Recent MBA grads are increasingly looking west to big companies like Apple, Google and especially Amazon when searching for post-business school employment.

Elite MBA talent is being heavily recruited by tech firms, especially at a few target schools, like Northwestern's Kellogg School of Business and MIT's Sloan School of Management, according to new analysis from Poets and Quants, a news website that covers business schools. 

One eye-popping factoid from the report: Over the past five years, Amazon hired 49 MBAs from Columbia Business School — nearly as many as the 51 MBAs Morgan Stanley hired over the same time period. (Morgan Stanley is a much more traditional choice for recent Columbia MBA grads.)

Another illustration of how big tech firms are increasingly recruiting MBAs is from Chicago's Booth School of Business. Five years ago, Google only hired four graduates from Chicago's elite business school. But last year, Google tripled its take to 12 graduates.

Finance and consulting are still the top fields that newly-minted MBAs are choosing, but schools are increasingly exposing their top students to Silicon Valley. "Some schools long ago saw the need to travel to the coast to get a sense of the Silicon Valley-Bay Area ecosystem; more and more are following their lead, making such pilgrimages de rigeur for the best programs," according to Poets and Quants. 

Some students are even using the MBA as a credential to break into the technology industry. Median base salaries in tech for MBA graduates from certain schools can reach as high as $125,000 per year. 

Here's a chart that shows just how many MBA grads have headed to big tech companies over the last five years from certain elite schools: 

Read the entire report over at Poets and Quants. 

SEE ALSO: The 50 best business schools in the world

SEE ALSO: Google has passed Goldman Sachs in one measure of prestige

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University of Chicago Booth School of Business professor Luigi Zingalesdiscusses the debate surrounding corporate profit maximization. He talks about a research paper he authored, which makes the point that profit maximization is important to shareholders, but it’s not the only thing they care about. Put simply: shareholder welfare is not equal to market value.

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University of Chicago Booth School of Business professor Luigi Zingales and Business Insider executive editor Sara Silverstein discuss comments made by imprisoned former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli. Zingales says that while the pursuit of peak profits has become the corporate mantra, that isn’t a hard-and-fast rule. He views Shkreli’s assertion that profit maximization is the most important consideration as too narrow. Zingales then talks about how private companies often have considerations beyond profit, and tend to worry more about the well-being of employees.

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• The cost of certain cancer drugs has gotten high, often to more than $100,000 a year.
• To combat that, researchers are looking for treatments that could be taken at a lower dose, so long as they're taken with food.
• But finding the funding to study lower doses hasn't been easy.

Dr. Mark Ratain, the chief hospital pharmacologist at the University of Chicago Medical Center, has spent the past decade thinking about a different kind of "drug target."

Typically, the phrase is used to refer to the part of the body that an experimental drug is trying to modify. But in Ratain's case, he's been on the hunt for prescriptions that patients might be able to take at a lower dose — if they take it with food.

For some drugs (not all), taking the drug around the time you eat can increase the amount of drug that's absorbed into the body. Therefore, if you take the drug during a meal, ideally you should be able to take a lower dose and get the same effect.

That can be helpful if the drug has side effects that worsen as the dose gets higher. But increasingly, it's also been viewed as a way to cut back on costs — particularly for cancer drugs. Some of the new cancer drugs approved in the past few years carry a list price that can exceed $100,000 a year, that is, before factoring in insurance. And increasingly, cancer drugs are being used in combination with one another, doubling or even tripling that price tag.

So Ratain, along with other cancer doctors, decided to run a trial that would investigate how a lower dose for a key prostate-cancer drug, Zytiga, would work if taken with food in comparison to the full dose. The pilot study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in February. Zytiga has a list price of about $9,400 a month.

The trial had 72 patients, half of whom received the standard treatment of 1,000 milligrams and the other half that received the lower dose of 250 milligrams. In the end, the researchers found that the median amount of time before PSA (a marker for prostate cancer) progression happened was 14 months for both those on the low and the high dose, meaning that the reduced dose wasn't inferior to the approved dose.

The group is hoping to expand the study and evaluate how well the low dose works in a larger study, with the hope that, with enough evidence, cancer doctors prescribing these medications might be able to spend less money on the drug. As opposed to spending $9,400 a month, patients would need to spend $2,350, saving up to $7,050 a month.

To get the ball rolling on that trial, along with others, Ratain and other cancer doctors set up a nonprofit that's received a $1 million grant to get off the ground. But raising sufficient funding for that larger study is proving difficult as the groups who pay for these medications — health insurers, large employers, patient foundations — grapple with who should be responsible for this kind of research.

A defined dose

Getting doctors to be willing to prescribe a lower dose of medication so long as it's taken with food will require a fair amount of evidence beyond the pilot study. That's because a lot of work goes into researching a drug at a particular dose.

When drugmakers work on making a medication that they hope to get approved by the Food and Drug Administration, they're hoping to tick a few boxes. The drug needs to be safe and effective in treating the disease it's going after. To evaluate, companies run large clinical trials that aim to find the right dose that they should give patients to be both safe (not give off too many side effects) and effective. At the same time, the FDA is in charge of evaluating a drug based on its safety and efficacy, and doesn't take into account the price of a drug.

To make sure their results are as clear as possible, companies will try to take out as many variables as possible. So say the drug's absorption is increased because you ate right before taking the pill; the company might opt to say that the drug can be used only when the person has an empty stomach. That way, the results will ideally be more consistent. That's the case with Zytiga.

"The use of food as a way to increase bioavailability in patients with cancer could present problems and risks," a spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson, the pharmaceutical company that makes Zytiga, told Business Insider in an emailed statement. "Given the variation in the content and composition of meals, the recommendation is to take Zytiga exactly as described in the prescribing information."

Dr. Walter Stadler, section chief of hematology and oncology at the University of Chicago and prostate-cancer expert who was involved in the Zytiga research, told Business Insider that there could still be a lot of variability in how people actually take the medication — they may still take the medication shortly after eating or have different interpretations of what it means to take the medication at a fasting state.

There's also a lot of financial incentive to stick with a particular dose. Analysts build out sales models long before a drug ever gets approved, and a particular dose fits into that. Cutting back on a dose would make it difficult to live up to those expectations.

'As big of an issue as we can get funding for'

The lower-dosing question isn't limited to Zytiga, let alone cancer drugs. Ratain pointed to Zykadia, another cancer drug that, in its FDA label, references a food-effect study the company conducted, observing how the drug was absorbed more when taken with food. The drug's instructions say to take the treatment one hour before a meal or two hours after. And Ratain said there's others out there that need to be researched.

"It's as big an issue as we can get funding for," Ratain said.

Ratain and the researchers behind the Zytiga study approached Allen Lichter, who previously served as the CEO of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, while he was heading into retirement. Once they explained the work they were doing, he was hooked.

"It had the most practical and immediate impact I’d ever encountered," Lichter told Business Insider. So in spring 2017, Lichter, Ratain, and others launched Value in Cancer Care Consortium or Vi3C, a nonprofit dedicated to this kind of research.

To get doctors to change the way we look at dosing, it'll take sufficient evidence. And getting to that evidence will take a fair amount of money.

To get doctors to change the way we look at dosing, it'll take sufficient evidence. And getting to that evidence will take a fair amount of money.

Lichter's organization has gotten some support to get it off the ground through a grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, but he's now seeking out other backers, a task that's been challenging.

Theoretically, the people who ultimately pay for the treatments would be interested in funding studies that could cut down on their prescription-drug costs. But for as many people who see drug pricing as a problem, Lichter hasn't found any organizations that are willing to put in the investment to do the research.

For example, Lichter's found that private health insurers aren't interested, since this kind of research typically falls out of their expertise. Large companies that insure big groups of people and insurance coalitions similarly haven't been interested. Research foundations aren't up for funding this kind of research either, Lichter said, as they're more focused on funding work for new treatments.

Even though the lack of response has been frustrating, the issue of cancer-drug prices isn't going away. Elsewhere, Vi3C has seen interest in the topic as well, especially from the National Health System in the UK.

SEE ALSO: We're in the middle of a cancer-drug-innovation gold rush — but it has one major side effect

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why penalty kicks are so unfair to goalies

Welcome to DIGITAL HEALTH BRIEFING, the newsletter providing the latest news, data, and insight on how digital technology is disrupting the healthcare ecosystem, produced by Business Insider Intelligence.

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Have feedback? We'd like to hear from you. Write me at: lbeaver@businessinsider.com

US HEALTH EXECUTIVES EXPECT AI TO REACH HEALTHCARE IN 3 YEARS: Although AI is generating significant buzz in the healthcare sector, it has yet to infiltrate the clinical setting properly. In 2017, the overwhelming majority of healthcare delivered in the US had little to no AI involvement. However, 85% of US health executives believe AI will have a central role in healthcare within the next three years, according to an Accenture report.

Two key trends indicate that AI is poised to impact US healthcare over the next 18 months:

• Clinical trials are becoming more common. Several clinics and researchers have begun exploring how AI can be used within a clinical setting. For example, Google, Stanford, the University of Chicago, and the University of California conducted a study that assessed the ways AI could be used to predict mortality rates. As more evidence reveals that AI can empower health systems’ offerings, investment dollars will likely creep up. 
• The FDA is taking a greater interest in products that use AI. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in April that it planned to expand its regulatory coverage to encourage and prepare for the development of health products that incorporate AI. The FDA is working to facilitate the inclusion of AI in digital health tools by considering how it can add the segment to its pre-certification program.

Building consumers’ and clinicians’ trust in AI will be paramount as health systems and insurers implement the technology, Accenture notes. While consumers are concerned about how their data is being used, clinicians want proof that the technology is dependable amid liability concerns and that it ensures positive patient outcomes. There are two primary strategies to overcome these issues:

• Provide transparency around the motives for using patient data in AI as well as how AI models make decisions. This can help to demonstrate that the business understands and acknowledges the consumers’ concerns and helps to foster trust in the brand’s use of AI.
• Present evidence of how AI can provide positive outcomes. As more pilot studies of AI in clinical settings come to light and show how the technology can assist physicians and hospitals, such as through clinical decision support, clinicians will become more comfortable trusting the technology in a clinical setting.

PHILIPS PARTNERS WITH DANA-FARBER TO BRING PERSONALIZED MEDICINE TO CANCER TREATMENT: Health tech giant Philips is using cancer research institute Dana-Farber Clinical Pathways to develop a cloud-based precision medicine platform that helps oncologists more quickly identify appropriate cancer treatments, according to Healthcare It News. Philips’ cloud-based precision medicine platform, “IntelliSpace Oncology,” will help oncologists map cancer patients to the appropriate treatment options based on their radiology, pathology, genomics, and electronic health records (EHR) data. Precision medicine — which makes use of variations in consumers’ genes, environment, and lifestyle to guide the treatment of diseases — enables health systems to process large amounts of data to tailor personalized treatments that deliver better experiences and better outcomes. This helps to minimize the number of hospital readmissions and unnecessary tests, the number of hospital readmissions and unnecessary tests, thereby lowering the overall cost of healthcare. Moreover, the potential of precision medicine to reduce costs and improve outcomes means it has a role to play in the emergence of value-based care (VBC). An earlier implementation of Dana-Farber Clinical Pathways for lung cancer resulted in a $15,000 reduction in the cost of care per patient. 

WEB PRESENCE IMPORTANT FOR INSURERS AS CONSUMERS FLOCK TO ONLINE SEARCH: Online search and consumer reviews play a significant role in consumer behavior and decision-making when engaging with insurance providers online, according to a new Yext study. When it comes time to select a new provider or agent, 75% of respondents rated reviews as somewhat or very important to their decision, and half used online search tools as their first resource for insurance information. The “Yelpification” of healthcare means patients are shopping around online before choosing insurers and providers, and both players have reason to worry — review sites transformed the restaurant landscape with increased transparency, putting more power into the hands of consumers and pushing some businesses out of the market. Moving forward, payers that invest in their online presence, including monitoring online reviews and improving search engine optimization, will be best prepared to capture more of the available market. This trend will gain momentum as a younger, more digital-friendly demographic begins to shop for insurance.

NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING HELPS HEALTH SYSTEM GAUGE CARDIAC DEVICE EFFECTIVENESS: Missouri-based health system Mercy is using natural language processing (NLP) — a branch of machine learning that trains computers to process large amounts of natural language data — to evaluate the performance of cardiac devices, according to Healthcare IT News. NLP enables Mercy to analyze raw data across its EHR system and unlock previously inaccessible data from areas like clinical notes. The result is a more complete picture of patient data, which Mercy clinicians have used to glean insights into the efficacy of the different heart failure devices it has installed in 100,000 of its patients. Clinicians can use these insights to give feedback to medical device manufacturers and to evaluate which device a patient is most compatible with to improve quality and outcomes. Given the success of the tool for medical devices, Mercy's exploring new areas where they can apply NLP, such as operations workflow.

