The latest MBA class at Chicago Booth has more women than ever, although the number of international students has somewhat decreased. Booth picture
The most esteemed business schools in the United States have become (relatively) simpler to get into during the past three years, and notably over the past ten. This week saw some of the most prominent of them all unveil their MBA Class of 2025 profiles, serving as a reminder that this pattern will continue in 2023.
According to the most recent U.S. News & World Report ranking, the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, one of the M7 B-schools and the top school in the country, admitted applicants with undergraduate grade point averages of 2.4 for the second year in a row.
A 600 on the Graduate Management Admission Test was also required for admission to the Booth MBA Class of 2025 for the second year in a row. Additionally, enrolment increased while fewer students applied to the class in 2023 than in 2022.
Wharton, Harvard, and Stanford (which, like MIT Sloan School of Management, announced its class profile this week) all reported a minor fall in applications this year, from 4,352 for the Class of 2024 to 4,184 this year, a decrease of over 4%, according to Booth. The number of applications received by Booth is at its lowest level since 2016, when 4,160 people applied to join the Class of 2018 (see table above). Applications to Booth’s full-time MBA have decreased by about 17% in the past two years, mirroring a general decline at the top U.S. B-schools that has been exacerbated by the boost in 2020–2021 during the coronavirus pandemic, when many top schools attracted more interest from students unfazed by the idea of endless virtual classes.
The class profiles for Kellogg and MIT Sloan, two of the other M7 institutions, do not include application numbers. The profile for the Class of 2025 at Columbia Business School, which does, has not yet been released.
Despite a dip in applications, Booth, which is currently ranked second in the United States according to Poets&Quants, maintained its record-high percentage of female MBA students at 42%, the same level as it recorded in 2016, 2018, and 2021. However, according to the school, 49% of its new class were born outside of the United States, with 3% from Africa, 17% from Asia, 11% from Central/South America and Mexico, and 3% from Europe. International students decreased somewhat to 36%, while nations represented in the class decreased to 54.
Booth’s diversity was enhanced this year in several ways, particularly in the enrolment of U.S. minorities, which increased to 49% of the class from 48% and from 44% two years earlier (per federal reporting rules). Under-represented minorities at the school increased from 12% in the autumn of 2021 to 22% of the class this year. The percentage of veterans in the class is 11% (up from 8%), the percentage of LGBTQ+ people is 12% (up from 7%), and the percentage of first-generation college graduates is 12%. These three statistics set new marks for the school.
277 undergrad institutions made up the new Booth MBA class, up from 264 the previous year. Last year, 25% of students arrived to Booth with degrees in business or economics and 24% with degrees in engineering; 13% of students majored in liberal arts and 9% in physical sciences. 17 percent of the class had graduate degrees at the time. This year, 26% of graduates hold degrees in business, 20% in economics, and 25% in engineering; 14% major in liberal arts, and 8% in physical sciences. 19% of people already hold doctorates.
In terms of pre-MBA industries, consulting dominated the class last year with 25% of the total enrollment, followed by banking with 19% (plus 5% for PE/VC). The Class of 2024 was made up of techies (13%), “other” (12%), and nonprofit/government (11%). Energy came in second at 4%, then came healthcare at 6%, then accounting at 2%, consumer goods at 2%, and manufacturing at 1%. Financial services (19%) lead the industry this fall, with consulting (18%) coming in second. Tech (15%), nonprofit/government (14%), PE/VC (7%), healthcare (7%), consumer products (3%), energy (2%), manufacturing (2%), and accounting (1%), on the other hand, are also high.
According to Donna Swinford, the Booth School associate dean for student recruitment and admissions, “We’re thrilled to see campus back in full swing and to welcome the newest class of Boothies to our community.” “The calibre of backgrounds in our Class of 2025 astonished us, and we are eager to follow their MBA journey. Although Chicago Booth continued to witness high quality and interest within the application pool for 2022–23, our MBA programme is subject to cycles and market conditions, much like many other businesses. The largest cohort of full-time MBA and joint-degree students has just been enrolled this autumn, in fact.
featuring a record number of women, veterans, and first-generation students. Additionally, there are already signs that this year’s Round One applicants have a lot of interest.
On the employment front, employers are still looking for Booth talent, as shown by the record median pay for the Booth Class of 2022, the fact that more than half of businesses are recruiting four or more graduates, and the outstanding early returns for the Class of 2023.