The facts
Kellogg is one of the most selective MBA programs in the world. It received 5,541 applications for the two-year class that started in 2025 and enrolled 534 students. U.S. News reports a 28.1% acceptance rate. Kellogg’s own class profile no longer reports applications or the share of women. Outcome numbers below come from Kellogg’s own employment report and from U.S. News data compiled by Poets&Quants; we gathered and cleaned them in our 2026 Career Report so you can compare Kellogg with 28 other schools.
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Job seekers who had accepted an offer three months after graduation | 85.6% | Kellogg employment report |
| Median base salary | $175,000 | Poets&Quants, M7 by the numbers |
| Average (mean) base salary | $167,151 | U.S. News data via Poets&Quants |
| Median signing bonus | $30,000 | Poets&Quants, M7 by the numbers |
| Average (mean) signing bonus | $34,658 | U.S. News data via Poets&Quants |
| Share of accepted jobs in consulting | 38% | Kellogg career outcomes |
| Share in financial services and in technology | 21% and 19% | Kellogg career outcomes |
| Share in consumer packaged goods, where classic brand management lives | 9% | Kellogg report via Poets&Quants |
| Round | Apply by | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time MBA, fall 2027 entry (all programs) | ||
| Round 1 | Sept 9, 2026 | Dec 9, 2026 |
| Round 2 | Jan 6, 2027 | Mar 24, 2027 |
| Round 3 | Mar 31, 2027 | May 12, 2027 |
| Kellogg Future Leaders, deferred admission for students | ||
| One round | Apr 21, 2027 | June 23, 2027 |
Source: Kellogg application deadlines, checked 10 November 2026. Deadlines 5:00 PM Central Time. The video essays are due 96 hours after your round’s deadline. All Kellogg dates on one page, or every school’s deadlines.
Kellogg names 407 employers on its published lists for the Classes of 2023 to 2025. A few by sector, with the number of employers in each:
Source: Kellogg’s published employer lists, Classes of 2023 to 2025, via our Recruiters by School lookup. See all 407 →
The facts
Kellogg is the business school of Northwestern University, based in the Global Hub on the Evanston campus, on Lake Michigan about twelve miles north of downtown Chicago. The full-time MBA comes in several forms that share one application: the Two-Year MBA, the One-Year MBA for people with a business background, the MMM dual degree with design innovation, the MBAi with Northwestern’s engineering school, and the JD-MBA.
| First year | The core courses, then electives. You can waive core courses you already know |
|---|---|
| Electives | A wide catalog, organized by optional majors and pathways, plus more than 1,000 experiential learning opportunities |
| Summer | An internship between the first and second year |
| Community | More than 120 student-led clubs and organizations |
| Calendar | Quarters, starting in late summer, graduating in June two years later |
| Location | Evanston, Illinois, on Lake Michigan |
Source: Kellogg Two-Year MBA, checked November 2026.
In this video
Our coaching view
Second-years run much of the recruiting prep for first-years, so your mock case partner is often someone who just went through McKinsey or Bain recruiting. Students invest in each other because that’s what Kellogg people do.
Evanston gives you a tight-knit community that big-city schools struggle to build, with Chicago a train ride away. Some people love that closeness. Some find it small. Know which one you are.
Kellogg is extroverted, low-ego and team-first. That’s energizing if you’re a natural collaborator, and exposing if your instinct is to compete with the room.
According to MBA Protocol, the fit test for Kellogg is one question: in your best leadership story, does your impact show up in what you accomplished, or in what the people around you became?
Our coaching view
Kellogg’s model of leadership is influence: inspiring people you don’t control to align with a vision. Even when you’re someone’s boss, you don’t really control them. The whole application is built to see whether you lead that way, and we see three filters decide it.
A clear arc of growth, with evidence that your impact went further than your title would predict: people followed you when they didn’t have to.
The defining filter. Stories where you built a team, developed someone, or got people who disagreed to work together, rather than stories about a target you hit.