IN OTHER NEWS:

• Medisafe, a prescription management platform, increased the rate at which HIV patients refilled their prescriptions, according to a new study. Medisafe aims to reduce the $300 billion in healthcare costs related to poor medication adherence each year, which leads to unnecessary hospitalizations, ER visits, and extra tests.
• The UK National Health Service's (NHS) online patient portal was down for nearly 24 hours beginning May 30, 2018, according to Digital Health. Patients were unable to refill prescriptions, view medical records, or schedule appointments during this period.
• Zebra Medical Vision, an Israeli diagnostic imaging startup, secured $30 million in additional funding to bring its total financing to $50 million, according to TechCrunch. Zebra uses computer vision, or the automated extraction of analysis from images, to help radiologists improve diagnosis.

Join the conversation about this story »

• University of Chicago librarian Emma Boettcher beat "Jeopardy!" champion James Holzhauer after his 32-episode winning streak, according to leaked footage of Monday's episode.
• Boettcher wrote a 70-page thesis titled "Predicting the Difficulty of Trivia Questions Using Text Features," based on clues from "Jeopardy!" 
• She auditioned for the "Jeopardy!" College Championship while an undergraduate student at Princeton University, and she has also written pub quiz-style trivia questions for the Museum of the American Revolution and for the University of Chicago Library staff day.
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

The "Jeopardy!" champion James Holzhauer has reportedly lost after an impressive 32-episode run.

In a leaked video of Monday night's episode, which was circulating on social media, Holzhauer — who has racked up $2.462 million during his time on the show — was bested by Emma Boettcher, a 27-year-old University of Chicago librarian, who beat Holzhauer by around $22,000 in the final round.

Boettcher told The New York Times that she has watched the show religiously for years, documenting her own scores in a notebook while watching it on TV.

Boettcher graduated from Princeton University in 2014 with a degree in English language and literature, and two years later received a Master's Degree in information science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, according to her Linkedin page. At UNC, Boettcher wrote a 70-page thesis titled "Predicting the Difficulty of Trivia Questions Using Text Features," based on clues from "Jeopardy!"

"The study finds that features relating to a trivia question's length, the inclusion of audiovisual media, and its constituent noun and verb phrases have a significant impact on the clue's difficulty," Boettcher wrote in the paper.

An avid trivia buff, Boettcher auditioned for "Jeopardy!" College Championship while at Princeton. She told The Daily Princeton in February 2014 that a friend who was ultimately selected to appear on the show was an ideal fit.

"She's such a perfect candidate for the show because she's obviously incredibly smart and also very personable," Boettcher said about her friend. "Sometimes you get kind of arrogant people in Jeopardy that are just obsessed with showing off how smart they are, and [she's] not like that all."

Since then, she has written pub quiz-style trivia questions for the Museum of the American Revolution and for the University of Chicago Library staff day, according to her personal website. 

The Final Jeopardy question on Monday night's show, according to the leaked video, asks: "The line 'A great reckoning in a little room' in 'As You Like It' is usually taken to refer to this author's premature death." The answer was Marlowe.

While both Holzhauer and Boettcher answered correctly, Holzhauer only wagered $1,399 — for a total of $24,799. Boettcher, on the other hand, put more than $20,000 on the line, ultimately winning with a total of $46,801.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We spent a day behind the scenes of 'Jeopardy!' with Alex Trebek in 2017 — here's what he's really like

• The University of Chicago — founded in 1890 by the world's richest man, John Rockefeller — is widely regarded as one of the most rigorous and well-respected research universities in the country.
• Fall classes started this week, so Insider reached out to current students to see what that first day is like.
• Zola Yi, a fourth-year neuroscience student agreed to give us a glimpse of what a day is really like at The University of Chicago.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The first day of school can be an exciting and often intimidating time for US college students. New schedules, hidden classrooms, and demanding professors can all add to the potential stress. For students at the University of Chicago, those first-day jitters happened all over again this week. 

The University of Chicago was founded in 1890 by Standard Oil billionaire and history's richest man John Rockefeller. UChicago is regularly recognized as one of the most rigorous and well-regarded institutions in the country. It's also one of the priciest. Earlier this year, the University of Chicago enshrined itself as one of the country's most expensive schools when it announced its $57,642 tuition price for the 2019-2020 school year. When room and board are added, the projected cost of attendance at the school climbs even higher, to $80,277. 

To find out what day to day life is really like for students, Insider spoke to University of Chicago class of 2020 neuroscience and visual arts student Zola Yi. Yi agreed to document her first day of classes for the fall 2019 semester.

When she's not taking classes to complete her degree, Yi works as a research assistant in the school's neuroscience lab and as a student photographer and social media planner for the college. Yi is a board member of Chicago's Korean Student Organization and is a member of a sorority.

Follow Yi through her busy first day of classes at the University of Chicago and get a glimpse of what life is like for everyday students.

Meet Zola Yi, a fourth-year student studying neuroscience and visual arts. When she's not studying, Yi serves as a board member for Chicago's Korean Student Organization and splits the rest of her time between two jobs. Oh, and she's also in a sorority!

Yi starts her day bright and early at 8 a.m. She lives in an off-campus apartment with three roommates just a couple of blocks north of Chicago's campus. Normally, Yi says, she would sleep in an extra 30 minutes, but since today is the first day she wants to be extra prepared. For those who choose to live on campus, Chicago has seven residence halls.

Source: The University of Chicago

Anxiously awaiting her first day of classes, Yi made herself a quick breakfast and checked her new schedule one last time. This year, she's stacked most of her classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

With breakfast out of the way, Yi hopped onto her bike and headed to her first class of the year: Neuroscience of Seeing.

The neuroscience class takes place in Chicago's Biological Science Learning Center, one of the school's largest buildings. Yi says most undergraduates end up taking a class at this building at some point because the school requires students to take at least one science course.

Once her first class is over, Yi speedily bikes back to her apartment to take her dog, Miso, out for a walk. Yi lives near a dog park and says she enjoys taking the quick breaks with her canine friend.

At around 11:45 a.m., Yi stops to grab lunch with a friend at Hutchinson Courtyard, a popular, quiet midday destination among Chicago students.

Done with lunch, Yi strolls over to her next set of classes located in what students call "The Quad."

As a part-time photographer for the school, Yi regularly finds herself snapping serene photos of some most beautiful parts of the school's campus, like this one of Botany Pond.

Yi's second class of the day, Biological Clocks and Behavior, takes place in the school's Kent Chemical Laboratory. The University of Chicago is known for its iconic gothic architecture.

Source: University of Chicago Library 

Since it was the first day, Yi's second class was let out slightly early. Yi used that time to walk over to the Regenstein Library and make some adjustments to her new schedule. Regenstein is one of the university's six libraries.

Source: University of Chicago

Before heading on to her next class, Yi stopped by a student-run cafe in the Regenstein Library to grab a quick croissant.

Fueled and ready to go, Yi went over to the school's on-campus hospital to start her research assistant job in the neuroscience lab. Here, Yi stands beside a research poster she created for that job.

The first day of school also just happened to be Yi's roommate's birthday. She hopped on her bike and rushed home to bake a homemade cake.

After a long day of classes, work, birthday parties, and sorority meetings, Yi finally makes it back home around 9 p.m... to start homework. In addition to classwork, Yi spends the tail end of her day studying and filling out job applications for her fast-approaching post-graduation life.

Once all her homework is completed, Yi ends her day as she began it, with a friendly face cuddled in her bed.

• A record number of colleges and universities no longer require students to submit their SAT or ACT scores for admittance, according to FairTest. 
• These schools are instead turning to test-optional programs, which place a greater emphasis on grades and other aspects of a student's life. FairTest estimates 40% of accredited bachelor degree-granting institutions no longer require the SAT or ACT for admittance. 47 schools have gone test-optional in the last year alone. 
• The trend away from standardized tests comes amidst a growing body of research suggesting the SAT may disproportionately favor wealthy kids. 
• Elite, top-tier schools, which are normally averse to test-optional programs, have shown signs of changing. Last year, the University of Chicago stopped requiring the SAT and ACT for admission. 
• The University of California system, which is made up of 10 different universities and well over 100,000 students, is reportedly considering dropping its SAT and ACT requirements. 
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

When Esmeralda Hernandez sent out her college applications last year, she did so facing an uphill battle. The Swainsboro, Georgia, native worked hard and always excelled in school, but it was never easy. Neither of her parents graduated high school and she described her own schools as "under-resourced." Of all the challenges facing her on her quest to attend a top tier college, however, one of the most difficult was the SAT. 

"It was much more difficult than any of the classes I had taken during high school, especially the mathematics portion," Hernandez told Insider. The SAT, which is meant to serve as a common benchmark for students around the country, asks a variety of math questions. That was a problem for Hernandez, whose lagging high school had only worked up to algebra II. " I was so confused during the testing," Hernandez said,  "and time got the better of me." Hernandez took the test three times. 

Hernandez's experiences mirror that of thousands of college applicants who excel in the classroom, but due to a combination of socio-economic roadblocks, struggle to match that performance on standardized tests. Increasingly though, students like Hernandez, whose test scores would have excluded them from the nation's best schools are finding relief through test-optional programs that don't require SAT or ACT scores for admission.

For Hernandez, that test optional program was pivotal in helping her gain admission to her current school, the University of Chicago. Schools like the University of Chicago have floated the idea of dropping requirements for tests like the SAT and ACT for decades, but last year marked the single most significant departure from standardized test scores yet. 

The SAT has been accused of privileging wealthy, mostly white kids who can afford test prep

Since it was first implemented more than 90 years ago, the SAT has undergone multiple transformations and has become one of the two staple standardized tests for determining admittance to colleges, along with the ACT. For decades, scientific research has suggested the test, originally meant to be an academic equalizer, actually favors wealthy, usually white, students. A report out of Georgetown University appeared to bolster that argument, showing how if schools were to accept students based only on SAT scores, the accepted student body would be wealthier and less diverse. More recently, the SAT's legitimacy came under fire once again after it was determined that parents spent tens of thousands of dollars bribing corrupt test proctors to alter test scores as part of the college admissions scandal. 

According to FairTest, a non-profit that monitors testing practices, 1,050 schools have done away with standardized test requirements. That's around 40% of all accredited bachelor degree-granting institutions. What's more striking than the overall number of schools turning away from the SAT and ACT though is the pace of their departure. 

In an interview with Insider, FairTest's public education director Robert Schaeffer said the past year was the largest single growth in test-optional schools on record. That came on the heels of what Schaeffer described as record growth in test-optional programs over the past five years. 

"It wasn't a surprise," Schaeffer said, "but this year was far and away the best." Between October 1, 2018, and September 30, 2019, 47 more schools dropped ACT and SAT requirements, according to Shaffer.

University of Chicago's decision to go test-optional could change the landscape

The schools that have decided to go the test-optional route have run the institutional gambit, from small liberal arts colleges like Bryn Mawr to massive public schools like the University of Arizona. Some of the country's most historically "elite" schools — like Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford — have been less susceptible to change though. . But that may be changing. Last year the University of Chicago, consistently ranked among the top 10 best and most prestigious schools, announced it would no longer require SAT or ACT scores from its applicants.  

"Because it's a top tier national, and international university, it will help down the road," Schaeffer said. "The way it helps is by legitimizing the test-optional movement, it does not result in schools lurching ahead without their own data."

Test-optional programs appear to be working — at least for the University of Chicago. In an email to Insider, the spokesperson for the university said the school has seen a 24% increase in first-generation college students, a 10% increase in African-American students, and a 17% increase in Hispanic students since introducing its test-optional program.  

Officials from The College Board have acknowledged some of the shortcomings of the test in the past. For the past three years, largely in response to criticisms that the test favors rich white kids, the College Board has tried implementing an "adversity score," meant to measure the socioeconomic hardship of students, first through its Environmental Context Dashboard and now under a program called Landscape.

In an email sent to Insider, Jerome White, the College Board's director of media relations and external communications said, "The College Board's mission isn't to ensure all colleges require the SAT, it's to expand access to college for more students and help them succeed when they get there." In response to criticisms of the test's validity, White pointed to the College Board's 2019 National Validity Study and said its findings, collected from a survey of 223,000 students, confirmed SATs are a strong indicator of academic performance. 

