How Kellogg Applicants are assessed INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

 INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

Our community values collaboration, involvement and giving back, and we look for that in our applicants as well. A significant part of the Admissions process is ensuring a good fit between student and program. If you thrive in team-based environments, Kellogg might be a good fit for you.

The ability to work in teams doesn’t mean agreeing all the time, nor is it an easy approach. Team-based learning means you can push ideas, disagree respectfully and challenge each other, but also that you’re doing so in a way that’s both productive and conducive to a better outcome. Our ideal applicant likes to hear different viewpoints, respects others, can voice and challenge opinions and isn’t afraid to speak up, but can do so in a way that’s collaborative and would help further a group or a classroom conversation.

If everyone came from the exact same environment and was used to working in the exact same way, no one would learn much from each other. The diversity of perspectives and opinions in our community creates a rich arena for debate. Bringing together all those different perspectives enhances everybody’s experience. Learning to synthesize and negotiate those differences is a vital component of the Kellogg experience, too.

Some applicant’s backgrounds line up very well with business school, and they may have had more opportunities to demonstrate interpersonal skills. We recognize that some people may come from an environment that requires more independent work. Knowing that you want to grow in this area, explaining that you crave more teamwork and collaboration, expressing that you want to push yourself in that area — all of that is valuable information for our admissions team.

 Other parameters Intellectual ability, Work experience, Professional goals, Leadership, Impact

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How Kellogg applicants are assessed IMPACT 12-10

 IMPACT

Our team understands how demanding work can be, but pursuing interests outside the office helps maintain a balanced and engaged life. Our admissions committee wants to understand what fulfills our applicants outside of work, and how they’ve made an impact within an organization or a community that matters to them. In the United States, we think of that as “extracurricular activity,” but it applies all over the globe.

What matters here is quality of experience over quantity; two years of involvement with one activity means a lot more than eight brief commitments in eight different places. We like to see our applicants involved with something they’re passionate about. If it fits in with your personal career narrative — say you volunteer with a literacy organization, and you want to pursue education policy after Kellogg — that’s great. But for plenty of applicants, a personal passion or commitment is not directly connected to the career goals at all.

We also recognize that some jobs may not leave a lot of room for involvement outside of work. There are opportunities for impact within the workplace, too. Did you lead recruiting efforts? Maybe you headed up a green building initiative. Having an impact on organizational culture or community is just as valid, important and interesting to us. Passion and engagement are universal features within the Kellogg community. There are a lot of ways to showcase that you’re the type of person who makes a difference.

Other parameters Intellectual ability, Work experience, Professional goals, Leadership, Impact, Interpersonal Skills

How Kellogg Applicants are Assessed Leadership 12-10

Leadership

Many people pursue an MBA to gain experience and improve their management and leadership skills. The Kellogg admissions team is looking for both demonstrated leadership in the past and an applicant’s leadership potential. Given the scope and range of our community, this means many different things. Someone with a military background will present different accomplishments than someone with a few years as a junior analyst, or a teacher. What showcases your leadership is going to depend on the path you’ve had and the organizations that you’ve been in, and we take that into account.

A few things will be similar, though. We look for those who have taken up new responsibilities and opportunities in whatever way they can, however their career path has allowed. Maybe this means you’ve led an initiative within your company, or it could mean that you’ve secured promotions quickly, or that you’re deeply involved with a volunteer commitment. Your roles don’t have to be formal, just indicative of your drive. The better you can help us see how these activities fit in with your overall career narrative, the more clearly we can think about how you might fit in with the Kellogg community.

We also consider timeliness. The further along you are into your career, the more we’re going to expect some demonstrated benchmarks. If you’re seven or eight years out of college, consider presenting more recent examples. Likewise, if you’re early in your career, don’t worry that you’re competing with more experienced applicants. Our admissions team is just as concerned with where our students are going as where they’ve already been.

Other parameters Intellectual ability, Work experience, Professional goals, Leadership, Impact, Interpersonal Skills

How Kellogg Applicants are assessed. PROFESSIONAL GOALS 12-10

PROFESSIONAL GOALS

Ask any alum, and they will tell you that Kellogg was a pivotal point in his or her career. With your work experience, you’ve told us what’s led you to Kellogg. Outlining your professional goals will help us understand how a Kellogg MBA will bridge your past and future together.

Since there many different candidates drawn to Kellogg, your reason for pursuing an MBA will be unique. Some applicants have a specific idea of how an MBA will help them grow within an industry they know already; others want to pursue a significant career pivot, while still others have more general long-term goals while remaining open to many paths that might take them there.

