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How To Answer Kellogg’s New Essay Questions

Most people dream of someday being on “the other side of the table.” If you’re a banker, you probably aspire to be a VC. If you’re a consultant, you’re certainly imagining yourself in the c-suite. And if you’re a burned out executive, you’re likely crunching numbers to see if you could afford to become a consultant.

Beth Tidmarsh is one MBA who’s managed to switch sides. A 2003 Kellogg graduate, Tidmarsh became a vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle before returning to Kellogg in 2013 as director of admissions. In other words, she now evaluates those same essays that she had once written herself to get into Kellogg.

On July 8th, Kellogg released its two essay questions for the 2015-2016 year. Each essay comes with a 450 word limit, though students can also write an optional essay with no word limit. Here are the questions:

1)  Leadership and teamwork are integral parts of the Kellogg experience. Describe a recent and meaningful time you were a leader. What challenges did you face, and what did you learn?

2) Pursuing an MBA is a catalyst for personal growth. How have you grown in the past? How do you intend to grow at Kellogg?

Seems clear enough, right? Of course, understanding the question is the easy part. Selling yourself using relevant and persuasive themes and anecdotes is the real feat. This week, Tidmarsh sat down with Clear Admit – along with writing two blog posts – to share how prospective students can respond in ways that get her team’s attention.

In the first question, Tidmarsh tells Clear Admit that Kellogg believes leadership manifests itself in various ways. As a result, her team is looking for students to share what being a leader means to them. “You don’t have to be the class president while you’re here or plan to be a CEO once you leave,” she observes. “You can be a leader in many different ways, and that is what we are looking for applicants to demonstrate through their essays.”

However, Tidmarsh does offer a few hints on what Kellogg expects from this question, zeroing in on “recent and meaningful.” By that, she means applicants should emphasize their professional career (though college experiences can also work). At the same time, a narrow focus offers a wealth of possibilities, she writes in Kellogg’s blog. “Sure, we can see your resume and your list of activities – possibly you were president of every single one, and we can safely assume you’re a leader. But more often, people choose one area to take on a significant leadership role and do it well – whether professionally or maybe in an activity outside of work – and you need some space to tell us about that.”

At the same time, Tidmarsh cautions prospective students to keep one question in mind as they draft their essays: “What did you learn?” “How did this challenge and this experience change your perspective?…Spend most of your response talking about what you learned from your leadership experience, and perhaps how you have applied it.”

Tidmarsh considers the second question to be variation on the “Why Kellogg” staple,” in that it includes “the added lens of how you hope to grow and develop while you’re here.” On a deeper level, it is also a reflection of Kellogg’s underlying philosophy.

“You do not come to Kellogg to stay the same,” she tells Clear Admit. “At Kellogg, you are going to change both personally and professionally—we want people who are coming here because they want to grow and change,” she adds. “We want you to think about and tell us about where you have been and where you think you are headed.”

To successfully navigate the question, Tidmarsh suggests two strategies in her blog. And the first involves deep self-reflection. “First part, take some time to look back over your life – what do you think brought you to this point? What stretched you and made you who you are today? What might your unique background contribute to your Kellogg classmates?”

Once you know where you came from, Tidmarsh believes, you’ll have a good idea of what you want. And that should also be a focus of the essay. “Then let’s hear about your future. Why do you want to come to Kellogg? What gets you excited? Do you think you’ll be involved? How will you juggle the demands of preparing for class, making friends, taking risks, joining clubs, being social, oh – and finding a new job? Each applicant probably thinks about the importance of those categories differently. Help us understand your motivations for applying.”

And this advice – along with emphasizing recent experiences – applies equally to Kellogg’s two video essays. Unlike a live video, students can better control the written essays. And Tidmarsh offers some big picture advice to applicants in her interview with Clear Admit. “Do some self-reflection and soul searching, write a rough draft and then leave it for a while and come back to it later,” she urges. She also emphasizes that students can also differentiate themselves by doing their homework on the program’s strengths, culture, and day-to-day experience. “There is so much more to the business school experience—applicants really shouldn’t just look at the rankings.”

Although some students may fret that focusing on themselves may come across as self-absorbed, Tidmarsh reminds potential students of why Kellogg requires these essays in the first place. “Don’t get carried away telling us about Kellogg – tell us about YOU. We know Kellogg. What you have is an opportunity to convey more about you.”

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Sources: Clear Admit, Kellogg MBA (Part 1), Kellogg MBA (Part 2)