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NOVEMBER 5, 2002 B-SCHOOL Q&A: ADMISSIONS Making the Cut at Kellogg Admissions Director Michele Rogers shares a few tips for applicants to this year's top-ranked B-School BusinessWeek's MBA rankings, a position it last held in 1992. Michele Rogers, Kellogg's MBA admissions director, joined BusinessWeek Online's Jack Dierdorff and Brian Hindo for an online chat on Nov. 13, fielding questions from a live audience about the often-mystifying application process, how Kellogg's top-spot is affecting MBA admissions, and how the B-school distinguishes itself among its peers. Following is an edited transcript of that event: Q: Could you comment on reapplicants who have let a number of years pass -- say, four or five -- between their first and second applications? A: Frankly, we only retain applications for two years, so we no longer have information about applicants who applied to the school before that. We find that the most successful reapplicants are those who have improved in some area since their prior effort. That may be higher-level work experience, better quantitative skills, more evidence of leadership potential, or improved personal and professional maturity. Q: With only approximately 80 students enrolled in the one-year MBA program at Kellogg, is admissions more competitive than for the two-year program? A: Excellent question! Actually, the test scores and the GPAs for our three programs are equivalent, but there are fewer places in the one-year program. Fortunately, most candidates self-select for that program, because they're required to have an undergraduate business degree or the equivalent, earned within the last five years. Consequently, it isn't more or less difficult to get into the various programs -- they're fairly equal. The third program we offer is the MMM program -- Master of Management in Manufacturing -- which is designed for students interested in product-focused companies. Q: What's the expected increase in applications for Kellogg compared to last year? A: Actually, we're not anticipating an increase this year because we implemented some changes in our application process [to interview all applicants]. We anticipate that we'll remain steady in our application numbers. Q: How many applications did you receive in application Round One (ending Nov. 8), as compared with last year's first round? A: Actually, applications are down slightly in round one from last year. Last year, we were up 68% from the prior year. This year, we're up only 60% from two years ago, so down slightly from last year. In fact, we had hoped for a larger decrease! Q: How much does the undergraduate grade point average count in admission? Does a low GPA mean an applicant has to forget about the top 30 B-schools? A: Actually, you will find that quite a few of the schools, including Kellogg, will assess your intellectual ability from more than just your undergraduate record. At Kellogg, we also consider the type of courses taken, any trends or progress over time, the level of analytical and quantitative skill required in your current or past profession, your recommendations, and the Graduate Management Admissions Test. We certainly encourage candidates to look beyond the GPA in making the decision to apply to Kellogg. Q: Is it better to be creative or to be focused in the essays? How many people will read the essays? A: Our process is designed to allow several people to review the application. The interviewer will certainly provide one point of view, and typically there are three readers of each application; in some cases four. The first reader of any application is a member of our student admissions committee who is trained for several months in the fall. The second reader is a member of the staff. And the third reader is typically the [admissions] director. If we reach consensus, a decision is mailed. If we need to discuss the candidate, the application will be read by another student and it will be discussed. We think this process ensures the applicant every possible advantage in the selection process. My advice to anyone about the essays is to write what you are. If you really, truly are a creative person, then certainly that should come through in the presentation. If you're not funny, don't try to be -- typically it's not a good idea. At Kellogg, we're looking for a diverse array of backgrounds, talents, personalities, and experiences. We aren't looking for one type of person or one type of student. Q: Could you speak briefly to those candidates with unusual backgrounds -- for example, the performing arts or entrepreneurship? A: Currently at Kellogg, we have a minister from Korea, jet-fighter pilots, and high-school teachers, as well as investment bankers, consultants, and marketers. Candidates with atypical backgrounds that are successful in our process tend to have a good story, a good rationale for why business school and Kellogg make sense for them. We have a fiduciary responsibility to help candidates determine whether Kellogg is a good fit, and if candidates provide the right information by answering our questions we can achieve this mission. I always suggest that nontraditional candidates go visit the schools they are considering and talk to current students and alumni -- but also talk to people in the discipline that they would like to go into to make sure that business school would be a good fit. Q: How important is community service? What types of activities count as community service? A: We value any type of involvement that produces positive outcomes. At Kellogg, we focus more on: Does this person have a sense of community? And that will vary from person to person. Remember that we're looking at a whole person in the selection process. Ideally, the candidate will have incredible intellectual ability, outstanding experience and potential, and potential for leadership, along with incredible personal attributes. Typically, only a very small percentage of the applicants excel in all of these areas. Most often, applicants will be strong in one or two areas. Q: Why does Kellogg only ask for one letter of recommendation, while other top programs ask for two or more? A: We request one recommendation because someone from Kellogg will speak with the candidate during our interview process. This allows us direct personal contact. In some cases candidates will send us an additional career-progress survey (that's what we call our recommendations) because it sheds light on another aspect of their career progress or background. We ask that candidates use their judgment in determining whether a second CPS is necessary. Q: Does one's undergrad school factor into the evaluation -- e.g., is more weight given to an MIT vs. a branch campus of a state university? A: This year we enrolled students from 267 different colleges and universities. For a class of 620, I think you can see that we look at all types of institutions. We review each transcript carefully for both