How hard is it to get into the Kellogg School of Management? With its medium class size of 529 students in the MBA Class of 2025, the most recent Kellogg MBA acceptance rate of 31.4% makes it one of the more accessible M7 programs. Notably, US News & World Report ranked Kellogg at No. 2 in its latest rankings of the best business schools.
Women represent 48% of Kellogg’s class, which has increased by almost 10% over the last decade. Meanwhile, 39% of the class is international, 42% identify as U.S. students of color, and 13% are first-generation college students. Kellogg’s average GMAT now hovers around 731, median GRE is 163 (Verbal and Quant), and undergrad GPA is 3.7. With an ever-growing talent pool, this continually increasing average GMAT reflects Kellogg’s focus on intellectual aptitude.
Now that we’ve gotten those basic stats out of the way, let’s explore at what this top business school seeks in successful applicants. Admissions staff who review applications look for academic ability, professional experience, promotions, impact, and leadership. They also assess applicants’ career focus and leadership, both in the workplace and in the community.
We have evaluated recent SBC client data to help demystify the Kellogg MBA acceptance rate drivers. Our findings show that besides strong GPAs, test scores, and work experience, Kellogg appreciates applicants who demonstrate authenticity and self-awareness.
Recent SBC Clients Admitted to Kellogg School of Management
To preserve anonymity for our client pool, we’ve deconstructed each of our client profiles across these criteria:
- Nationality
- Industry
- Employer
- College
- GPA
- Test scores
- Other distinguishing factors
Our consultants have shared client attributes for each of these criteria, and we’ve aggregated the outcomes for Kellogg admits according to personal, extracurricular, and professional domains.
These visuals showcase the kaleidoscope of qualities found in Kellogg’s admits across a sampling of recent SBC clients.
Listen to B-Schooled Podcast Episode #86: Spotlight on Kellogg School of Management
Overcoming the Kellogg MBA Acceptance Rate Odds
We asked the former Kellogg Business School Admissions Officers on our Stacy Blackman Consulting team, “What does Kellogg Admissions look for?”
The consensus:
Kellogg is looking for candidates with the “Kellogg DNA” – high impact, low ego learners and leaders. Leadership and a track record of involvement are also prime differentiators for Kellogg, whether at work, during undergrad, or through extracurriculars. Depth of involvement – a long-term commitment to one extracurricular activity- or breadth – multiple undergraduate activities- are valued.
Meet the former Kellogg AdCom on the SBC Consulting Team:
We asked these same former Kellogg Admissions Officers, “What does Kellogg Admissions want to avoid?” Their answer:
Every applicant talks about the “people and culture“ being the main draws to Kellogg. Since “culture” is a given, Kellogg Admissions is looking for applicants who go beyond that – citing a particular Kellogg class, professor, experience, opportunity, etc shows applicant has done their research. Building a network and teamwork is fine to relay, but be careful not to talk too much about the “fun” aspect of the experience.
The Kellogg experts on our SBC team added:
The key to Kellogg is its culture. Team-oriented, collaborative, student involvement…these are all ways to accurately describe the very unique culture that is cultivated at Kellogg. While the class is comprised of driven, high achievers and the environment can be very intense, it is not cutthroat-competitive. Kellogg’s unique culture is partially a result of its policy of interviewing all applicants – thus emphasizing the personal aspect of the application, more than almost any other school. This also makes it a very popular choice with recruiters.
Check out our HBS and GSB dual admit study here for more MBA inspiration. And don’t miss our related posts: Stanford Business School Acceptance Rate, Deconstructed, and MIT Sloan Acceptance Rate, Deconstructed.
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Stacy Blackman Consulting offers multiple services to meet your MBA application needs, from our All-In Partnership and Interview Prep to hourly help with essay editing, resume review, and much more! Contact us today for a free 15-minute advising session to talk strategy with a Principal SBC consultant.
Here’s a snapshot of the caliber of expertise on our SBC team.
Ashley
Ashley is a former MBA Admissions Board Member for Harvard Business School (HBS), where she interviewed and evaluated thousands of business school applicants for over a six year tenure. Ashley holds an MBA from HBS.
During her HBS years, Ashley was the Sports Editor for the Harbus and a member of the B-School Blades Ice Hockey Team. After HBS, she worked in Marketing at the Gillette Company on Male and Female shaving ...
Kerry
Kerry is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS).
During her 5+ year tenure at HBS, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a wide range of backgrounds across the globe. She also led marketing and outreach efforts focused on increasing diversity and inclusion, ran the Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP), and launched the 2+2 Program during her time in Admissions.
