Calling all Kellogg Fall'08 applicants

forcefeed, thanks for the information... i didn't know that the application was online yet.

does it have to be DOUBLE spaced, or is 1.5 spacing ok? Double spaced just looks way too spread out and ugly! 1.5 spacing looks better.

Stick with what the instructions say and you are always better off. I agree 1.5 looks better while reading but it is not as useful for writing comments in as double spaced.

I feel 10pt font is on the small size if someone is reading hundreds apps, but if I go to 11pt I can't fit nearly as much material.

I posted this on another thread, but I'll ask here also...so 12 pts font, times new roman, double spaced..that's only around 200 words per page! Isn't that way too few and looks way too loose/ugly?

I was able to fit 370 words with 12 pt times double spaced. With 0.8" margins, 1.8 spaced, you can fit roughly 440 words in.

I'm using 11 pt. Arial with the option to go down to 10 pt double-spaced. Arial is a fairly large font. Plus, my company's corporate press releases are in 10pt font. For me, its more important to be able to fit everything I want to say.

More important is for them to easily read it. Yes at my work 10pt font is pretty normal but I think reading that ALL day long with dozens and dozens of essays could be tiring. I am planning on using 11pt. If I need to gain a little space I switch to times new roman and maybe increase the margins. I really do not want to have to decrease spacing from double...don't want to break one of the few guidelines they give but I think it would be better to go to 1.8-1.9 to get it on two pages than to go over onto 3.

I personally have a hard time reading serifs. Arial 10pt is roughly equal in size to Times New Roman 11+a bit.

Random Rant: Double spacing looks like crap! I don't understand why adcoms want it...

Ok now back to apps.

I know when I review documents at work that I write notes on I like them double spaced so I can make lots of comments over sentences. I am assuming that having them double spaced allows them to make notes so if they discuss your essays to decide to accept you they can have the points they like and dislike.

With Times New Roman 11pt, 1" margins and double spacing I can get between 410-440 words per page.

How many words are your essay 4 responses?

OK I have finished like draft number 5 or so of essay 1. Now I am hoping I answered the "right" question.

"Briefly assess your career progress to date?" Now I am a little confused because most schools seem to ask this as what are your career accomplishments...which is kind of how I answered this question. Now I am worried if they want more of an evaluation not a description of how your career has progressed. Do they want an opinion on the success I have had at my job. If so this kind of screws people in jobs that don't really promote based on abilities but more on how long you have been there no matter how great you are.

I mean are they looking for something like...
"My career progress is the best in history, I my decisions have resulted in a 10,000% increase in productivity thus I have been promoted to Senior Partner in 1/15th the normal time."

I'm wondering if they mean to talk about what key decisions you made that created your career progress so far. Mention a few key accomplishments and how that made you feel, or why you left an old job for a new one... things like that.

I read a few consultant and books that say do not talk about your job, not even "vivid descriptions" of them (you don't have the space), just talk about the impact of a few key jobs or key contributions, and how that shaped you today and pushed you towards an MBA.

Thats what I am trying to do...but its tough to explain contributions, career goals, why an MBA now, and specifics for kellogg on two pages (double spaced as we have beaten to death on here). I am actually looking forward to Chicago's 1500 words very much at this point.

Hehe. kryzak, I just now saw your target schools. Nice to see Kellogg leading Chicago by 50% .. hehe.

How about looking at the question from a learning perspective? In the sense, why did you choose the jobs you have had and what did you learn from each of them? Learning something new is an accomplishment right? So, I think focusing on the learning *could* be a good assessment of your career.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Haas is 1000 words, so roughly 2.5 pages, and I'm having a very hard time. Chicago actually sounds "easy" now with 1500 words (my current Haas essay is at 1500 or so words).

mNeo, haha yeah, the Stanford alum really shifted my opinion towards Kellogg with the collaborative culture part... I still like Chicago a lot for the flexible curriculum and the awesome new facilities...