About Kellogg
Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management sits on the shoreline of Lake Michigan in Evanston about 12 miles north of downtown Chicago. Long stereotyped as the school for marketing, Kellogg is in fact so much more. The school looks for strong quant skills to underpin sharp analytical skills. Kellogg’s MBA programs prepare graduates for careers that are “high-impact and high-humanity.” Accordingly, the learning style of the MBA program features a heavy emphasis on collaboration and teamwork – “we” rather than “I.” That culture continues long after a Kellogg degree is obtained, as the alumni community is known for its “pay-it-forward” mentality.
Kellogg offers a wide range of academic concentrations, priding itself on co-curricular opportunities to complement classroom learning. Experiential international opportunities are vast and encouraged. Each year, roughly 250 students participate in the Global Initiatives in Management (GIM) program, selecting from numerous winter quarter courses that conclude with 10 days visiting another country.
Kellogg has also expanded its degree offerings to meet evolving market needs. The ever-popular MMM program that grants graduates both an MBA and an MS in Design Innovation launched three decades ago, and in recent years Kellogg created the 1.5-year MBAi program, another collaboration with Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering that equips leaders building careers in the age of AI.
Strengths and Specializations
Marketing, general management, non-profit/social responsibility, production/operations, strategy, entrepreneurship, healthcare, consumer goods
Graduating Class of 2026
Number of Applicants: 4316 (in 2023)
MBA Class Size: 524
Avg. Work Experience: 5 years
Avg. GPA: 3.7
Avg. GMAT: 733
International Students: 40%
Female Students: 50%
Tuition: $83,610/year
Post-MBA Careers (class of 2023)
Sector: Consulting 42%; Technology 24%; Financial Services 17%; CPG 7%; Starting New Business 2%
Top Recruiters: McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Hello Fresh, Nike, P&G, Alpine Investors, Evercore, Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Partners, Morgan Stanley, Partners Group, Robert W. Baird & Co., H&M, Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Google, Intuit, Microsoft
Avg. Base Salary: $169,698; Salary Increase: 125% (source: FT Rankings 2024)
Employment offered within 3 months of graduation: 94.5%
Kellogg MBA Rankings
Admissions
Deadlines for 2024-2025:
Round 1: September 11, 2024; Decision Released: December 11, 2025
Round 2: January 8, 2025; Decision Released: March 26, 2025
Round 3: April 2, 2025; Decision Released: May 7, 2025
Essays (for both 1Y and 2Y program)
Essay 1 (New in 2024-2025): 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)
Essay 2. (Wording revised in 2024-2025): 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)
Essay 3. (Optional): We know that life is full of extenuating circumstances. Whether you want to explain gaps in work experience, your choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance or something else, you can use this section to briefly tell us anything we need to know about your application. (250 words)
3. (Optional) We know that life is full of extenuating circumstances. Whether you want to explain gaps in work experience, your choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance or something else, you can use this section to briefly tell us anything we need to know about your application. (250 word limit)
Additional Essay for 1Y Applicants: Why is the Kellogg One-Year Program the right fit to help you reach your post-MBA career goals? And what unique academic, personal or professional experience do you bring into this specific program? (250 words limit)
Reapplicants: How have you grown or changed personally and professionally since you previously applied and what steps have you taken to become the strongest candidate you can be? (approximately 250 word limit)
VIDEO ESSAY, due 96 hours after the application deadline. There are three questions, and you’ll have 20 seconds to think about the question and up to one minute to give your response.
- Question 1 is consistent: Kellogg asks you to introduce yourself by telling admissions
something they wouldn’t already know from your resume. - Questions 2 and 3 typically seem to be behavioral interview questions (though on occasion
are about Why Kellogg) aimed to elicit more about you and your skills and experiences.
Fortuna Tips & Advice
View our team’s tips and advice on how to respond to the Kellogg MBA Essays.
View our team’s tips and advice on Video Essays: https://fortunaadmissions.com/kellogg-mba-video-essays/