Thank you Jennifer Hayes, Senior Associate Director of Admissions at Kellogg, and Erik Mazmanian, a second-year student at Kellogg, for an excellent Q&A about life and admissions at Northwestern Kellogg. Jennifer and Erik covered a wide range of topics, including the following advice on how to avoid some common Kellogg application mistakes:
Linda Abraham: What are the most common pitfalls of prospective students in the application process, and how would you advise candidates to best avoid them?
Jennifer Hayes: Very good question. I’ve been at Kellogg for eight years now, so I’ve seen a lot of applications, and I’ve seen a lot of things that aren’t in the best interest of the applicant. I do think that the biggest pitfall is that people do their research on Kellogg, they understand what’s important to us as an institution, and then they frame their experiences, their accomplishments, and the things that are important to them around that. Those are things that are important to us and those are things that you will experience if you’re here. However, you don’t necessarily have to frame your experience around that. We really want to understand what has motivated you, what’s been valuable to you, and what’s been most important to you in your life and in your career.
I would really encourage people to set aside that they’re applying to Kellogg and who we stand for as an institution, and really just think internally; really reflect on themselves when they’re starting to answer the application questions. You will look more genuine and more authentic. If you’re really talking about yourself, your values, and your motivations, you will look more diverse and unique as an applicant, instead of trying to do maybe what everyone else is doing by just reviewing the website and telling us those are important to you.
For the full Q&A, please view the Kellogg transcript or listen to the audio file. You can also read up on Kellogg news and advice at our Kellogg B-School Zone and the Northwestern Kellogg 2012 MBA Application Questions, Deadlines, Tips blog post.
NOTE: Kellogg's next deadline is Tuesday, January 10th…so hurry!
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This article originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Blog, official blog of Accepted.com.
