Meet The Incoming Kellogg Class of 2017

IT WOULD BE HARD TO FIND A MORE OUTGOING, FRIENDLIER BUNCH

Though applications were essentially flat for Kellogg in 2014-2015, roughly 4,500 candidates applied for one of the 492 seats, making its two-year MBA program among the most highly selective in the world. They will join more than 100 MBA candidates who showed up in June for Kellogg’s accelerated MBA option.

One thing that has not changed in all the statistics is the fact that Kellogg, a pioneer in building collaboration and teamwork into its curriculum, typically attracts students with exceptional interpersonal skills, a result of the school’s long-standing policy of interviewing all applicants and one of the reasons it supplies more graduating MBAs to the consulting industry than just about any other U.S. school. Translation: You would be hard pressed to find a more outgoing or friendlier bunch of students to spend two years with anywhere else in the world.

In fact, the school’s reputation for having a highly collaborative, student-run culture where MBAs organize the school’s annual conferences, trips, and events is a particular draw to many of the incoming students. “Kellogg students are hyper-involved,” observes Adanna Ukah, a self-described “poet” looking to make a career switch. “Our pre-orientation (KWEST) trips are led by second-years; diversity and admit weekends are fully student-run; and the student association (KSA) has a visible impact on the general management program. It is evident that administrators, faculty, and students are putting just as much into the school as they are taking out. The community and “all-in” vibe I got when I visited was a huge plus.”

They will enter an MBA experience with lots of options well beyond the marketing foundation for which the school originally gained favor. In recent years, Kellogg has developed an unusual set of courses that deeply delve into the issue of how to scale a business. Growth has long been an imperative for many corporate leaders, but how to both achieve it and manage it has rarely been the focus of business school curricula. Kellogg now boasts more than a dozen separate courses in this area.

WILL GET TO SAMPLE THE SCHOOL’S NEW GLOBAL HUB IN LATE 2016

The school also has in recent years launched a major initiative in entrepreneurship, offering a full menu of courses that would allow any student to use the MBA experience as an incubator for launching a new business or social enterprise.

And this year’s incoming class will be able to at least sample the new global hub of the school now being constructed on the edge of Lake Michigan. The school expects to complete the massive project in late 2016, six or so months shy of graduation.

The Class of 2017 will soon begin to absorb the “Kellogg experience.” For Jonathan Goldstein, that means focusing on the practical elements of his decision. “[I want to have a] great business education and learn and reinforce a number of skills that will support me during my career.  And have a fantastic, exciting, enriching two years with a number of new friends and peers.”

To read profiles of incoming Kellogg students – along with their advice on tackling GMAT, applications, and interviews – click on the student links below.

Jonathan Goldstein / St. Louis, MO 

Leslie Kwang / Austin, TX 

Iyembi Nkanza / Cape Town, South Africa 

Adanna Ukah / Boston, MA 

Corey White / Homewood, IL 

Manasa Yeturu / Upland, CA

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