Calling all Kellogg Fall'08 applicants

For Essay #2 I talk about what is unique about my leadership that wont be common among others. It helps I went to a military school and my work environment is very different so my leadership is not the norm so i write more of what makes my leadership different.

#3 I focus on my specifics of what I have lead and how I did it.

4a my essay is totally different than the I lead a charity type so I didn't have to deal with that.

4c I do talk about leading but in a round about way without specifically calling it out.

My wife and I are dropping 2K on airfair and hotels for a week in chicago alone (it is a vacation of sorts though).

Luckily my other R1 schools are within driving distance and then my R2 one is NY where I have family and can drive to easily in a day.

Just got back from a good Kellogg infosession in SD.

It had about 20 people, in a nice conference room at Brandes. The adcom was the MMM and JD-MBA associate dean of admissions, a young alum of Kellogg. There were three alums there, 1 lady who just graduated, 1 guy graduated 1999, and the other from Mexico, but I don't know when he graduated, probably early 2000's.

First the adcom person talked about the key values that Kellogg looks for (their website talks about it), then we went into 45 minutes of directed Q&A by the adcom of the alums. They talked about clubs they participated, the network they made, internships, job search, spouse/partner activities, winters in Chicago, rent, dorms, etc...

Q&A only had time for 4-5 questions, but they all stayed after to answer our questions.

One key thing I found out about. If you submit Part I by 10/9 for R1 deadline, and sign up for a interview, you MUST submit your Part II by 10/19, the R1 deadline. I don't know what happens if you slip, but it took me a few tries to get the adcom to understand my question.

Second, the adcom said only about 200-300 applicants apply in R1, versus 2000-3000 in R2!!!! She's the first adcom to tell me flat out to apply R1 for a better chance. If they even "lean" towards admitting you, they are likely to do so because they have so many spaces.

Those were the two nuggets I got out of the session.

Any questions, post here.

The only downside is, with my entrepreneurship/VC focus, I might not apply to Kellogg or any schools outside of California anymore, because of the network and connections I need for those two fields (Career Center doesn't help much in that field, and there are much fewer Kellogg alums in California in small companies). Oh well, I guess we'll see!

Edit:

I went to the Boston event last night. I would say there were between 50 and 60 people there. They had 5 alums ranging from '03 to '07. 3 of the 5 worked in non-profit. One left Bain, one left investment banking. The other went to Bridgespan (Bain's non-profit consulting) but is leaving there to be COO of a non-profit. Definitely some impressive sounding people and all seemed to be very honest. Overall it wasn't extremely helpful, there wasn' anything I hadn't heard before, the whole we care about everything speach.

Unlike Kry's the woman actually said R1 and R2 have the same standards for admits, though R2 they get many more applicants. I read this as if this year is even more competitive than last year then R1 does provide a benefit because you are going on last years standards not the even more competitive ones. (this probably works the other way too).

When I said the alums were honest, one woman I asked how she felt Kellogg was for married couples, she said any school or person who tells you it isn't hard and a huge strain is lying. You are busy for 12 hrs a day and constantly occupied with events. Its tough to feel you are missing out on things one way or the other, either bonding and networking with classmates or time with your significant other. Though she did say one great benefit is there are lots of couples events so it is easy enough to get them involved and get to know people. Also those who have a working spouse tend to have the most money to spend since someone is footing all the living expenses.

Worst part of the night was sitting next to the most obnoxious person in the room. He was a shining example of how not to come across. Spent the whole time on his blackberry, muttered under his breath about all the "stupid questions" people were making while making snide remarks about don't people read the webpage. Then came across as super arogant when he asked his question.

On a happier note, it was amazing the lack of knowledge showed by most of the people there asking questions. I actually talked about this with another person on the T-ride out of town. One kid actually asked about the % of applicants invited to interview and how this relates to acceptances. (note kellogg interviews 99% of applicants). It was incredible how many people got up and left part way through too. So this goes to show that you may be well qualified and have the credentials but you still can be clueless about this whole thing. Its nice to see that even if they are impressive profile wise much of the competition probably doesn't sink the effort in that most members of this board will. I figured that the people going to these events would the most serious applicants, if thats the case then its good for gmatclubbers.

