Calling all Kellogg MBA Applicants: (2017 Intake) Class of 2019!!

Did anyone receive a mail from Kellogg with subject line: "career support for a lifetime"? Just want to check if it has gone to everyone or select few. #interpretations #anxiety

Did anyone receive a mail from Kellogg with subject line: "career support for a lifetime"? Just want to check if it has gone to everyone or select few. #interpretations #anxiety

Hi there -

Rest assured this is totally normal! We have several ex-Kellogg adcom members on our staff who have confirmed this is part of their process and they actually usually know the people they hire as temps quite well. Sounds like your interview was definitely within the time range that's normal so I wouldn't stress about any of it. They take their jobs seriously and would never write someone off within a few minutes. Hope that helps you sleep a little better! Good luck!

Yesterday I had an interview and it lasted about 70 mins.
There were a lot of questions on leadership and at the end I was asked about why MBA and why Kellogg.

Does anyone know what percentage of interviewed students get admitted at Kellogg?

I don't have official figure but interview acceptance rate (average of last 3 years) of GMATClub applicants at Kellogg is 37%. See this post.. https://gmatclub.com/forum/chances-of-g ... 30246.html

I agree with this advice -- especially since this personally happened to me waaaaay back when I interviewed. (#OLD) And I've had clients call me crying about disastrous interviews this year -- and then they ended up getting in (in Round 1). So the interview truly is just one data point and the adcom is VERY aware that there are some, um, "personalities" across their alumni base (for ALL schools). So while it totally sucks that you had this experience, try to stay positive and remain confident in your candidacy. And man I would also suggest going and doing something nice for yourself this weekend as a little present for surviving that discussion!

Guys,

I just received an unexpected promotion yesterday. I know that R2 decision is less than 3 weeks away. Should I still call/email adcom to let them know about this update?

Thanks!

Hey Everyone, kind of new here. I was accepted in Round 1. Wanted to know if there is a https://gmatclub.com/chat group?

Ok.. This is what I learned about waiver from alumni and current R1 accepted student.

Waiver means they will start reviewing our application right now, without waiting for interview.

Waiver can be a semi ding or unambiguous phase, depending upon what happens by the deadline 27th Feb.

Case 0: Present situation- it has no meaning, except that your file is being reviewed now. It can go into case 1 or 2 from here.
Case 1: If one is in waiver phase by the deadline, then consider it as a ding, although no one will get a formal email. From past experience, no one with a waiver has got in!!
Case 2: If one gets an interview invite (most likely with adcoms) by the deadline, then it is positive sign and chances of acceptance are high!!

To everyone applying from India. I am a reapplicant and hence am acquainted with how the process works. Let me detail it as I am sure it will calm some nerves:

1. Kellogg, by design, interviews each applicant. However, in areas of high demand of interviews such as India, it is not possible for them to match their alumni to each applicant as each alumni can do only as many interviews
2. Once both Part 1 and Part 2 are submitted, one of the following three scenarios will occur:

i. You will be invited to interview on a day in late Oct/Early Nov. This is essentially an interview day - many alumni will gather at a hotel and many applicants will be interviewed. No clear formula on how the invitees are decided, but I think it depends on who submtited Part 1 earlier as from Kellogg's vantage point everyone has to be interviewed and hence no one is at a higher or lower priority at that point. Once the interview has been completed, the adcom will review your essays and recommendations and you then sit tight until the decision date to hear back from them.

ii. You will get an interview waiver. The Kellogg team does NOT read an applicant's file until their interview is complete. Hence, to avoid delays, they start reading the application first for those in India who weren't sent invited in the first go. The waiver does NOT affect your application negatively - it just means that they are waiving your interview in order to begin reviewing your application

iii. If they like your application, you will receive an invitation to interview. This will be a one to one with an alumnus here, or a Skype with the adcom in Chicago

iv. It may also happen that you don't get this invite after the waiver, in which case it is safe to assume you have been dinged

3. Hence, unlike other countries, in India Kellogg does NOT interview everyone. Also, most people receive a waiver which can then convert/not convert into an interview invite at a later stage.
4. You will NOT be admitted to the program without an interview. Hence, if after the waiver you do not receive an invite, it means you have been dinged.
5. Dates: Please read last year's thread. If I recall correctly, people received the first invites 2 weeks after the Part 2 deadline. People who first received a waiver and then an invite (such as me) kept hearing throughout November. I got my invite around Mid Nov.
6. Hence, if by end Nov you haven't heard from them after a waiver, safe to move on to alternate plans
7. Most people in India will get a waiver - it will test your nerves (tested mine) but it is actually a blessing in disguise. If you receive an invite after a waiver, that means the adcom liked your application and wants to know more - that is a positive sign any day of the year

Hope this answers your queries. Indian applicants should NOT compare their interview timeline to foreign applicants.

