I applied to a lot of business schools. Nine in one round — meaning nine campus visits, nine sets of essays, and countless interviews. My process was grueling at times, and I probably wouldn’t recommend applying to so many schools, but it’s just what I did. Through this process, I became fascinated with MBA admissions, and I was intrigued by the level of involvement current students were able to have while serving as interviewers in their respective MBA programs.
Once I was admitted and chose to matriculate at Booth (BEST decision of my life by the way), I was interested in getting involved with admissions so I could learn how the vetting of applicants works and so I could help shape future classes of Boothies. This curiosity led me to the Booth Admissions Fellows program, which is an opportunity to assist the Admissions Office as a 2Y student after applying as a first-year. There are numerous teams within Admissions Fellows, including the Interview Team, the Campus Community Team, and The Booth Experience student blog team. These teams have varying responsibilities associated with assisting the Admissions Office, but Admissions Fellows from all teams conduct interviews of Booth applicants across all rounds of the admissions process.
The Admissions Fellows application allows you to rank your team preferences, and I chose The Booth Experience (TBE) as my top choice. In addition to conducting interviews, TBE team members are responsible for overseeing The Booth Experience blog (the thing you’re reading right now), which allows fellows to share their Booth stories with prospective students all while honing their writing skills. This felt like the perfect role for me!
I was fortunate to work alongside a great group of peers on the TBE team. In our first meeting, we chose which “story arc” we wanted to focus on, meaning what consistent theme we wanted our blog posts to revolve around. Some examples team members chose ranged from “Chicago neighborhoods” to “flexible curriculum.” I chose “the MBA admissions experience” as my story arc, primarily because I was familiar with the admissions process at various schools and because I felt for prospective students who faced the challenge of navigating the admissions process in a COVID world where they were often unable to visit campuses to get a feel for schools’ distinctive cultures.
After choosing this story arc, I went on to write numerous articles about topics I wished I knew about during the application process, including Why Everyone Should Live at MPP, and I consolidated insights from my peers in articles such as The Big Decision – Why Booth? I found the ideation and writing processes to be really fun, and I enjoyed the biweekly TBE team meetings with my peers where we bounced blog ideas off each other.
In addition to my TBE blog-related responsibilities, I conducted 13 interviews, getting the unique opportunity to connect with 13 impressive applicants and learn about their lives, career journeys, and professional goals. While my interview feedback was just one factor being evaluated in these students’ applications, I was honored to play a part in the process. I also enjoyed the end of the interviews where I always left time to field applicants’ questions, presenting another opportunity to share my favorite things about Booth with prospective students.
In retrospect, serving as an Admissions Fellow on the TBE team was one of the most fulfilling experiences I had at Booth, and I highly recommend that anyone interested apply!
