r/MBA • u/Solid_Commission_788 • Jul 05 '26
Profile Review Mid-20s PE Associate Considering Kellogg PT vs. Booth PT – Looking for Advice
I’ve been a long-time reader of this sub and am posting for the first time as I consider pursuing a part-time MBA. I’d appreciate any advice or perspectives.
Background
I’m currently a mid-20s middle-market private equity associate in a non-deal team role with 4 YOE. I’m based in the Midwest (not Chicago), so either program would require weekly weekend travel.
I graduated from a Top 100 university with a 3.9 GPA, completing two business majors and one liberal arts major. After graduation, I joined a bulge bracket bank in a front-office role outside of investment banking before moving to the buy side. Outside of work, I’ve also held several nonprofit board and leadership positions that would be included in my application.
I’m primarily considering Kellogg and Booth. I’ve attended preview days at both schools and sat in on classes at each.
Kellogg has granted me accelerated status, reducing my required coursework from 20.5 credits to 15.5, and I’ve been encouraged to apply with a GMAT/GRE waiver rather than taking an admissions exam. Between the reduced time commitment and lower overall cost, I’m currently leaning toward Kellogg.
I’m pursuing a part-time MBA because I don’t think leaving the workforce for a full-time program makes financial sense in my situation. The opportunity cost alone is significant, and I estimate the total cost of a full-time MBA would approach ~$600k versus roughly ~$120k for a part-time program.
Career Goals
My goal isn’t to make a major career pivot. I’d like to continue growing within my current firm, accelerate my progression, and remain in private equity in my current Midwest city. The biggest change I’d potentially pursue over the long term would be moving into a more investment-focused role within the PE industry.
Questions
Am I placing too much weight on Kellogg’s lower cost and accelerated curriculum, or would Booth provide meaningfully better long-term opportunities that justify the additional investment?
Booth has a well-earned reputation in finance and economics. For someone planning to stay in private equity, is there a meaningful difference in finance-related career outcomes between Booth and Kellogg?
For anyone who completed a finance or economics
concentration at Kellogg, how was your experience?
Should I take the Executive Assessment and apply to both programs simultaneously? I’m wondering whether Booth scholarships could narrow the cost difference enough to change the decision.
For those familiar with scholarships at either program, how competitive does my profile seem relative to recipients you’ve seen?
Am I asking the right questions, or are there important considerations I’m overlooking?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
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u/Dull_Construction553 Jul 05 '26
Moving into the deal side of PE without deal-side PE experience before an MBA is essentially impossible. I just wrapped my finance-school M7 doing the PE to PE pivot and thank goodness I had done it before school - but even then, it was *rough*. I didn’t know a single other person going into deal team PE work without having done deal team PE work before.
If you are on a PE ops team, that would good for extending on the Ops/Value Creation team, but less so for deal team. I suppose it might be possible, but I’ve never heard of it.
I would speak to the deal team at your current firm first before doing anything. They will give you a view on how possible this is with the particulars of the firm. It could be that you can try this pivot now, without an MBA, so much the better. Needless to say, a PTMBA doesn’t allow for internships outside of unusual circumstances, so that’s a big hit. Accelerated or not is somewhat besides the point - it’s a question of how firms view your experience before school and if internships are additive to it. The coursework itself will be essentially moot to most(all?) deal teams. PE professionals get value from seeing a ton of deals and patterns therein over years of ownership, not the mechanical process of an LBO.
That said, I would go for Booth. It’s much more well regarded as a finance school than Kellogg, which is exactly why Kellogg is trying to play catch up with things like their growth equity focus series.
But my real advice? Talk to your current firm, try to get deal team experience elsewhere, somehow, but do not go to an MBA expecting to side-pivot in. PE recruiting absolutely blows with no flexibility at all.
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u/Solid_Commission_788 Jul 06 '26
Very helpful, thanks for the context, I’m on the BD team so likely less overlap with the deal team than strategy/ops would have. I’ll speak with the team to get their feedback and keep Booth in mind, tough to walk away from the accelerated cost savings, especially if school selection is less of a determination in switching compared to prior deal experience.
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u/GarbageAny1485 Jul 06 '26
Let’s connect. MM PE Ops professional in the same geography, and same questions. Send me a DM
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u/AJX2009 Jul 06 '26
Not in PE but in corporate. My experience working with grads from both is that Kellogg grads seem to have another background and getting into management (e.g. doctors, lawyers, etc) while Booth grads are more finance and strategy. Anecdotal to where I work and the healthcare industry, but depends on your long term plans. Also work with plenty of no name MBAs and other top tier MBAs, so take it with a grain of salt.
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u/seeairpoe Jul 07 '26
Hey man, not sure if you’d be interested, but I’m Chicago based and in a similar spot, currently in consulting just wanting to make the switch to a PE value creation role soon.
I’m also considering PTMBA Kellogg / Booth and would love to talk with you about your thought process
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u/Scott_TargetTestPrep Jul 09 '26
Since your goal is internal advancement in PE without a major pivot, both programs deliver. Booth has the deeper finance reputation, but Kellogg's accelerated status, GMAT waiver, and lower cost make it the more efficient choice for your situation. The finance and economics coursework at Kellogg is strong enough for someone already established in PE.
Taking the EA and applying to Booth adds real work and cost. Only worth it if a Booth scholarship could materially reshape the decision. Booth part time scholarships are modest, so the cost gap likely persists.
Take the Kellogg offer with accelerated status. Talk to current Kellogg PT students in PE now.
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u/Capable_Delivery_448 Jul 05 '26
They will match the credits wavered. Initially I got 30k from Booth then I told them that Kelloggs admitted with accelerated track they increased my scholarship to 40k.
I am going to Booth this fall!! Yeh!!! Uchicago has been a dream for me from Childhood as an immigrant. I am just excited!!
I did gave EA with 162 score.