Kellogg Class of 2027 Essay Analysis

Kellogg has released its 2024-25 application, with changed essay questions.

2024/25 essay questions

Question 1(450 words)

Intentionality is a key aspect of what makes our graduates successful Kellogg leaders. Help us understand your journey by articulating your motivations for pursuing an MBA, the specific goals you aim to achieve, and why you believe now is the right moment. Moreover, share why you feel Kellogg is best suited to serve as a catalyst for your career aspirations and what you will contribute to our community of lifelong learners during your time here.

Question 2 (450 words)

Kellogg leaders are primed to tackle challenges everywhere, from the boardroom to their neighborhoods. Describe a specific professional experience where you had to make a difficult decision. Reflecting on this experience, identify the values that guided your decision-making process and how it impacted your leadership style.

Reapplication Question Reapplicants will receive a prompt about their growth since their last application: How have you grown or changed personally and professionally since you previously applied and what steps have you taken to become the strongest candidate you can be? (250 words)

2024/25 essay question analysis

Essay 1

This question asks you to answer a lot - why an MBA, why Kellogg, and what you will contribute. 450 words will go fast!

To conserve space, we recommend highlighting overlapping examples that will help address those three elements of this question. For instance, if you hope to use your MBA to make a career transition, state that. Then, pivot to 2-3 ways you will use Kellogg to actually make that transition (rather than discussing elements of Kellogg that are more tangential to your planned career transition, even if Kellogg is better known for those). To highlight what contributions you plan to make, think of one way you can make better one of the resources/experiences you discuss for "why Kellogg". If you find yourself struggling with word limits for this essay, you may not be creating as much overlap in your examples as you need.

Essay 2

This new question reflects top schools' continued efforts to attract students who can thrive regardless of professional challenges that they may face. Suggest 50-75 words explaining the situation, with the bulk of the rest of your word limit spent explaining what actions you took, and why you took them. The positive impact/outcome you were able to create should be as tangible as possible to maximize the chances that the reader will resonate with your story.

2024/25 deadlines

Deadline time: 5:00pm CST

Round 1: Application deadline: September 11, 2024; Decision date: December 11, 2024

Round 2: Application deadline: January 8, 2025; Decision date: March 26, 2025

Round 3: Application deadline: April 2, 2025; Decision date: May 7, 2025

Other application details

Click here for school interaction opportunities.

The online application is expected to be released soon.

Re-applicant?

Check out information here.

School resources

Check out our links to several of school's resources, including blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.