Admission strategy

The US graduate school application process is something that most European students are not too familiar with. While components of the application (such as grades), are important across the world, the application process for all types of higher education programs in North America differ significantly from those we see in Europe (although, more recently, European schools – MBA programs in particular – have begun to adopt the US style). We therefore thought that the most valuable advice that we could provide with our limited resources is probably to help you understand and interpret the different components of the application better.

Essays: Undoubtedly, your essays are the single most important piece of your application, because they give you the ability to provide verbal commentary on what admissions see (i.e., your grades and accomplishments that flow from your resume), and allow you to identify and highlight what they cannot see from your other documents. Think of them as your chance to spend ten minutes, or, actually better still, two hours speaking to the admissions committee.
The Essays are something that foreign students in particular struggle with, because the questions they ask often ask us to share very personal thoughts, motivations and aspirations with people that we hardly know. For many, this seems strange, since many of these emotions and beliefs are not shared even with close colleagues in a professional environment. Many of us falsely attribute this discomfort with the differences between US and European business culture. Rest assured that your counterparts in the US and anywhere else in the world struggle just as much to open and expose ourselves to such a degree to a group of people we have never met.

Interviews: unlike many other business schools, Kellogg has a tradition of interviewing all of its applicants before pre-screening applications. This reflects our collective belief as members of the Kellogg community, that Kellogg has a very unique and strong culture that not everyone fits into. Accordingly, Kellogg’s interviewers (alumns, current students, and administrators) see themselves as guardians of this culture. That doesn’t mean that Kellogg strives for conformity in the admissions process. The diversity of the student body, which is reflected in clubs such as the EBC is testament to the fact that there is no one Kellogg “type”. Rather, it acknowledges the fact that some people do better here than others. These are people who want to contribute to building and sustaining this community.
For most of you, the interviews will take place with Kellogg alumni in Europe. Don’t be intimidated by these interviews. Like the Essays, they are your opportunity to explain the numbers and words that describe you on your transcripts and your resume. Professionalism is obviously crucial, since this is very similar to a job interview for one of the most important jobs you will ever apply to. That being said, don’t be too nervous either (although a little bit of nervousness is always good). Kellogg interviewers generally loved their experience at Kellogg (otherwise they would not be interviewers), and are probably just as eager to share their experiences about the school as you are about sharing your backgrounds and qualifications.

Career Progress Survey (also known as “Recommendation” at other schools): In the simplest form, this is a latter that someone submits on your behalf to Kellogg, which assess your career development to date. There are several things to pay attention to with the Career Progress Survey. First, make sure that you choose a writer who knows you well enough to be able to provide a profound assessment of your career progress to date, as well as your strengths and your weaknesses. A remote senior manager who you have met in the hallway once or twice in your life, who knows very little about you, may not necessarily be the right person for this task. Also, make sure that you know this person in a professional context. A buddy from school, or your father is probably not the right person to assess you, since they may either be biased, or may not be able to assess you from the perspective that Kellogg wants to hear about. Finally, use the template that the schools provide for you. Most schools have fairly unique questions that they ask, even to assessors, and you want to make sure that they are actually addressed in your evaluation.

GMATs, TOEFL and Transcripts: These are fairly self-explanatory.
Make sure to order transcripts from your universities early. Processing can take a while, as many of you know.
The GMAT is a standardized exam that tests your mathematics and English skills. While it is considered tedious by many, it is one of the key resources which business schools use to benchmark the basic English and Math aptitude of applicants. You can sign up for the GMAT at www.mba.com. One of the key things to know about the GMAT is that you can take it multiple times. While many of us may be reluctant, or at least not accustomed to taking exams twice or even three times to improve your score, it is quite common in the US, and you should not feel bad to repeat the test if you feel that there were special circumstances that prevented you from scoring to the best of your abilities the first time around. That being said, programs do prefer to see one high score, rather than multiple scores that progress from lowest to highest.
The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is a standardized test the assesses your command of the English language, which is extremely important at business school, since conversations and discussions in class assume that you have fluent command over the English language. Similar to the GMAT, you can take the TOEFL multiple times. The web site to sign up for the TOEFL is: http://www.ets.org/toefl/

Data Form and Resume: Again, these are self-explanatory.

Ultimately, the most important thing that we should stress is that you should be honest, and that you should be yourselves. This is both in your own interest and ultimately a legal/ethical matter. On the legal/ethical side, discovery that disclosures on your resume were untruthful and intended to misrepresent your accomplishments is an offense that all business schools take extremely seriously. More importantly, misrepresenting yourself may actually mean that you end up in a program that is less of a fit for you than it should be. MBA programs can be quite different (for example, in duration, culture, degree of curricular flexibility). Since the choice of the right MBA program is a decision for life, you definitely don’t want to end up in the wrong one. Think of it as the last pair of shoes you will ever buy. You want to make sure it fits right, because it will have to last, and you will have to be happy with it for the rest of your life.