An application that tries to impress reads poorly here. One that’s honest about growth and real relationships reads well. The tone matters as much as the content.
| The mistake | Do this instead |
|---|---|
| “I led a team that achieved X” | Show how you helped people with different styles each contribute their best to a shared result. |
| Relying on a high GMAT | A 760 won’t save an application that reads like a solo operator. Kellogg screens for fit actively. |
| Memorizing the video answers | Know your goals cold, then practice answering unexpected questions out loud. Warm and real beats polished. |
| Ruling Kellogg out as “a marketing school” | Consulting took 38% of the Class of 2025, finance 21% and tech 19%. Consumer goods was 9%. |
More from Angela on getting into Kellogg
Her advice on what Kellogg’s committee reads for, and how to show leadership through other people instead of a list of wins.
Kellogg’s 2026-27 application has one written essay of up to 550 words, in two parts: the pivotal experiences and decisions that brought you here and why now, then what you’ll contribute to your classmates. After you apply, you record five short video answers, about a minute each, due 96 hours after your round’s deadline. There’s also an optional 280-word box and a 250-word essay for reapplicants.
Source: Kellogg how to apply, checked November 2026. The full wording of the essay prompt is as reported by Clear Admit.
“Tell us about the pivotal experiences and decisions that brought you to this moment in your career, how they shaped your ambitions, and why now is the right time for an MBA.” · Kellogg application, 2026-27
What they’re asking
The moments that reveal your character and point to where you’re going. Your goals live here, along with a short answer to why now.
What works
One to three real turning points, professional or personal, told with reflection. The bigger your career pivot, the more proof your goals need.
Watch out
A walk through your resume. Company A, then B, then C, now an MBA: that’s the essay Kellogg reads most and remembers least.
“Beyond what you hope to gain, what do you hope to contribute to the students who will learn alongside you?” · Kellogg application, 2026-27
What they’re asking
What kind of classmate you’ll be, specifically. This is where the essay is won or lost.
What works
Name real clubs, programs and initiatives, say what they do, and say what you’ll bring to them from your own experience.
Watch out
“I’ll join the Finance Club and lead it.” That’s a land grab, not a contribution. Part II doesn’t have to flow from Part I, so a clean break is fine.
In this video
Getting ready for the video answers
Practical advice for recorded video questions like Kellogg’s five: how to prepare without a script, and how to come across as yourself on camera.
About 60 seconds each, recorded after you apply and due 96 hours after the deadline, with no redo on the official attempt. Kellogg is checking presence: can you answer clearly and warmly with no script? Start practicing before you submit.
Kellogg asks recommenders how you work with people whose perspectives differ from yours. Pick people who have seen you lead through others, and tell them which story you’re telling.
For gaps in work experience, your choice of recommenders, uneven academics or anything else the committee should know. If nothing needs explaining, skip it.
How you’ve grown personally and professionally since you last applied. Reapplying? The Reapplication Strategy Pack reviews last year’s application with you, $797 per school.
According to MBA Protocol, the clients who find Kellogg’s video easy are the ones who did the self-discovery work for the essay. When you know your story, you can answer anything about it in a minute, warmly, without a script.
Kellogg interviews a large share of applicants, and invitations often arrive soon after you submit. Your interviewer is usually an alum or a member of admissions, sometimes a current student, and has seen only your resume. Expect a warm conversation that runs on a script: your resume first, then teamwork, leadership and feedback stories, then your goals and why Kellogg.
Source: 68 MBA Protocol client debriefs, 2018 to 2026, in our Kellogg interview guide.
Whether the conversation you have with a stranger is the one Kellogg would want to have with you in the Global Hub. Interviewers listen for collaborative instincts: curiosity about other people, credit shared, and a clear career story told without taking up all the air.
Interview guide · 2026 edition
Warm, structured, behavioral. Who interviews you, the format, and how often each question comes up, counted across 68 MBA Protocol client debriefs, 2018 to 2026.
