How Kellogg applicants are assessed – Part 3
When Kellogg admissions officers review an application, they evaluate potential students based on six categories. Here, Melissa Rapp, director of admissions for Kellogg’s Full-Time MBA Programs, demystifies what happens once you submit your materials and helps you think about how to craft the story that will help the Admissions team learn more about you. 
TODAY’S TOPIC: PROFESSIONAL GOALS
ADDITIONAL TOPICS: Work experience, Intellectual ability
Ask any alum, and he or she will tell you that Kellogg was a pivotal point in his or her career. That’s why our Admissions team is interested in learning about your professional experiences and goals; by outlining your professional goals, you help us understand how a Kellogg MBA will bridge your past and future together.
Since there many different candidates drawn to Kellogg, your reason for pursuing an MBA will be unique. Some applicants have a specific idea of how an MBA will help them grow within an industry they already know; others want to pursue a significant career pivot, while still others have more general long-term goals and are open to multiple paths that might take them there. All of these reasons for pursuing an MBA are totally acceptable — just be sure that you can articulate your goals throughout the application.
There are countless opportunities to take advantage of at Kellogg, so it is helpful to have a sense of where you want to end up after your Kellogg journey. Identifying your goals will ultimately help you discern your pursuits inside and outside of the classroom while you are at Kellogg. We want our applicants to think about the deeper reasons behind pursuing an MBA — why they’re doing it, where they’re trying to go, how this education and their career fit together — because it helps students hit the ground running once they arrive on campus.
While the Admissions committee wants to see that you have a plan in mind, we understand that these plans may change. Kellogg is a uniquely transformative experience, so we anticipate that some of you will leave Kellogg with very different aspirations than what you discussed in your application. Since you don’t have a crystal ball during the application process, focus on what your professional goals are right now.
Describing your goals is not an exercise in impressing the Admissions committee; it is an honest reflection of where you hope your life is heading. We want to see a clear narrative that explains why you want to pursue an MBA. No answer is wrong, so please speak freely and openly about how Kellogg and its community will help you achieve your professional goals.
For more information about Kellogg’s application components, visit our website.
Melissa Rapp is the Director of Admissions for the Full-Time MBA and MS in Management Studies Programs. Melissa joined the Evanston Admissions team in January 2016 and was previously the Director of Admissions for the Evening & Weekend MBA Program located on Kellogg’s Chicago campus. She has over 15 years of higher education and admissions experience.