Some Kellogg MBA Essay Tips for Admission in 2022
Two mandatory written essays and three video essays are required as part of your application to the
Full-Time MBA Program at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Let's take a look at the
key questions the written essays must address and what the video essays must contain
(www.kellogg.northwestern.edu).
So, the written essays focus on two important issues: leadership and values. The first essay should
describe a recent example of how you have demonstrated leadership skills and created values (450 words),
and the second essay should write about the values that guide your life and work, what values are
important to you, and how they affect you (450 words).
The first essay asks you to describe your leadership experiences in which you were able to make a
significant impact by coping with challenges and what experiences you were able to draw from them. These
can be personal or professional experiences, and they can be about constructive conflict resolution, or
about completing a project under a tight deadline, or about situations in which you helped people change
their lives in a positive way. In this case, the STAR model will help to describe:
1. Situation. It is necessary to describe what the situation was, or a difficult question or problem, as
well as the people involved in the situation.
2. Task. What did you have to do about this situation, what problems did you face?
3. Action. This section should be described in more detail - what actions you took to solve the
problem.
4. Result. Here you should describe what you have accomplished through your leadership skills, as well as
what you have learned from it.
In the second essay, as noted above, you should write about the values that guide your personal and
professional life, what values are important, and how they affect you. Here you need to conduct a serious
self-reflection, in order to realize what values are important to you, and you should not just list them
in the essay, but write how you demonstrate these values in your personal and professional life. Thus,
each value listed should be supported by concrete examples, i.e., how these values influence your
personality formation, decision making, and actions. In the conclusion of this essay, you can write about
how you and your values can enrich the Kellogg community.
In addition to the two required written essays, you need to answer the questions in three video essays.
So, in the first video essay you need to introduce yourself to the admissions committee. Here you can talk
about your motivation, personal interests, goals, so you need to tell the admissions committee who you
are.
In the second video essay you need to answer the question of what path you are interested in, how you get
there, and why this program is right for you. Well, in this case you need to talk about your plans and
goals for the future. Tell about your goals for the future after your MBA degree, why you chose Kellogg
and this particular program, what motivated you to make this choice.
The third video essay is an interview that relates to professional and leadership skills. You may be asked
questions such as: "Tell us about a situation in which you had to make a difficult decision" or "Tell us
about a situation in which you had to overcome obstacles in your professional life. The Kellogg app is
available to help candidates and offers several options for questions, so there are opportunities to
prepare for the interview, as you can practice as much as you need to.