Calling all Kellogg Executive MBA Applicants 2023 - 2024

Question

Calling all Kellogg EMBA Applicants 2023

If you are applying, please add your name to this list/reply in the topic. 
Good luck with the applications!

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

Round 1 April deadline for Fall intake is approaching and I'll be tackling the various elements of the Kellogg EMBA application.

Essay 1 starts out with, “In the application, you shared your short-term and long-term goals” so before tackling essay tips – let’s start here first.  These short answers are the basis for the your response in Essay 1 - I will write a separate article for that.

What is your short-term career goal? 150 characters (~23 words) 
They only give you about 20 words and specify “career” goal because – here, you just need to state your goal job title upon completing the Kellogg EMBA. If you are a Marketing Manager now, it might be Director of Marketing; if you are Director of Marketing now, maybe VP of Sales & Marketing, for example (I mention marketing because Kellogg is the clear winner in all things marketing).

The role should require a more holistic view of the enterprise, requiring a greater understanding/appreciation of how all functions work in tandem; looking at the organization as a system. If this isn’t the case, you might ask whether or not this is the right degree for you. If you are getting into a more specialized area of tech or finance, for example, a specialized masters might make more sense.

The EMBA is really meant to help candidates climb the ranks in their current org or *at least* within their current industry – so I don’t recommend citing a goal that is a huge departure from your current function and industry; maybe function or industry but not both.

Adcom is looking to make sure you have realistic expectations. This is what is often referred to as fit: there is a good match between your aspirations and what they are suited to deliver. That you aren’t a Health Care Analytics Manager hoping to become a Hedge Fund Manager.

Also, the role you specify should be a significant enough pay bump to justify the $200K+ outlay, or at least put you on a higher earnings trajectory to create an ROI over the short to medium term.

What is your long-term career goal? 150 characters (~23 words) 
Whereas the short-term goal might be a promotion within the company or an industry competitor, here you have a bit more leeway. It's best to take a “stepwise” approach – first changing the function or industry, but not both. For example, if you want to change the function/role in your short-term goal – then at this point, it's OK to change the industry.

These are not hard fast rules of course; main thing to keep in mind is, even with an MBA in hand, you need something to offer the next job. This is hard to do if you are unfamiliar with both role/function and industry.

If you have startup ambitions, make sure to park them in the long-term category unless this already speaks to the nature of your job and not a hopeful side hustle. It's very unlikely you will have time to start this during the program, given the 15-20 hour/week commitment, class meetings, residence weeks. Your free time will be well spoken for. (that said, it’s worth noting that Kellogg EMBA is less rigorous than Wharton and Booth – which are very, very demanding. If you have kids, Kellogg might be the way to go).

What drives your interest in these short- and long-term goals? 240 characters or ~44 words 
Its only 44 words which again means you need to cull your response down to something very core.

Here, Kellogg wants to understand why you are putting your hand up for this – will your motivation sustain you throughout those 24 months? Will this be enough of an anchor for you to stay focused and committed? Willing to weather the sacrifice of your hobbies, family time, bowling league, etc.?

If it isn’t - you might request a deferral which is not optimal for Kellogg; a deferral is an “accounts payable” hanging out there, plus they would have to backfill your seat.

This question also allows Kellogg to get to know you a bit as a person – which is the only reason they are reading this application, at the end of the day. Kellogg loves to ask questions about values, and this might reveal a bit about yours.

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

In the application, you shared your short-term and long-term goals. How will Kellogg and an Executive MBA equip you to reach those goals? What are you looking to gain or develop during your MBA experience? (450 word maximum)

You might first refer to my tips on answering short answer questions on goals.

Kellogg wants to make sure you have a clear focus – which is why the question on short term career goal and long-term career goal are only a few words. If you need more space to articulate it, it’s not specific enough. Role/industry/geography is about all you need.

Reflecting on your short term career goal, consider what might be stopping you from achieving that now. Would you be in better standing to get the goal job with an EMBA? Or, do you feel you would be out of your depth in that job without a formal education in a few things? Many feel they would be doing things inefficiently in a business-related role without the academic underpinnings and the mastermind alliance of their “small group” at Kellogg. I like the expression, “none of us is as smart as all of us.”

The ideal answer here is partly about what you need from a functional perspective: finance, strategy, marketing etc. but also points to an area of growth that might be stopping you from maximizing your leadership potential. These are usually things like fear of being visible, confidence, perfectionism, willingness to take calculated risks.

Kellogg appreciates self-awareness, maybe more than any other MBA program, because they are known for leadership development. Self-awareness forms the foundation for leadership development – without that awareness, would you be coachable? Capable of transformation? Able to leverage the program? It’s worth meditating on this question, to come up with an answer that shows self-awareness – and from there, consider how to leverage the EMBA to achieve it. Kellogg realizes that happy customers who spread good juju have set a specific mission when entering the EMBA and having this, are more likely to achieve it and feel it was a good investment.

