Meet the new “THE BOOTH EXPERIENCE” Team (Post 2 of 2)

Hi!,

This week we have the second installment of current Booth students who will be writing during the upcoming school year and sharing their experiences with you. Last week we introduced five of the members of the team (Meet the new "The Booth Experience" Team / Post 1 of 2). This week, we present to you the other four!

First of all,  we are proud to introduce Darren Spicer, our own former MLS Star!

Darren is a Southern California native and second-year student at Booth pursuing concentrations in finance and strategic management. He studied international politics and captained the varsity soccer team at Princeton before getting drafted by Chivas USA in Major League Soccer. He then went on to play professional soccer for five years across the US and Germany. And yes, he played against David Beckham. Before Booth Darren also coached youth soccer and coordinated camps in Southern California for Slammers FC, one of the top youth clubs in the country. This summer, he is interning with The Cambridge Group in Chicago, doing growth strategy consulting. He also loves to surf, snowboard, bike, bike, hike, and golf, and he's never met a spicy curry that he didn't like.

Next up, Jatin Jindal brings an enviable startup experience to the table...

Jatin is pursuing a summer internship at Amazon Web Services as a Product Manager. Prior to business school, he worked with multiple startups in several roles. He started Hellointern.com with some classmates as an undergrad and later sold it to Angaros Group in 2012. He also worked briefly in 2013 for a startup in cab service space - Bookmycab. Prior to that, Jatin worked in the Investment Banking Department of Credit Suisse from 2009 to 2013, advising clients engaged in oil & gas sector on raising capital as well as M&A transactions. He obtained a Bachelors of Technology in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

In his free time, Jatin loves to read books and go on short hiking trips. He is also passionate about Arsenal FC, and has been supporting them for more than a decade now!

Favorite Booth memory: traveling with my Booth classmates to different places like Fiji, Mexico and Florida. He is looking forward to another amazing year at Booth and many more such trips!

The editor of Chibus, our school's renowned newspaper, is also part of our group. Meet Tyler Kearn!,

Tyler is a rising second year Booth student and co-chair of the Chicago Business newspaper (chibus.com) and the Family Enterprise group. Prior to Booth, he worked for COIT Services, a nationwide specialty cleaning and restoration company, as well as CBS Interactive and the San Francisco Giants (Go Giants!). His interests and hobbies include hiking, travel, skiing, and movies (including “bad” movies – movies so bad, they’re good).  

Finally, and last but not least, we have Suzi Singh!, 

Suzi has a PHD in psychology and will be certainly psychoanalyzing the entire Booth community in her posts!

Suzi is a first year student at Booth pursuing a concentration in marketing management. She earned her bachelor's degree from the College of William and Mary and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Prior to Booth, she was an assistant professor in an addiction studies program. This summer, she is a marketing intern at Campbell's Soup Company in Philadelphia. 

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Favorite Booth Memory: singing karaoke with friends at the LEAD retreat!

That’s it! We’ve introduced all 9 members of our team: Linda, Edward, Craig, Ignacio, Alex, Darren, Jatin, Tyler and Suzi

Once again, we are looking forward to sharing our experiences with you. We hope to give you valuable information and insights that can help you see another side of Chicago Booth.

Cheers for a wonderful year to come!

The Booth Experience Team

Meet the new “THE BOOTH EXPERIENCE” Team (Post 1 of 2)

Hurrayy!!,

We are very happy to introduce the new “The Booth Experience” Team. We are 9 second year Boothies who will be posting content throughout the summer and the rest of the academic year to keep you up to date with the latest about life at Booth.

From where to live, to the best coffee shops in Chicago and the coolest places to go on a date, you’ll hear from us on a regular basis to give you an insider’s perspective on what it’s really like to go to Booth to pursue your MBA.
We are very excited to share our experience with all of you and look forward to hearing your questions, comments, feedback, ideas, etc.

Without further ado (drumroll), meet five members of our team (we shall introduce the rest in a post next week)

By way of Boston, MA we have…Linda Yan!

After four years in finance, Linda decided it was time for a change. She came to Booth looking to round out her knowledge base, make friends, and test out different career options. She's at consulting firm A.T. Kearney for the summer, working on a project for a F500 financial services firm. In her spare time, Linda enjoys working on her first poetry collection, trying all sorts of new whiskeys and defending her title of World Krav Maga Champion!

Favorite Booth memory: Hiking the Inca Trail during Spring Break with twenty-five awesome Boothies and their partners

Next, we have Edward McDonald, the most interesting man at Booth without a doubt:

Computer Science and Information Systems Engineering at West Point? Check.

Film School (Master of Fine Arts-Tisch School of the Arts)? Check.

