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KV9191
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Journey to Kellogg School of Management. 06 Jun 2016, 11:50
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Hey, that's a very detailed review, and I learnt a couple of good points to take away.
By the way, what is your GPA? I have a 750 GMAT too, but with a GPA of 6.6/10 in IIT (assuming ~2.8 on 4 point scale), and 3 years work experience at matriculation, and good extra curriculars and community work. Checking what my chances could be at Kellogg. Thanks
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Journey to Kellogg School of Management. 24 Jun 2016, 11:39
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Hi mgg234
Fairly new to the site and as a Kellogg alum I found myself looking on this thread and saw a question about scholarships and thought with my 15 yrs on the admissions side I could perhaps give some insight. Each school does have their own strategies on how to use their precious fellowship budget. I wouldn't overthink it too much- it really has more to do with whether or not you are in a key pool that the school is trying to deliver on- more women? more from a certain region of the world? more bankers? More from West coast etc. You get the idea. Not that much you can do to control that part of it. What you can control is to be sure you are seen through the whole process. And so for that, as a general rule, I would say you want to be in the earliest application pool that you can assuming you are ready to submit. Even great candidates in R3 often get little because the $$ are simply already committed. The ED at CBS I can't speak to directly and that would be obviously different because it is binding. These are the kinds of questions that an admissions consultant can help you navigate - even on an hourly basis so while it is not applicable to you on the thread now- congrats on being done, I just thought I'd shed hopefully a little insight on the thread!

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Small update....I got a decent scholarship through the financial aid departments (~12k or so per year) which made me feel much better about the debt - I didn't even know that was a possibility, so was a welcome surprise. Last day of work is Thursday, everything is coming up so quick!

Awesome deal on the scholarship! Any idea on how the scholarships are awarded? I'm going all in this year with a CBS ED application while working on Kellogg/Sloan/Stern/Johnson R1 apps. I heard from a friend that going ED was a bad idea because there's almost no incentive for them to give me scholarship money.

I already know that I'm a border applicant and that if I do get into CBS I'll take it, but the possible weight of $200k loans is making this whole business school decision very stressful! :crazy: :puke


For merit, they tell you on the phone when they call to accept you, or mail it to you shortly afterwards. Depends on the school, but in general ~30% of acceptances get some sort of merit-scholarship. Only a handful of school have need-based, but those that do, provide you with it after you fill out the FAFSA. Harvard and Stanford are outliers in that they do need-based only...but they also have huge endowments, so they are able to offer people generous packages.

The schools claim ED has no impact on scholarships, and I do know people from ED who did get scholarships....but, you're right, there is an incentive for them to give out less from ED, and business schools lie about this type of stuff all the time, so I think its a valid concern (especially when there is no way for us to audit them).

Also, Columbia has by far the worst financial aid of the M7, so they are the least likely to give you a scholarship (They are also the most expensive), so keep that in mind when applying. Although unethical, many people pay the $6000 deposit, and renege on ED to attend a different university, so thats certainly an option.
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Journey to Kellogg School of Management. 22 Sep 2016, 02:46
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Congrats on Kellogg!
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Journey to Kellogg School of Management. 22 Sep 2016, 11:38
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Also worth mentioning Kellogg has now doubled their financial aid compared to when I applied (northwestern as a whole is flush with cash from a multi billion dollar drug they discovered/patented), so new students are getting very generous scholarships compared to when I applied.

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Journey to Kellogg School of Management. 28 May 2020, 12:19
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Wow - blast from the past...Got a message asking for an update, I had almost forgotten about this site.

I did two years in consulting, left after promotion to engagement manager, and have now spent about a year and a half doing corporate strategy at a financial services firm. Compensation is now mid-$200's, work is stressful but hours are great (As opposed to consulting that was 60-80 hours a week...). Paid off all my MBA debt a year and a half ago, and am currently saving $100k a year. Recently married and thinking of kids soon.

Still super close to about ~30-40 Kellogg friends. ~25 came to my wedding, and dozens of active group chats going on strong 4 years later. Pre-covid, did several trips a year with various kellogg friendship groups, in addition to frequently hanging out with the ones that live in my city.

How time flies!
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Journey to Kellogg School of Management. 31 May 2020, 00:20
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mgg234
Wow - blast from the past...Got a message asking for an update, I had almost forgotten about this site.

I did two years in consulting, left after promotion to engagement manager, and have now spent about a year and a half doing corporate strategy at a financial services firm. Compensation is now mid-$200's, work is stressful but hours are great (As opposed to consulting that was 60-80 hours a week...). Paid off all my MBA debt a year and a half ago, and am currently saving $100k a year. Recently married and thinking of kids soon.

