Applicants to the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University must submit just one written essay, though the essay prompt has two distinct parts. For the first, candidates are asked to explain their rationale for pursuing an MBA, while providing context to explain what led to this decision. The second part of the prompt deals with how applicants will contribute to their fellow students during their time in the Kellogg program. In addition, the admissions committee requires that candidates respond to five brief questions via video. Kellogg’s written and video submissions cover a lot of territory, so together, they should allow you to share a good deal of information about your past, your personality, and your strengths. For more advice on interpreting and approaching the school’s prompts for 2026–2027, read on.
Table of Contents
Essay Question (550 words max)
Part I: An MBA is a significant investment of time, energy, and resources, and the decision to pursue one deserves serious reflection. Tell us about the pivotal experiences and decisions that have brought you to this moment in your career, how they have shaped your ambitions, and why now is the right time to take this next step.
Part II: Now turn the lens outward: beyond what you hope to gain, what do you hope to contribute to the students who will learn alongside you?
Given that you are reading this essay analysis, you are likely far enough along in the business school application process to understand the investment and opportunity cost of earning an MBA. Business schools are not shy about highlighting this, which is why they want to make sure that you have deeply thought about your goals and whether an MBA will truly help you achieve them. Therefore, Kellogg, like many other programs, requires candidates to submit an essay about their ambitions. At its core, the first part of this essay prompt is essentially asking you to provide a pretty standard personal statement. However, without context, many applicants’ goals often seem unrealistic or “out of left field.” Because of this, and perhaps to even be helpful, Kellogg explicitly states in this question that it wants to understand the specific experiences from your past that have influenced your future goals. This is especially important if you are a career switcher, in which case, your resume will be insufficient in supporting your narrative. This essay is your chance to provide color to your professional story so that the admissions committee will recognize the logical connection between your background and your future. Be sure to convince them that you have the transferable experiences and the passion to succeed in your post-MBA roles.
You will need to be concise, direct, and clear when describing your goals. When referring to your immediate career objective, you might want to specify your target job title and potential companies. Of course, this does not in any way mean that you cannot change paths once you are in the MBA program. No one from the admissions committee is going to monitor your coursework or recruiting choices and raise a red flag if you deviate from what you present in this essay. But the school wants to know that you are coming into the program with a fire in your belly, so to speak, and a real sense of direction as a result of your past.
In the mbaMission Personal Statement Guide, we go into detail about why these elements (why you need an MBA, why now, etc.) matter to admissions committees and offer expert guidance on how to approach and frame this information effectively in your application essays. The guide also includes a number of illustrative sample essays. We encourage you to download a free copy of the guide in preparation for writing this essay for Kellogg.
The second part of this essay question requires you to show that you have done your research on the Kellogg program and community. Notably, by explicitly saying, “beyond what you hope to gain,” the admissions committee indicates that it is not interested in learning your answer to the more traditional “why our school?” question. Instead, Kellogg wants you to explain how you will add value to your classmates’ experience and learning. Specificity is key here. The ideal response could not be written to answer this same question posed by a different school. Therefore, you will need to deeply familiarize yourself with the Kellogg MBA, including its courses, clubs, faculty, events, and other resources. In addition, to ensure your credibility in describing multiple ways that you will contribute, you should provide some context. Describe how your past experiences (professional, personal, or both) have given you the knowledge, skills, and perspective to benefit your fellow students.
An effective response to Part II of this question will prove to the admissions committee that you understand your fit with the Kellogg program. So, in addition to reading the school’s website, checking out its YouTube channel, reading student blogs, and connecting with students and alumni, be sure to download a free copy of the mbaMission Insider’s Guide to the Kellogg School of Management.
Additional Information
We know that life is full of extenuating circumstances. Whether you want to explain gaps in work experience, your choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance or something else, you can use this section to briefly tell us anything we need to know about your application.
With this space, Kellogg offers you an opportunity to clarify anything in your candidacy that might otherwise be confusing, questionable, or incomplete. However tempted you might be, this is not the place to paste in a strong essay you wrote for another school or to offer a few anecdotes that you were unable to incorporate elsewhere in your application. We encourage you to download our free mbaMission Optional Essays Guide, in which we offer detailed advice on when and how to take advantage of the optional essay, along with multiple sample essays, to help you mitigate any problem areas in your profile.
