Felipe Lopez, Chicago Booth’s MBA Class of 2022
Age: 30
Hometown: Santiago, Chile
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile – Industrial Engineering
Pre-MBA Work Experience (years, industry): 2 years at banking (BTG Pactual) + 2 years at consulting (McKinsey) + 1.5 years at tech (Uber Eats)
Why business school? Why now?
After over 5 years of professional experience, I realized that pursuing an MBA was the ideal step to prepare myself to achieve my long-term goals. I believe the MBA will help me to strengthen my leadership skills, develop an extremely valuable network that will last for a lifetime, and open my mind by being exposed to exceptional people from many different professional backgrounds and cultures.
Why Chicago Booth? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
There are 3 key factors that made me choose Chicago Booth.
First, Chicago Booth not only offers academic freedom, with the most flexible curriculum among top MBA programs (this was very important for me because I already know the path I want to take) but also freedom of ideas and teaching methods. I believe this kind of freedom is key to taking risks, and now is the perfect timing for that.
Second, Chicago Booth is well known for its intellectual rigor and its data-driven approach (and not only in finance). Those factors are well aligned with my own way of analyzing business problems. At the same time, the school offers many options to put those concepts into practice in the real world through lab courses, business competitions, and projects with companies.
Third, Chicago Booth has a strong Entrepreneurship program. In the long-term, I would love to help startups raise capital to scale their operations, for that I need to understand how their founders think and what their pain points are. I am looking forward to immersing myself in the Chicago entrepreneurship ecosystem through all the opportunities that the Polsky Center offers.
In addition to these factors, I love to live in a large multi-cultural city with many things to offer (e.g., restaurants, bars). Many mentors that came to Chicago Booth convinced me that I would regret not coming here.
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2022?
My most valuable contribution is my diverse working experience. I have had the opportunity of executing M&A deals in different industries; giving advice to companies across Latin America in strategic, operational, and organizational subjects; assuming P&L responsibility, and leading cross-functional teams. All these experiences have taught me that things can be seen from many different angles.
Fun fact that didn’t get included on your application?
I took a 6 hour flight to watch my hometown soccer team play its first international cup final and then immediately took a flight back (I flew back with all the team in the same airplane!). The 18-hour adventure was definitely worth it. My team won its first international cup and I have an autographed soccer shirt.
Post-MBA career interests?
In the long-term I want to launch a VC fund in Chile focused on late-stage investment to fill the gap that exists today, encouraging Chilean family offices and pension funds to invest in high potential local startups to scale their operations in Chile and the rest of the world.
Advice to current prospective applicants:
– One thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process?
Talk with as many current students and alumni as possible. I didn’t have the opportunity to visit schools, so getting to know people from inside each community was key to get a sense of the cultural fit and learn valuable things that you can’t find on the internet.
– One thing you would change or do differently?
I would have started my preparation much earlier. When your job demands you long hours, having a good plan, and most importantly following it, is everything. In the beginning, my process wasn’t that structured and I had a bad time.
– Part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it?
I would have skipped the GMAT. What helped me get through it was stop updating my plan and start following it (it is easier said than done).
What is your initial impression of Chicago Booth’s students/culture/community?
My initial impression is that Chicago Booth students are very smart, diverse, and easygoing. In just a few weeks I have met entrepreneurs, investors, veterans, and people from many other professional backgrounds and from all over the world. Before coming to Chicago, I was worried about getting my MBA during COVID, and I was even thinking about a deferral. Now that I am here, I couldn’t be happier.
One thing you have learned about Chicago Booth that has surprised you?
I am really surprised about the collaborative culture. All the people I knew from the community had told me about Booth’s pay-it-forward culture, but it is still impressive for me to ask for help about any random topic in our general chat channel and receive responses from many people in less than 5 minutes.
Thing you are most anxious about in your first year?
Time management. Every day I am making choices. Between classes, professional/affinity/sports clubs, recruiting and social events you always have something to do. Unfortunately, you can’t do everything. I am still learning to prioritize all the alternatives I have.
Thing you are most excited about in your first year?
Continue meeting amazing people with perspectives different from mine, discuss with my professors and classmates how the current trends will reshape our post-COVID world, and leverage all the resources Chicago Booth has to offer to explore areas new to me.
