Meet Northwestern Kellogg’s MBA Class Of 2024

P&Q: How does your MBA program infuse experiential learning into your curriculum? Give us a couple of examples of projects your students have done recently, including the company, scope, and results?

EH: “Our experiential courses at Kellogg provide unique opportunities for students to act as consultants for real companies with real business problems.

Kellogg’s Analytical Consulting Lab challenges students to use their analytical skills to help real clients use real data to solve real problems. Over the last year, students used advanced analytics to help the Chicago Bears build a smarter pricing strategy around food and drink concessions.  Another team helped Bayer AG identify new agricultural product and growth opportunities through predictive modeling.

Our Private Equity Lab is a course that allows students the opportunity to be placed in a quarter-long internship with a private equity firm. New this year, the course has expanded to provide students with the opportunity to intern with portfolio companies linked to our Private Equity Sponsors or to assume a role with the Operation Team of the Private Equity firms. This new program, called Program B, is targeted towards students who are interested in operational roles within Private Equity. Students are fully immersed in the day-to-day operations of the fund-assisting with deal selection, due diligence and investment efforts.

And our Global Initiatives in Management class combines traditional classroom learning with problem-solving, teamwork and client service with an introduction into a specific region or global industry. Amishi Bharti ’22 joined the Branding the Nations trip to Spain and Greece, where she worked on a project with the largest producer of olive oil in Greece. Her team spent the week understanding the business landscape and applying their analytical and marketing skills to make recommendations as to how Greece could learn from Spain’s best practices in the industry.

These are just three of more than 30 experiential courses and opportunities that Kellogg offers. A few others include the Asset Management Lab, our Healthcare Strategy Consulting and our VC Lab.”

10 REASONS TO CONSIDER KELLOGG

1) MMM Program: “I chose Kellogg for the MMM dual-degree program, the only one of its kind. MMM graduates earn both an MBA from Kellogg and an M.S. in Design Innovation from the McCormick School of Engineering. I was extremely drawn to its focus on human-centered design and innovation which provides a unique lens through which to experience the traditional business core.

The curriculum is rigorous, and there are more required courses than the typical MBA, but I wanted to challenge myself and put both my left-brain and right-brain muscles to work. Inherent to MMM is also a small-cohort experience within the larger MBA class which helped double-down on the collaborative, supportive community feel that Kellogg is so well known for.”
Danielle Ma (’22)

2) 1 Year Program: “Kellogg is a leader in pioneering MBA programs that are hyper-relevant to prospective students. With long-term aspirations to be an enterprise finance leader, I was looking for a program that would accelerate my career trajectory. A principal reason why I decided to attend Kellogg was the one-year program, also known as 1Y, which has a prerequisite of required courses. It provided the desired fast pace with the rigor of a top business school without sacrificing traditional two-year MBA benefits such as internships through the experiential learning courses. The immediate access to electives through the 1Y program allows me to build on my professional background in business and customize my experience to develop new skills to propel my career forward in a way that no other programs could.”
April Chung (’22)

3) MBAi Program: “I am excited to be a part of the second cohort of the MBAi program Kellogg’s new joint degree program with the McCormick School of Engineering. MBAi is designed to give students a rigorous business education integrated with a strong foundation in data and artificial intelligence. As an engineer interested in learning more about leading businesses and driving change in the tech industry, I felt like this program was perfectly curated just for me.”
Apurva Gorti (’24)

4) KWEST: “There are two things I’m excited to do at Kellogg. First, I’m looking forward to participating in KWEST (Kellogg Worldwide Experiences & Service Trips) in 2023. Every single person I talked to, from alumni to current students, raves about the trips. It’s a great way to start the year because it allows students to connect with one another and create meaningful relationships before classes even start. I believe Kellogg does this because at its core, it’s a reminder that we can’t accomplish anything alone or solve problems without a community. It’s genius to start the year with such a trip because it becomes the foundation of our collective Kellogg experience and beyond.”
Joel Francia (’24)