Runner-Up as the Most Eligible Bachelor in Colorado according to Cosmopolitan Magazine? Check.

Edward has it all!

In addition to all his accomplishments, he is pursuing concentrations in finance, accounting and entrepreneurship. Prior to business school, Edward worked for three years as an officer in the US Army, two years at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, two years at CBS Corporation and three years as an independent film producer in NYC. This summer he is interning at Deutsche Bank in New York City, working in their Leverage Finance and Health Care groups. Next year he will spend the winter quarter abroad studying at IESE in Barcelona Spain!

Favorite Booth memory: Raging in Hong Kong during a 9-hour Random Walk layover between Phuket, Thailand and Chicago with 17 random Boothies who became some of my closest friends.

With our first international representative we have Ignacio Vinke! He likes to hike, take pictures and managed to watch every game of the World Cup during his internship! At Booth, he is pursuing concentrations in Finance, Economics and Strategic Management. He studied Production Engineering from Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela, worked in marketing for three years and then opened Frigo, a healthy restaurant startup. At Booth, Ignacio serves as co-chair of BoothTech and Photobooth. This summer, he will be interning with Dish Network in Denver, Colorado where he is avidly training to run the Chicago Marathon in October (altitude training they say, harder than it looks).

Favorite Booth memory: Almost beating the Chilean team in the intramural soccer league! (They are very good)

Next up, we have Craig Carter!  Proud father of three, he is one of our brightest second years and is not only hoping to get concentrations in statistics and econometrics, finance, and operations, but also to do so while being the most amazing dad. Prior to Booth, he worked in corporate finance for the largest US freight railroad and is currently interning in the controller’s organization for a large oil and gas company. Beyond Booth, Craig loves exploring Chicago with his family (especially getting out along Lake Michigan) and is quite excited to be running the Chicago Marathon this October as well. Be sure to cheer for him and Ignacio if you come to Chicago next October.

Finally, our last introduction for this week, we have the amazing Alex Simon:

Alex loves to run, visit the latest Chicago festivals and all the new restaurants that open throughout the city. After going through the undergraduate program at U of C, he thought he was completely prepared for what the Booth experience would be, but couldn’t have been more wrong. What surprises him the most about the school is the number of students volunteering to help out their classmates or the different school groups in any way they can.

Favorite Booth memory: the winter formal at the Field Museum (you can party with Sue, one of the largest complete dinosaur fossils ever found).

Over the next year, we hope to answer as many questions as we can from all of you and post interesting content that can be helpful as you go through the process of trying to decide what school is best for you.

Cheers!

The Booth Experience Team.

Chicago Booth Admit Weekend II: Meet Your Co-Captains!

Admit Weekend is a terrific opportunity for admitted students to experience life as a Chicago Booth MBA for a weekend. Admits learn about the Booth curriculum, tour Chicago neighborhoods, and have plenty of time to get to know their future classmates. 

It takes lots of planning to make this happen, but fortunately we have a huge team of great volunteers. The students involved on the Admit Weekend Planning Committee take a “Co-Captain” role in a specific, key aspect of the Admit Weekend experience, from neighborhood and housing tours to partners’ programming.

Several of our Co-Captains offer reflections on their experiences and discuss why all admitted students should come to Admit Weekend!
--Matt Richman

John Choi
Volunteer and Operations Co-Captain

When I attended Admit Weekend last year as a prospective student, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of current student volunteers. It really spoke to Booth’s tight community and “pay-it-forward” mentality that is such a big part of Booth’s culture. I’ve definitely received a lot support from both my first year classmates and also the second years during my time at Booth, so I decided to join the planning committee to share this experience with the Admits. As the Operations Co-Captain, I work with over 200(!) student volunteers to ensure that the weekend runs smoothly and all your burning questions are answered. It’s a lot of planning and running around, but I have a lot of fun doing it. I hope you enjoy your Admit Weekend as much as I did and I look forward to meeting many of you!

Neha Poddar and Diego Ibarra
Student Fairs Co-Captains

                                                                                                                                                         

Having missed out on the opportunity to attend Admit Weekend last year, we are both very excited to be a part of the Admit Weekend 2014 organizing committee and to experience it as volunteers. Admit Weekend is the entire Booth experience condensed into a couple of days and as the co-captains of the student fairs, we hope to provide the admitted students a flavor of student life at Booth. We’ve organized some great events that will give you a sense of all of the resources and opportunities available to students, including:

• The Career Fair where co-chairs of the various career-focused groups at Booth answer questions about recruiting and professional development
• The Student Life & Resources Fair (SLRF), which will showcase the different cultural, social, diversity, and sports groups at Booth and give you an opportunity to engage with current students and envision what your social life might look like at Booth
• The Random Walk Fair, where you’ll learn about the far-flung destinations available to the Class of 2016. Click here to read about Booth’s Random Walk tradition!