Today's blog post is about negotiating your offer of admission ... except that it's not.  Because "negotiation" is not what you do when it comes to securing more financial aid from a business school.  The term of art for what you are going to be doing is "asking."  Let us explain.
Obviously, any discussion of an offer in this context automatically means we're dealing with some good news: you've been accepted.  So congrats on that!  However, with the news that a b-school wants you to enroll comes the sobering reality that they also want you to *pay* for that privilege.  Sure, offers often come with dollar signs attached, but the amount left in the "you" column is almost always going to be the bigger number.  And that fact tends to bring up the following question: "How can I negotiate my offer?"
Again, let's rephrase the question entirely.
Don't think of this as a negotiation, but rather a request: "How can I request more aid?"  That is a much better frame of reference, especially in light of the the advice that follows.  Here's how we typically approach this process:
1. Be respectful.
There are a lot of ways you might be able to get a little more scholarship money from a business school, but we know of one sure way that you WON'T get money and that's if you try to "hardball" them.  We have witnessed countless admits go from months of wishing and hoping to sudden arrogance and a "you better wine and dine me" attitude.  Ditch it.  Immediately.  If you call an admissions office and try to leverage another offer or you give them the "so what can you do to sweeten the deal?" treatment, you will inevitably find yourself on the line with a tired and supremely annoyed member of that school's staff.  Go in polite, grateful, and professional.  Always.  This is not an M&A deal and you are not "negotiating" with anyone.  You are "asking" a business school to grant you more free funding.  Big difference and on that is not lost on the schools themselves, we assure you.
2. Instead, go for the heartstrings.
Okay, you have your hat in hand and you are determined to avoid acting entitled.  Now what?  Not to be too blunt about it, but in our experience, a good old sob story seems to work best.  So if you have authentic hurdles - and most of us do - to paying over $100K for your MBA, share them.  You don't have to impress anyone at this point with your huge salary or countless offers from heavy hitters; they've already decided they want you to attend their school.  And they are far more likely to try to work something out if they find you nice, respectful, and, yes, a bit needy.  A long-term career goal that eschews riches is probably best, but there are a lot of ways you can be honest about your situation and paint a very realistic picture as to how an extra $20K could make all the difference for you.
3. Never lie! 
If you don't have the "heartstrings" story, then don't go there.  Of even greater importance is that you don't make up offers or dollar amounts from other programs.  It damages the integrity of the financial aid process (which is designed to get money to those who deserve it and who need it most) and the school may ask to see proof in making a decision on revising your award.
4. Wait a beat.
One of the keys to even getting yourself in the running for more aid is to wait a little bit so the dust can settle.  Sure, on the one hand, the money could be gone and the class full and the school might have no incentive to sweeten the offer.  I've heard people worry that if they wait, this scenario could result.  And they are right - it totally could.  But here's the dirty secret ... they always spend all the money!  When decisions go out, they throw out all the scholarship awards with them, hoping to entice and bring in the necessary yield.  It is only when people start turning down offers - and scholarship awards - that the directors and staff start to see where there might be A) enrollment needs and B) financial aid surplus.  In other words, if Booth gave you a $20K scholarship last week, don't call *this* week hoping for more.  They won't have any more - at least not on paper.  That spreadsheet is going to show every dollar spent.  Wait for people to turn them down and for some of that paper money to flow back into the Booth coffers.  Doing so will give you a better chance at there even being something to ask for, let alone get.  Plus, while this isn't necessarily likely, if you wait, you might also catch a school getting shorted a bit on enrollment, in which case they will be far more likely to help you meet your needs.  (Think of what is better for a program - going to the waitlist and thereby increasing their "admitted student" number in the process, or getting a 1-for-1 right off the existing list by spending a bit more money.  It's a no-brainer.)
5. Follow up.
If you talk to someone and they say they will get into it (most likely scenario other than "sorry" is "let me get back to you" ... "here's more money!" is a distant third), don't be afraid to follow up.  The squeaky wheel can get the grease given that an admissions office is like a battlefield this time of year - it's not crazy that your request might land on someone's desk for a full week.  In that time, hundreds of thousands of dollars might funnel back and forth on paper, leaving you in the cold.  So wait a day or two and then call back to ask - respectfully, of course - if there has been any progress and if there is anything else you can or should do.  As long as you are really nice and polite about it, no one is going to fault you for being angst-ridden about your financial future.  And we should add here - since people seem to worry about it - you are not going to lose your offer by calling about this stuff.
We hope that these hints help you navigate that latest stress in this process.  Remember that you catch more flies with honey, honesty in the best policy, and patience is a virtue.  Armed with a few cliches, you'll do great.
Whether you are in the midst of this process or just starting out on your admissions journey, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com for a free consultation.

