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For nearly thirty years, Chicago Scholars has been uplifting Chicago’s brightest students on their path towards leadership experience, degrees from their college of choice, and into fulfilling, high level careers. The program currently runs across seven years with each student, beginning in their junior year of high school and continuing with support through college and into job placement, training, and readiness.
With several of those career paths requiring the extra commitment of graduate school, we saw an opportunity to further advocate for our scholars. This spring, we’re piloting a partnership with the University of Chicago Booth Business School to establish a direct pipeline for our scholars to attend graduate level programs. As part of this partnership, current Chicago Scholars will benefit from regular events and special sessions with the University of Chicago community, MBA application fee waivers, and even dedicated scholarship awards. There will also be a great opportunity for current Scholars to secure future admission to Booth through the deferred MBA program, which candidates can apply to while they are still in undergrad.
“One of the reasons we decided to establish this partnership is to continue our strategic goal of preparing our Scholars for the world and the world for our Scholars,” said Andre Hebert, Director of College Partnerships at Chicago Scholars. “We find that some of our Scholars are interested in pursuing a graduate degree and this creates a pipeline for better access and resources. Deciding to partner with Chicago Booth made sense because of our history of partnership with the University of Chicago.”
Guillermo Camarillo, a Chicago Scholar from the class of 2020, is one of the first students benefiting from this partnership. After graduating from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Science in Management Science and Engineering, he’s now a part-time student at Chicago Booth and a full-time Software Developer at McMaster-Carr.
“Chicago Scholars helped shape my path to a Booth MBA by allowing me to have the support system I needed to be able to get an undergraduate degree at a world-class institution. This opportunity allowed me to not only grow in ways I wouldn’t have imagined but it pushed me to consider a graduate degree, specifically an MBA, as a viable option post-undergrad. To put it succinctly, Chicago Scholars helped me see the potential I had.”
“The University of Chicago has been a long-term institutional affiliate with Chicago Scholars and we’re pleased to build on that legacy with additional offerings from a graduate level perspective,” said Donna Swinford, Associate Dean for Student Recruitment and Admissions at Chicago Booth. “This initiative is important to our school and it’s a significant step in progressing towards more access to graduate education—both across the board and in our hometown.”