Calling all Kellogg Fall 2009 Applicants!

On Recommenders :

Does Kellogg prefer both the recos from work or 1W 1Community Service? Which would work better?

Thanks,
Pawan

I used both professional recommendations. I think that is typically the best route unless you are very very involved in a specific activity...they want people that know you the best.
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I have not be involved extensively, however, have been involved in community service for the past 10 years...so, I'm contemplating which would fit better.

Quick question on GPA: For those who don't have GPA for their degrees, is there a standard/recommended way of calculation? My UG school sadly has only grades (A-F) and a final degree (First Class, Second Upper, etc). Did any of you require to do this?

Hi all,

I will be applying to Kellogg as well. I have a quick question. I have heard that Kellogg makes its decisions on a rolling basis. Is that true? I do know that they follow deadlines, but once they review a file and make a decision, they dont wait till the decision date (Jan 7, 2009) to let the applicant know.

If thts true, and if I were to schedule a campus interview before Oct 17, I believe that there would be a decent chance that the adcom would let me know the decision by mid december. Do u guys concur?

Best,

Nadtrans

I got in at the end of November last fall so its definitely true. Many people find out before christmas one way or another but there are still plenty of people who get in in January. I dont think interview date is the biggest factor but obviously that has to get completed before a decision can be made. I got interviewed at the beginning of Nov. and lots of people who interviewed well before me didnt find out until well after I did. Of course there is the dreaded WL which can drag until well into the summer.
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Thank you replying. I am not sure as whether this question was asked before. But, who conducts the interviews on-campus? Do 2nd yr students do it or the adcom?

Thanks,

I believe its 2nd years but an adcom may do the occasional interview. Dont stress over the interview too much.
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I am reapplicant this year, but leaning towards not interviewing with Kellogg as I'm afraid of getting stuck with an unfriendly interviewer. To me, the advantage (being able to tell the improvements in profile) does not outweigh the disadvantage of doing worse on the 2nd interview. Sure, there is a chance that I will interview even better this time, but is the risk worth it when I can explain my improvements in one of the essays?

BTW, I have no regrets from my 1st interview.

Any thoughts?

For those who want to get to know Dean Dipak Jain a little better, rediff has done an article on him here :

https://specials.rediff.com/money/2008/sep/02slide1.htm

Hey everyone,

So I have a question about the "What do others admire about you?" essay.

It's only 2-3 paragraphs long so I'm not sure exactly what they are looking for - say, for instance, we talk about a general characteristic about ourselves that people admire, do you think we should talk about the root of the characteristic...or give examples, or talk about how it benefits others? This is such an open ended question that I'm not quite sure what direction to take it in.

Any thoughts?

Hey everyone,

So I have a question about the "What do others admire about you?" essay.

It's only 2-3 paragraphs long so I'm not sure exactly what they are looking for - say, for instance, we talk about a general characteristic about ourselves that people admire, do you think we should talk about the root of the characteristic...or give examples, or talk about how it benefits others? This is such an open ended question that I'm not quite sure what direction to take it in.

Any thoughts?

how are you guys tackling essay3? River maybe you can chime in with your advice...greatly appreciate clubbers input..

How have your past and current leadership experiences prepared you for Kellogg? What leadership areas are you hoping to develop through your MBA experience?

I mean i doubt you can teach anyone leadership??..and I really dont get what they mean by leadership areas i am hoping to develop through MBA..my view of an MBA is to learn the skill sets such as brand management, marketing, workings of finance etc.

I sort of disagree, while maybe you can't teach someone to be a leader (in the sense that I can't have you read a book and take a test), I think it can be learned. Look up the attributes of leadership, there must be one or two that you're not that good at, surely you're not a perfect leader. For example, the easy one is that the different people that you come in contact will help you learn about different situations that you may not have encountered had you not gone to B-school. Maybe you'll better learn how to set vision for a company. Or taking the things that you actually want to learn in B-school, maybe the subjects that you intend to study (marketing, finance, etc) will help you see how to set goals across the spectrum. Maybe your career so far has been fairly risk averse and B-school will teach you how to manage that risk and make key decisions based on little information. I think you could look at any leadership seminar and pick a few of the qualities they advertise.
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Just curious, how long are you guys going for your essays?

I have one of the "long" essays left, and my total word count is ~2400. I've been very strict about the "2 pages for long essays, 1 page for short essays" rule of thumb, but I'm worried about how the AdCom will look at having to read that much. Any thoughts?

WHoa whoa whoa.... Are you using double space? I am going with 1000 words long, 500 short. I think at 2400 that is Way way way too long. You should ask around, but I believe that others agree that it is 2 pages doube space, or about 1000 words.

I think I misexplained myself. Everything is double-spaced 11 pt Arial Narrow. My two "long" essays that are completed at ~800 words. The two shorts ones are ~400 apiece. The total so far is 2400 words.

My question is this: At this pace, my total count will be ~3200 words over 5 essays. Does that seem high to anyone?

I wouldn't go above 1200 words for a Kellogg 2 page essay. The longest word limit I've seen in the top schools is 1500 (at Chicago). 2000 is way too much.

Kryzak,
How do you manage to get 1200 words in 2 page essay? best I could do was 950 -1000. I'm using 11 pt Ariel Narrow 1 inch margins on top/bottom and 0.75 inch on the sides.