"They are selling a product." 

The College Board is not actively opposing the move toward test-optional policies. In fact, White says, the board still works with test-optional schools and says the test can offer beneficial data about students even if it's not used for admissions decisions. 

"Grades and test scores serve as a check and balance in the admissions process," White said. "We believe an SAT score should never be a veto on any student's life." 

Shaeffer of FairTest was unconvinced that the College Board's attempts at amending the test made any real difference. None of the changes made to the SAT in the past two decades, Shaeffer claimed, made the test into a more accurate or fairer predictor of student success. 

"They are selling a product," Shaeffer said. "Cigarette manufacturers and vaping manufacturers told us there was a great value in their products too." 

If the SAT is viewed as a product, then it's about to face one of it's largest marketplace hurdles yet. According to The Los Angeles Times, the University of California system, comprised of 10 universities and well over 100,000 students, is considering doing away with its SAT and ACT requirements. The College Board did not respond to Insider's question about the implications of the University of California going test-optional.

Hernandez admits that adjusting to life at one of the nation's most rigorous school has been a challenge; something her struggling SAT scores may have predicted. For a time, while waiting to hear back from schools last year, the freshman says she doubted whether she'd made the right choice. 

"While I waited for decisions to come back, I sometimes asked myself if choosing test-optional was a mistake," Hernadez said. Despite the doubt and despite the difficult transition period, Hernandez says the decision was worth it, and is convinced admissions with less focus on test scores could help others like herself. 

"Test-optional helps people who did not have as many educational opportunities to shine and show their true motivation without a four-hour test result defining their application," she said.

• Read more:
• After colleges complained about the SATs offering an 'adversity scores' to boost students from difficult backgrounds the College Board nixed the program
• Here's how the SAT has changed over the past 90 years and where it might be heading
• 27 great schools that don't require SAT or ACT scores

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How to find water when you're stuck in the desert

• The University of Chicago's Booth School of Business offers the third-best MBA education in the country, according to U.S. News. 
• Booth's latest graduating class is earning more than ever, especially in industries like finance and consulting. 
• Here are the 23 companies that hired four or more graduates from the class of 2019. 
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Even though fewer students are applying for US MBA programs, demand for graduates is as high as ever. Just look at where the majority of MBA students from the third best business school in the country, the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, ended up after graduation.

Booth released data this week on the 23 employers that hired over half of the class of 2019. These employers reflect the three industries that drew most grads: consulting, finance, and technology. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these are quite lucrative industries, with the highest reported median salaries. You can read a report on the salary breakdown for the graduating class by industry here. 

These are the companies that hired at least four graduates each from Booth's latest class, listed in order of least to most graduates hired. 

SEE ALSO: Here are the 62 companies that have hired nearly all of Wharton's class of 2019

23. Walmart Stores Inc.

Number of Hires: 4

Percent of Hires: 0.8%

22. The Vanguard Group, Inc.

Number of Hires: 4

Percent of Hires: 0.8%

21. Accenture

Number of Hires: 4

Percent of Hires: 0.8%

20. Moelis & Company LLC

Number of Hires: 4

Percent of Hires: 0.8%

19. Ernst & Young LLP

Number of Hires: 4

Percent of Hires: 0.8%

18. The Kraft Heinz Company

Number of Hires: 4

Percent of Hires: 0.8%

17. William Blair

Number of Hires: 4

Percent of Hires: 0.8%

16. Apple Inc.

Number of Hires: 5

Percent of Hires: 1.0%

15. Evercore Partners Inc.

Number of Hires: 6

Percent of Hires: 1.2%

14. A.T. Kearney, Inc.

Number of Hires: 6

Percent of Hires: 1.2%

13. Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Number of Hires: 6

Percent of Hires: 1.2%

12. Morgan Stanley

Number of Hires: 6

Percent of Hires: 1.2%

11. Microsoft Corporation

Number of Hires: 6

Percent of Hires: 1.2%

10. Citigroup, Inc.

Number of Hires: 7

Percent of Hires: 1.4%

9. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Number of Hires: 7

Percent of Hires: 1.4%

8. Credit Suisse

Number of Hires: 8

Percent of Hires: 1.7%

7. PwC Strategy&

Number of Hires: 9

Percent of Hires: 1.9%

6. JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Number of Hires: 11

Percent of Hires: 2.3%

5. Google LLC

Number of Hires: 14

Percent of Hires: 2.9%

4. Amazon.com, Inc.

Number of Hires: 23

Percent of Hires: 4.8%

3. Bain & Company, Inc.

Number of Hires: 26

Percent of Hires: 5.4%

2. The Boston Consulting Group

Number of Hires: 35

Percent of Hires: 7.2%

1. McKinsey & Company, Inc.

Number of Hires: 48

Percent of Hires: 9.9%

• MBAs that graduated top US business schools in 2019 stepped into record-high salaries.
• We've compiled a list of our salary breakdown coverage for schools like Wharton, Booth, Kellogg, and more.
• To gain access to coverage like this, subscribe to BI Prime.

Business school is often seen as an easy highway into high-paying industries like finance and consulting.

To gauge this assumption, Business Insider reviewed data from the MBA class of 2019 at Stanford, Wharton, and other top programs.

Here are the starting-salary breakdowns (grouped into industries) for the following acclaimed business schools:

• Stanford Graduate School of Business
• Yale's School of Management
• University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business
• University of Chicago's Booth School of Business
• Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management

SEE ALSO: The ultimate guides to getting into the top MBA programs in the world

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Economic health researcher Katherine Baicker says in the case of contagious diseases like coronavirus, it improves the health of the entire community if everyone else has access to healthcare. 
• Baicker says the lack of coordination within the US healthcare system has exacerbated shortages because resources cannot be moved to where they are needed when they are needed. Instead, states and hospitals are bidding against each other, she says. 
• The US healthcare and health insurance systems are really a patchwork of different programs, which creates gaps and expensive inefficiencies, according to Baicker. 
• Baicker says, "This epidemic is highlighting not only shortcomings in our patchwork insurance system but also a lack of public health surveillance that would let us identify and treat early, as early as possible, a potential outbreak."
• She says Medicare For All would not fix the inefficiencies where public money is used on expensive treatments with limited health benefits. Baicker adds that expanding Medicaid could be a better option.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Katherine Baicker is a leading health economics researcher and dean of the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. She spoke with Business Insider about the changes America needs to make to its healthcare system to prepare for another pandemic. Following is a transcript of the video.

Sara Silverstein: Kate, in situations like these where we have contagious diseases, why does it benefit everyone for other people to have health insurance?

Katherine Baicker: That's a great question because most of the time when we talk about expanding health insurance, the main people who benefit from that are the newly insured who get access to care that improves their health and that's the main benefit. But in the case of contagious disease, clearly, my health affects the health of my family and my neighbors and my community. So we all have a much stronger interest in ensuring that everyone has access to care for contagious diseases.

Silverstein: And I've heard you talk about the inefficient allocation of resources during the coronavirus crisis. Can you explain what's happening there and how do you fix something like that?

Baicker: Well, that's clearly the question of the day is 'how can we address shortages that we have in some places that are really acute?' And part of it is ramping up production of things like personal protective equipment and ventilators and of course [inaudible] vaccine. But it's also about making sure that resources are positioned in the places where they are doing the most good. And that requires coordination, either at the federal level or among states, to make sure that resources can move around because this pandemic is moving across the country at a different rate. Different places are facing shortages at different moments in time. And we should be able to use that fact to make our resources do as much good as possible.

Silverstein: And what would be different about a more unified healthcare system or you've talked about deeper infrastructure in our healthcare system that would allow us to have ventilators where we need them as opposed to hospitals fighting over resources.

Baicker: Well this is symptomatic of a broader disconnect in our healthcare system. The US healthcare and health insurance systems are really a patchwork of different programs, partially overlapping, partially leaving gaps. Most Americans who are under age 65 who have health insurance get it through their jobs. So if they lose their jobs, they risk losing their health insurance. But older Americans get health insurance through the federal Medicare program. Lower-income Americans in some districts, some demographic groups get health insurance through Medicaid programs that vary from state to state. And as people's incomes change, their ages change, their job circumstances change, who's the insurer that's responsible for their care changes or potentially goes away. And at the same time, all of those different insurers are contracting with different doctors, different hospitals, which leaves the system wildly uncoordinated for a national emergency like this.

Silverstein: And what sort of system would allow them to all speak to each other?

Baicker: Well, in part there's a need for better coordination at the insurer level, where you want people to move seamlessly from one doctor to another, from one hospital to another, without their insurance status, meaning that there's a loss of information about the continuity of their care or maybe a loss of coverage for things that are really important. But you also need coordination of the payment mechanisms and the coverage mechanisms at the provider level, so that if the federal government could better coordinate state health insurance exchange plan participants and hospitals, if there was an opportunity to make sure that resources could flow smoothly without states having to bid against each other or hospitals having to bid against each other, that could improve health outcomes for people who are in shortage areas right now.

Silverstein: And you talk about how our health insurance is often tied to our employment, and if we lose our job, we lose our health insurance. Does that make sense for America today, and what would be your recommendation for what health insurance should be tied to or what it should look like?

Baicker: Well, of course it's vitally important that people have access to care for anything related to COVID or the coronavirus. And there've been some emergency funds made available and some states have opened up special enrollment periods for people to enroll in health insurance exchange or marketplace policies. So that there is some easing of those constraints. But by no means does it meet the full need of the population.

But in some ways, the broader healthcare needs of the population aren't addressed by policies that focus on care for things like contagious diseases. Back, the first question you asked, it's highlighted that people who have diabetes or cancer or heart disease need ongoing care and that care primarily benefits them and their families. Their care doesn't really affect the health outcomes of their neighbors. So we need a healthcare system and a health insurance system that differentiates between care that has really the high health benefit and care that's of questionable medical benefit.

If we spend a lot of public dollars on expensive treatments with limited health benefit, we're not going to have enough money left over to make sure that everyone gets vaccinated, that everyone has access to life-saving care. So we have to think more broadly, once we get through this crisis, about designing public insurance plans and private insurance plans that focus resources on the care that makes the biggest difference in people's health. And that may mean limiting care that has questionable health benefit.

Silverstein: And the US spends a higher percentage of its GDP on its healthcare system than any other country in the world, but I don't think everyone would say that we have the best healthcare system. So where are the inefficiencies and what are they coming from?

Baicker: Well, the patchwork system that we have certainly leads to some inefficiencies, and we are probably overusing some kinds of care at the same time that there are shortages of other kinds of care. We spend a lot of money on care that has really limited health benefit, and our public insurance programs like Medicare cover an almost unlimited quantity of care for the people who are on those programs. So it's a very strange time to be talking about too much healthcare use when we have too little care available for this crucial health crisis. But part of the reason that we're under-resourced to address something like the coronavirus pandemic is that too much of our dollar has been going to care that is probably not worth devoting public resources to for people who can afford to get access to that care on their own.

Now, there are other reasons that we spend a lot more than other countries. Our population looks very different from that of the countries that we're often compared to. And people sometimes compare the Norwegian healthcare system to the US. The US is much more heterogeneous in terms of the population's health needs, the condition that we enter the healthcare system in, the social determinants of health. All of those things that lead to higher rates of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. We have very different risk factors [inaudible] Minnesota maybe we look more similar. But in the US we've got Minnesota and Texas and Mississippi and California and New York, and those populations look very different and they have very different health needs. So I think we have to look even more broadly beyond the walls of the healthcare system when we're thinking about managing population health in a more effective way.

Silverstein: And I just want to make sure I understand, because you've mentioned a few times about spending public dollars on very expensive treatment with limited health benefits. Can you explain to me what type of situations you're talking about there?

Baicker: I'm very glad to have the chance to clarify that because I think people sometimes think that I'm talking about expensive care, but I'm not. I'm saying there's some care that is expensive and worth every penny spent because it's life-saving. Cancer treatment that extends life by years. [inaudible] that's wildly cost-ineffective because it's just not doing patients any good. Medications that are contraindicated for those patients. For example, medications that lower cholesterol. They're really important for diabetic patients. They're very cost-effective. Really important that every low-income diabetic patient have access at no co-payment to a cholesterol-lowering drug. But that same drug used in a patient who has no other risk factors, mildly elevated cholesterol, that's not nearly as cost-effective. In fact, maybe high-income patients should have to pay a pretty high copay for that because it's not actually improving their health by nearly as much as it would for a patient for whom it's targeted.

