Chicago-Booth EMBA Essay Tips 2025-2026

Why are you seeking an MBA from Chicago Booth and what unique knowledge and experiences do you hope to contribute to the program? Please limit your answer to under 1,000 words.

A few tips:

• Along with your motivations for pursuing an MBA more generally, please identify why the Booth MBA is the right fit for you. We encourage you to be specific.
• We’ve had the opportunity to read your resume/CV. With this in mind, please share with the Admissions Committee what will make you a unique contributor among your cohort. What might your classmates find valuable about you and your experience?

Why are you seeking an MBA from Chicago Booth and what unique knowledge and experiences do you hope to contribute to the program?

Why MBA/Why Booth – part 1

The application boxes give you 150 words each for your short-term and long-term goal. Ideally this would be something like title/company/geography. If it relates to scaling your startup, indicate what that looks like in terms of revenue, market share etc. The clearer the goal, the more likely you are to achieve it, and the more likely you are to be a satisfied customer.

In this essay, outline how you would leverage the MBA to increase your chances of achieving your career goals. For example, to achieve your goal, do you need to become more of a visionary than tactical leader? Improve cross-collaboration skills with people at your level? Have a more structured decision-making process as your organization grows?

At the core of it, this whole process is about the intersection of you, your goals and the school. Use a quick story to show how your values align with Booth. Appetite for spirited debate? Interest in using frameworks to solve problems? The interdisciplinary Chicago approach?

Then research your goals –  reach out to sector-relevant alumni who take part in Booth EMBA webinars, and look up Booth grads on LinkedIn who have followed the path you’re striving for. Start with people you have something in common with, call that out, and send them 2 or 3 specific questions (avoid looking like a time suck) with a 20-minute Calendly link in case they would rather talk on the phone (they usually do).

Admissions should feel you have realistic EMBA-retrofitted expectations Booth can fulfill. If you say you are hoping to develop world-class soft skills and become a luxury industry VP of Marketing, Booth isn’t the right choice. If you want to become an investment banker or do a “triple jump” with function/industry/geography the EMBA is not going to get the job done.

To this end, An EMBA is best suited for those facing challenges at work, and their skills have maxed out for the level they are at. They start to feel the role is too big for making educated (or uneducated) guesses when making decisions. The EMBA provides a "mastermind" type environment for navigating those challenges.

I suggest you use CAR (challenge action result) as I usually do: provide a bit on what your company does, core competencies, competitors. Then, frame the main struggle you are facing that gives rise to Why MBA. What is happening that requires you increase your skills in certain areas?

One of my clients worked for a company based on a software that is being phased out and they need to figure out a new core offering. He doesn’t know much about marketing or competitive strategy. They also need to scale 10X and this means the consequences of any decision is amplified and having no business background is increasingly risky. So, we spoke to resources best aligned with marketing, strategy, and entrepreneurship which were best aligned with his “pain points.”

Then the action is what I call your business plan for business school. Mention the challenge (or gap), marry that with Booth’s resources. If you want to market your product in Asia and need greater international exposure, refer to international session weeks, the Global New Venture Challenge and/or the Emerging Markets elective. Then rinse and repeat.

It’s better to go deep in 2 or 3 areas than shotgun a bunch of stuff where nothing is very memorable. And be specific – no conceptual, generic AI slop, which is a real pain point for admissions these days.

Contribution/Why You – part 2

A common mistake here is to describe yourself in the abstract, monologuing, without a story to anchor your claims. Show don’t tell is the mantra. Make a claim and then substantiate it with a story in CAR format. Then rinse and repeat once more space permitting.

Most EMBA programs will be receptive to a story of how you added value by having  1) unique industry or functional expertise, 2) intercultural or global perspective, 3) a unique way you develop teams/motivate others, 4) evidence of how you collaborate across silos, high EQ essentially or 5) a unique lens, having followed a non-traditional path.

These are still great themes for this essay – but for Booth in particular, however, the emphasis is on data-driven decision making and it goes beneath the surface – this represents, in effect, a commitment to fairness. The best idea being elevated and championed vs. HiPPO (highest paid person’s opinion.)

Any examples showing alignment with idea meritocracy vs. hierarchy will demonstrate a good fit with Booth values. Having a specific example is in keeping with their evidence-based approach.

You want to show humility. Examples showing intellectual curiosity + humility will show fit with a classroom where your assumptions might be politely but intensely challenged. The goal is to turn you into someone who asks the right questions rather than be confirmed as an expert.

Note: think strategically about what stories are best told by your recommender, and which are best told from your vantage point. If you have something really good to share and applying to other EMBA programs without a “contribution” question, it might be best to park it in the LOR to ensure it goes out to all the schools.

Things you want to avoid would be promoting intuitive decision-making or taking shortcuts – because this program is very rigorous. In the words of a recent graduate (who was lauded by others as an overachiever and smart-smart) “Booth is quite academically challenging. 10-20 hours outside the classroom is reasonable to expect. Will not be a sail through.”

For detailed examples around contribution ideas, check out my Wharton Contribution EMBA essay tips post

Optional Short Answer Questions

Please limit your answers to 250 words or less for these questions.

Tell Us Something About Yourself

Please feel free to share a fun fact or something unique about yourself.

Similar to my advice for the Haas EMBA essay 1 + fun fact essays post - they are looking for something personal here. One way to start brainstorming for this essay is to think about non-work peak experiences:

• When did you feel happiest?
• When did you feel most proud?
• When did you feel most fulfilled?

When you have a clear, vivid memory about something you’re passionate about – that’s fertile ground. Share a different side to you in this essay than other areas of the application.

I would go with funny, quirky or unexpected more than an attempt to impress. Keep in mind you have ample space in the activities section, so if you pick one of those, this will need to be a deeper dive.

"I was nervous even applying to M7 EMBAs as an Indian national in tech, with a 149 EA score. With Farrell's help I cracked both Kellogg and Booth EMBA, and offered 25k and 35k scholarships respectively. " – S.S, Chicago

I know my clients inside and out, allowing admissions to know, like, trust - and admit them. For 11+ years now. Even overrepresented & low-stats clients crack M7. poetsandquants.com/consultant/farrell

Partner with me to significantly increase your chances of being admitted to your top choice MBA program. Complete my contact form to receive CV and profile feedback.