功！

-- by 会员 bitte (2009/12/26 18:49:22)

非常感谢你的分享~一个学期下来能有这么多的感受还是挺让人羡慕的，应该是个加速成长的过程吧~bitte能跟我们分享一下你的背景么？还有我一直很confuse的一点，Booth的核心精神是“challenge everything”，是旨在挖掘学生的思考的能力么？会不会造成Booth出来的学生都比较aggressive一些？or 写essay的时候要体现自己how to challenge会比较好？

thanks！

wordance

Hi
i applied to both chicago and columbia this year. I got columbia admission but was waitlisted at chicago.
my heart is still with chicago though. always loved it and saw it as a better fit for me.
Hence i plan to write an appeal letter to the admission offices in the next
few days stating my interest first. then follow up with substantiating
materials later on.

do you think it is a good idea to mention that i have already received
cbs offer? this could prove to the adcom my value and reinforce the
belief that i'm a qualified candidate. but i fear they may see this as
a show off or threatening gesture and ding me right away.
i will mention in the email how much i love chicago and how
well i think i fit with the school. i will also justify why i prefer
booth over cbs and promise that i will dump cbs for chicago if i had
the opportunity.

what are your thoughts on this?
many thanks

cannedpineapple

wordance> I think they already know your value... which is why they did not reject you. It is far more productive using that space to reinforce your passion for Booth, rather than using it to say 'why not CBS'. It is not about being threatening or non-threatening; but rather understanding why a school fits you is far more important. After all, they may think, if CBS is such a poor fit, then why did wordance apply there in the first place? Maybe he also feels that way about Chicago.. Once you show that you do things that you don't fully agree with, that logic can also apply to your application to Chicago in the first place.

windboy> Leadership also includes thinking about how to apply soft skills. It is a false contradiction to say that hard and soft skills are separate, and the University of Chicago will only teach the former. My understanding of the spirit of the University of Chicago is this: what we triumph most is the ability and drive to live life knowingly. To live, in everything, not just in the physical world, but also to apply our reasoning faculties and the lives of our mind. This applies to everything in life- including leadership, interpersonal skills, and so on. I cannot begin to say how much I owe to the school, in every aspect of my life.

BTW, part of that reasoning process about life, when applied consistently, also says the following: that the way to be successful is not to simply think, but also to do. So the approach that the school triumphs, while being intellectual in nature, certainly does not stay in the domain of only the academic.

That said, you're right. If you don't like this intellectual approach to everything, you may be better off elsewhere.

windboy

jelt2359 > too much subjective interpretation will sometimes cause troubles... anyway, my comments on the forum are general casual ones written down in less 60 secs, which may lack some theoretical compactness. that's perhaps the reason why people may (mis)read too much of it. I didn't say anything about seperation of hard/soft skills. remind me if I did. apologies if that is true and mislead any one.

the truth is that for most of the time, hard/soft skills are seperately focused/desired on different jobs/functions, though they do complement each other in an ideal situation.  there is an deep economic reason behind it - comparative advantage..a term seems too simple to explain, which in fact warrante pages of proofs...seems too chicago?? the fact of life is that soft/leadership/network sometimes brings you more money than technical skills, though it may not be true for certain functions. so it is purely a self-selection process: find your comparative advantage and make best use of it. nothing wrong/right with choosing to focus on soft or hard skills..

most, if not all, MBA programmes is to make money and hope, a big hope, their products- mba grads will sell well and get good job offers. how to achieve this goal? this is the million buck question all deans/associate deans of the b-schools are wracking their heads for answers. value of a B-school mba is indeed overated, at least when they are just out of school.

CBS> yes, you should write a letter to chicago and re-iterate your committment to chicago, while explaining your situation with cbs. they won't take it in the wrong way. don't worry about showing-off, etc. they will know you are good/lucky enough to be admitted to cbs, which is also a great school. even if you don't get admission from chicago, you have nothing to lose!!! othewise you may regret for not having done it!!