So some cancer care that's very expensive is extending life by months or years, and some is not really very different from a less expensive alternative that's available. What I'm trying to get at with thinking about where our public resources are focused is that when we have important unmet health needs of huge swaths of the population, we can't afford to spend an unlimited amount of public dollars, particularly on higher-income populations who could afford to buy augmented health insurance plans on their own.

Rather, my preferences would be to ensure care that's of high value for everyone and then make sure that our public programs have enough dollars to do that. And then people who want to get additional care that is maybe of lower health benefit, that's not extending the quality or length of their life by all that much. Maybe our public programs can't cover that and that's up to people to buy extra policies if they want to have extra coverage of that.

Silverstein: And for someone who is not, this is a very complicated subject and it's very hard to figure out the solutions to, what do we want our healthcare system to look like so that when we meet something like a coronavirus epidemic, that we are prepared to handle it in the most effective way possible?

Baicker: Well, this epidemic is highlighting not only shortcomings in our patchwork insurance system, but also a lack of public health surveillance that would let us identify and treat early, as early as possible, a potential outbreak. So there are all sorts of population health surveillance tools that we ought to be implementing outside of the health insurance system.

Right now we don't have the capacity to do population-based sampling measurement of who's been exposed to the disease, who's cleared the disease. If we had population-based metrics of that, we would have a lot more flexibility to start reopening activities in a way that guarded against a resurgence in the disease and that targeted activities that had the least health risk and the most economic benefit. But we don't have the population surveillance data that we need, public health surveillance data, that we need to be able to implement a nuanced policy like that.

Those systems could be in place all the time because the next epidemic could look very different. Right now we're focused on things like ventilators. The next epidemic might not be respiratory. So it requires a certain flexibility and constant vigilance, and that's important outside of how we ensure people's access to healthcare, which is another really important public policy question.

Silverstein: And if for somebody like me who says, Okay, well I, everything that you're saying sounds so smart and I agree with Kate, I want to see these things happening, but it's still hard for me to make that connection between the policy that I want to support that will make up, where it will feel where like we have less gaps and we are more prepared and that everyone has the coverage they need to protect themselves and other people. And I don't want to politicize it at all but would it be helpful to understand what specific policies. Like are we talking about Medicare For All or does Medicare For All have similar problems?

Baicker: So the policy that I described that would have more limited coverage of care of questionable benefit, that looks very different from Medicare For All. I think when most people talk about Medicare For All, they're thinking of our current Medicare system expanded across the population. And our current Medicare system funds a lot of really important care for people but it also funds a lot of care that has much more limited health benefit. And expanding that to the whole population would be very expensive in terms of the dollars required to cover it and wouldn't really leave any money left over for all of the other things that are so important to our prosperity and wellbeing, like education and housing and food and infrastructure.

Another way to expand coverage would be to expand Medicaid to populations that don't currently have it. And I think there's a strong body of evidence suggesting that being [inaudible] uninsured, even before a pandemic —

Silverstein: Sorry, there's, you're being cut out. One second. Can you go back?

Baicker: I was saying something very important.

Silverstein: That's what I thought. Okay. If you wouldn't mind just backing up a tiny bit.

Baicker: Sure. Another policy that people debate is expanding Medicaid coverage. States have different options. Some states have chosen to do that and some states have chosen not to. I think there's a huge body of evidence that being insured is really important for your health, even aside from the pandemic. It just amplifies that importance.

People who have insurance are much more financially secure because they don't risk being evicted because they can't pay their bills because they had an expensive hospitalization. They have much better access to care. They're more likely to get preventive care — cholesterol screenings, mammograms, pap smears, all recommended screenings. They report the quality of their care as much higher. Their mental health is better.

Their physical health. It's less clear that it effectively addresses things like diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, but it does seem to lower mortality overall and dramatically improve mental health, as I said. So expanding Medicaid coverage to everyone poses enormous health benefits but comes at a cost. Expanding coverages isn't free. People use more care and that costs money.

So what I would love for the public to be wrestling with is how to devote public resources and how to make that trade-off for the health and wellbeing of the people who are insured, balancing the taxpayer cost of financing those programs. And the sloganeering about Medicare For All, federal rights, state rights, all of that sort of glides over the really tough questions of how much care do we want our public programs to cover.

Silverstein: And you mentioned sloganeering and I feel like we're hearing a lot about post-truth and narrative economics or zombie ideas. And healthcare is something that we talk about kind of in these sort of soundbites that we don't always understand. Are there certain myths or beliefs or things that you hear over and over again about the healthcare system that you could help us dispel? That are not really as they appear?

Baicker: That's a perfect question for me. As Dean of the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago as well as a health economist, we focus on bringing evidence to bear on these questions, because the ideology can't answer the tough questions. And it's easy to tell a story on either side of a question that sounds possibly true but doesn't bear out in the evidence. And expanding Medicaid is a great example of myths on both sides of the aisle.

So for example, some people who are opposed to expanding Medicaid say it's a terrible program. People are no better off when they have Medicaid than if they were uninsured. And you might think that if you didn't have a sophisticated way of doing the data analysis, because people who are on Medicaid have a higher mortality rate than the uninsured. So you might think, Oh, what a terrible program.

But in fact, one of the main avenues by which you get on Medicaid is by being poor. And being poor is really hard on your health. And so it's not that Medicaid is increasing mortality, it's that being low income is increasing mortality. Once you strip away that confounding factor, it's clear that being on Medicaid is much better for you than being uninsured.

But there are also myths on the other side of the aisle. People say expanding Medicaid would be such a wonderful thing that we would actually save money because people would go to the doctor instead of the emergency room. They would get care much earlier, which would be not only better for their health but more cost-effective. We'd save money. People would go back to work. They'd pay taxes. We're all better off when we insure everyone and all of their care through Medicaid.

Well, when people get access to healthcare through Medicaid, they go to the doctor more and to the hospital more and to the emergency room more and they use more prescription drugs and all of that is very good for their health. But it costs money. You do not save money by expanding Medicaid.

Now, this is a very fraught question in a time of pandemic where it's one of the rare cases that my health affects your health as much as it affects my own. And it's very important that everyone have care for conditions that are contagious like that. But it's also important that people have care for cancer and pregnancy and diabetes and all of those other things. But that care is primarily about ensuring the wellbeing of all Americans. It's not about the spillover effects or the contagion that are so salient in the case of the pandemic.

SEE ALSO: Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman says we are ignoring a 'huge fiscal time bomb' set to detonate when the pandemic subsides

SEE ALSO: Obama's former economic advisor says Trump is ignoring the most important rule of virus economics — and warns the usual recession playbook is futile against COVID-19

Join the conversation about this story »

• A new research paper found that workers in jobs on the frontline of the novel coronavirus outbreak share certain characteristics that make them economically vulnerable.
• Researchers from The University of Chicago analyzed characteristics of workers in jobs that frequently can't be done from home and jobs that require close physical proximity to others. 
• They found that workers in these kinds of jobs disproportionately had low educational attainment, made below the median income, and lacked employer-sponsored health insurance. 
• Reopening businesses slowly could lead to economic risks for these workers, but opening quickly could lead to health risks, according to one of the researchers.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Not everyone has the option to do their work from home during lockdowns amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, and a new study shows there is an economic disparity between the workers in jobs that can be done from home and those that cannot.

Simon Mongey and Alex Weinberg from the Economics Department at University of Chicago and Laura Pilossoph of the Federal Bank Reserve of New York published a new research paper that examines how social distancing amid the coronavirus affects workers who most likely cannot do their work from home.

Their main findings show workers in jobs that cannot be done from home share certain characteristics, such as earning below median income or having low educational attainment. They also found other factors that make these workers economically vulnerable, such as having low liquid assets or typically being renters. This can can put financial pressures on them during the coronavirus where there have already been mass layoffs and furloughs.

How to tell if a job can be worked from home

To understand the effects from social distancing on workers, the researchers used a variety of data sources. They used job characteristics from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) and the BLS Occupational Employment Statistics programs to determine if a job can be done at home and the job's extent of physical proximity to other people.

They then used individual-level data from BLS and Census Bureau's Current Population Survey and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to get information on the characteristics of workers in these kinds of jobs, such as their educational attainment and income-level.

The researchers also used BLS data from the American Time Use Survey to validate their method and classification of high-proximity and low-work-from-home jobs.

Lots of non-work-from-home jobs have other economic vulnerabilities

The researchers found that jobs that are less likely to be done from home also tend to require high physical proximity to others. For instance, jobs in food prep services, the healthcare industry, personal care, and construction are all high-physical-proximity and low-work-from-home jobs. Jobs in scientific, legal, and finance occupations are all examples of jobs that have low physical proximity to others and have a high possibility of being done from home.

They also found that workers in these types of jobs are disproportionately more economically vulnerable across different measures. They found that workers in low-work-from-home and high-physical-proximity jobs were less likely to have a college degree or health insurance, work at a large firm, or be born in the US. They also were more likely to be renters and have less liquid wealth relative to their income, putting them more at financial risk compared to others.

Vulnerable workers were also more likely to be non-white. In general, typical salaries among workers of different races varies in the US. According to Census Bureau data, Hispanic and black median household income is less than the median income among all races and white households. Black and Hispanic women's median earnings are typically less than Asian and white women, according to Census data. This can put Black and Hispanic women more at economic risk during the pandemic as a large share of the workers on the frontlines are women.

The coronavirus further exacerbates these vulnerabilities

In a new coronavirus podcast series by The University of Chicago, Mongey shared what some of these findings mean. "What some of the main figures in that paper show is, the individuals in jobs which are less able to be done from home, are those which are at the bottom of the income distribution already," he said.

That means the outbreak and lockdowns could lead to a deepening of inequality. "So to that extent, their incomes are going to be falling, whereas those that can work from home, their incomes will be less affected. That's going to lead toward widening in income inequality," Mongey said.

Reinforcing that theme, workers who can't do their jobs from home tend to make less than those who can. According to a recent FiveThirtyEight article that also covered this research paper, 80.5% of people in low-work-from-home jobs have no college degree and 61.4% earn below the median income, compared to 42.1% and 40.3% respectively in high-work-from-home jobs. Similarly, in jobs that have high physical proximity to others, 65.9% have no college degree and 60.1% make below the median income.

Their findings are similar to recent polling done by Pew Research Center showing that higher-educated, higher-income individuals were more likely to say they have worked from home during this pandemic. 

Even worse, job security tends to be low for people who cannot work from home

The University of Chicago results also showed that those in low-work-from-home jobs, except those classified as essential during the outbreak, saw declines in employment from February to March 2020.

"Workers in low work-from-home occupations are more likely to have unstable employment. They are less likely to be employed full-time and more likely to have recently experienced unemployment," the researchers wrote in the paper.

Pew Research Center found 52% of lower-income Americans said their household had someone lose their job or had to take a pay cut as a result of the pandemic compared to 42% of middle-income and 32% of upper-income Americans. McKinsey also found similar results where low-income workers and those with low educational attainment are most at-risk to immediate effects of the coronavirus, such as layoffs or pay cuts.

Mongey said in the podcast that when people go back to work and stay-at-home orders are lifted, people in high-physical-proximity jobs will be most at risk, whether everyone goes back to work at the same time or businesses re-open more slowly, where low-physical-proximity jobs are re-entering offices and businesses first. 

"So an indiscriminate opening, these individuals are at higher health risk. A slow opening, these individuals are at higher economic risk. So either way, individuals which are at the bottom of the income distribution are at higher health risk one way or economic risk the other," Mongey said in The University of Chicago podcast.

SEE ALSO: Women are the front-line soldiers in the battle against coronavirus — but we're still not paying them as much as men

DON'T MISS: Surprisingly, high-earning Americans say they're more affected by coronavirus

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's what it's like to travel during the coronavirus outbreak

• School-ranking website Niche ranks the best colleges in America in 2020 based on factors ranging from acceptance rates to median income six years after graduation.
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is at the top of the list. Stanford, Yale, Harvard, and Princeton occupy other top spots.
• Colleges across the US went remote during the spring semester to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
• In the fall, several schools are considering continuing remote coursework, and some students are unsure if it's worth it to start or continue their college education without the full college experience. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

SEE ALSO: What the top 25 colleges and universities in the US have said about their plans to reopen in fall 2020, from postponing the semester to offering more remote coursework

DON'T MISS: Every Ivy League university ranked from least to most expensive

30. Emory University — Atlanta, Georgia

Acceptance rate: 19%

Undergraduate students: 7,086

Net cost of tuition: $26,804

Most popular majors: Business, Nursing, Biology

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $66,000

According to a student: "Although online learning is definitely not ideal, my professors made sure that we were all accommodated and definitely modified their classes to make them easier for remote learning. Many of my professors scheduled calls with their students just to check up and say "hi," which really went to show how much they care about the well-being of their students. I really appreciated my professors' effort to help us out during the COVID-19 pandemic."