Want every real Kellogg interview? The Kellogg interview archive has 20 of them, every question in the order it was asked. $29.
According to MBA Protocol, the most common Kellogg interview mistake is performing confidence instead of engaging. Applicants who turn every question back to their own achievements struggle, however strong the resume.
Our coaching view
Kellogg doesn’t want to be impressed. It wants to recognize someone who belongs.
Kellogg has a specific philosophy about leadership, and it’s different from what most applicants think leadership means. It isn’t positional power. It’s the ability to inspire collaboration among people who are, in fact, your peers. That isn’t marketing language at Kellogg. The whole program is built around it.
So every year people with impressive titles and big teams get passed over, because their applications read as one long list of what they achieved. And people who can show how they made the people around them better get in, from consulting, finance, tech, nonprofits, the military and healthcare.
One of our coaches put it this way: the moment a client stops trying to impress the committee and starts showing who they are as a collaborator, the essays transform.
According to MBA Protocol, before you write a word for Kellogg, find the leadership story where your impact showed up in other people. Not the most impressive story: the one that most clearly shows you making the people around you better.
They wrote about leadership through others: not just what they accomplished, but how they built, developed and lifted the teams around them. And they showed up in the video as themselves, warm and real enough to feel unrehearsed.
Got into Chicago Booth and Kellogg + 1 more
Angela’s interview preparation was invaluable and contributed for my admissions at Booth (with a USD 40k merit scholarship), Kellogg, Berkeley and waitlist spot at Wharton / Lauder.
This is my second year applying for MBAs. in 2021 I applied to MIT, Wharton, Harvard and Stanford with help of another admissions consultant. I was interviewed by HBS and Wharton and got admitted to none. I felt that my applications were superficial and did not reflect my true self, containing what I thought that the schools wanted to see.
Last year (2022) I had Angela’s help to reflect and understand my personal stories and values during the application process, this completely changed the application experience. Moreover, my self-discoveries during this journey will greatly impact decisions in my personal life and career over many years to come. This second time, I applied to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton/Lauder, MIT, Booth, Kellogg and Berkeley. I landed interviews at Stanford, Wharton, Booth, Kellogg and Berkeley. Angela’s interview preparation was invaluable and contributed for my admissions at Booth (with a USD 40k merit scholarship), Kellogg, Berkeley and waitlist spot at Wharton / Lauder.
Finally, I am so supportive of Angela’s & Career Protocol’s work that I have sponsored their services for a dear friend, Ronaldo, from an underprivileged background with aspirations to change education in Brazil. With Career Protocol’s help, he was admitted at MPAs / MPP both at Columbia and the University of Chicago, both of them with extremely generous scholarships.
Carlos Rosis
The highlighted sentences are the ones quoted above.
Your story won’t look like this one, and it doesn’t need to. Tell us yours on a free 25-minute call and you’ll know whether we’re the right team for you.
Let’s talk about my storyGot into Wharton and Chicago Booth + 1 more
This September, I got rejected from HBS, LBS, and CBS. This December, I got admitted to Booth, Wharton, and Kellogg.
I have an unusual profile for an MBA applicant, so early-on I decided that it would be best to work with a consultant. I went on to have 2 free sessions with the biggest consultancies out there. One session felt very general and impersonal, and the other one was with Angela. It was a complete accident that I spoke to Angela. She kind of just randomly chose my name from the list. Best randomness ever! Just in the intro, the free 40 min consultation, she was on-target and specific. No general stuff, no blablabla, very focused and directed. It was a clear choice for me to work with her. Plus she has like the best reviews out here. Now, she has one more AMAZING RATING from me.
I could write for ages about the journey I had together with Angela towards reaching my goals. She was there when I was excited, when I was exhausted mentally, when I completely lost it (like I was wondering down the streets, completely brain-dead), but also when I finally got admitted to 3 RAD programs. But I'll try to be more to the point. After 6 months of talking and working together, I see Angela as a friend - to the point that I invited her over to my hometown, to give her a tour. (BOOK YOUR TICKET, ANGELA!)