It has been an incredible journey for us so far planning these fairs and we hope that you enjoy participating in them. We look forward to meeting you at the fairs!

Matt Riezman
Trivia and Events Co-Captain

My Admit Weekend experience confirmed for me all of the reasons why Booth was the best school for me. Admit Weekend gave me a great chance to experience the program and meet a lot of my future classmates, including my Admit Weekend squad mates, who are still some of my best friends at Booth. One of the highlights for me was the Booth Trivia Challenge. After a nail biter of a final round, my squad emerged victorious! Apparently, this qualified me to lead trivia this year (along with my sidekick Daniel!) Trivia is an awesome opportunity to learn more about Booth and Chicago in an exciting, challenging way. I can’t wait for you all to get here so we can try and stump you while having a lot of fun along the way. See you soon!

Admit Weekend on the Horizon: Meet your Co-Captains!

Admit Weekend is a terrific opportunity for admitted students to experience life as a Chicago Booth MBA for a weekend. Admits learn about the Booth curriculum, tour Chicago neighborhoods, and have plenty of time to get to know fellow future Booth MBAs.

It takes lots of planning to make this happen, but fortunately we have a huge team of great volunteers. The students involved on the Admit Weekend Planning Committee take a “Co-Captain” role in a specific, key aspect of the Admit Weekend experience, from neighborhood and housing tours to partners’ programming.

Several of our Co-Captains offer reflections on their experiences and discuss why all admitted students should come to Admit Weekend!
--Matt Richman


Mary Cate Waris and Jennifer Phillips
Admit Weekend Squad Leader Co-Captains

We both attended Admit Weekend last year and we had such a great time meeting everyone and learning more about the Booth community that we were excited to be involved in planning and organizing the 2014 events. As the Squad Leader Co-Captains we are responsible for selecting and training the squad leaders (current students who help lead admitted students through the Admit Weekend activities) and for organizing many of the events that you will take part in over the weekend. As you may know, Booth uses a cohort and squad system for the LEAD course that all first year students will take. After LEAD, students take whatever courses they want independent of any cohort; however cohorts and squads still function like your home base throughout your time at Booth. Admit Weekend squads work the same way. The squad and cohort activities of Admit Weekend will give you an opportunity to have fun and get to know both your new classmates and Booth’s current students. We hope that you will enjoy participating in the activities as much as we have enjoyed preparing them. Your Admit Weekend squad will introduce you to many of your closest friends during your time and Booth, as it did for us. We look forward to meeting you soon!

Emma Tan
Partners Co-Captain

Starting business school is an exciting journey for not only us, but also for our partners. While moving to a new city can be hard for a couple, Booth has great resources, such as the Partners Club, and an inviting culture that help make our significant others feel like an integral part of the Booth community. The experience so far at Booth for me and my husband has been wonderful, and I wanted to give back as part of the Admit Weekend team. Working as a co-captain to plan the partner-specific programming is a great opportunity for me and my team to share our experience and help admitted students and partners get ready to make the most of their time at Booth. Through the partner experience panel, we will invite students and their partners to talk about the fun and surprises they had living in the Booth community, offer tips, and answer questions about Chicago. We also planned a Chicago resource fair to create an opportunity for partners to share information, make new friends, and bond with this amazing community at Booth! It has been an incredible experience for us to be part of the Admit Weekend Planning Committee to share our excitement about being at Booth with the incoming class!

Prakriti Mishra
Neighborhood and Housing Tours Co-Captain

I am a former UChicago undergrad, and although I moved to NYC after graduation, I was hesitant about coming to Admit Weekend last year, because I felt like I already "knew" Booth and Chicago. However, I am glad I went against my instincts, and flew out for Admit Weekend. The Booth that I saw at Admit Weekend was vibrant, intelligent, and incredibly fun! In the three days over Admit Weekend, I met my current roommate, talked to 2nd years who got me interested in technology and consulting, and saw the city of Chicago in a completely new light. Now, as a Co-Captain for the Neighborhood and Housing Tours, I hope to provide admitted Booth students with a fun, informative and engaging way to see the city for themselves. We have student hosts and tour guides to take our guests around some of Chicago's most popular neighborhoods, and give them a chance to see some of the apartments that current Boothies live in. I hope many of you will take this opportunity to get to know Chicago, and I look forward to seeing you on a tour around one of Chicago’s many exciting neighborhoods!