I'm not applying to Kellogg, but you guys stories definitely bode well for us here if other schools are similar! Thanks for relaying your experience.

Knowledge is power. Get accustomed to meeting or hearing about a lot of people who know next to nothing about a schools culture, process, etc. I'm not surprised at the Kellogg interview question -- typical uninformed junk question.

As for the 200-300 applicants in R1, thats a gross misrepresentation I think.... I'm surprised someone said that.

I didn't get numbers as of R1 and R2 but she did say that R2 was by far the most popular round. Also said R3 is much much more difficult.

good to hear about the Boston experience.

Funny how the San Diego one was so different. No stupid questions, polite, and friendly. No obnoxious people. Actually, in three schools' infosessions so far, I haven't met an obnoxious person yet, I must be lucky.

As for rhyme, yes, the adcom herself told me SPECIFICALLY that only a few hundred people apply R1, and the number is roughly 10x more in R2. I was shocked by the numbers too, and she's the first one who has ever said R1 is clearly better than R2. The standards may be the same, but R1 you get more "benefit of the doubt" than R2.

For married couples, the girl there said that she made sure she blocked off certain hours of the day to spend with her husband, and Kellogg does have an amazing inclusivity for partners/spouses. Many spouses are even leading the student clubs and one probably got an MBA education for free!

I hate to stereotype but the obnoxious people at the events I have been to have all been wearing suits and seem to come from the traditional world of MBAs (IB and MC). It comes across that they have a sense of superiority and entitlement about applying. Don't get me wrong this is a very small minority of the people who fit the IB/MC profile at the events but they have been at each one.

I know the one at the Chicago GSB event definitely didn't do himself any favors with the current students and alums. I am assuming that it backfires more times than not when you present yourself this way. I am attending a Tuck event tomorrow, and everything I know about the school they frown down on these kind of people far more than a lot of schools so it will be interesting to see if some show up.

Another amazing thing, I have actually had a couple people quiz me on my profile at events. I know we all want to gauge the competition but its pretty tacky to ask whats your GMAT or how did you do in college.

wow, that is surprising! Everyone I've talked to avoids the GMAT/GPA question. At most someone asks me if I took the GMAT and they leave it at that. Maybe there are fewer IB/MC people out here in Cali... and maybe the SF/SD crowd is more laid back. Avi did say in LA there were some stupid people, but haven't heard of obnoxious ones yet.

I've got a question about the "Unique" essay... Are you talking about 1 trait that makes you unique, or are you mentioning multiple traits?

I am spending most of the essay discussing multiple aspects of 1 trait, and then I also touch on a few others that make me unique. Gracias.

Edit:

Very personal, Q&A style infosession with 3 alums. Small group of 15-20 people at the Brandes International office in Del Mar, San Diego.

Pros:
- the alums were very friendly, energetic, and the Q&A style really added more to the infosession than your traditional "sell, sell, sell"
- The alums were very helpful, and the adcom lady was also very nice
- I truly got the feel of the "team" spirit at Kellogg and the student run campus.

Cons:
- Nothing really. It was a good infosession. The only problem is the networking in California for VC/Entrepreneurship.

Hi all, just wondering whether Kellogg provides a slot to address extenuating circumstances such as choice of recommenders and such.

Is the optional essay 'I wish the admission committee had asked me..' meant for this purpose?

I know, I can dig into the application packet myself but any inputs will be greatly appreciated as it will save time

Nevemind! Kellogg does have a dedicated additional information session

Seeking some opinions on a problem of mine. I am about to submit my Part 1 (running behind but my essays are done so Pt should be easy). However, my extracurriculars looks terrible post college.

Like a lot of people I have a very hectic schedule so I dont have much freetime outside of work commitments. Also, I did a foolish thing a few years ago and bought a dump of a house. I literally spend 20-40 hours a week working on it (even now while applying) and have pretty much redone everything myself. I put that as an extracurricular activity since I dont volunteer or do anything else because of lack of time.

I do have hobbies, should I just put those in there too since thats what I like to do with my freetime and no posting on GMATclub will not be listed though I do spend far too much time here.