Why Choose Booth for a Part-Time MBA?

Chicago Booth’s Part-Time MBA Program presented a compelling option – one that would not only refine my business acumen but also accommodate the balance of my personal and professional worlds. It wasn't just about proximity; it was about finding a program robust enough to fuel my growth without uprooting the life I built.

Chicago Booth stood out with its promise of a rigorous academic environment and a supportive community, all within the familiar embrace of my hometown. The program's flexibility, combined with its reputation for excellence, made it undeniably the right choice for someone with deep roots in Chicago and a vision that extends far beyond.

Three main factors went into me choosing Booth’s Part-Time MBA program: (1) Having already been established in my career and on an upward progression at Deloitte, I did not want to leave the workforce for two years in order to earn my MBA. (2) I wanted to earn my MBA degree at a reputable institution with a strong finance-oriented curriculum, academic rigor, and faculty. (3) I planned on applying to an MBA program towards the end of the pandemic. Since part of the MBA experience is to build a strong professional network, I wanted to make sure that the program I chose had classes taught in-person and plenty of opportunities to engage with other students in and outside of the classroom. I also wanted to make sure that the program I enrolled in had a part-time experience no less than the experience of individuals embarking on a full-time MBA experience.

As an engineer, I wanted a quantitative and data-driven approach to my MBA, which is exactly what makes Chicago Booth shine. Though I wanted to get my MBA, I did not want to stop gaining work experience in the process. After looking into Booth’s Part-Time MBA Program, I decided to apply to hone in on my quant skills while also continuing to work in real estate.

As I was researching various MBA programs, I thought if I was going to invest such a large portion of time, at this point in my life, I wanted it to be of the highest quality. I planned to continue my career while in the program, so finding a Part-Time MBA Program that would provide that flexibility was important as well. The University of Chicago was known for both. When I got the chance to visit the campus, it validated the resources, teaching, and community that would be available to me with this program. Luckily, my job also had an office in the Chicago area that I was able to transfer to. From there, everything seemed to fall in place!

One key benefit of enrolling in the Part-Time MBA Program is that your classmates are also working. Since I wanted to switch industries, I found the Part-Time MBA Program beneficial because my classmates worked at companies I was interested in. I was able to network with my classmates often, and I even got the chance to apply what I was learning in class to the real world, in real time, that same day or week. The Part-Time MBA Program is set up to let you move as fast or slow as you need, which is also very advantageous.