Reapplicants
How have you grown or changed personally and professionally since you previously applied and what steps have you taken to become the strongest candidate you can be? (250 words)
Whether you have improved your academic record, received a promotion, begun a new and exciting project, increased your community involvement, or taken on some sort of personal challenge, the key to success with this essay is conveying a very deliberate path of achievement. Kellogg wants to know that you have been actively striving to improve yourself and your profile, and that you have seized opportunities during the previous year to do so, because a Kellogg MBA is vital to you. The responses to this essay question will vary greatly from one candidate to the next, because each person’s needs and experiences differ. We are more than happy to provide one-on-one assistance with this highly personal essay to ensure that your efforts over the past year are presented in the best light possible.
Video Essays
We’ve read your essays, we’ve read your resume — now we want you to bring all that to life in a video. Show us the person behind all those carefully crafted words.
The video will be comprised of five questions, each designed to help you showcase your personality and share some of the experiences that brought you here today.
Some things to keep in mind as you prepare to complete this section:
- Video essays are due 96 hours after the application deadline.
- A video essay link will appear on your Application Status Page after you submit your application and payment.
- You will need an internet-connected computer with a webcam and microphone.
- The video should take about 30 minutes to complete, which includes time for setup.
Here are some additional tips:
- There are practice questions that you may complete as many times as you like to get comfortable with the format and technology. The practice questions and experience will simulate the actual video essay experience to help you prepare.
- We encourage you to practice so you are comfortable with the format once it is time to complete the official questions. You will not have an opportunity to re-do the answer to the official video essay questions.
- You will have a brief moment to think about the question and up to one minute to give your response.
During a Q&A session at a past mbaMission annual conference, a Kellogg admissions representative explained that the school’s video component sprang from the admissions committee’s desire to actually see and hear the applicants they were evaluating. Keep this in mind as you tackle this segment of the application, and make being authentic and natural your primary goal. Kellogg is not looking for the next viral TED Talk presenter or late-night TV host. They just want to get to know you as a unique individual who might one day join its community.
So, start by taking a deep breath. We understand that these video essays can make you feel like you are being put on the spot, but Kellogg is really not trying to scare you. The admissions committee simply wants a more dynamic representation of your personality than a written essay can provide. You cannot answer any of the school’s video questions incorrectly, so do not concern yourself with trying to give the “right” answer. Just respond to each query honestly, as smoothly as you can (despite any nervousness you might be feeling), and be yourself.
In the past, Kellogg has provided the questions applicants would encounter in the application’s video segment, but now the specific questions posed are unknown. Do not let this panic you. The core reason for this component is still to put a face to a name for the admissions committee and to see how you communicate and conduct yourself when questioned in this way (very similar to how you will eventually be interviewed by recruiters as a Kellogg student). Not knowing the questions beforehand just ensures a higher level of spontaneity and therefore authenticity. We would not be surprised to learn later that candidates were asked similar questions to those posed in the past, which focused on introducing oneself, one’s career goals, one’s interest in the Kellogg MBA program, and a challenge one has faced—pretty basic stuff for an MBA admissions interview, really.
Remember to speak with energy and enthusiasm. You are trying to connect with others, so charisma is welcome, and a little less rigid and traditionally “professional” demeanor is okay. Forego any fancy or dramatic tactics, and just be as natural and authentic as possible. As they say, you only have one chance to make a first impression, so dedicate some time to prepping (just in case) to ensure that your introduction is engaging, substantive, and true to who you are.
Even though you do not know exactly what you will be asked, you can still practice and prepare to some extent. We encourage you to download a free copy of the mbaMission Interviews Guide, which includes a list of 100 common MBA interview questions that you can use in getting comfortable with responding to the types of queries you will likely encounter for these videos. And even though this is not an official Kellogg interview, our school-specific Northwestern Kellogg Interview Guide could still be a helpful resource. One minute is not very long, so run through several practice sessions—perhaps in front of a mirror—to get a sense of how quickly those 60 seconds will pass when you are in front of the camera.
Although you can prepare as much as you want, you get only one chance at the recording. If you stumble while answering or ultimately are unhappy with your answer, unfortunately, you cannot do anything about it. You will not be able to rerecord your responses or try again another time. This might make you nervous, but we encourage you to view the situation a little differently. Kellogg wants to get to know the authentic you through these video essays. If you fumble for words or lose your train of thought, just laugh or shrug and continue with your response. Accepting a mistake with a sense of humor and grace will give the admissions committee a more positive and natural impression of your personality than rigid scripting and overpreparation ever could.
The Next Step: Mastering Your Kellogg Interview
Many MBA candidates find admissions interviews stressful and intimidating, but mastering this important element of the application process is definitely possible—the key is informed preparation. And to help you develop this high level of preparation, we offer our free Interview Guides! Download your free copy of the Northwestern Kellogg Interview Guide today.
To learn more about the essays for other top business schools, visit our MBA Essay Tips and Examples Resources Page.