5) Chicago: “You’re asking a Californian about the Midwest at the right time! The fall here is lovely and Kellogg’s location in Evanston next to Lake Michigan is absolutely breathtaking. Evanston provides a college-town feeling that facilitates forming tight bonds while still having easy access to the big city of Chicago. Chicago is such a vibrant city with a little bit of every industry represented, whether it is healthcare or finance or technology, and that provides multiple opportunities for students to do in-quarter internships or experiential learning courses such as Venture Capital Lab. I’ve also loved getting to explore the variety of food, nightlife, and activities that Chicago has to offer.”
Apurva Gorti (’24)

6) Section Experience: “All students across all Kellogg programs (2Y, 1Y, MBAi, MMM, JD-MBA, MD-MBA) are split up into ‘sections’ during the very first week of our experience to help make the large Kellogg student body a little smaller to navigate and easier to form close relationships. We take some core courses with our sections, but we also participate in fun section competitions (much like the Hogwarts House Cup in Harry Potter), ranging from Rock-Paper-Scissors games to participation in volunteering activities to intramural sports. I look forward to unleashing my competitive spirit and bringing home the section cup for the best section at Kellogg—the Bullfrogs. Ribbit, ribbit!”
Apurva Gorti (’24)

7) Kellogg Culture: For me, it was Kellogg’s culture and values: leaders who are passionate about helping others and deliver high impact with low ego. Every person I met during the application process— alumni, faculty, or students — embodied this value and the collaborative culture. It was important to me because I wanted to learn from the best and be surrounded by people I admire, ultimately becoming the leader I aspire to be. Also, I wanted to be in a school where people truly connect, and Kellogg’s community, with its values and culture, sets it apart.
Maria Elisa Simas Donato (’24)

8) School Traditions: “My favorite Kellogg tradition is CIM (Culture is Made). CIM is an orientation of sorts for Kellogg’s incoming students. At CIM, we are introduced to the Kellogg culture and values, learn more about our classmates through small group (called pods) events. We’re also introduced to our respective first-year sections, which we spend organized time without throughout the Kellogg experience. This year, I was afforded the privilege of serving as one of the ‘Poet’ Section leaders (575!) and it was amazing to watch first-hand how students went from being total strangers to lifelong friends….winning a few section competitions along the way doesn’t hurt either!”
Ryan Blackwell (’22)

“There are so many great ones, but the Special K Revue stands out as my favorite. It’s a fully student run satirical production that was born in 1980. Each year, dozens of students work hard and dedicate time to volunteer to sing, dance, choreograph, act, direct, write, compose music, etc. — all in service of hilarious, SNL-style sketches that capture Kellogg life in that moment in time. As you can probably imagine, COVID was woven into the last show in a way that was funny, poignant, and cathartic. The faculty and administration love it too; they come with a healthy sense of humor and willingness to laugh at themselves which is all in the spirit of the show and the school.”
Danielle Ma (’22)

“I am really excited to get involved with the Charity Auction Ball (CAB), which is a gala Kellogg students put on every spring to raise money for local charities of the student body’s choosing. The event primarily auctions off experiences donated by students, faculty, alumni, or the broader Chicago community, such as getting your nails done with Dean Cornelli or taking a cooking class from international students. While living in DC prior to Kellogg, I helped Children’s National Hospital plan its annual gala for young professionals, so I am excited that I will have a similar opportunity while at Kellogg to give back and raise awareness for local charities while also working with a great group of people.”
Hays Bynum (’24)

9) Experiential Learning: “For me, a huge differentiator for Kellogg was the focus on experiential learning. I have an undergrad business degree, so in my MBA program I was really looking for lots of opportunities to learn beyond the classroom. Kellogg has an unparalleled variety of opportunities to be paired with companies and nonprofits to tackle real business problems through courses such as the Growth Strategy Practicum and the PE and VC Labs – just to name a few. I think by gaining more hands-on experience now, I’ll greatly accelerate my learning curve for my post-MBA role.”
Max Schwein (’22)

10) Golub Capital Board Fellows: “As a Board Fellow, I’ll serve as an ex-officio board member for a local nonprofit organization for the remainder of my time at Kellogg and take two classes on board governance with my cohort. After the program, I’ll be very well-prepared to serve as full board member and drive change at a nonprofit I’m passionate about immediately post-Kellogg. Further, the longer-term involvement and strategic nature of the role allows me the opportunity to make a lasting impact on the Chicagoland community while honing my leadership skills in the process.”
Max Schwein (’22)

Page 4: Profiles of 12 Kellogg First-Year MBAs