I have an unusual profile. I know, I know, I said that already. But I was terrified the schools wouldn't see past that. So I had to write down my life story for Angela - I wasn't sure which parts were relevant and which weren't. Angela analyzed everything, and together we selected the best stories to fit into those specific school essays. Her depth of analysis, her multi-angle viewpoint and her power to bring out the VERY BEST out of you is the top feature that you need to remember. That is what you want from your consultant, that is what you need from your consultant. Also, she's like really, really, cool. And supportive. And encouraging. All that plus a bag of chips.
Now, to the specific stuff that is borderline voodoo. I didn't know what schools I should be targeting. Angela said HBS, Kellogg, Wharton, Booth, and after some negotiation with me, we added CBS, and LBS. MARK MY WORDS - from the free 40 min intro session in April 2015, she told me: "You'll be a strong candidate for Booth, Wharton, and Kellogg. HBS is a risk, LBS, and CBS are gonna be more difficult."
This September, I got rejected from HBS, LBS, and CBS. This December, I got admitted to Booth, Wharton, and Kellogg. But wait, there's more - she was like - yeah, you might end up with a scholarship from Booth. GUESS WHAT? I DID.
So Angela CALLED IT! She actually called the cards in April. This is how well she knows the schools. This is how well she can analyze you based on a 10 minute intro about your life. This is how well she knows where you fit. What more do you want?
So in case you missed the point, I don't only recommend Angela. I would not have wanted to work with anyone else IN THE WORLD but her. And I'm not just saying it, she is my friend, and I feel lucky I got to know her.
The highlighted sentences are the ones quoted above.
Your story won’t look like this one, and it doesn’t need to. Tell us yours on a free 25-minute call and you’ll know whether we’re the right team for you.
Let’s talk about my storyGot into Harvard and Wharton + 3 more
I ended up with full tuition scholarships to Booth and Fuqua, a partial scholarship to Wharton, and admission into HBS.
When I first decided to apply to MBA programs, I had no idea how competitive I was, where I had a shot of getting in, or how high I should reach. While I had good stats (3.9 GPA from a top 20 liberal arts school, 760 GMAT), I worked in accounting for 3 years and I didn’t know how to differentiate myself from the other good applicants who were applying. I didn’t feel like I had a particularly interesting story. I was intrigued by the idea of hiring a consultant but, frankly, couldn’t fathom spending that much money only one year before I would be taking out upwards of 150K in student loans.
When I got an email from Angela inviting me to have a free 30-minute consult live in my city, I figured I had nothing to lose. I went in thinking that if a consultant would simply save me time – tell me things I could find online, save me calls to admissions offices, etc – edit my essays, and set a schedule for me, I would skip it. But if hiring one would actually increase my chances of getting in in ways that I could never do myself, then I would consider it.
Free Consult
In my 30-minute consult, Angela assessed my competitiveness at all the schools I was considering, helped me with my resume, told me I didn’t need to take the GMAT again (despite getting 70% Quant and 67% IR scores) and helped me with my “story” – my reason for going to business school and my post-MBA goals. I remember leaving that 30 minutes consult feeling already like she’d added incredible value to the process. I no longer had to stress about whether or not I should retake the GMAT or figuring out what schools I should apply to.
I realized that if I thought an MBA was worth the cost of tuition and opportunity cost of not working, it was definitely worth another $3.75K to have a consultant help me with one school. After all, applying to one school would mean perfecting my resume, my “story,” and, if I picked the right school, I’d probably be able to use the essays for other schools. So I decided to use Angela for one school.
