Hello again. With round one of the application process behind us, I thought I would talk a little about the Booth community. No matter your interests, background, or demographics, one of the great things at Booth is the active engagement via student led groups. While you can find a comprehensive list of the groups at Booth through the Web site, today I am going to talk a little about my own personal experience with the Armed Forces Group (AFG). This will of course just be one specific example about a single group, but I can assure everyone that each student group has comparable functions and engagement.
When I joined Booth, I had what I thought was an unconventional background – I had spent the majority of my professional career in the Air Force and a few years at a small insurance company. I knew in grad school, beyond the obvious goal of educational benefits, I wanted to expand my network and start a career in consulting. While initially I hadn’t given much thought to how student groups could impact my experience, after attending the “student group open house” I quickly realized that these groups were an amazing pool of helpful individuals with common experiences that could help me achieve my goals.
The AFG at Booth consists of approximately 40 domestic and international first and second year students who had served in the military in some capacity. My first interactions with the group came just a few weeks into school. As I was starting to think about refining my resume and talk with students who had consulted over the summer (my intended future career field), the AFG was proactively reaching out to their members to set up resume reviews and share the second year’s internship experiences. While it might seem trivial, the common backgrounds in the AFG were helpful in translating my military experience into corporate lingo and highlighting the skill sets that Corporate America was looking for. Additionally, with the size of the group, I was able to hear about many career fields confirming my decision to enter consulting as well as talk with individuals at specific consulting firms helping me decide the companies I was interested in pursuing. From navigating through GI Bill (governmental scholarships for veterans) issues to arranging guest speakers, similar engagement continued throughout the school year.
Aside from career help, the group also regularly holds several social functions as well. In one of the most recent events the AFG arranged a night-long veterans dining in with Eric Gleacher. In the spring quarter, the AFG will hold one of their more publicized activities: a school wide paintball tournament where proceeds are given back to the community through military charities. Regardless of the function, the group has actively engaged Booth’s veterans to ensure they are prepared for Corporate America and well connected with each other.
As stated earlier, this is just a quick excerpt from one group, but you can find these experiences across all student groups. If you have the chance, either when you come to campus or via email, feel free to reach out to these groups with any questions about the group or their activities. Until next time, I wish all great luck on their applications and Happy Holidays.
As one final word, if you were accepted in Round 1, I highly recommend you attend Admit Weekend if at all possible. It is an amazing experience and is unquestionably the best way to experience Booth.
Todd
