MBA Insider: Admissions Q&A August 30, 2010, 2:00PM EST

Admissions Q&A: Northwestern

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Any tips for candidates going into the interview?

Know thyself well. Those words may sounds very simple, but I could not give any better advice than that. A person should use [the interview] not just as a time to promote their candidacy or to educate us about who they are, but also [to] ask us questions. We are there not just to evaluate, but we also want to be resources for our candidates.

Kellogg has an extraordinarily competitive admissions process. Less than 20 percent of applicants got in last year. What should individuals do who don't get in?

Certainly we do have candidates who reapply, and people are welcome to reapply. I think that any time we receive an application from someone to Kellogg, I don't take that lightly. A common request that we receive is, "Gosh, I didn't get in, could you offer some feedback?" We don't provide feedback. We used to do that a few years ago, and frankly the main reason we don't do that now is it's extremely time-intensive. But I would certainly not let that be a deterrent to someone who does want to reapply.

One part of the application that I'm sure everyone has to plan ahead for is recommendations. What makes a good letter of recommendation for an applicant?

A quality recommendation in my opinion is when the recommender not only answers the questions that we have but goes deeper and gives examples. For example, that person would give an example about how you rose to the occasion given a crisis situation. That type of detail is so incredibly helpful, I cannot stress that enough.

How should someone choose a recommender or work with a recommender to make sure that he or she gets a good recommendation?

The most important thing, first and foremost, is that the recommender knows the applicant really well. I think it makes sense [to] sit down with your recommender. You educate them about why you're applying to business school and what your goals are. It's very important that a recommender has context about you as an applicant. I really think it helps that person to formulate their thoughts when they are giving feedback about you. Don't get caught up in titles. It's the relationship that's important.

One thing that comes up when you think of Kellogg, is that it's a school you go to for marketing. Is that true?

Well, we certainly have a strong marketing program. But while we're strong in marketing, we're not limited to just marketing. For instance, we have an outstanding finance program. We're extremely strong in strategy. We have a great entrepreneurship program. So the point I would make is, we certainly are proud of the program we have in marketing, but we are proud of a number of other strong programs we have here as well. We don't try to be all things to all people, but we're not a school anchored in one program.

Can you tell me a little bit about how Kellogg has helped students find jobs during the downturn? About 86 percent of the class of 2009 had a job within three months, down from 95 percent in 2007, before the MBA hiring slump began.

What we do very well here from day one is we really want to enhance the skills and strategies of our students, to help them manage their career. If they're a career changer, we have a number of different workshops in terms of maneuvering for career changers. We employ our alumni as far as networking. And our career management office here [has] a partnership philosophy with the students. So we go the extra mile beginning at day one, to make sure students have access to all the resources on the career management side [and] to make sure they're getting as much information as they possibly can about maneuvering their job search.

How does the school's location outside Chicago play into the job search for students. Do you find that a lot of students are interviewing with Chicago-based companies?

I think from year to year, there's always a good number who are interviewing with companies here. Naturally, I mean, Chicago is one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the U.S., and from a location standpoint, I think that's a big plus for us. If someone is interested in working in the Big Apple or someone wants to go to the Bay Area, can they have opportunities to do that? Absolutely. We are a global school, and though we are located in the Midwest, if someone wants to work in another area of the U.S. or beyond, Kellogg is going to be an excellent choice for that.