Intentionality is a key aspect of what makes our graduates successful Kellogg leaders. Help us understand your journey by articulating your motivations for pursuing an MBA, the specific goals you aim to achieve, and why you believe now is the right moment. Moreover, share why you feel Kellogg is best suited to serve as a catalyst for your career aspirations and what you will contribute to our community of lifelong learners during your time here. (450 words)
In other words - why MBA, why now, why Kellogg and what are your career goals?
An ideal approach would be to describe your career goals and the need for an MBA. Then you can go into elaborating on how Kellogg MBA would enable your career growth and help you achieve your aspirations.
The space provided by the Kellogg MBA team is quite limited, so you have to ensure the career goals have enough vision and ambition, but also have enough specific details about the industry and function, and are practical and realistic for someone with your background.
To research the Kellogg MBA, explore both online and offline modes including the business school's website, and social media pages, speak with current students, and alumni, and attend online events, MBA fairs, and coffee chats - to learn as much as possible about the business school. Only then will you be able to uncover unique aspects of the program, curriculum, recruitment resources, and opportunities that will help your essay stand out from other applicants.
Kellogg leaders are primed to tackle challenges everywhere, from the boardroom to their neighborhoods. Describe a specific professional experience where you had to make a difficult decision. Reflecting on this experience, identify the values that guided your decision-making process and how it impacted your leadership style. (450 words)
In the past years, the Kellogg admissions team asked applicants to share an example of leadership and the challenges they overcame. However, this year the question is about values - values that guide your decision making.
Before identifying an example, it might be prudent to think about your core values. What values define your major decisions, surely some of those values would have been the driving force for your professional decision-making as a leader.
Once you are clear about the main values, write about the example in a context, action, and result format - describing the situation, the actions you took, the decisions you made, and the final outcome. Then make a statement about the overall impact on your leadership style.
If needed, use this section to briefly describe any extenuating circumstances (e.g. unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, etc.) (No word limit)
Use the Kellogg optional essay to explain shortfalls in your application which you feel are truly detrimental to your candidature. If you believe some aspect in your application that needs to be explained, better do so. The admissions team might making incorrect estimations in absence of explanation. E.g. if you are not providing recommendation from your immediate supervisor, adcom might construe you are not on good terms with your manager and might misconstrue your interpersonal skills. So, explicitly describe the reasons.
Comment on your shortcomings with intelligence, perspective and credibility: giving vague excuses or blaming xyz for failures will be completely counter-productive. Explain the issue clearly and maintain greater focus on the correction for the issue. Keep it brief and to the point.
Go for it!
After submitting a completed application, each applicant will be asked to complete several Video Essay Questions. The questions will be comparable to questions asked in an interview setting. Candidates will have 20 seconds to think about their question and up to 1 minute to give their response.
Kellogg's instructions: There are 10 practice questions which candidates can complete as many times as they like to get comfortable with the format and technology. The practice questions and experience will simulate the actual video essay experience, so this is meant to be a useful tool and help applicants feel prepared. There is not an opportunity to re-do the answer to the official video essay questions. We encourage applicants to practice so they are comfortable with the format once it is time to complete the official questions. Candidates will have 20 seconds to think about their question and up to 1 minute to give their response.
MBA video tipsKellogg MBA application requires you to submit a one-page resume along with details about your employment and academics. The typical MBA resume format consists of employment, education, and extracurricular details. MBA resume tips
In your Kellogg application, you will be asked to provide two MBA letters of recommendation - from your current or previous supervisors. Like many top business schools in the US, Kellogg MBA application constitutes of letter of recommendation questions from the GMAC MBA letter of recommendation template. MBA LOR tips
As is the policy with most top business schools, Kellogg MBA interviews are conducted only by invitation. Students typically would receive an invite 4-6 weeks after submitting their MBA applications. MBA interview tips
