Booth School of Business – The University of Chicago - Weekend MBA

Chicago Booth Weekend MBA Program Structure

The University of Chicago Weekend MBA program at the Booth School of Business meets at Gleacher Center in downtown Chicago every Saturday. Classes run from either 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. or 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. for the duration of each 11 week quarter. By taking an average of two courses per quarter, students typically complete the 20-course program in two and a half to three years’ time.

The Chicago Booth Weekend MBA intakes new students at the beginning of the autumn and spring quarters. Prior to the first day of classes, a three-day program called Launch kicks off the Booth student experience.

Curriculum

Chicago Booth offers its full curriculum to Weekend MBA students. It consists of 20 classes plus Leadership Effectiveness and Development (LEAD). Three Foundation Courses are required–students select one course from the Financial Accounting, Microeconomics, and Statistics categories, but may schedule these courses in no particular order. Six courses are required in the Functions, Management, and Business Environment Categories of Finance, Marketing, Operations, Decisions, People, Strategy, and Business Environment subject fields.

The remaining 11 courses can be tailored to a personal interest in electives. Finally, all students take the LEAD program to kick-start their leadership development process during their first quarter of enrollment. Based on the particular personal curriculum selected, students are eligible for organizing their study around 13 different concentration areas of study: Accounting, Analytic Finance, Econometrics and Statistics, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, General Management, International Business, Managerial and Organizational Behavior, Marketing Analytics, Marketing Management, Operations Management, and Strategic Management. Although a concentration is not required, most Booth students typically fulfill between one and three of the topics depending on their particular interests and goals.

Chicago Booth offers lab courses that emphasize hands-on learning. Options in this format include:

Lab in New Product and Development, which allows students to work in teams with executives at major companies on new product development, business strategy, and operational research. Recent partner companies included Honeywell International and Valspar.

The New Venture and Small Enterprise Lab have students work closely with senior management at early-stage companies on strategic and operational projects, with a unique opportunity to take their ideas to market.

The Entrepreneurial Discovery Lab teaches an entrepreneurial design method to identify pressing needs in complex problem areas, emphasizing user-centered design.

The Private Equity/Venture Capital Lab comprises 15-20 hours of interning a week at companies like Sterling Partners, Dunrath, Duchossois, OCA Ventures, Lake Capital, Essex Woodlands, Roundtable, WHI, Seneca Partners, Arch Development, and Prism Capital. There is an additional classroom component as well.

The Social Enterprise Lab gives students a close look at local nonprofit and for-profit ventures that have social missions. Students then contribute strategic recommendations to leverage future growth.

Energy and Clean Tech Lab is designed to provide students a foundation in clean technology through partnerships with leading clean-tech firms and research labs.

Marketing Lab provides project-based experiential opportunities in marketing research and new product development.

Healthcare Analytics Lab seeks to equip students with the skill set to apply data-driven analytics to identify and build healthcare delivery efficiencies. Students work on improvement projects in teams with leading world healthcare institutions and learn to bring operations theory and analytics methods into practice with faculty guidance.

The International Business Exchange Program (IBEP) allows Booth students to study abroad in 33 partner schools in 21 different countries.

Chicago Booth Weekend MBA Rankings

• U.S. News & World Report: 1

Class Profile

The most recent Weekend MBA class consisted of 19% female students. Seventy-seven percent of the class was composed of students from outside of Illinois and 25% of the class was international. The average work experience was 3-10 years while the average GMAT was 620-743.

Careers

Chicago Booth Weekend MBA students enjoy the same access to Career Services as full-time and evening MBA program students. Chicago Booth’s top-notch career services department has both Employer Relations and Career Management teams.

The Employer Relations team offers regionally specific market knowledge from staff on the ground in Asia, Europe, and North America on the latest market trends to help identify and develop employment opportunities. Industry networking events take place on all three Chicago Booth campuses to bring talent together and foster specific industry knowledge and relationships. Executive access programs bring Chicago Booth alumni and corporate friends back to campus to provide insight and career guidance and host educational workshops.

The Career Management team provides individual career coaching tailored to the student’s personal career aspirations. Career Services also offer group and individual resume and job search guidance, frequently hosting workshops on how to develop a transitional story, building an effective resume, and interviewing tactics. Virtual mock interviews and story review sessions also allow students to hone their skills in a risk-free setting prior to testing them in the marketplace.

Employment reports on previous Booth graduate hiring trends, employers, industries, and functions are available for each of the past five years. An extensive archive of previously successful resumes is available and career newsletters are constantly circulated via email to keep students apprised of up-to-date job postings and career management tactics. The Fisher Career Resources Center (CRC), located in the Gleacher Center, gives students an additional researching resource.

Tuition, Scholarships, and Financial Aid

Tuition per course for the Chicago Booth Weekend MBA is $7,344. The required 20 courses yield a total tuition fee of $146,880, plus the following additional fees:

• One-time Administrative Service Fee: $1,200
• One-time Student Activity Fee: $500
• One-time Lifetime Transcript Fee: $75
• Book fee: $25 per course

Bringing the total cost to approximately $148,680.

*Tuition is adjusted yearly in the summer quarter and Booth reserves the right to change the fees based on a student’s entry quarter and year.

There are three loan programs available for Evening MBA and Weekend MBA students who are US citizens or permanent residents. The Federal Direct Stafford Student Loan is an option for students enrolled in two or more courses each quarter. The Federal Direct GradPLUS loan is a credit-based loan subject to the rules and regulations of other federal financial aid programs. Finally, all students can apply for private, credit-based alternative loans.

For international students with no U.S. co-signers, Booth offers a loan program. Detailed information on this program and private loan options for international students who do have US cosigners are available via the admitted students website after admission has been secured.

Admissions for the Chicago Booth Weekend MBA

The Chicago Booth Weekend MBA program accepts students twice per year for the fall and spring quarters. Nine months prior to the deadline for each intake, the application becomes available. Application review then takes place on a rolling basis. So long as the application is submitted prior to the deadline, it will be reviewed. Decision response time typically takes four to six weeks after the completed application is submitted.

To complete an application for Booth’s Weekend MBA program, prospective students must submit a completed online application with personal background information, complete a series of varying essay questions (between two and four 300-500 word essays depending on the student options), a professional resume, two letters of recommendation, transcripts from all post-secondary educational institutions attended, official GMAT or GRE scores, and a $175 application fee. International applicants must also submit TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE scores.

Interviews are required for all applicants to the Weekend MBA Program. They are conducted once a completed application is submitted through the online system and are generally scheduled before and up to a few weeks after the application deadline. The interviews are conducted by Booth staff, students, and alumni at the Gleacher Center on Booth’s downtown campus on weekdays at 4, 5, and 6 p.m., as well as mornings and early afternoons on “Super Saturdays” around the application deadlines.

Chicago Booth Weekend MBA Deadlines

Spring 2021 – Jan. 8, 2021
Autumn 2021 – June 11, 2021

Chicago Booth Weekend MBA FAQs

 How has the university coped with the current pandemic?

‘The protocol is as follows: For our Hyde Park and Gleacher campuses, only Illinois residents will be permitted. For the Yuen Campus, only Hong Kong residents will be permitted. For our London campus at St. Paul’s, only residents of the greater London region will be permitted.’

What graduate programs are offered at Booth?

Chicago Booth offers two part-time MBA programs, a full-time MBA program, EMBA as well as prestigious Ph.D. and executive education program options.

What are common industries that incoming students are entering from?

Thirteen percent of the incoming class came from consulting, 11% from manufacturing, and the rest from a variety of industries including energy, investment management, and healthcare.

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