Source: https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/blog/2015/11/24/5-tips-for-negotiating-your-mba-admissions-offer

Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management launched 11 new courses for the 2016-17 academic year, with topics that range from the business of social impact to leading startups to the human-machine partnerships of the future.

“With increasingly complex problems facing our rapidly changing business environment, curriculum innovation in the MBA program is key,” says Therese McGuire, Senior Associate Dean of Curriculum and Teaching. “As we train the future business leaders of the world, it’s critical to create new courses that foster innovation and take our students to the forefront of knowledge in their respective areas.”

Here’s a glimpse of what the new course offerings, which incorporate applied learning applications and guest speakers, include:

Human and Machine Intelligence (Adam Pah, Spring 2017)
Human and Machine Intelligence delves into new research findings on artificial intelligence and the applications for modern business leaders. Using sophisticated AI programs like IBM’s Deep Blue and Google’s AlphaGo, this course will develop students’ data science skills and teach them to apply “human+machine thought partnerships” to grow businesses.

“While there are many examples of machines outperforming humans at some tasks, its less clear when machines can augment human decision-making and creativity,” says Adam Pah, Clinical Assistant Professor of Management & Organizations.

“We will focus on how students can leverage machine intelligence, while discussing the possibility and limitations of machine-learning to enhance their output and performance beyond a human or machine alone.”

Launching and Leading Startups (Brad Morehead, Winter 2017; Carter Cast, Spring 2017)
Launching and Leading Startups examines some of the most challenging and pervasive problems faced by entrepreneurial CEOs – including evaluating markets, developing products, mitigating risk, and creating effective go-to-market strategies while leading teams and managing boards from the CEO “hot seat.”

“Our Kellogg Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative leadership team realized there was an opportunity to offer a broad survey course for innovative, entrepreneurially-minded students who want to gain exposure to entrepreneurship,” said Carter Cast, Clinical Professor of Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

“This will be a good class for students who are curious about entrepreneurship and who think they may pursue an entrepreneurial endeavor in the near future, whether through starting their own business, acquiring a business or joining an early-stage startup.”

Business of Social Change (Megan Kashner, Winter 2017) Business of Social Change studies a singular social issue to help students understand the causes, measurement, levers and outcomes inherent to the business of social change work. With this term’s focus on uneducated and unemployed American youths, students will hear from guest speakers including policy experts, large-scale employers of youth, impact measurement experts and experts on labor, detention and workforce development.

“We’ve added this new course to provide students with the foundational tools and approaches to follow a social or sustainability challenge from etiology to measurement to levers for change and impact,” says Megan Kashner, Clinical Assistant Professor in the Kellogg Public-Private Interface. “Students will complete this course with the skills to determine the roots of a problem and the paths to large-scale and market-driven change.”

Consumers, Culture and Leadership (Greg Carpenter, Fall 2016)
Consumers, Culture and Leadership explores how firms develop a deep understanding of customers, how leaders can create more agile, innovative organizations and how leaders can create new markets, redefine existing ones and deliver value to demanding buyers.

“Much of the thinking behind customer centricity was developed at Kellogg and remains central to our distinctive approach,” says Greg Carpenter, James Farley/Booz Allen Hamilton Professor of Marketing Strategy. “The timing seems right to offer a new course to more formally explore the rising influence of consumers, how organizations are transforming their culture to focus more on consumers, and successful leadership models for customer-centric firms.”

Other new courses for the 2016-2017 academic year include:

• Accounting: Global Financial Management and Reporting, Mark Finn, Spring 2017
• Finance: Capital Markets, Phillip Braun, Fall 2016; Ian Dew-Becker, Winter 2017
• Health Enterprise Management: Health Analytics, Eric Barrette, Spring 2017
• Kellogg Public-Private Interface: Sustainability Across The Enterprise, Klaus Weber, Spring 2017
• Managerial Economics: Thought Leadership Seminar: Issues in Developing Countries, Nancy Qian, Fall 2016
• Marketing: Mastering Marketing Technologies, Jonathan Copulsky, Winter 2017
• Marketing: Digital Marketing Strategy, Garrett Adam Johnson, Spring 2017

As the Kellogg School of Management continues to roll out new courses such as these, which emerged from cross-disciplinary strategic initiatives and academic departments, the school  appears to be making good on its intentions to educate brave leaders and prepare its students to meet the real-world business challenges of tomorrow.

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If you are looking for guidance on your Kellogg MBA application, Stacy Blackman Consulting can help with hourly and comprehensive consulting services. Contact us to learn more. Visit the website for Stacy Blackman Reviews, and check out the company’s e-publications for more in depth school-by-school guidance.