29. University of Virginia — Charlottesville, Virginia

Acceptance rate: 26%

Undergraduate students: 16,777

Net cost of tuition: $17,845

Most popular majors: Liberal Arts and Humanities, Economics, Business

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $61,200

According to a student: "During COVID-19, I took all of my classes online. They went better than expected, and since I am a government major, not much was changed in terms of assignments. However, I feel like being so removed from classmates and the teacher makes it more challenging to motivate yourself and stay focused."

28. Carnegie Mellon University — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Acceptance rate: 17%

Undergraduate students: 6,589

Net cost of tuition: $30,847

Most popular majors: Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Statistics

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $83,600

According to a student: "While I did not take classes at CMU online, there were some lectures that took place online. For instance, both my biology and elementary computer science course had some lessons on the Online Learning Initiative (OLI). These were quite useful and interactive. And made excellent study material as well for the finals."

27. Johns Hopkins University — Baltimore, Maryland

Acceptance rate: 11%

Undergraduate students: 6,064

Net cost of tuition: $27,868

Most popular majors: Public Health, Neuroscience and Neurobiology, Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $73,200

According to a student: "My online learning experience has been great with little or no disruption from my in-person coursework. The professors, TA's and Hopkins administration have been wonderful, understanding, compassionate, and patient due to COVID-19. Being at Hopkins online and in-person have both been a great experience!"

26. University of California in Los Angeles — Los Angeles, California

Acceptance rate: 14%

Undergraduate students: 31,577

Net cost of tuition: $15,002

Most popular majors: Economics, Political Science and Government, Sociology

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $60,700

According to a student: "Because of COVID-19, all my classes were online this quarter. Though it was challenging, professors and TAs were extremely understanding and made it clear that they still wanted us to excel."

25. Tufts University — Medford, Massachusetts

Acceptance rate: 15%

Undergraduate students: 5,643

Net cost of tuition: $26,825

Most popular majors: Economics, Biology, Computer Science 

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $75,800

According to a student: "This past semester was online and my professors were flexible in making things work. The experience was challenging because academics at Tufts are notoriously rigorous. However, finding a balance between academic requirements and online learning is something that we'll only be able to master with time."

24. Georgetown University — Washington, DC

Acceptance rate: 15%

Undergraduate students: 7,459

Net cost of tuition: $28,509

Most popular majors: Political Science and Government, International Relations, Finance

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $93,500

According to a student: "Georgetown was such a great experience for me personally — I found the professors to truly care about their students and most of the student body was driven, intelligent, and genuine."

23. University of Michigan — Ann Arbor, Michigan

Acceptance rate: 23%

Undergraduate students: 30,318

Net cost of tuition: $16,856

Most popular majors: Information Science, Business, Economics

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $63,400

According to a student: "The University of Michigan has really turned into my home. The atmosphere of the school as well as the challenging but also supportive academic environment were the two things that I was really looking for in a school and Michigan does it so well. You really need to take initiative to succeed here, but if you do it's great."

22. Amherst College — Amherst, Massachusetts

Acceptance rate: 13%

Undergraduate students: 1,855

Net cost of tuition: $19,275

Most popular majors: Mathematics, Economics, English

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $65,000

According to a student: "I've grown intellectually more than I could have imagined during my time at Amherst. The student body is amazing from top to bottom, which allows classes to move at a very fast pace. Much material is covered, very quickly, each semester. Plenty to do on campus, in town and in the surrounding area, the Pioneer Valley is beautiful."

21. Bowdoin College — Brunswick, Maine

Acceptance rate: 10%

Undergraduate students: 1,828

Net cost of tuition: $24,831

Most popular majors: Political Science and Government, Economics, Mathematics

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $65,500

According to a student: "So glad I chose to come to Bowdoin! A very close community where people treat each other with kindness and are excited to learn from their peers. Quality of life is great, with great dorms, food, and the surrounding area. Classes are challenging but there is very little competitiveness and lots of support for students academically. For a small liberal arts school, there is a very healthy and fun social life."

20. Cornell University — Ithaca, New York

Acceptance rate: 11%

Undergraduate students: 15,182

Net cost of tuition: $28,890

Most popular majors: Biology, Computer Science, Business

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $77,200

According to a student: "Cornell has such a great and welcoming community. The campus is absolutely beautiful, from the antique buildings to the nature surrounding them."

19. University of Southern California — Los Angeles, California

Acceptance rate: 13%

Undergraduate students: 19,907

Net cost of tuition: $36,161

Most popular majors: Business, Communications, Biology

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $74,000

According to a student: "There are many resources available before and after graduation. The professors all care about the students and the students are all helpful to each other as well. The connections are unmatched by any other school. Even after you graduate, the networking is unparalleled."

18. University of Chicago — Chicago, Illinois

Acceptance rate: 7%

Undergraduate students: 6,632

Net cost of tuition: $33,003

Most popular majors: Economics, Mathematics, Biology

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $68,100

According to a student: "A great experience! Definitely rigorous and not for the faint of heart. Academically excellent, fantastic research opportunities, diverse, professors are amazing. I participate in varsity sports and it's a great community."

17. University of Notre Dame — Notre Dame, Indiana

Acceptance rate: 18%

Undergraduate students: 8,617

Net cost of tuition: $30,229

Most popular majors: Finance, Economics, Mechanical Engineering

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $78,400

According to a student: "Notre Dame has the academic rigor and challenging discourse of a top US university. What surprised me instead is the kindness and understanding among the students and faculty I encountered during my first year; I wouldn't have expected such a competitive environment to foster such charity in its community."

16. California Institute of Technology — Pasadena, California

Acceptance rate: 7%

Undergraduate students: 948

Net cost of tuition: $26,361

Most popular majors: Computer Science, Physics, Electrical Engineering

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $85,900

According to a student: "The best school in the country, period. Great research opportunities, faculty and resources make up Caltech. But it is the incredible people around that make it such a worthwhile experience."

15. Dartmouth College — Hanover, New Hampshire

Acceptance rate: 9%

Undergraduate students: 4,418

Net cost of tuition: $23,394

Most popular majors: Economics, Political Science and Government, Computer Science

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $75,500

According to a student: "I think in the end, I look back and love the time I've spent at this school, because I've grown so much as a person compared to when I first got here: emotionally, socially, and academically. The school has given me many gifts of friendship and maturity, along with many challenges in the classroom and lab that have made me think about myself and my future goals."

14. Washington University in St. Louis — Saint Louis, Missouri

Acceptance rate: 15%

Undergraduate students: 7,751

Net cost of tuition: $27,931

Most popular majors: Finance, Computer Science, Research and Experimental Psychology

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $70,100

According to a student: "WashU is an amazing school full of kind people and staff that truly want you to succeed. There are so many resources to help students in any area, and campus has a friendly atmosphere rather than a competitive one. Campus is so beautiful and dorms are some of the best in the country."

13. Pomona College — Claremont, California

Acceptance rate: 8%

Undergraduate students: 1,573

Net cost of tuition: $16,988

Most popular majors: Economics, Mathematics, Computer Science

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $58,100

According to a student: "I had a great time at Pomona. The class sizes were small so I was able to build close relationships with my professors. Professors were generally available and happy to talk to students during office hours about the lectures as well as life in general. I also loved being surrounded by brilliant peers who inspired and pushed me during my time at Pomona."

12. Vanderbilt University — Nashville, Tennessee

Acceptance rate: 10%

Undergraduate students: 6,861

Net cost of tuition: $23,596

Most popular majors: Economics, Liberal Arts and Humanities, Social Science Research Methods

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $69,000

According to a student: "Vanderbilt is full of bright kids, and everyone is insanely welcoming. This is truly a community-based university, with everyone trying to help out the underclassmen, and the professors always being receptive."

11. Northwestern University — Evanston, Illinois

Acceptance rate: 8%

Undergraduate students: 8,642

Net cost of tuition: $27,540

Most popular majors: Economics, Psychology, Journalism

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $69,000

According to a student: "Northwestern University taught me an incredible amount about myself as a person through its academic rigor. I was honored to work alongside and with very talented and gifted peers and professors who challenged me and made me a better student and young adult."

10. Rice University — Houston, Texas

Acceptance rate: 11%

Undergraduate students: 3,992

Net cost of tuition: $23,202

Most popular majors: Economics, Information Science, Chemical Engineering

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $65,400

According to a student: "Rice gives you so many opportunities to challenge the way you think, approach, and solve different issues in society. Whether you are a STEM major or a humanities major, there are lots of interdisciplinary classes/organizations so that you are able to view things from different perspectives."

9. University of Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Acceptance rate: 8%

Undergraduate students: 11,851

Net cost of tuition: $26,266

Most popular majors: Finance, Economics, Nursing

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $85,900

According to a student: "I love the history of the university and the diversity of the education. One of my favorite things is being able to easily take classes from all four undergraduate schools and be able to interact with students from all different interests and backgrounds."

8. Columbia University — New York, NY

Acceptance rate: 6%

Undergraduate students: 8,216

Net cost of tuition: $21,220

Most popular majors: Economics, Computer Science, Political Science and Government

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $83,300

According to a student: "For the past two semesters, my experience has been nothing but eye-opening. I came in as a transfer student from Bronx Community College and the transition into a 4-year top-tier college was incredible. Columbia is a type of environment with an air of excellence which elevated my mindset into knowing that I am cut out to succeed."

7. Brown University — Providence, Rhode Island

Acceptance rate: 8%

Undergraduate students: 7,043

Net cost of tuition: $27,238

Most popular majors: Computer Science, Economics,  Biology

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $67,500

According to a student: "Brown is more than just an elite institution, it's a community of people who are all so amazingly brilliant in their own unique ways and I often catch myself surprised by how impressive everyone is."

6. Duke University — Durham, North Carolina

Acceptance rate: 9%

Undergraduate students: 6,682

Net cost of tuition: $19,785

Most popular majors: Computer Science, Economics, Public Policy Analysis

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $84,400

According to a student: "Duke is an amazing place to live, eat, learn, and cultivate who you want to be when you grow up (as cliché as that sounds). I was a student-athlete, and my experience with the student body and professors could not have been better. I love having all the support in the world from people in the Duke community."

5. Princeton University — Princeton, New Jersey

Acceptance rate: 5%

Undergraduate students: 5,428

Net cost of tuition: $16,192

Most popular majors: Computer Hardware Engineering, Economics, Public Policy Analysis

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $74,700

According to a student: "Having just completed my first year as an undergrad, I can truly say that attending this university is the best choice I've ever made. Not only are the professors incredible and the resources abundant, but I've made an incredible network of close friends. And, as a low-income student, I have never wanted for anything due to Princeton's generous financial aid."

4. Harvard University — Cambridge, Massachusetts

Acceptance rate: 5%

Undergraduate students: 9,950

Net cost of tuition: $17,590

Most popular majors: Economics, Computer Science, Political Science, and Government

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $89,700

According to a student: "Harvard was an incredible experience unlike any other. I instantly felt connected as a global citizen like never before, meeting some of the most intelligent and unique people I am likely to come across in my life. The institution prides itself on maintaining high standards, and one leaves its gates understanding not 'what' to think but 'how' to think — the most valuable skill set of all."

3. Yale University — New Haven, CT

Acceptance rate: 6%

Undergraduate students: 5,964

Net cost of tuition: $18,748

Most popular majors: Economics, History, Political Science, and Government

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $83,200

According to a student: "An amazing school with so many different positive qualities about it! There's also a lot of balance — Greek life doesn't dominate but it's still there and pretty open to most people. Academics are challenging/rigorous but so captivating that you're motivated to work hard. There is a variety of social, political, economic, religious views represented on campus and yet almost everyone is respectful and open about getting to know about why you think the way you do. To cut a long story short — best college in the world, and I couldn't be happier."

2. Stanford University — Stanford, California

Acceptance rate: 4%

Undergraduate students: 7,087

Net cost of tuition: $17,271

Most popular majors: Computer Science, Biology, Engineering

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $94,000

According to a student: "Stanford is the greatest place on earth. I feel so at home here and love everything about the campus and life here. The weather is amazing (no snow! or freezing temperatures), people are happier than many other schools, and you have the freedom and flexibility to study anything and switch your major around."

