Kellogg’s made a handful of significant changes to their essays this year. In a move that has no doubt made many an applicant rejoice, the adcom has done away with the somewhat tricky self-assessment essay (which asked an applicant to critique their own candidacy as though he or she were an adcom member) that has been a hallmark of their application for years running. In a way, though, it makes sense for the school to have eliminated this question, as it prevented applicants from adding any new information to their files and limited them to commentary on information already shared in their essays and data forms.
This year, Kellogg has replaced the self-assessment with a required leadership essay, suggesting a heightened focus on this aspect of a candidate’s experience. In another change from last year’s application, candidates are now required to choose among four topics and complete two short essays, as opposed to the six options and three essays of seasons past.
Let’s take a closer look at those questions that do remain:
Essay 1: Briefly assess your career progress to date. Elaborate on your future career plans and your motivation for pursuing a graduate degree at the Kellogg School (1-2 double-spaced pages).
This is another fairly standard career goals/why MBA essay. As usual, it’s important to remember that specificity of goals is key, and keep in mind that the school prides itself on its collegial culture when addressing the ‘why Kellogg’ issue. One more thing to note is that the request that applicants “assess” their progress to date is unique to Kellogg’s version of this question. This would suggest that it might be appropriate to incorporate a few reflective or even evaluative comments into your discussion of your professional path in order to tailor your perspective to Kellogg’s question.
Essay 2: Each of our applicants is unique. Describe how your background, values, academics, activities and/or leadership skills will enhance the experience of other Kellogg students (1-2 double-spaced pages).
You’re being given the opportunity to do two very important things in this essay. The first is to share a good deal of interesting information about your interests and experiences in order to distinguish yourself from other applicants and help the adcom get to know you. Second, this essay is the perfect forum for you to demonstrate your research on and fit with the program by explaining the ways your involvements and experiences to date translate to a number of specific contributions to the Kellogg community. Whether it’s a class to which your insight would prove especially relevant or a function you could organize as a member of a certain club, the more detail you can provide about the impact you would make, the more reason you’ll give the adcom to admit you.
Essay 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.)
While leadership has been the subject of one of Kellogg’s short essay options for several years running, the school has bumped the topic to a place of increased prominence this year. This is a great opportunity to showcase your various leadership roles in college and afterwards in an expanded two-page format. Given the number of subjects that need to be covered in this response, it would be wise to focus your discussion on two or three leadership examples rather than a laundry list of positions held. Of course, it’s also important to take note of the Kellogg-specific slant of this inquiry. In addition to touching on situations in which you’ve taken the lead and the skills gained and lessons learned from these experiences, you’ll want to think through the ways that you could apply these to the benefit of the Kellogg community, as well as how you could enhance your leadership approach during your time in business school.
Essay 4: Applicants must answer two of the below essays, two to three double spaced paragraphs for each question.
4A – Outside of work I…
4B – I wish the Admissions Committee had asked me…
4C – Describe the most challenging professional relationship you have faced and how you handled it.
4D – (Required essay for re-applicants only)—Since your previous application, what are the steps you’ve taken to strengthen your candidacy?
Essay 4C is a new one for Kellogg, and is in keeping with an interesting trend we’ve seen across the leading MBA programs. With a few years’ distance from corporate scandals like Enron, many schools are shifting their focus away from ethical and value-based dilemmas and toward interpersonal dynamics. Tuck, MIT and Stanford pose similar questions, though a key difference is that these schools focus more on a single interaction or situation rather than an ongoing relationship. Given Kellogg’s very strong team orientation, it makes sense that the school would be curious about the applicant’s skill and experience navigating a clash in personality or work styles on a long-term level.
The other three questions, meanwhile, are tried and true elements of the Kellogg application, with options A and B giving applicants ample opportunity to share information about their involvements and interests outside of the professional realm or comment on subjects not mentioned elsewhere in the application. The reapplicant essay has also been a standard question for years running, giving returning candidates a chance to highlight the improvements and progress they’ve made since Kellogg heard from them last.
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