If you feel teamwork is an area you need to develop to be an effective member of operating committee, working with your small group will be something to expand on. Set up informational interviews with current and past students to understand how this helped them grow; what goals it helped them achieve. Another example: maybe your company wants you to help with international expansion. So, you need to take Global Network in Emerging Markets to understand the dynamics of expanding to emerging markets. And also, maybe you haven’t had the opportunity to lead international team members and need to understand gain a sense of the “unknown unknowns” there to build effective teams in that new location.

My point is, show that you have researched the program in a number of settings. And, that you don’t just know about the program offerings – we don’t want to barf up the course catalog here – but instead match up the specific elements of the Kellogg EMBA that speak best to your 1) knowledge gap and 2) growth edge.

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

Sample Account - Kellogg EMBA Interview Questions

The cool thing about Kellogg is that they interview everyone, so its wise to apply if your magnetic and personable camera presence sells you better than other elements of the application. Here are the interview questions from a recent client. Reminder than R1 is 4/19 - factor in time not just for essays but brainstorming recommendation anecdotes (DEI in particular) and interview talking points!
 
What do you currently do? Describe your current position?

Talk me through your resume in any order

What is the scope of your current role?

I mentioned speaking to other student from past EMBA classes. Interviewer asked about what they said and what I learned from them.

Asked me if I had any questions

Some candidate have 14+ years of experience so how do you think you can contribute to such a senior group of classmates?

Where do you see your company going in the next couple years?

Is there anything else that you think is unique about you that you’d like the AdCom to know?

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

Essay 2: Community, belonging and inclusion are important values at Kellogg. Tell us about a community that’s important to you and how you contribute to or impact that community. (450 word maximum)

Kellogg has added the DEI angle to this essay this year, showing you how important it is to them. Approaching this question, consider what stories each of your recommenders could share in the first recommendation question, “

•  Kellogg has a diverse student body and values students who are inclusive and encouraging of others with differing perspectives and backgrounds. Please tell us about a time when you witnessed the candidate living these values. (300 words)

Which stories are best shared by them, and which is best shared by you? So strategize along these lines – we want the admissions committee to gain new information through this essay, to learn more about you in different settings. I always like to choose more personal than professional anecdotes for the essays because everything else – resume, recommendations, interview, short answers are all work related. Also, because it’s easier to create a memorable and emotional connection with the adcom through personal or community/extracurricular examples.

What’s behind the question

Kellogg is great for marketing and great at marketing. They understand their niche: attracting those who want a friendly, social experience doing their MBA – the warm, fuzzy factor. I like to tell clients they are both the *product* and the *consumer* - realizing this, Kellogg wants to deliver on their brand promise by serving up students who are teamwork and community minded.

Also, they want to recruit students who want to be part of a community long-term: who’s doing all those alumni interviews? You, prospective student, that’s who.

As for “ Tell us about a community that’s important to you and how you contribute to or impact that community ” if you have some choices, think first about where you have had the most impact.

Here might be an interesting example to help you brainstorm. I had a client in Toronto who worked with a feed the hungry type organization before COVID hit. Once it hit, all their programming had to change – because it was all in-person stuff. They now delivered food to homes but had no transparency on their costs and for this reason, could not expand past a certain radius. My client did a ground-up budget for them. This gave them enough clarity on their costs to justify hiring an Executive Director; his efforts led to them expanding their reach and impact 3X. This helped them get grants based on the new ways they fulfilled their mission, as well. So, his effort really helped feed lots more hungry people in Greater Toronto, during an especially critical time.

My advice would be to start with 100 or so words stating your passion and motivation around this community – why it’s important to you – why it reflects your values. And then use the rest of the space narrating the story in chronological order (STAR: situation/problem – task – action – result) similar to what I wrote above.

jm0311 · Answer

Hi - I am waitlisted for Kellogg EMBA - does anyone know the process of possibly getting off the waitlist - Do we wait for Round 1 decisions?

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

Honestly the best way to get off the waitlist is to get an honest professional assessment of your strengths and weaknesses with the application and then develop a update letter citing you have taken/are taking appropriate action that might allay their concerns. As an example if you don't have a solid track record with quant readiness then you would want to do MBA math. That kind of thing. jm0311

jm0311

Hi - I am waitlisted for Kellogg EMBA - does anyone know the process of possibly getting off the waitlist - Do we wait for Round 1 decisions?

dudestud · Answer

Hi guys what are your profiles like?

Calling all Kellogg Executive MBA Applicants 2023 - 2024

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