The MBA program will expose you to a lot of great things to help you crystallize that path, but due to the nature of our programs, a lot starts happening very fast. (Have you heard about pre-term? We don’t waste a day getting you engaged.) Your time at Kellogg is going to fly by – and you are going to want to make the most of it by giving some serious thought for your reasons for pursuing an MBA. If you arrive without a clue what direction you’re headed, you’ll get overwhelmed pretty quickly. Knowing that our applicants have thought about the deeper reasons behind pursuing this degree — why they’re doing it, where they’re trying to go, how this education and their career fit together — helps students to hit the ground running once they arrive on campus.

This is not to say that our students know everything about what they want or where they want to go on Day 1. Kellogg has many opportunities for you to explore and discover, but no student can tackle everything we offer. Our Admissions officers are checking to make sure you’ve got a plan in mind. We understand the plan may change over time, but do think about what areas and opportunities you would focus on if you were starting our program today.

The most important factor in this case is honesty, both with yourself and within the application. Forget what you may think about what kinds of aspirations will impress an admissions officer: this is about your goals and your development.

We want to see a clear narrative that explains why you want this MBA. No answer is wrong, so feel free to talk openly about how this program and community will help you achieve that goal.

Other parameters Intellectual ability, Work experience, Professional goals, Leadership, Impact, Interpersonal Skills

How Kellogg Applicants are Assessed Work Experience.12-10

WORK EXPERIENCE

One thing that makes the Kellogg experience so rich is the wide variety of backgrounds — both personal and professional — in our student body. We admit applicants from diverse fields, with varying years of experience. We also analyze each applicant within the context of his or her own career path, rather than against each other. Our admissions officers are looking to understand how you’ve progressed and why what you’ve done is significant. Are you progressing faster than others at your same level? Did you get promoted more quickly? Have you taken on additional responsibilities?

The quality of your professional experience, regardless of where you are in your career, is what will stand out. A great way to make your application pop is to help us understand what the standards are within your industry and your particular company or organization. Some workplaces or careers are very structured about how someone can advance through the ranks, while others provide opportunities for leadership in other, less formal ways. One tip we will share: Think about how you would explain your job to a 10-year-old or your grandmother. Jargon and acronyms will often create confusion, so avoid them whenever you can. This is a great place to show us how you can communicate ideas across fields and disciplines.

By including your resume, you’re giving us a quick overview that highlights a few significant achievements of your work experience. Within your application, you can specify more about your day-to-day responsibilities, the nitty-gritty of how you operate in the working world. Capitalize on that extra space and don’t just copy your resume into the input fields! You have many chances to tell more about your career, so seize every one and make each part count in its own way.

Other parameters Intellectual ability, Work experience, Professional goals, Leadership, Impact, Interpersonal Skills

How Kellogg applicants are assessed.Intellectual Ability 12-10

When Kellogg admissions officers review an application, they evaluate potential students based on six categories. Here, Beth Tidmarsh, director of admissions for Kellogg’s full-time MBA programs, demystifies what happens once you submit your materials and helps you think about how to formulate the story that will help the admissions team learn more about you.

INTELLECTUAL ABILITY

Our goal is to be sure you can handle the rigor in the Kellogg classroom. Your undergraduate GPA, course selection and GMAT score help us assess your readiness. But we’re also invested in finding creative thinkers who can solve problems. Qualitative evidence of intellectual ability is going to come out in your essays, your interview and your recommendations. We truly take a holistic look at our applicants rather than relying only on a number.

Hard numbers like GPA and GMAT scores may seem like make-or-break factors, but one great test score doesn’t tell us nearly as much as seeing that you’ve taken challenging classes or broadened your knowledge base. And because each applicant is an individual, we recognize that someone with a liberal arts background may have different results than someone from an engineering background, but both could be wonderful candidates.

We look for applicants who are well-rounded, and who have demonstrated academic success. If your scores or grades seem a little lopsided, we dig deeper into your application to look for evidence that you’ve taken steps to develop those skills. That tells us if you’ve taken charge of balancing out your skill set. If you feel any of your grades or scores require further explanation or context, please feel free to include that information. Standardized test scores are also valid for five years, and we accept both the GMAT and the GRE for the One-Year, Two-Year, and MMM Programs. (JDMBA applicants can only submit a GMAT score.)

Other parameters Intellectual ability, Work experience, Professional goals, Leadership, Impact, Interpersonal Skills

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