After making news this fall as the first major MBA school to make a play for laid-off tech workers, Northwestern Kellogg School of Management announced today (January 18) that it is extending its testing waiver for its full-time program through Round 3. It will also extend the waiver through the summer quarter for its Evening and Weekend MBA Program.

Round 3 applications at the top-five business school are due April 5 for the full-time program. Summer quarter applications are due March 29 for Evening and Weekend. Applications for all Kellogg full-time programs will be accepted, including its one-year and two-year programs and well as for its dual (MMM) and joint (MBAi) degrees with the McCormick School of Engineering.

The waivers are geared toward individuals in tech who have been affected by the tsunami of tech layoffs that started last year and have continued into 2023. Such candidates can apply to Kellogg by providing their transcripts, resume and application which will include a brief history on their work experience and most recent roles.

“We hope this waiver will continue to give high-performing individuals the chance to transform their careers now and for whatever path they choose in the future,” the school said in its updated announcement.

KELLOGG FIRST, BUT NOT LAST, TO EXTEND HAND TO TECH WORKERS

Kellogg made its original overture to tech workers in mid-November, following major high-profile shakeups in the industry. Meta fired 13% of its workforce (around 11,000 employees) that month while Elon Musk began his volatile takeover of Twitter the month before by firing thousands of workers at all levels of the social media giant.

But those were just two headline grabbers in a particularly tough year for tech workers. True Up – a website that tracks jobs at top startups, unicorns, and Big Tech, – reported more than 180,000 tech workers lost their jobs since December 2021.

While Kellogg was the first business school to reach out to beleaguered tech worker, other top schools soon followed:

• MIT Sloan School of Management, another member of the M7, didn’t waive its test requirement but extended its round-two deadline for recently laid off employees to February 23.
• Indiana University Kelley School of Business, a top-25 program, waived tests and application fees while touting an array of scholarships that are available for admitted applicants.
• UC-Berkeley Haas School of Business, the top-ranked public business school in the United States and a hub for tech recruitment for many years, offered an application fee waiver and more time to prepare applications for any tech worker laid off in the last six months. It also offered guidance for candidates to address employment gaps on their resumes.
• Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business sweetened the pot with application fee waivers, test-optional admission, access to specialized admission counselors and career coaches, and a select number of full-tuition scholarships.

“Kellogg has always been about leading with compassion and learning to channel analytical skills with personal skills in business. Our focus on the intersection of business and science uniquely positions future leaders to excel in careers across many sectors and companies. We hope this offer will allow some people to speed up their career transformation process,” wrote Greg Hanifee, Kellogg’s associate dean of degree programs and operations, in a blog post on November 14.

“It’s important to reiterate that not everyone who applies will be accepted. Our degree programs are in high demand and we are only able to take a select number of students each year. This is about giving people the option to apply over a short period of time. It’s also important to know that we look at a variety of factors when accepting Kellogg students, including GPA, work experience, career motivation and more.”

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