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Cambridge, MA

Acceptance rate: 7%

Undergraduate students: 4,602

Net cost of tuition: $18,971

Most popular majors: Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Mathematics

Median annual earnings six years after graduation: $104,700

According to a student: "MIT is an outstanding university with numerous and diverse opportunities in research and academics. Classes at MIT are indeed difficult, with homework and associated studying consuming a large chunk of time. The beauty of this is that it pushes students to go above and beyond their previous understanding of what they believed themselves to be capable of."

• Universities like Columbia, Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), declared Juneteenth a holiday following weeks of protests over the death of George Floyd in police custody.
• The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and others, like the University of Southern California (USC), held virtual vigils.
• Here's how the top 25 US colleges and universities have responded to the Black Lives Matter protests.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

SEE ALSO: What the top 25 colleges and universities in the US have said about their plans to reopen in fall 2020, from postponing the semester to offering more remote coursework

University of Texas at Austin

Location: Austin, Texas

University response: Jay Hartzell, the interim president of the University of Texas (UT), first addressed the death of George Floyd in a letter to the campus community on June 1. Titled "Turbulent and Difficult Times," the letter stated that the university can provide solutions through these difficult times by spreading knowledge to combat injustice. 

The university followed up Hartzell's initial response by releasing a webinar, "Managing in the Age of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor", and other resources on June 12.

Hartzell released another brief letter three days later. Titled "Listening Closely and Moving Forward Together," he shared that he is listening to the concerns of the UT community to figure out a plan for overcoming racism.

Hartzell recognized Juneteenth in a letter to the UT community that encouraged faculty and students to use their work hours to spend time with friends and family and reflect on the meaning of the historic day.

University of Washington

Location: Seattle, Washington

University response: President Ana Mari Cauce released a letter on May 30 calling on the University of Washington community to create a "new normal" in paying attention to equality the same way people are changing the way they lead their lives through the coronavirus pandemic.

Cauce also called out the "structural inequities and the institutional racism" laid bare by the pandemic.

"George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor — say their names, see their faces, hear their cries. Weep, then act," she added.

In a letter recognizing and celebrating Juneteenth, Cauce shared resources with community members to learn more about the holiday.

Georgetown University

Location: Washington, DC

University response: Georgetown University President John DeGioia released a letter on May 31 addressing the recent deaths of Floyd in Minnesota, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia.

Titled "Confronting Racism," it also cited the school and the president's reflections on the deaths of Michael Brown,  Eric Garner, and the demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia.

DeGioia called on all members of the community to confront racism and work towards equality.

DeGioia officially recognizing Juneteenth as a holiday at Georgetown University in a more recent letter to the school community.

Rice University

Location: Houston, Texas

University response: Rice University President David Leebron released a letter to the campus community on May 30 acknowledging the deaths of several Black Americans in the hands of police, including Arbery, Taylor, and Floyd. Leebron said that all these cases involved "Black Americans who were treated as a threat when they weren't" and "who were killed when the circumstances provided no justification."

Leebron included a call to come together and build a more inclusive environment at the university.

In a follow-up letter to the school community on June 16, Leebron outlined the school's plans to create new management positions geared towards race, diversity, and inclusion. Leebron added that there will be a diversity and cultural understanding class included in the required orientation coursework.

The university is also starting a student fund for the Center for Civic Leadership and a research fund dedicated to anti-racism.

Boston University

Location: Boston, Massachusetts 

University response: University President Robert Brown' released a letter on June 1 saying that the university must be as active in responding to systemic racism as it is about defeating the coronavirus.

To do this, Brown continued, Boston University is trying its hardest to bring students back together on campus in the fall. "Our residential community brings together students from every background to live and learn together ... in an atmosphere that promotes mutual understanding and respect," he wrote.

After receiving backlash from the campus community, Brown apologized a few days later for talking about returning to campus in the same letter as addressing systemic racism.

On June 24, the university conducted a full day of virtual sessions about racial justice led by university leaders. 

Brown University

Location: Providence, Rhode Island

University response: On June 1, Brown University released a letter signed by 21 senior university leaders expressing sadness and anger at the deaths of Floyd, Arbery, and Taylor. The letter calls this moment "historical, lasting and persistent" and looks back at the deaths of Sandra Bland, Garner, and Brown, and questions what it would take to end racism. 

The letter also said that the coronavirus is "disproportionally killing Black people," and urged the community to persistently reach out to local and national leaders about issues of racial injustice.

The university shared that it would spend the next few weeks coming up with ways to implement coursework designed to promote equality and justice.

Brown followed up its initial response by declaring Juneteenth an official university holiday and announcing plans to create a task force focused on anti-Black racism.

The California Institute of Technology

Location: Pasadena, California

University response: The California Institute of Technology (CalTech) released a letter on June 4 outlining new initiatives like a campus-wide unconscious bias training and a study that it says will help the university better understand the underrepresented members of the community.

The letter also discussed CalTech's recent history addressing racial injustice over the last six years, noting record undergraduate diversity. 

University of Michigan

Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

University response:  University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel released a letter on May 29 saying he was horrified by Floyd's death and thanking community members who have shared their personal feelings about the situation. 

Alongside Floyd, Schlissel addressed the deaths of Taylor and Arbery. He discussed the University of Michigan's research on police interactions with Black people and said it's the school's duty to fight for justice and equality.

Schlissel closed the statement with a reference to the university's counseling resources.

Schlissel released another letter the following week that linked to a page of more than 30 letters from university leaders regarding Floyd's death and systemic racism in the U.S.

Carnegie Mellon University

Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

University response: Carnegie Mellon University released a letter on May 30 that addressed the deaths of Floyd, Taylor, and Arbery and expressed concern for the victim's families and others that are hurting during this time. It also called on community members to come together to dismantle systemic racism by reflecting on "what we can do to make society, including our own community, more just."

Northwestern University

Location: Evanston, Illinois

University response: Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro released a brief letter on May 29 about Floyd's death, saying he "felt outrage and disgust." Schapiro also called the arrest of a CNN reporter amid protests "sickening."

The university is grieving the impacts of systemic racism, he said.

Schapiro referenced Dean Charles Whitaker's statement and pledged to work towards ending systemic racism.

"We can all increase our resolve to create a Northwestern community, and a world, where all people are accorded the dignity and the safety they deserve," Schapiro wrote.

Several other university leaders followed suit in the days and weeks that followed with letters on committing to social justice, supporting the Black community at Northwestern, and getting support and care during this time.

The University of Southern California

Location: Los Angeles

University response:In a May 31 letter, Carol Folt, president of the University of Southern California (USC) asked the community to come together and confront racism by reflecting on where it exists within the university.

The community held a virtual vigil the following week.

Folt released a second letter on June 11 outlining a plan with six steps that USC is taking to confront and combat racism, including renaming a building that was named after a former president of the university — Rufus Von KleinSmid — who supported eugenics. 

Johns Hopkins University

Location: Baltimore, Maryland

University response: John Hopkins University President Ronald Daniels released a letter on May 31 addressing the need for the university needs to play a role in talking about racial injustice. The letter ended included resources for diversity and inclusion and student wellness.

The University confirmed to Business Insider it is planning a virtual town hall on racial injustice. 

On June 12, Daniels shared that John Hopkins is pausing the implementation of a campus police department for at least two years.

The following week, the school announced that it would close at noon on Juneteenth and provided resources for learning about racial justice.

Duke University

Location: Durham, North Carolina

University response: Duke University president Vincent Price released a statement on May 30 addressing the deaths of Floyd, Taylor, and Arbery and the role of systematic racism in the U.S. and the world adding that the university has to work together to confront racism. It "will continue the work of addressing generations of racism and injustice, of seeking ways to approach one another with respect, and of building communities that are truly safe, supportive, and inclusive for all," he wrote.

Prince followed up about two weeks later with another letter encouraging community members to rest and reflect on Juneteenth and outlining the university's anti-racist initiatives. Some of these include incorporating anti-racist teachings into coursework and diversifying staff and students with a focus on being inclusive of those who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

The University of Chicago

Location: Chicago, Illinois

University response: The University of Chicago Provost Ka Yee C. Lee released a statement about Floyd's death on May 31, saying that it was the result of a racist system. Lee encouraged community members to take care of each other during this time and to always respect one another. The statement ended with a list of relevant campus resources for student wellness and learning about racial injustice.

The university also recognized and celebrated Juneteenth, inviting the community to use the day to reflect.

New York University (NYU)

Location: New York

University response:NYU released a statement on May 29 stating that the university supports "those who oppose hate, ignorance, and divisiveness."

The statement included resources for supporting students and faculty, including a bias response line, which was designed for community members to report incidents of and concerns about discriminatory behavior at NYU.

NYU has also compiled a webpage of anti-racism education resources.

Cornell University

Location: Ithaca, New York

University response: Cornell University President Marth Pollack released a statement on May 29 saying that the university will do everything it can to combat racism, and so will she. "The amount of pain in the Black community is unfathomable," she said.

Pollack followed up with campus initiatives including accessible Zoom meetings sessions about topics like institutional racism and a community book read of "How to Be an Antiracist" by  Ibram X. Kendi.

Pollack announced that Juneteenth would be a holiday for Ithaca and Cornell Tech faculty and staff two weeks later.

Princeton University

Location: Princeton, New Jersey

University response: Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber released a statement on May 31 calling Floyd's death "heartless," and Taylor's and Arbery's "unjust."

Community members have a responsibility to confront and combat racism "wherever and whenever we encounter it," he said. Eisgruber ended by saying that they should join the graduating class of 2020 in creating a better world.

On June 22, Eisgruber followed up with a second statement about Princeton's initiatives for combatting racism. He shared that there will be a new summer grant program for serving racial inequalities and injustices and new classes related to anti-racism.

Eisgruber added that the university still must do more and provided an email address for community members to send their ideas.

The University of Pennsylvania

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

University response: Amy Gutmann, the president of the University of Pennsylvania, released a statement about Floyd's death on May 30, calling it "tragic."

"Our hearts are filled with sadness for this senseless loss of life," she added.

Gutmann said she supports the school's Black students and faculty and concluded by asking the campus community to recommit to making the University of Pennsylvania a safe and inclusive environment.

The following week, Gutmann announced new anti-racist initiatives, including a focus on civic engagement during the upcoming school year.

On Juneteenth, the university stated that all non-essential staff should take the day off and reflect on racial injustices.

Yale University

Location: New Haven, Connecticut

University response: Yale University President Peter Salovey released a statement on May 31 addressing Floyd's death and calling on the Yale community to try to turn their feelings of fear into hope, to come together, and to fight injustice.

Yale also put together a webpage that shares all of Yale's leaders' statements about George Floyd and the devastation of systemic racism.

Yale also released a statement about reforming the Yale Police Department through initiatives like limiting police response and training police to minimize the use of force.

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Location: Los Angeles

University response: UCLA released a statement on May 30 about Floyd's death. Titled "The Pain Behind the Protests," it described the incident in detail: "What was so chilling was the relaxed demeanor of a police officer — sworn to protect and to serve — his hands calmly in his pockets, kneeling on the neck of a fellow human being, indifferent to his cries of pain and the fear for his life."

The statement discussed UCLA's responsibility to care about racial injustice and make the campus a safe and just place for all students, mentioning upcoming campus initiatives, like virtual reflection spaces where community members can process their feelings about current events and a link to a webpage dedicated to racial trauma resources.

On Juneteenth, the university encouraged community members to use the day to reflect on racial injustice.

Columbia University

Location: New York City

University response: Columbia University President Lee Bollinger released a letter about Floyd's death on June 1.

"The horrifying ending of the life of George Floyd, a citizen in the very system of justice intended to protect him, and us, which then, along with other recent tragic deaths, drew back the curtains on centuries of invidious discrimination against African Americans and others," he said.

Bollinger shared that he hopes the country can bring an end to this discrimination together, adding that he is concerned about the current political culture in the U.S. 

He said that Columbia University has higher standards for the intellectual character than political leaders, but that these events show that the U.S. political system is at the "opposite end of the spectrum," adding that he thinks they are a sign of a nation heading towards authoritarianism.

Bollinger added that colleges must hold themselves accountable for their contributions to systemic racism and that Columbia is determined to change for the better.

Bollinger also declared Juneteeth a school-wide holiday adding that it has both contributed to systemic racism and helped combat it. He added that the university still has much anti-racist work to do.

University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley)

Location: Berkeley, California

University response: Carol Christ, chancellor of the University of California in Berkley sent out a letter on June 4 inviting the UC Berkley community to come together for a moment of silence for Floyd.  

In the same letter, Christ said that she hopes community members are taking time to call for justice, adding that this moment in history is unlike anything she's seen before.

