Kellogg MBA Program Admissions Strategy and GMAT Test Preparation

Kellogg School of Management

Kellogg has made its mark in the management education world by emphasizing teamwork in the classroom and in the workplace. Although it has been a few years since Donald Jacobs—who led Kellogg for 26 years and oversaw its rise to prominence—has stepped down, the culture of teamwork that he helped create is still very apparent. Most homework assignments and projects are done in teams, and the school employs a peer-review system in which students can rate each other’s strengths and weaknesses as teammates.

Marketing is the school’s other best-known strength, and much of the credit for that goes to Philip Kotler, who has written some of the best-known marketing textbooks in the world. The rest of the marketing faculty includes many other heavy-hitters who have distinguished themselves in their own right. All of this leads to heavy recruiting from companies looking for marketing experts and brand managers.

Although Kellogg is best known for marketing, the school’s curriculum is considered to be more general management in nature, with students typically concentrating in two or three subject areas through electives. The most popular subject isn’t even marketing, with more Kellogg students studying finance than any other major. And like at many other top schools, consulting and banking are the most popular fields that Kellogg grads go into, with McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, Goldman Sachs, etc., doing more hiring at Kellogg than the biggest marketing-related firms.

As you would expect, Kellogg’s admissions office looks for teamwork-oriented people. “Sharks” or hot shots need not apply. This doesn’t mean that Kellogg only looks for touch-feely people, but rather, it looks for people who know how to get things done when working with others. However, the school isn’t only looking for team players. A few years ago Kellogg started to subtly shift its position in the MBA marketplace from a school that turns out team players to one that turns out team leaders, and this trend continues today. The school has even made its Leadership in Organizations class part of the pre-term course that all first-year students complete in September. With this in mind, think of personal examples of how you’ve led teams toward a goal in the past. Most applicants will just think about teamwork in terms of how they helped others accomplish a goal, but show the admissions committee how you led a team to success and you’ll be in great shape.

Kellogg also looks for people who will get involved at the school. A distinguishing characteristic of Kellogg is that pretty much everything is student-run, from clubs to international study trips (“Global Initiatives in Management”) to an almost endless series of professional conferences that the school hosts. A current student will probably even review your application. It’s not uncommon for a student to be involved in five or six different activities or clubs outside of the classroom. What this means for you is that you need to demonstrate that you will get involved. The best way to do this is by showing what you’ve done in the past to get involved in your profession, school and community. And less can be more: Instead of listing seven clubs or organizations that you have marginally participated in, focus on the one or two things that you’re really passionate about and show exactly how you got involved in those things and made a difference. The grid from Chapter 2 should help strengthen this important part of your application story.

As part of its increasing emphasis on leadership, Kellogg has put a lot more focus on ethics in its curriculum. The school’s pre-term CIM (Complete Immersion in Management) program for first-year students presents students with business challenges dealing with issues of leadership and ethics. Going even further, the school has implemented a required pre-term course for all second-year students (and one-year students) called Values, Ethics, and Strategic Crisis Management, in which students tackle ethics case studies and crisis simulations. Accordingly, the admissions office looks for applicants with strong principles and past examples of when they did the right thing in a tough or murky situation. Keep this in mind as you craft your overall application strategy for Kellogg.

• Duke (Fuqua)
• Dartmouth (Tuck)
• Michigan

1. Briefly assess your career progress to date. Elaborate on your future career plans and your motivation for pursuing a graduate degree at Kellogg. (one to two pages double-spaced)


2. Each of our applicants is unique. Describe how your background, values, academics, activities and/or leadership skills will enhance the experiences of other Kellogg students. (one to two pages double-spaced)


3. How have your past and current leadership experiences prepared you for Kellogg? What leadership areas are you hoping to develop through your MBA experience? (one to two pages double-spaced)


4. Complete 2 of the 3 essays. (two to three double spaced paragraphs for each question)
   
   
   1. Outside of work I…
   2. I wish the Admissions Committee had asked me…
   3. Describe the most challenging professional relationship you have faced and how you handled it.
   4. (Required essay for re-applicants only) Since your previous application, what are the steps you've taken to strengthen your candidacy?

This and dozens of other top business schools are covered in detail in Your MBA Game Plan, the definitive guide on MBA admissions, now in its second edition.