Essay Questions For 2011

Essay #1: MBA Program applicants - Briefly assess your career progress to date. Elaborate on your future career plans and your motivation for pursuing an MBA. (600 word limit)
We would suggest you to structure your answer in the following manner:

• Describe responsibilities, experience and skills learnt during different phases of your career.
•  Then describe your short-term and long-term career plans. Do keep in mind that your present experience should be in sync with your short term and long term plans.
• Mention some gaps between your short term goals and your current experience then talk about some courses / programs that will help you achieve your short term and long term goals.

Try to learn as much about Kellogg as possible before attempting this essay and mention some specific programs which might help you fulfill your short-term and long –term goals.

Essay #2: Describe your key leadership experiences and evaluate what leadership areas you hope to develop through your MBA experiences (600 word limit).
Before attempting this essay, think thoroughly about leadership qualities such as ability to motivate, implement processes in unstructured environments, think out-of-the-box etc.  Then pick-out situations from your personal and professional life where you have demonstrated these qualities.  Try to be precise in your description, for instance clearly specify your goals, number of people in your team, client expectation etc.  
Then mention some leadership qualities that you have not been able to learn / display. Also mention how much you would like to know about other leaders, though different leadership courses, and imbibe those learning to make better decisions. Mention Kellogg’s initiatives like ‘360-Degree Leadership Assessment’ and ‘Business Leadership Clubs’ ,to help students realize their leadership potential, and why you would like to attend them.

Essay #3: Assume you are evaluating your application from the perspective of a student member of the Kellogg Admissions Committee. Why would you and your peers select you for admission, and what impact would you make as a member of the Kellogg community? (600 word limit).
This essay requires you to be a little creative and talk about your strengths and skills which would be valuable to your class at Kellogg. First think thoroughly through some of your biggest strengths, for instance – perseverance, analytical approach to complicated problems, leadership skills, ability to learn and adopt quickly, in-depth experience in a particular industry etc.
Then select some important examples to substantiate each of your qualities. Please try to be specific about your examples and provide all necessary details.
Finally, it is very important to describe how you would be able to contribute fruitfully to the class at Kellogg. For instance, if you have been an entrepreneur then do mention how you would be able to contribute in entrepreneurship related courses/ programs.

Essay #4: Complete one of the following three questions or statements. (400 word limit) Re-applicants have the option to answer a question from this grouping, but this is not required.

• Describe an instance where you encountered resistance in a professional team setting. How did you address the situation?

You can use this opportunity to showcase one of your leadership or team skills. Structure this essay as follows: * Describe the situation and the target. * Mention the challenges * How did you overcome them * final result and your learning from the same.  

• People may be surprised to learn that I…..

Use this space to talk about your additional skills and interests that you might not have mentioned before. For instance you can talk about your extra-curricular activities, awards won, community service, event management and entrepreneurial stints etc. Do not forget to highlight positive traits of your personality through this essay.

• The best mistake I ever made was…….

In this essay you can write about a situation where you decided to act in a way contrary to public opinion. For instance, a situation involving ethical dilemma where your managers / team members wanted to do things differently but you stood for something that you felt was right.

Re-applicant essay  – Since your previous application, what steps have you taken to strengthen your candidacy? (400 word limit)