"As an institution of higher learning, it is our role and responsibility to examine and teach about the critical, challenging, and at times thorny issues facing our society," Christ wrote. She concluded with links to virtual events meant to educate the community about systemic racism and police brutality.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

University response: Leo Rafael Reif, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), addressed the community on May 29, which also happened to be the school commencement day. In the letter, titled "Minneapolis, our nation and our community," Reif wrote that although commencement day should be a perfect day for the campus community, this year, "it is impossible to face ... without an overwhelming sense of concern for our nation." Floyd's death has highlighted systemic racism in the U.S. "yet again," he said.

Reif said that these events are weighing heavily on certain community members, especially those who are Black. He added that he has a desire to help while feeling powerless and that he believes other community members do too.

MIT community should come together and confront its mistakes, Reif said, adding that John Dozier, MIT's Institute Community and Equity Officer, will help guide this process.

MIT held a virtual vigil the following week. Fifteen MIT community members spoke, including Dozier.

MIT observed a school-wide holiday on Juneteenth with Rief encouraging community members to take the time to learn about the historic day. He included links to several resources with free information on the topic, adding that while some are just learning about Juneteenth, others have celebrated it their whole lives.

Reif wrote that he is working with student leaders from the MIT Black Students' Union, the MIT Black Graduate Student Association, and the Academic Council Working Group to create a plan for addressing systemic racism at MIT.

Stanford University

Location: Stanford, California

University response:Marc Tessier-Lavigne, president of Stanford University released a letter to the campus community on June 10 saying that recent events have brought systemic racism and police brutality to light. Stanford is committed to creating a safe and inclusive community for all students, he wrote, and in doing so the university must take a look at its own public safety practices.

Tessier-Lavigne said that Stanford began conversations with Black students about being more inclusive last year. These students recommended accelerating the initiatives they have been considering.

One of these initiatives is the Community Board on Public Safety, which is meant to ensure a safe and inclusive environment by building trust with the community, Tessier-Lavigne said, adding that there will be more initiatives confronting anti-Black racism in the future.

Harvard University

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

University response: Harvard President Larry Bacow issued a letter about Floyd's death on May 30. Titled "What I believe," the letter addressed the coronavirus pandemic and Floyd's death. Bacow compared this historic moment to when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, followed by Bobby Kennedy.

Bacow said he believes no one is above the law and that how a society treats its "most vulnerable members" reveals its justness. He concluded by saying he hopes others in the Harvard community are inclined to reflect and act on their beliefs, adding that its the responsibility of the Harvard community to do so.

In a June 10 message, Bacow addressed the role of the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) amid protests and discussions of police brutality across the country. Bacow wrote that in early 2020, HUPD was put under review after receiving allegations of racism. Harvard called on industry experts, Brenda Bond and Ronald Davis, to review the university's policing practices, Bacow said.

He released another statement the following week declaring Juneteenth a holiday, announcing that the school's newspaper, the Harvard Gazette, would provide coverage on the topic. He encouraged the community to use the time to learn about racial justice.

On June 21, Bacow released a statement about a racist email that was sent to thousands of Harvard community members. He apologized that it happened and implored those who haven't opened it yet not to. "A racist attack against one of us is an attack against all of us," he wrote, adding that the university is investigating the incident.

The next day, Bacow announced that Sherri Charleston, who was the assistant vice provost for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and chief affirmative action officer at the University of Wisconsin, was joining Harvard as the new chief diversity and inclusion officer.  

SEE ALSO: 'The shock from the coronavirus is becoming more and more enduring': Here's how long-term unemployment is becoming the most overlooked disaster in the US economy

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The University of Chicago's Booth School of Business was one of just two MBA programs in the US to avoid an applications downturn in 2019. Poets & Quants reported this month that this fact "allowed the school to do something most other elite schools couldn't: lower its acceptance rate." In 2019, only 22.5% of applicants to Booth's program got admitted to its MBA program — which is ranked No. 3 for MBA programs in the country by US News & World Report and No. 8 in the world by the education specialist Quacquarelli Symonds' 2020 global MBA ranking.

And these odds are quite similar to those that Delano Saporu faced when he applied to Booth in 2016 (a 23% acceptance rate, according to Poets & Quants).

Saporu beat the odds and got in, graduating with his MBA in June 2018. One major factor that he pointed to as having "played a large part" in greasing the wheels to receive that coveted acceptance letter was writing a strong personal essay, which he has shared below, in its entirety, exclusively with Business Insider. 

"I think the biggest thing that helped me gain acceptance was being authentic, as well as providing a realistic story for next steps in [my] career," Saporu told Business Insider.

He didn't take the process lightly. "Essays are essential to really frame your story for the admissions committee about who you really are and what you know about the program. Really doing introspection and putting it all on the page is important," said Saporu, who today is the founder and a financial adviser at New Street Advisors Group, a newly launched financial-advising firm based in New York City that has partnered with Charles Schwab as the custodian for client assets.

Overcoming nerves to tackle the personal essay

Saporu said he was "conflicted at first" about what to write for this critical part of his MBA application. 

"I wanted to cram all my thoughts into one essay, especially because this was my dream school," he said. 

But after toying with "many iterations," he finally settled on conveying three main points: 

• what he "was about" and what motivated him
• why he really wanted to attend Booth
• what he planned to do with his acceptance.

When crafting his personal essay, Saporu remembered feeling "anxious … and excited" because Booth was his top-choice school, and he was determined to put his best foot forward. 

"I knew the essay was a huge part of my admissions package, so I was as open and honest as possible," he said. "I was also humble but honest about my ambitious aspirations."  

Saporu said the toughest part of the entire essay process was "just starting."

"When you have so much on your mind, and so much riding on one essay, you tend to overthink everything," he said. "It's great that they have a deadline because it makes you get going. Once I was able to let the thoughts flow, it was easier to organize them into a coherent essay."

Read more: The 6 most important steps you need to take to successfully change careers, according to coaches and real people who've done it

Advice for MBA applicants on the essay-writing process

Saporu advised applicants looking to get into any competitive MBA program to do some research before starting their essays to learn as much as possible about the school from people who already knew the program well. 

"A lot of applicants will have great profiles and stats, but what do they plan to do with the degree? What can they add to the community? How interested are they in school, and how much research did they do? The essay is a great way for applicants to [answer these questions]," Saporu said.

To that end, he recommended that applicants talk to as many alumni and current students as they can to get a sense of the school's culture and other insider details that aren't on the school's website so that they can weave these insights into their personal essays. 

Saporu also mentioned the importance of coaching and fellowships for extra support during the application process — including essay review — which he received from Management Leadership for Tomorrow, a minority fellowship directed at helping prospects gain admittance into top MBA programs.

"For [MBA] hopefuls, it is important to get as active as possible with groups, fellowships, and events that help bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be," Saporu said. "It helps materialize the dream." 

Read more: A CEO swears by carving out 2 'focus days' a week where he doesn't attend meetings. Here's how he works them into his routine.

The essay that helped Saporu get into Booth's MBA program

Booth's 2019-20 essay topics, which the school refers to as "Application Questions," are available on the business school's website. These require applicants to answer two questions in essay format with a 250-word minimum word count, entering their answers directly into a text box provided in the online application. (There is also an additional optional question with a 300-word maximum word count.)

But the essay topic for prospects who were seeking to enroll in 2016 — the year that Saporu applied — gave students "a great deal of latitude,"Clear Admit reported in 2015, in how they might choose to respond to the prompt. 

As showcased on the Booth website, the prompt stated:

Chicago Booth values individuality because of what we can learn from the diverse experiences and perspectives of others. This mutual respect creates an open-minded community that supports curiosity, inspires us to think more broadly, take risks, and challenge assumptions. At Booth, community is about collaborative thinking and tapping into each other's different viewpoints to cultivate new ideas and realize breakthrough moments every day.

After reading the above statement, applicants were then asked to choose from a gallery of 16 photo options and use the essay format to tell the admissions committee "how it resonates with your own viewpoint on why the Booth community is the right fit for you."

Applicants were empowered to "choose the format that works for you," whether a traditional essay, slide presentation, or other format. Candidates could also select their own length for their essay or presentation, with no required minimum or maximum length, though the admissions committee did "recommend that you think strategically about how to best allocate the space."

Out of all of these possibilities for approach, length, and format, Saporu homed in on the first photo in the gallery. Here, unedited, is the personal essay he submitted that helped him gain admission to Booth's MBA program:

Community is the one word that comes to mind when viewing this photo. A Community can be a myriad of different things but as Mr. Eddie Pulliam eloquently described a community is what you make it. Looking back at my past experiences that concept rings distinctly true and is the reason why I know Booth is the right community for me.

A community can fuel your passion. With the turn of the markets in 2009, I saw my father, owner of his own law firm, struggle financially as clients stopped coming in. The great recession coupled with my mothers ailing health proved to be trying times. Yet, it wasn't the struggle that became my moment of clarity but the reasoning behind it. Here was my father, a well-educated man with multiple graduate degrees admitting to me that he knew very little about finance and this attributed to the rough patch. It was then that my short term and long term career visions came into focus. This experience taught me how to solve problems and stay focused on your aspirations.

A community can leave you wanting. This describes my feelings near the end of my tenure at the University of North Dakota. A new head coach and two consecutive season ending injuries on the football field left me feeling isolated from a community that had brought me so much joy playing the sport I loved. I no longer felt value and with my isolation other areas of my life suffered including academics. Although it was a hard decision I ultimately felt it best to leave and start fresh at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. There I revived and refocused and finished my athletic and academic career strong. This experience taught me to stay determined and look for the silver lining. 

A community can be a sense of pride. Similar to the pride I felt when Jacob McDonald, the first recipient of the scholarship I created, thanked me and the rest of the board in our monthly meeting. It was not only his appreciation for what we did for his family that made me feel a sense of accomplishment but the sustained effect I knew we would have on the community. I implemented the scholarship with intentions of rewarding leadership potential, sportsmanship, and servitude. I learned the value of positive reinforcement in youth within your community.  

I have been fortunate to interact with many students and representatives on campus. Through these conversations I have identified values and characteristics specific to the Booth community. Learning in a collaborative culture where diverse perspectives and experiences are valued is an important part of my business school experience. Central themes of challenging assumptions, thinking critically and sharing perspectives are entrenched within the Booth Community. I saw this play out first had during Professor Sanjay Dhar's lecture during Booth Live. The booth community upholds a flexibility with only one required course, I can immediately take a course such as Portfolio Management. In this class I will absorb crucial skills and investment strategies paramount to my long term career goal of leading my own investment firm. While learning from a world class faculty I can bring a unique perspective as a former athlete transitioning into a career in financial services The Booth community has a reputable brand that will undoubtedly allow me to make my career change.

As a lifelong Midwesterner, there is no greater city than Chicago. I have yearned to live in Chicago since I first visited the Mercantile Exchange located right on Wacker Drive. Outside of the classroom I will have the opportunity to network with my peers in student run organizations such the basketball club. Through the experiences and relationships I will form in the booth community, I will be better prepared to be an agent of change upon matriculation into the workforce. I will take my experiences at Booth and apply them to become an effective business leader.

This article was first published on Business Insider October 17, 2019.

SEE ALSO: BUSINESS SCHOOL PREP: The ultimate guides to getting into the top MBA programs in the US

READ MORE: Harvard, Stanford, Kellogg, and Wharton business schools all prize the personal essay — here's how alums say to ace it

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Attending law school is time-consuming and expensive, but if you end up in the right program, it could lead to a fulfilling and successful career.

For example, according to Yale Law School's website, over 13,000 YLS alumni are leaders in their organizations — and a decade after graduating they almost unanimously express job satisfaction.

But to get into a top school, you'll need more than just high test scores. Here are some tips and best strategies on how to get accepted into one of the best law schools in the country, according to people who've done it. 

Yale Law School

Yale Law School is the No. 1 law school in the US, according to US News & World Report, while the 2023 acceptance rate was a slim 7.3%.

Yale places high emphasis on obtaining letters of recommendation from professors who know you well and can personally evaluate aspects of your academic work. Something unique about the YLS admissions process is their faculty is heavily involved in selecting each class, so they might especially value strong academic letters. 

Read more:How to get into Yale Law School, the No. 1 program in the US

Columbia Law School

Columbia Law School is currently recognized as the fourth best law school in the US, trailing only Yale, Stanford, and Harvard (and tied with the University of Chicago). Of the more than 7,000 students who applied for the class of 2020, only about 16% were accepted.