My next dilemma was which schools to choose. I had decided to apply to Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton as reaches, Booth and Kellogg as fit schools, and Fuqua as a safety. And I couldn’t figure out which one hire Angela for. If I chose Harvard to increase my chances of getting in, I figured I could still end up rejected everywhere. If I chose a fit school, then I thought my chances at HBS/Stanford went out the window. If I was only going to get into my safety, then I thought it was worth using a consultant to see if I could get scholarship money. In the end, I decided if it was worth using her for one school, it was worth using her for all of the schools. And that $8K when compared to the cost of an MBA was a drop in the bucket, especially if I could get a scholarship that would make the consultant more than pay for itself.
Hiring Angela was the best investment I’ve ever made. I ended up with full tuition scholarships to Booth and Fuqua, a partial scholarship to Wharton, and admission into HBS. I’m not at all saying that I don’t deserve admission or scholarships at these schools, but I can say without a doubt that I would not have been this successful in my applications if I had not hired her.
One of the biggest values that Angela brought to the admissions process was making me realize how strong of a candidate I was. When I first spoke with her, I thought I was a weak candidate and that Booth/Kellogg would be a reach. I wasn’t even thinking of applying to HBS/Stanford. But Angela recognized aspects of my candidacy that made me exceptional and pushed me to be as successful as I could.
Essays
She knew what I needed to highlight in my applications. At the beginning of our work together, Angela and I had a long brainstorm session in which she got to know ALL of my stories, personal, professional, and from undergrad. Because of this, whenever we started working on a new essay, Angela was able to pull from my life stories to know how I should best answer the question. Throughout the process, I was amazed at the extent to which Angela was able to tie together stories from my life that I would not have pieced together. She was able to find themes that portrayed parts of me I hadn’t identified. For someone who believes she has lived a very normal life, I didn’t think I could put together an inspiring essay. But Angela got to know me well enough to find the things about me that would make me shine in the eyes of the adcoms.
As I wrote the essays, Angela pushed me to do what she knew I was capable of. We went through 12 versions of some essays. In the first versions, she would often tell me to scratch it and start over. While I’m a perfectionist and a hard worker, Angela pushed me farther than I could have pushed myself. She often asked for more insight into what I was thinking, what my motivation was, and what I learned in a way that helped me discover things about myself that I never would have learned without her. Also important to note is that my essays (and the rest of my application) were entirely my work. She asked questions and pushed me to success, but didn’t make direct edits or in any way embellish the truth. Still, looking at the end product, I couldn’t have written the essays on my own.
Interviews
When it came to interviews, Angela delivered a workshop for all her clients with a really novel and refreshing approach to interviews. Then for each individual school interview, she helped me feel thoroughly prepared. She not only helped me come up with answers to specific questions during mock interviews but more importantly, taught me a methodology for how to answer questions, so I would never be stumped. She built up my confidence, which is perhaps the most important part of an interview. She even sent me a youtube video of an interview with a movie star so I could learn by example how to show in an interview that I’m human without apologizing. She taught me how to highlight my strengths without sounding full of myself. These are lessons I will take with me and apply to future job interviews, and I have even begun coaching my colleagues based on what I have learned from Angela.
Overall
One of the most incredible things about working with Angela is that I always felt like I was her only client. One of my hesitations in hiring a consultant was the fear that they would give the same advice to everyone. Angela’s advice was completely tailored to me. She also responded to my emails sometimes instantly. Even when on her holiday vacation, she responded within a couple hours to any and every question I had. She could not have been more devoted or available.
Coming from an industry where we track the time spent on each client, I was also nervous that if I got a package, the consultant would cut corners and try to spend as little time with me as possible. But on the contrary, Angela went above and beyond to give her time and energy. She pushed me to write more drafts of essays. After I was accepted to schools, she initiated a call with me to discuss my thoughts and offer advice on where I should accept. After I visited schools for their accepted students events, she reached out to me to hear how they went. I truly feel like Angela cared about my success and in finding the best fit for me almost as much as I did. She was there every step of the way.
