Manager
Joined: 30 May 2011
Posts: 68
Given Kudos: 1
Concentration: Entrepreneurship, Strategy
GPA: 3.12
Re: Kellogg 2013 - Calling All Waitlist Applicants
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Updated on: 27 Dec 2012, 21:08
Hey guys. Hang in there.
I’m a first year who was fortunate to get off of the WL last summer. I do not represent the admissions team and don’t have any secret insight into how to get off the WL, but will share and summarize what I did last year. Not saying you should do what I did. This is just what I did. I hope it helps.
I applied R2 and got notice I was on WL in late March 2012, a few days after admit decisions were released. I was told to contact admissions after a certain date to connect with my WL manager. I called them on the first day I was told to call (no earlier) and had a 15 min convo with my WL manager who said there was nothing specific in my app that I needed to address. I was told to just send regular updates on what I was doing professionally as needed. I ended the convo reiterating my interest to be on the WL.
48 hours later, I emailed my WL manager a short email thanking them for our talk, reiterated again my interested in Kellogg, and attached an essay that summarized major milestones in my life since my application. The essay was just under 600 words with roughly 70% dedicated to significant professional accomplishments since applying (i.e. major milestones of my startup), 20% dedicated non-professional accomplishments (i.e. my non-profit & community service work), and 10% dedicated to how Kellogg is a good fit for me (i.e. my campus visit after applying, recent conversations with students, etc.). I ended with one short sentence saying I would accept admission if taken off the WL. I did not repeat ANYTHING from my application essays. It was 100% updates and new information. I was also as succinct as possible. I would have written only 400 words if I had less updates.
Roughly a month later (and about one week before Kellogg said they would release updates to WL), I sent another email, even shorter than last, restating my interest in Kellogg and asking if they needed anything from me to help make a decision on the upcoming WL update. I did not attach any additional essay since I had no major updates. Got a reply thanking me for my continued interest and saying they don’t need anything. A month later, got the phone call.
That’s it. I only sent two emails during the entire process and I only called them once for that initial call. If I had not gotten the call to be admitted, I would have sent out another essay with updates. I did not send additional recs. I didn’t ask any current students to “vouch” for me (as a current student, I don’t even know how that works). I did not visit the campus again.
I recommend going through old posts and see what other people did. I think all generic advice in managing your WL applies to Kellogg so read up on that. Overall, I imagine the point is to keep in contact with admissions and show interest. Update them with relevant and significant pieces of info every 3-5 weeks. Then hope and pray.
Good Luck!
Originally posted by
oodl on 26 Dec 2012, 12:38.
Last edited by
oodl on 27 Dec 2012, 21:08, edited 1 time in total.