courses taken and institutional reputation, and that has resulted in this broad range of institutions being represented. Do well at whatever you choose -- that's most important. Q: Will it be more difficult this year for international students to gain admission, because, say, of visa issues, international instability, or other factors? A: Actually, at Kellogg last year we had far fewer problems than we anticipated with the visa process. We followed our usual admissions process in the selection of international students, and we will again this year. In some cases we sent letters to consulates, but overall there were few problems. Q: What advice can you offer a student who is interested in going directly into B-school upon completion of an undergraduate degree? A: Great question. At Kellogg, 99.7% of our students have full-time work experience. Those candidates without full-time experience tend to be in joint-degree programs such as the MD/MBA. At Kellogg, it's a team-oriented learning process, and we find that maturity and experiences are very helpful in this. It's rare that college seniors have the personal and professional maturity to get maximum benefit from this type of program. Q: When and how often does Kellogg expect to release admissions decisions? A: We will begin releasing decisions in early December, probably, three times a week between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Central Standard Time. We prefer to allow students to have the decision once it's rendered rather than make them wait. The timing of the decision doesn't reflect the desirability -- or lack of desirability -- of the candidate. Most decisions are rendered in the order that applications are received. Q: What's your attitude toward people with work experience only from military service and internships? A: Students who have been in the military have had great opportunities for leadership. In most cases, they have managed people as well as millions of dollars worth of equipment or substantial budgets. We admit very few people who possess internship experience only. We believe the quality of experience and the level of involvement in an internship differ from the levels in a full-time position. Q: Do you anticipate that the No. 1 ranking (in BusinessWeek's latest survey) will affect the demographics of the student body over the next few years? Generally speaking, does Kellogg wish to alter its demographics in any way? A: To take the second part first, at Kellogg we're constantly seeking to bring in a talented and broadly diverse student body. And therefore, we seek to increase the pools of those less represented here currently, because we find that there are typically the same percentage of highly qualified and talented individuals in each pool. We're certainly pleased with our ranking this year, but we've been here before, and the data shows that the overall quality of applicants has increased each year -- with or without the top ranking -- as more people come to know the quality of Kellogg's academic program. As that has happened, we've seen consistent improvement in both the quantity and quality of applicants. We're very proud of the ranking, but we're prouder of the fact that we're always amongst the handful of top-rated business schools in the world. Q: What are some of the cliches that you don't want to see in applications (e.g. I want to go to Kellogg because it is ranked No. 1 by BW)? A: That's great! Believe me, we will see that one! Cliches in and of themselves are not necessarily bad, because sometimes it's really what the person thinks. We will look further into the application to determine whether that cliche does make sense -- although for the sake of the readers, your own thoughts in your own words are highly preferable. Q: What type of feedback are you looking for from alumni interviews? Do alumni screen out a significant portion of the pool due to "fit?" A: Good question. Our alumni go through a training process prior to graduation. They are critical to our interview effort, and their comments are respected. The alumni provide the same type of feedback that's provided from on-campus interviewers, and the admissions rate has been within two percentage points for on-campus and off-campus interviews, so it isn't a disadvantage. We really appreciate the job our alumni interviewers do. Interviewers are assessing intellectual ability, work experience, leadership potential, and personal attributes such as motivation and integrity. "Fit" -- that's a key component of the selection process, and interviews help us to assess it. Q: If an applicant lacks the resources to head to Evanston for an interview, will he or she be interviewed by telephone? A: We have about 1,200 alumni interviewers around the world, but if an alumni interviewer is not available, then we will conduct interviews by telephone. Q: Do you predict about 30% women in the class again this year? Why are women's percentages low across all top schools, and what initiatives do you have in place to increase this percentage? A: Actually, at 30%, most business schools have more women than you would find at the middle-manager level in the workforce. So I see business school as using a "push" strategy because we're ahead of businesses and corporations in this area. We have targeted outreach to women, as we do for African Americans and Hispanic Americans. Kellogg is a partner with the Forte Foundation, which seeks to increase the number of women in business. We have hosted a program to encourage and develop females in corporate governance through our Women's Center here at Kellogg -- the Executive Women's Center. Also, we're hosting the C200 Conference for women in business on Nov. 22. Q: What differentiates Kellogg from other top-tier business schools? A: Kellogg is unique because it balances intellectual rigor with team leadership and continuous innovation to create an ideal learning process. We have outstanding faculty in finance, marketing, and accounting, as well as in the other disciplines. Our faculty focus on research and teaching. Our students rate them highly on accessibility as well as quality of teaching -- in fact, almost half have won a teaching award in addition to publishing and doing research. We focus on team leadership for our students, market leadership for our corporate partners, and thought leadership for the business community. What's most surprising about Kellogg is that we have strength across a broad base of disciplines. And finally, Kellogg's focus on continuous innovation ensures that we stay on the cutting edge of the academic process, both in the classroom and outside of the classroom. For admissions info, articles, Q&As, and much more about management education -- check http://www.businessweek.com/bschools  Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.  Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | NOVEMBER Learn about your online education options |
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