Early Thoughts on Chicago Booths 2016-2017 Application Essay Question

Application season at the University of Chicagos Booth School of Business has officially kicked off with the release of the school’s 2016-2017 application essay question. Let’s discuss from a high level some early thoughts on how best to approach this essay prompt that remains relatively consistent from last year: Essay 1: View this collection of shared Booth moments. Choose the moment that best resonates with you and tell us why. Choose the format that works for you Determine your own length I would think of your approach to this essay in three buckets. First, you want to identify the story you want to tell to the Admissions Committee. Second, you want to identify the image that best allows you to paint this picture in the most comprehensive and all-encompassing way. Finally, you want to select the medium that allows you to best bring your response to life in a vivid and clear fashion. Let’s explore each bucket in greater detail: Story Identification: Who will you be to the Admissions Committee? This prompt really seeks to understand the candidate who is applying to Booth, and it is your job to identify the aspects of your background that best connect with the mission of the program. Theoretically there are many things a candidate could focus on as a theme be authentic here, but make sure you are highlighting a narrative or anecdote that aligns your personal and professional strengths with qualities that will endear you to Booths admissions team. Image Selection: The school wants to know what aspects of the Booth student experience you most viscerally connect to and gets you the most excited. A big part of this is research, so conducting primary and secondary research into the program  to really understand the symbolism of each image is a major key to success in your response here. Using your â€Å"story† to inform your choice is a really smart way to go pick the image that best aligns with your tale  and allows you to communicate the most robust narrative. Medium Choice Length: This aspect of approaching the Booth prompt tends to give applicants the most trouble. In the past, Booth limited responses to four slides; these limitations on both  the length and medium of an applicants response  made candidates  approaches much more straightforward. Now, with the more open-ended prompt, applicants are left with a bit of anxiety when deciding on an approach. One thing to always keep in mind during the application process is when a school states they have no preference, take them at their word. Select the medium that you feel will best illustrate a clear, cogent, and passionate response to the prompt. This is a great opportunity to leverage your writing or visual skills to help you stand out. On the length side, many schools have been moving towards shorter essay length requirements, so keep this in mind and try to communicate your response in a concise and direct fashion. This is really a judgement call, but think of every element used in your deliverable and evaluate whether it is actually building or diluting your argument. Just a few thoughts here on approaching this years essay prompt from Booth hopefully this will help you get started.  For more thoughts on Booth  and its application essays, check out our free  Essential Guide to Top Business Schools. Applying to Booth  or other business schools? Call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today, or take our free MBA Admissions Profile Evaluation  for personalized advice for your unique application situation! As always, be sure to find us on  Facebook,  YouTube,  Google+  and Twitter. Dozie A.  is a Veritas Prep Head Consultant for the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. His specialties include consulting, marketing, and low GPA/GMAT applicants. You can read more articles by him  here.