Alexis Serra

University of Chicago, Booth School of Business (JD/MBA Program)

“Law and business dance in my JD/MBA shoes, shaping strategy with legal finesse and entrepreneurial flair.” – from ChatGPT, I thought this was funny.”

Hometown: Parsippany, NJ

Fun Fact About Yourself: I learned how to make pasta recently and it has been my summer project to master ravioli and bolognese sauce.

Undergraduate School and Major: Drexel University, Majored in Marketing and Legal Studies with a minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Summer Associate at Skadden for my last internship, but for full-time I was a Product Manager at Goldman Sachs

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of Chicago Booth’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I chose to apply to Booth because I felt as though the business school would complement my law degree well. Much of the law school curriculum focuses on economic analysis of the law, which I have greatly enjoyed, and taking Econ classes at Booth so far has informed the way I learn and understand legal concepts.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Chicago Booth? The New Venture Challenge excites me the most! Either competing with my own idea or joining another team to pitch is something I am looking forward to doing. This past year, I was able to attend a few events at the Polsky Center and I was thoroughly impressed with the resources offered to entrepreneurs as well as the caliber of the entrepreneurs themselves.

What makes Chicago such a great place to earn an MBA? I have lived in several large cities across the United States and Chicago is one of my favorites. It is a beautiful city with an incredible amount of activities to do. The University of Chicago does a great job at getting its graduate students involved in activities across the city and provides opportunities to explore. At the same time, there is an abundance of communities outside of the university that allow current students to tailor their own Chicago experience outside of the MBA program. I have lived in Chicago for over a year now, and I have been diving into what this city has to offer. You really can’t go wrong by living in Chicago, especially because it is quite affordable compared to other major cities.

What do you hope to do after graduation? Once I graduate, I plan to be a transactional attorney. I spent this past summer working as a summer associate at Skadden and it was a great, informative experience. Of course, working at a law firm you tend to lean into your legal skills much more than anything else, but I can tell that graduating with a Booth MBA will be very beneficial for me as there are other skills, from reading and understanding financial statements to networking with other attorneys and future clients, that I can gain from my time spent at Booth.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into Chicago Booth’s MBA program? If you are a current graduate student at the University of Chicago and are looking to tack on the MBA as a joint program, I would recommend taking full advantage of already being a current student to network with other students who are in joint programs as well as standalone Booth MBAs. Be certain that the MBA makes sense for you and your career goals so that you will be able to articulate that story effectively.

DON’T MISS: MEET CHICAGO BOOTH’S MBA CLASS OF 2025