Ace Your Chicago Booth MBA Interview 2024-2025

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Everything you need to know for your Chicago Booth Interview.

Quick Facts 

Who does Booth interview?

Chicago Booth invites only a select number of applicants to interview after evaluating their profiles.

Who conducts the Booth MBA interview?

Booth interviews are conducted by students, admissions officers, and alumni.

Jump ahead to read more about the Booth interviewer.

How long is the Booth MBA interview?

Interviews last about 30 minutes with a discrete 10 minute question-and-answer period following.

Jump ahead to read more about the consistent length.

Where is the interview held?

Typically, the Chicago Booth MBA interview is held on campus or in an agreed upon location that is convenient for the applicant.

Even during COVID-19, some interviews were still conducted on campus.

Jump ahead to read more about the Booth MBA interview location.

What is the format?

Booth’s approach is blind. Interviewers are given your resume before the interview. The interviewer will not have seen your full application and will not have any knowledge about your background outside of what can be gleaned from the resume. This means your MBA resume is a particularly important component of the Booth application.

Jump ahead to read more on the format.

Deadlines and Decision Schedule 

App SubmissionSchedule Interview ByDecision
Round 1Sep 19, 2024VariableDec 5, 2024
Round 2Jan 07, 2025VariableMar 27, 2025
Round 3Apr 3, 2025VariableMay 22, 2025

More information is available on Booth’s deadlines and decisions information page.

Video Essays

Applicants who are invited to interview with Chicago Booth are also asked to complete a short video response to one of the following two prompts:

The length of the video submission should be no more than 60 seconds, and applicants will not be evaluated on the styling and editing of the recording—only the content of the submission.

Detailed Overview

Drawing from Menlo Coaching’s extensive client database of first-hand interview reports, this section offers the most up-to-date information on Booth’s interview process.

Interviewer profile

Booth’s MBA interviews are typically conducted by current students, alumni, or by admissions officers. 

Many clients described their Chicago Booth interviewers as friendly, with one client being additionally impressed by the career trajectory of the student who conducted the interview. 

Nearly all clients described the interview process as conversational (one outlier described a stiff and formal interview). Most came away with the sense that the interviewers were engaged with and sometimes even impressed by applicant answers.

Length

Booth MBA interviews last about 40 minutes in total (though one client said the interview was an hour). The first half hour of the interview is a list of fairly standard application interview questions. The last ten minutes are a question-and-answer session where the applicant can follow up on queries they might have about the program. Depending on the interviewer, this might be a very fruitful conversation with up-to-date information from current students. 

Location

The Booth interview is typically conducted on campus or in a location that is convenient for the applicant. Clients had nothing notable to say about the interview location. One applicant, however, did confirm that on-campus, in-person interviews are being conducted during the pandemic. 

Format

The format of the Chicago Booth interview is “blind,” meaning the interviewer does not receive a copy of the candidate’s application. They will, however, receive a copy of the candidate’s resume.

Multiple clients described the interview as being the most straightforward of all the MBA interviews they had experienced. The list of questions varies from interviewer to interviewer but most seem to be fairly typical for an MBA interview. 

Some, but not all clients, did note that there were follow-up questions specific to client answers. One reported being asked about their reaction to two hypothetical situations (reaching out to one’s network for job opportunities and handling disappointment). Another client said the interviewer wanted a summary of an aspect of their application so they could better take notes. 

Booth MBA Interview Sample Questions

This section follows the Booth MBA interview “question-by-question,” or in rough chronological order. Like the details in the section above, these questions are sourced from Menlo Coaching’s client database of first-hand interview reports.

You can use the questions below to conduct mock interviews that mimic an actual conversation with a Booth alumni, current student, or admissions officer. Remember that our clients have reported that some of these questions come with answer-specific follow-ups.

There are certain best practices for MBA interviews that will serve you well across your target programs.

For best results, however, consider seeking expert help with Menlo Coaching’s interview prep service.

The Booth MBA interview, question-by-question

  1. Tell me about yourself.
  2. Why get an MBA?
  3. Why Chicago Booth?
  4. A question about your short-term and long-term post-graduate plan.
  5. A question about a time you faced a challenge and how you overcame it.
  6. A question about a time you had to make a difficult decision.
  7. A question about working with others or motivating a team.
  8. A question about how you will contribute to the Booth community both academically and otherwise.

If you’re looking for guidance on how to answer questions like these with confidence, you can find detailed breakdowns for MBA interview questions here.