Kellogg's New MBA Essay Question: 'Share Your Resilience With Us'

Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management

Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Courtesy photo

Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management announced its full-time MBA application deadlines and some slight changes to the application today (June 2), joining a handful of other top schools that have posted key dates for the next cycle. First-round applications to Kellogg are due September 15, 2021, with a decision returned on December 8, 2021. Second-round applications will be due January 5, 2022, with a decision date of March 23, 2022. And the third — and final — round has an application due date of April 6, 2022, with a decision coming on May 11, 2022.

The dates were announced in a blog post published today (June 2) by Kate Smith, the assistant dean of admissions and financial aid at Northwestern Kellogg.

Kellogg’s application in general will have two changes this year. First, applicants will be able to select and be considered for multiple MBA programs through one application.

‘SHARE YOUR RESILIENCE WITH US’

“So, rather than committing to just one program during the application process, you’re now able to be considered for multiple program options within Kellogg’s programs,” Smith said in her blog post. “This means that during the application, you will select a primary program within our Full-Time portfolio for which to be considered. Then, you will have the option to select additional programs from our Full-Time and Evening & Weekend MBA programs for which to be considered. If we’re unable to offer you admission to your program of choice, then we’ll consider you for the other program(s) in which you are interested.”

Smith also notes that applicants should still be intentional in the programs in which they apply.

“We have a wide range of Full-Time Program options designed to fit how students are wanting to grow,” Smith writes. “However, we also understand that students may have interest in or see a route to their goals via more than one of our programs. So, rather than committing to just one program during the application process, you’re now able to be considered for multiple program options within Kellogg’s programs.”

3 VIDEO ESSAYS IN KELLOGG APP

The other change will be an additional video essay prompt, which is “share your resilience with us.”

“In response to the unprecedented challenges of last year, we added a new video essay question detailed in this blog post that invited students to share how they were challenged specifically due to the nature of the world in 2020 and how they responded to those challenges,” Smith says.

“However, the world is only growing in complexity and it’s increasingly important for leaders to be able to navigate that complexity and meet challenges. With this in mind, we will be including a version of this question this year that focuses on a challenge you have encountered in your life and how you have faced it.” The question is one of three video essay prompts for Kellogg applicants.

DON’T MISS: MEET NORTHWESTERN KELLOGG’S MBA CLASS OF 2022 or NORTHWESTERN KELLOGG: WHERE MBA VENTURES GO TO THRIVE