Still super close to about ~30-40 Kellogg friends. ~25 came to my wedding, and dozens of active group chats going on strong 4 years later. Pre-covid, did several trips a year with various kellogg friendship groups, in addition to frequently hanging out with the ones that live in my city.

How time flies!
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WOW! Indeed blast from the past!!! Great to see you back MGG!!!
It is crazy to think you have graduated back in 2016.... it is really unbelievable and really scary too! Awesome update and thrilled to hear about your awesome progress! Congrats on your wedding and a new chapter in life.... I have changed quite a bit when the first kid came. Things suddenly became very real and my priorities changed. The rest of my life was no longer in front of me at that point. Fun times :lol:
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Journey to Kellogg School of Management. 07 Mar 2022, 10:25
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Just wanted to post a quick update here, since I remember there being a lack of information about +5 years after MBA on here and elsewhere...

I'm now a director and make $320k, at a a large bank, in corporate strategy. Have a very high level of autonomy which is great, but also am losing my ability to ever fully disconnect. Could probably get it up to $400k if I job hopped right now, but will probably stay one more year for the experience and because we're trying to have kids.

My individual networth is a hair over $500k, was around negative $150k when I graduated b-school. I live in NYC, so rent, food is expensive, and taxes high, which slows down my savings a bit. If I stayed in consulting and lived in Atlanta or whatever, likely could be be at ~$750k nowadays.

I'd say my compensation and level of seniority is average among classmates. Some people are really killing it right now (e.g., MBB partners, senior levels at FAANG, start-up took off). I think everyone is above $200k at this point, even people in the easier and lower paid careers (e.g., marketing /brand management/ leadership development at F500). Hypothetically, I guess people who went into social enterprise would be lower, but despite 50% of people putting in their essays they wanted to do this, I can't think of one person who actually has yet.

Still close with a bunch of classmates, but a majority have young kids now, so that's hurt the social scene quite a bit. That said, the high level of income does allow options that a majority of america doesn't have. So still a decent level of socialization, even among the young parents.
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Journey to Kellogg School of Management. 29 Jun 2025, 17:54
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9 year update.

At $420k comp. Stuck at same level and same job. Having trouble making MD (I'm told I have a platform, but always told to wait a year...), despite consistently strong year end ratings. This is definitely the hardest jump to make. I'm getting priced out of a lot of lateral external jobs, and I'm not having luck applying directly to MD level roles. I do think my layoff risk is low though.

On the positive, the job has gotten much less stressful over the last three years. One because I've gotten better at it / used to it, two because my team has gotten bigger (I have 5 direct reports now), and three I just care less.

My hours are great: 830-530 most days. Some late nights before very important presentations, but honestly my juniors do the hard work there. I am answering emails 24/7, but this doesnt stress me out at all anymore.

My networth is $1.15M now (plus my wife has an additional $300-400k or so). I looked forward to being a millionaire since I was little, but when it hit, I felt nothing lol.

I have a kid, as do most of my classmates, so socializing with ex-classmates is definitely much lower. Unless they live in NYC (and most have left my city when they had kids), really only see them at re-unions and weddings. Group chats / text messages / fantasy football leagues / etc, with classmates are still going strong though. Some of my section mates are planning to rent a house together for our 10 year reunion.

Tech classmates got hit pretty hard with lay-offs the last three years. A few H-1B classmates got deported when this happened. Most landed on their feet though.

Definitely think MBA was the most fun two years of my life...
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Journey to Kellogg School of Management. 29 Jun 2025, 20:29
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Awesome!
Thanks so much for coming to update this topic. I have somehow missed it, so I’ll be going back to catch up!

I can definitely confirm from my conversation conversations and observations and personal experience, the connection from business school become one of those once a year affair or whenever somebody comes to town.

And once I got a family, my focus and priorities changed quite a bit.
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Journey to Kellogg School of Management. 29 Jun 2025, 20:34
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As someone who was in your shoes and quite comfortable with their job because I got better at it and by corporate standards I was really good but when the pandemic came, the company laid off 65% of its workforce (hospitality) and I was really surprised with how hard it was to recruit at the director level and middle management so to speak.

It’s a pretty vulnerable stage. On one hand, it seems you’re doing well at work but on the other, when I lost my job, because I have spent 15 years in the same company and haven’t been networking for another job, I felt very unprepared for what was ahead so my advice is to always keep the tabs and see what options you have. It’s always good to talk to recruiters which is something I neglected.
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