Kerry holds a B.A. from Bates College and ...
Pauline
A former associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School, Pauline served on the HBS MBA Admissions Board full-time for four years. She evaluated and interviewed HBS applicants, both on-campus and globally.
Pauline's career has included sales and marketing management roles with Coca-Cola, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and IBM. For over 10 years, Pauline has expertly guided MBA applicants, and her clients h ...
Geri
Geri is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS).
In her 7 year tenure in HBS Admissions, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a diverse set of academic, geographic, and employment backgrounds. Geri also traveled globally representing the school at outreach events in order to raise awareness for women and international students. In additio ...
Laura
Laura comes from the MBA Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is an HBS MBA alumnus. In her HBS Admissions role, she evaluated and interviewed hundreds of business school candidates, including internationals, women, military and other applicant pools, for five years.
Prior to her time as a student at HBS, Laura began her career in advertising and marketing in Chicago at Leo Burnett where she worked on th ...
Andrea
Andrea served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years. In this role, she provided strategic direction for student yield-management activities and also served as a full member of the admissions committee.
In 2007, Andrea launched the new 2+2 Program at Harvard Business School – a program targeted at college junior applicants to Harvard Business School. Andrea has also served as a Career Coach for Harvard Business School for both cu ...
Jennifer
Jennifer served as Admissions Officer at the Stanford (GSB) for five years. She holds an MBA from Stanford (GSB) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Jennifer has over 15 years experience in guiding applicants through the increasingly competitive admissions process into top MBA programs. Having read thousands and thousands of essays and applications while at Stanford (GSB) Admiss ...
Erin K.
Erin served in key roles in MBA Admissions--as Director at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Assistant Director at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB).
Erin served on the admissions committee at each school and has read thousands of applications in her career. At Haas, she served for seven years in roles that encompassed evaluation, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. During her tenure in Admissions at GSB, she was responsible for candidate evaluation, applicant outreach, ...
Susie
Susie comes from the Admissions Office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she reviewed and evaluated hundreds of prospective students’ applications. She holds an MBA from Stanford’s GSB and a BA from Stanford in Economics.
Prior to advising MBA applicants, Susie held a variety of roles over a 15-year period in capital markets, finance, and real estate, including as partner in one of the nation’s most innovative finance and real estate investment organizations. In that r ...
Dione
Dione holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School (GSB) and a BA degree from Stanford University, where she double majored in Economics and Communication with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Dione has served as an Admissions reader and member of the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee at Stanford.
Dione is an accomplished and respected advocate and thought leader on education and diversity. She is ...
Anthony
Anthony served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise.
During his time as a Wharton Admissions Officer, he read and reviewed thousands of applications and helped bring in a class of 800+ students a year. Anthony has traveled both domestically and internationally to recruit a ...
Meghan
Meghan served as the Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute, a joint degree program combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies.
In her role on the Wharton MBA admissions committee, Meghan advised domestic and international applicants; conducted interviews and information sessions domestically and overseas in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe; and evaluated applicants for admission to the program. Meghan also managed ...
Amy
Amy comes from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she was Associate Director. Amy devoted 12 years at the Wharton School, working closely with MBA students and supporting the admissions team.
During her tenure at Wharton, Amy served as a trusted adviser to prospective applicants as well as admitted and matriculated students. She conducted admissions chats with applicants early in the admissions ...
Ally
Ally brings six years of admissions experience to the SBC team, most recently as an Assistant Director of Admission for the full-time MBA program at Columbia Business School (CBS).
During her time at Columbia, Ally was responsible for reviewing applications, planning recruitment events, and interviewing candidates for both the full-time MBA program and the Executive MBA program. She traveled both internationally and dome ...
Erin B.
Erin has over seven years of experience working across major institutions, including University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School, and NYU's Stern School of Business.
At Columbia Business School, Erin was an Assistant Director of Admissions where she evaluated applications for both the full time and executive MBA programs, sat on the admissions and merit scholarship committees and advised applicants on which program might be the best fit for them based on their work experience and pro ...
Emma
Emma comes from the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School (CBS), where she was Associate Director.
Emma conducted dozens of interviews each cycle for the MBA and EMBA programs, as well as coordinating the alumni ambassador interview program. She read and evaluated hundreds of applications each cycle, delivered information sessions to audiences across the globe, and advised countless waitlisted applicants.</sp ...
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