Applicants to Columbia Law should pay extra attention to their personal statements. Use this as an opportunity to reveal who you really are and what you're passionate about. Having strong reasons to be in New York City helps as well since it's an integral part of the school, Timothy Knox, a law school admissions counselor, told Insider. 

Read more:Admissions consultants and recent graduates of Columbia Law share what it takes to get into the top 5 law school

UChicago Law School

UChicago Law School consistently ranks among the most prestigious graduate law programs in the world, with an acceptance rate of 18%. Unlike some of the other top schools, UChicago Law has an especially small class size, at just over 600 full-time students. (Columbia, which shares its No. 4 ranking, has double the number.)

The community prioritizes close faculty engagement and "the life of the mind." Once you've taken your LSAT and applied, prepare for your interview by nailing your answer to the question, "Why UChicago?"

Read more:UChicago Law students and a dean of admissions explain how to nail your interview and personal statement to land a spot at the elite law school

Harvard Law School

In 2018, Harvard Law School — currently third in the rankings — offered admission to just 12% of applicants. In 2019, it made the shift to rounds of admission.

Per law school admissions coaching consultant Anna Ivey, "HLS admissions officers are very conscientious about recruiting minorities of various kinds: They want a diversity of people and geographic areas," including veterans and older applicants. This means there's no standard profile for an HLS student. Don't be discouraged if you don't fit what you think to be their ideal type of candidate.

Read more:How to get into Harvard Law School, according to the chief admissions officer, students, and admissions consultants

SEE ALSO: The 8 best executive MBAs that let you get a prestigious degree from anywhere in the world while working full time

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The federal government kicked in a lot more money to people on unemployment from April through July of last year, and again starting last September, and now the experts are starting to pick over the findings.

They're surprised.

A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago and the JPMorgan Chase Institute found the extra aid actually defied experts' models and played a larger role than expected in not just keeping Americans solvent, but in padding the labor market, too.

Relief packages passed throughout the coronavirus pandemic have boosted unemployment insurance by varying degrees as the government has looked to keep jobless Americans afloat. Models based on past recessions suggest the benefits do little to aid the economy, but the nature of the COVID-19 recession flipped the script, researchers said.

For one, the use of expanded UI led spending by unemployed Americans to increase following job loss. The weekly payments drove a large marginal propensity to consume — or tendency to spend — whereas a drop in spending was usually seen among the newly unemployed in past downturns. Even homes that saved previous UI payments maintained robust spending activity, the researchers said.

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An improved marginal propensity to consume is a boon for a struggling economy. Consumer spending makes up 70% of economic activity in the US, meaning a pickup in spending plays a major role in accelerating overall growth — and in hiring, too. The federal government sending money to unemployed people likely created new jobs, the study found.

To be sure, the team's findings begin with the CARES Act's $600-per-week UI supplement. Spending sharply fell after the $600 boost expired in July but picked up again when the government approved a $300-per-week expansion in September, the researchers said.

Democrats are now working to pass a $1.9 trillion stimulus measure that would bring back this benefit at $400 per week and keep it in place through August.

Staying in the force

The pandemic-era UI addition also bucked precedent in job-search trends, according to the study.

Past research suggests the availability of UI supplements leads unemployed Americans to search very little or not at all for a new job. When the UI boost expires, job-search activity then rises to pre-supplement levels, the team said, citing UI research by Nobel laureate Dale Mortensen.

Following the approval of larger benefits, the decline in job searches was "much smaller than predicted by the baseline model," the researchers said. The large increase in job recalls — where employees are called back to work as business reopens — could contribute to the decline, according to the study.

The rate of Americans leaving their jobs also fell to extremely low levels during the pandemic, suggesting the cost of looking for work was much higher than in non-pandemic recessions. This higher cost translates to increased benefits playing a bigger role in keeping Americans in the labor force, the team said.

The benefit's benefit

In all, the study estimates that the $600 supplement to UI increased total spending from April to July by 2% to 2.6%. Additionally, the drop in job search from the supplement only decreased employment by 0.2% to 0.4%.

Even the researchers' most conservative estimate signals that total employment actually increased as long as $453,000 in additional spending translated to at least one additional job. The hypothetical "is very likely the case," as previous research estimates the cost per job ranges from $25,000 to $125,000, they added.

The team cautioned that, while their work shows encouraging benefits from the increased UI payments, the trend might not generalize to other times, pandemic or otherwise. Lockdowns and other restrictions likely play a role in making the job search so costly. Further recovery in the labor market and economic reopening could also make UI payments a larger disincentive for staying in the job search, the team said.

Still, the study serves as a sharp rebuke to those criticizing such programs as "handouts" that do little to aid economic recoveries. Data suggests the benefit expansions "were a more effective policy than predicted," the researchers said, opening the door for such fiscal support to become a regular tool in Congress's toolkit.

Read more:Raymond James says buy these 12 'center of the storm' stocks that are set to rebound as the economy reopens – including 6 that can outperform the S&P 500 in the coming months

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The post-pandemic economy will look different from the one seen in February 2020. In a word, it will be emptier. Gone are the days of an office-based 9-to-5; instead, workplaces are rolling out plans for hybrid telecommuting and even fully remote work.

But where work-from-home will benefit Americans in reducing commute times and granting extra flexibility, nobody knows just how much it will hit the urban economies that used to support office workers in the before times. University of Chicago researchers have an idea, or at least an estimate.

The post-pandemic shift to work-from-home setups will decrease spending in major metropolitan areas by 5% to 10%, researchers Jose Maria Barrero, Nicholas Bloom, and Steven Davis said in a working paper published on Wednesday. The shortfall could even reach 13% in densely populated areas like Manhattan, the team added, citing their own survey data.

"As these workers cut back on commuting, they will spend less on food, shopping, personal services, and entertainment near workplaces clustered in city centers," the economists said. "Central business districts will see considerably larger spending drops relative to the pre-pandemic levels."

Such a spending drop would present a major challenge for cities looking to recover from the pandemic's economic fallout. Consumer spending counts for roughly 70% of economic activity and is a particularly important economic driver in areas that faced strict lockdowns throughout the health crisis.

Retail sales — a popular gauge of Americans' spending habits — surged to record highs last month as a new wave of stimulus checks and the relaxing of some economic restrictions boosted activity. The measure is expected to climb even higher in April, but as stimulus dries up, Americans' spending will settle into a new normal.

Cities have little to counter a permanent drop in metro-area spending. Where the federal government can spend at a persistent and growing deficit, state and local authorities have to balance their budgets. The drop in spending forecasted by the team of economists could force cities to either lift taxes or cut spending and risk more economic harm.

What is challenging for urban economies could be a benefit to how good people are at their jobs. Widespread telecommuting is projected to lift productivity by 4.8%, according to the study. Half of those gains reflect savings in diminished commuting times.

Still, those likely to benefit from more remote work aren't the ones who need the boost. Employer plans suggest that the extent of telecommuting will rise with education and earnings, the team said. The benefits of persistent work-from-home policies "will be broadly felt but flow mainly to the better educated and highly paid," they added.

With economic data and experts warning of an uneven economic recovery, such disparities would only exacerbate the hiring and income gaps that plagued the country before the COVID-19 recession.

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The University of Chicago Law School is the fourth-best law school in the US, according to US News and World Report

The school's website notes that 98.5% of the class of 2019 had a job 10 months after graduating, with a median private-sector salary of $190,000.

Insider spoke with current and former admissions officers, consultants, and graduates to learn what it takes to make your application stand out.

Think holistically

According to Ann K. Perry, associate dean of admissions and head of the admissions department, UChicago takes a "broad and holistic view" of each applicant.

"When applying, an applicant needs to make sure that they use every item in their application as a way to advocate for their acceptance," Perry told Insider. While some students believe that admissions looks only at test scores and GPA, the resume, personal statement, and letters of recommendation are also very important.

"I like reading an application where the pieces fit together and tell the applicant's story in a clear and thoughtful way," she said. 

Anna Ivey, a consultant and former dean of admissions and alumnus at UChicago, added that admissions also looks for a strong presentation of "soft factors," such as life experience and diversity.

Use your resume to showcase extracurriculars

Perry said a resume can be useful to outline everything you've done outside the classroom.

"It is important to include detail about any of the extracurricular activities, provide information about part-time work and summer experiences," Perry said.

She added that it's okay if it stretches to two pages.

"We would rather you to provide more detail and explanation for the admissions committee to review," Perry said.

Choose recommenders who know you well

Perry said applicants should give significant thought as to who writes their recommendation letters.

"It should be someone who knows the applicant and can provide insight into their academic success and abilities," Perry said.

A strong letter provides information about how the applicant works with coworkers, analyzes and solves problems, and takes initiative with projects, as well as other signs of professionalism and maturity.

"For example, one applicant in recent years had a recommender who was their undergraduate thesis advisor, who spoke in detail about how the applicant had engaged in unusually complex fieldwork and developed strong relationships with all the other researchers in their lab," Perry said.

Treat your personal statement like a writing sample

Perry said the committee looks at the personal statement as a writing sample.

"One of the most important skills a lawyer has is writing," she said. "During law school, students will learn how to write like a lawyer, but we want to make sure the applicant has a good foundation in writing."

One memorable statement Perry recalled reading talked about the applicant's volunteer experience at a nursing home.

"The applicant talked about the new perspectives he gained as well as empathy for others around him," Perry said. "This particular statement showed the admissions committee how the applicant has grown and how he takes advantage of learning in different environments."

Law-school consultant Ali Nash suggested writing about something "personal, relevant, and completely individual to you," noting that unlike other law schools, UChicago doesn't require you to answer, "Why law school?"

"This may include writing about a significant aspect of your background, a quality or trait that you believe defines you, a transformative experience, or the things that interest and motivate you," Nash said.

Your personal statement isn't the place to demonstrate your knowledge of the law or role of attorneys, she added.

"Your readers likely know quite a bit about those topics," Nash said. "Your job is instead to educate the admissions committee on yourself."

Suzie Kim, class of 2020, said the biggest challenge she faced was differentiating herself from other applicants.

"When applying, I felt the need to strongly demonstrate how my undergraduate experience and relatively short work experience after college ultimately made me interested in the field of law and prepared me for law school," Kim told Insider.

She decided to focus on her role as chair of the International Student Advisory Board of Columbia University, where she advised administrators on implementing new policies to improve campus life and job-search opportunities for international students. She also highlighted her experiences as a research assistant in the psychology department and provided details about a grant proposal she drafted for the nonprofit Nutrition and Education International.

Show you're intellectually curious

Ivey said UChicago is tough academically, so it helps to signal in your application that you're not just ready for that, but that that kind of environment is attractive to you.

"It has 'real grades' in a way that other top law schools have largely abandoned. It's a culture that is proud to take academics seriously, and there's a lot of intrinsic motivation — people want to do well because they take personal pride in learning. The 'life of the mind' is a real thing there," Ivey said.

UChicago law students as a whole tend to be exceptionally studious and focused.

"They tend not to disappear and goof off too much during 3L [the third year of law school], which is what happens at some other peer schools," Ivey said. "They stay engaged."

As an example, she said a student's version of fun might be to join a book club hosted at a professor's home or take Roman Law because they feel like it.

Miranda Perry Fleischer, a 1996 graduate who's now a professor at the University of San Diego School of Law, agreed that UChicago has a long history of attracting people who are intellectually curious. 

However, "it is not cutthroat in an 'every person for herself' way," Fleischer said. "Students help each other out and listen respectfully to others' arguments, viewpoints, and ideas."

"You end up knowing almost everyone in your class as well as your professors," she added. "You don't feel you have to knock others down to get a recommendation from a professor, for example, because everyone has a chance to get to know the professors."

Dig deep in the interview

Shreya Gupta, class of 2019, recommended using the interview process to really ask yourself what you want out of a law school, ensuring that you explain why attending UChicago accomplishes that.

"Maybe it's the school's law and economics-based approach, the class size, or maybe it's the federal criminal-justice clinic, which is unique to the school itself," Gupta said. "Regardless of your reasons, dig deep past the surface-level names of classes or clinics."

Kim added that interviews might also include unique queries that may be more difficult to answer.

"For example, I remember being asked the following question: 'If you had a chance to meet a historical figure, who would it be and why?'" Kim said.

Perry said that given the unprecedented challenges associated with COVID-19, UChicago will evaluate applicants in this upcoming cycle — and in future cycles — with these impacts in mind, including respecting decisions to grade courses with a pass/no pass or other basis.

This year, UChicago Law offered students a hybrid schedule.

"We look forward to a full in-person schedule of courses for the 2021-22 academic year," Perry said.

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