For me, as a type A perfectionist, working with Angela also considerably reduced the amount of stress and anxiety I felt during this whole process, largely because instead of worrying over details, I trusted Angela. While I had been freaking out over whether to retake the GMAT, Angela said no, so I didn’t give it another thought. There are countless questions that you will have during the application process, any of which could cause considerable doubt and anxiety. Working with Angela took all of that away. If she said to use story A instead of story B I said okay and moved on instead of second guessing myself. Angela’s fees were worth it if only because working with her during this year-long period made my life a lot easier.
I can’t express enough how valuable Angela was in this process. My friends can attest to this as I can’t count the number of times I said to them “I don’t know what I’d do without Angela.” I’ve raved so much about her to everyone I know that my friends have already referred their friends and colleagues to her.
So if I had to give those of you applying to business school one piece of advice, I would say hire a consultant, and hire Angela. The value you will get far outweighs the cost.
The highlighted sentences are the ones quoted above.
Your story won’t look like this one, and it doesn’t need to. Tell us yours on a free 25-minute call and you’ll know whether we’re the right team for you.
Let’s talk about my storyRead every client story that mentions Kellogg →
Booth or Kellogg?
One of our clients was admitted to both and went to both admitted students weekends. Here’s what they saw at each, and how they decided.
Pick your stage. Everything here is about Kellogg.
What does it cost?
MBA Guided Quest starts at $5,000 for one school. Most clients invest $12K to $18K. Every price is on the Guided Quest page.
How fast is feedback?
2 to 3 business days on Essentials and Core, 24 to 48 business hours on Admit All Access.
How many clients does a coach take?
At most 10 a round. As far as we know, the lowest cap in the industry.
Who writes the essays?
You do. Your coach helps you find the story and shape it.
The Quest Map Call is your free 25-minute conversation with a coach. You’ll leave knowing what makes your story worth telling, which schools fit it, and what we’d do first. No pitch. Angela takes these calls herself and replies within 24 hours with a time.
The form takes about 3 minutes.
Kellogg has no minimums. The two-year class that entered in 2025 averaged a 733 GMAT, tying the school record, a 687 on the GMAT Focus Edition, a 3.68 GPA, and GRE averages of 162 verbal and 162 quant. People get in below those numbers when the rest of the application is strong.
Very hard: U.S. News reports a 28.1% acceptance rate for the class that entered in 2025, from 5,541 applications. What separates applicants most often is whether their leadership stories show influence and collaboration rather than individual achievement.
For fall 2027 entry, Round 1 was September 9, 2026, Round 2 is January 6, 2027, and Round 3 is March 31, 2027, at 5:00 PM Central Time. Decisions come out December 9, March 24 and May 12. Kellogg Future Leaders applications are due April 21, 2027.
One written essay of up to 550 words in two parts: the pivotal experiences and decisions that brought you here, your ambitions and why now, then what you hope to contribute to your classmates. There’s an optional 280-word box and a 250-word reapplicant essay.
Five short video questions, about 60 seconds each, recorded after you apply and due 96 hours after your round’s deadline, with no redo on the official attempt. It’s Kellogg’s most direct look at your communication, warmth and presence. Don’t memorize a script.
Usually an alum or a member of admissions, sometimes a current student. In 68 MBA Protocol client debriefs from 2018 to 2026, 43% of interviews were with alumni, 41% with admissions and 12% with students, and interviewers had seen only the resume.
No. Kellogg is known for its marketing curriculum, but consulting took 38% of the Class of 2025’s accepted jobs, financial services 21% and technology 19%. Consumer packaged goods, where classic brand management lives, was 9%.
Consulting, financial services and technology together took nearly 80% of the Class of 2025’s accepted jobs. The median base salary was $175,000. See placement, salary and employers by name in our 2026 Career Report.
Kellogg is a collaborative, campus-based MBA in Evanston with a 28.1% acceptance rate (U.S. News), built around leadership by influence. For fall 2027 entry, plan for one two-part essay, five video answers, two recommendations and a resume-only interview. Lead with stories where your impact showed up in other people.
Sources
We update this page every application cycle.
