The Lowdown On My Kellogg Admissions Interview

The interviewer stuck to a pretty standard script, asking about my leadership style, an example, one positive thing my co-workers would say about me, one negative thing, a resume walk through, how I would impact the Kellogg community, and if I had any questions for her. I felt like my prep had focused on all those topics, so no surprises were had, although my questions at the end could have been a lot better. One thing that made me a little uneasy was my rapport with the interviewer. I typically do much better with people who respond in some form or fashion, but her poker face was professional level, and I couldn’t get much of a read at all, which resulted in me walking out with no idea how well it went. So it goes.

Aftermath:

I made it back to the hotel before the snow started falling, and the first thing I did was put in a pick-up order for some delicious Lou Malnati’s pizza – deep dish, obviously. Thirty minutes later, I was in deep-dish heaven and reflecting on my interview experience. All in all, I’m very glad I made the trip up here rather than do the alumni interview in my hometown. The main sticking point for me was that it’s not a cheap trip, even for a weekend. But I did enjoy the interaction with the adcom, I loved the gorgeous campus (even though it was covered in this white powder called snow), and I got a feel for the Kellogg vibe. Most importantly, I can now clearly see myself at Kellogg for two years, and loving it there. Evanston was a surprisingly pretty town as well, and I bet the drive up Lake Shore is much lovelier in the warmer months.

Quick side note: I’m from a relatively friendly, what I call southern-midwest, locale, but no joke, people here have been extremely nice to me. Examples – Smiles and goodmornings from everyone on the hotel staff, it’s possible this could be a hotel thing… but then there’s also non-hotel people, and I guess people naturally want to know why you’ve traveled here in the middle of Snowpocalypse 2014, so when I mention it’s to interview, they’ve all been genuinely interested and wished me luck, from cabbies to waitresses. Good on ya, Chicago/Evanston.

And now I have officially completed my entire Kellogg application.

I’m happy to discuss my Kellogg admissions interview experience in more detail if anyone has questions, so please feel free to leave those in the comments section below and I’ll be semi-fast to respond (not always immediately, but as soon as I can).

A management consultant, FromGMATToMBA is blogging about his journey into a top 10 business school with what he calls a “low-ish GPA.”  In the first round, he was dinged from both Columbia Business School and Wharton. He also plans to apply in round two to Chicago Booth and Northwestern Kellogg. He blogs at FromGMATToMBA.

Previous Posts:

The Unpleasant Reality of Taking the GMAT: From a 700 to a 730

After Dings From Columbia & Wharton, A Focus on Kellogg & Booth

My Round Two Apps Are In The Bag