A-Team Perspectives

Admit Weekend is a great opportunity for admitted students to experience life as a Chicago Booth MBA. Admits learn about the Booth curriculum, tour Chicago neighborhoods, and have plenty of time to get to know prospective and current Booth MBAs. The “A-Team” is a group of volunteers who are members of the Booth Dean’s Students Admissions Committee (DSAC), and who are responsible for planning all of the weekend’s activities. Here, several A-Team members offer their perspectives on Admit Weekend.

--Matt

Tiffany Lee, International Captain

I ultimately chose not to take the 15-hour flight from Hong Kong to attend Admit Weekend here at Booth, and boy, did I regret it. Many of my fellow first years still often fondly refer to the “you-had-to-be-there-moments” of their own Admit Weekends. So, I chose to do the next best thing when I became a Booth student—help plan Admit Weekend and convince international admits to not make the same mistake I did. What I like about being International Co-Captain is that not only do I get to interact with potential new classmates from all over the world, but also, I am able to use my past experiences to help make the selection and transition process easier for students that are moving to the US for the first time. For example, my co-captain and I created a moving guide that is tailored for international students to answer any questions they may have, such as where to buy winter clothes and which country captains they can reach out to. We hope to see many international students at Admit Weekend and in the coming school year!

Marina Lidow and Amanda Litzenberger, Partners Captains

Working on the A-Team and planning Admit Weekend has been a great experience! Both of us attended Admit Weekend last year with our partners and were inspired by how the weekend was not only a great opportunity for us to interact with and learn about Booth, but also a wonderful way to show our partners what the next two years would really be all about. As Partner Co-Captains we help plan and execute the partner-specific programming for Admit Weekend. Through events such as panel discussions and conversations about neighborhoods, we illustrate the Booth partner experience, clarify what to expect, and answer questions about Chicago. It has been a great experience making new friends with each other and the rest of the A-Team, and also getting to know the members of the incredible partner community at Booth!

Emily Stetler, Music and Stage Captain

I had such an amazing experience when I attended Admit Weekend last year that I knew I wanted to be a part of it this year. As Music & Stage Captain, I am responsible for planning all of the music that you will hear throughout the weekend as well as the slideshows showcasing life at Booth. Given my love for music, this role enabled me to embrace my inner DJ in an effort to help create a fun, high-energy weekend that you won’t forget. Being on the A-Team has been a great opportunity to work alongside my classmates and meet the incoming class, who we are excited to have join us next year!

On behalf of the A-Team and Booth Admissions, we look forward to meeting you all this weekend!

Meet The A-Team!

The A-Team is a group of highly trained operatives executing on a critical mission: planning the best weekend of your life. Ok, maybe I exaggerate, but Admit Weekend is a truly fun, incredible and memorable time. While hundreds of students come together to make Admit Weekend happen, a select group of 22 first year students, known as the A-Team, work behind the scenes for months to plan every detail of the weekend, from neighborhood tours throughout Chicago down to the music that will play during the weekend. Today, three A-Team members share how they’ve been involved.

Beth
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Kate Hui, Friday Night Dinner Co-Captain

After attending my own Admit Weekend, I knew that this was an event that I wanted to be a part of, and I found the perfect role as a Friday Night Dinner Co-Captain. Being a foodie from Chicago, I was really excited about the opportunity to showcase Chicago’s food scene, and using that as the backdrop for Admits to get to know both the Booth community and the city. Chicago is usually known for its hot dogs and deep dish pizza on one end and once-in-a-lifetime experiences like Alinea at the other, so I loved the challenge of finding interesting restaurants “in the middle” that are just as worthy of Chicago’s food fame and great for a relaxing evening out with a group of 20 friends!

Enjoying Korean BBQ in Chicago!

Chris Lewis, Trivia Event Captain

Working on the Admit Weekend Planning Team gives you the chance to impact how literally hundreds of admitted students and their partners perceive the Booth community. While our team of students works closely with Admissions, we are given a tremendous amount of leeway to inject our own creativity. In my case I’ve spent the last few months designing an interactive trivia game about life at Booth, from concept to execution. The game is meant to be lighthearted, and to that end I’ve scoured the ends of the internet to include some funny (but tasteful) pictures of faculty members and classmates.

Parvathi Suresh, Photography and Social Media Captain

It's been a wonderful experience being a part of the A-Team for Admit Weekend. Being the Photography and Social Media chair was a great way to draw upon some of my past experience in social media, and to have fun with the process! It's also a brilliant exercise in time management - juggling academics, recruiting, socializing and Admit Weekend responsibilities can leave one's calendar pretty full! The best part of the experience though? Definitely the fun conversations I've had with people roaming around Harper Center with my camera, trying to capture Booth in all its myriad hues.