Kellogg

Tomex

Although I got ding, Wish other bros and sisters have a exciting result.

fool

Does anybody hear favorably from Kellogg Rd2?

I am crossing my finger and pray.

ella

I met the kellogg's adcom people and asked their policy. They said they treat almost eqally for students in round 1 and round 2. Yet round 3 means zero chance for foreign students.

Good luck!

allen2009

ENROLLMENT

2002/2003 Classes begin: n/a


Year program was founded: 1908

Institution is: U.S., Private

Length of program: 24 months

Total graduate enrollment 3,000
Full-time 1,250
Part-time MBA students (on-campus) 1,350
Part-time MBA students (distance program) 0
EMBA 400
PhD program n/a
  
Current total undergraduate business school enrollment n/a
  
Increase in full-time students during last 12 months n/a


STUDENT PROFILE

Female students in class 31%
International students (1) 33%
Underrepresented minority (2) students 19%
Married 43%

Percent students from following regions:
Africa 1%
Asia 13%
Central/South America, Mexico 7%
Eastern Europe 1%
Middle East 1%
North America
(Canada: 2% / U.S.: 98%) 69%
Oceania 1%
Western Europe 6%

North American students by region:
Canada 2%
Mid-Atlantic U.S. 15%
Midwest U.S. 33%
Northeast U.S. 19%
South U.S. 7%
Southwest U.S. 7%
U.S. Possessions and territories 0%
West U.S. 18%

(1) Students from countries other than the school's home country.

(2) Defined as U.S. citizens who are African American, Hispanic American, and Native American.


CLASS TRAITS

GMAT Scores
Average 700
Range (middle 80%) n/a - n/a

TOEFL Scores*
Mean TOEFL score 650
Minimum TOEFL score required n/a

Work Experience (months)
Average 54
Range (middle 80%) n/a - n/a
Enrolled students with one year or less of work experience 0%

Student Age (years)
Average 27
Range (middle 80%) n/a - n/a

Salary
Average annual pay forgone to enter program n/a

* Paper-based equivalent. See TOEFL concordance table for computer-based score equivalents.


ADMISSIONS

Application fee (resident): $185

Application fee (non resident): $185

7,641 people applied to the full-time MBA program in 2002. The school accepted 13% (selectivity) of those applicants, and 64% of admitted applicants (yield) enrolled in the program.

The B-school placed n/a applicant(s) on its wait list, from which n/a ultimately enrolled in the program. n/a of applicants had applied in prior years, and of those reapplicants n/a were accepted.

Applicant Profile: Female applicants n/a
International applicants (1) n/a
Underrepresented minority (2) applicants n/a
Applicants with one year or less work experience 0%

Interviews for MBA applicants are:
Required

In 2002, the B-school interviewed 100% of its full-time MBA applicants, and 100% of its admitted applicants.

(1) Applicants from countries other than the school's home country.

(2) Defined as U.S. citizens who are African American, Hispanic American, and Native American.


INVESTMENT AND DEADLINES FOR CLASS OF 2005

Estimated TOTAL (not annual) cost of full-time MBA program (U.S. dollars)
Resident $65,600
Nonresident n/a
  
Expected monthly rent n/a
Recommended annual budget (1) $55,200

Application deadline(s)  n/a



Rolling admissions? No


Financial aid deadline(s): n/a


First-year MBAs:
Average financial aid package $18,500
Range (middle 80%) $8,500 - $55,200
Average first-year scholarship awards (not including loans) $7,000

Second-year MBAs:
Average financial aid package $18,500
Range (middle 80%) $8,500 - $52,000
Average second-year scholarship awards (not including loans) $7,000
  
Full-time MBAs receiving financial aid through B-school 61%

Graduate assistantships offered to qualifying MBAs? No

Scholarships are merit or need based?
Merit-based
Need-based

n/a full-tuition scholarships were awarded by the school to full-time MBAs in the past 12 months

Guaranteed loan? (2) Yes

Maximum amount students can borrow: $55,200

Average outstanding loans for 2002 graduates: $50,000

Financial aid web-site:
n/a

(1) Student budget includes tuition fees and living expenses.

(2) Upon admission, any accepted applicant, regardless of nationality, and without the need of a cosigner, is eligible for a loan.


CONTACTS

Dean Dipak C. Jain
Hired as of July 1, 2001

  
MBA program director Dipak C. Jain
  
MBA admissions director Kathy Koh Gigante
  
MBA financial aid director Julie Israel (Assistant Director)
  
MBA career services director Roxanne Hori
  
Alumni relations director Jim Corboy

allen2009

Meet Kellogg's Placement Director

"This is a place that's very flexible. The whole school listens to what the needs are from students, and we try to respond to them."




Roxanne Hori
Kellogg School


Printer-Friendly Version

E-Mail This Story



On May 23, 2000, our guest was Roxanne Hori, director of the career management center at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management (2nd on BW's 1998 Top 25 list). Roxanne has been a member of the Kellogg Administration for 10 years, first serving as the associate director of the career management center from 1988 to 1993. After a short stint in the corporate world, she was promoted to the director's position in 1995. She's finishing a year unlike any of her nine previous ones. A high number of the MBAs graduating this year are sitting on offers from companies, and waiting to make their decisions to dot-com or not to dot-com. A graduate of Western Illinois University, Hori was interviewed by Business Week Online reporter Mica Schneider . Here's an edited transcript of that discussion:

Q: Roxanne, you've been at Kellogg for 10 years. Did you ever think it would be this exciting?
A: No, I thought the excitement would only come from the economic ups and downs, and not from a combination of an economic up and then the bursting of this [technology] industry that's going like gangbusters.

One MBA has a consulting opportunity from Chase that he is sitting on. He also has an opportunity with a high-tech hardware company in Silicon Valley. Other students have declined everything and are going to continue to keep looking. It has been a great year to be a graduating MBA student.

Q: How has the Career Resources Center had to adjust its workings and daily doings to accommodate the new demands from students, and the demands from old and new recruiters?
A: One shift would be accommodating companies that make requests later in the traditional [recruiting] process. We've [experienced an] extension of the recruiting process. We were running interview schedules as late as mid- to late April.

[We've had to be] patient training [new recruiters] on how recruiting is done in a traditional format on campus. But at the same time, [we haven't] known how that works [for startup companies] and how to make that fit within their very nimble and amorphous organizations. When you don't have a lot of structure in your organization and then try to superimpose a structured [recruiting] process on top of it, it's a challenge for us as well as for the employers.

We are in the process of retraining our staff. We brought compensation consultants to talk with [the staff]. And then the staff has a stronger base of knowledge to be able to respond to and ask better questions in compensation discussions with employers.

Educating students is the other piece. For instance, a company's stage of funding may drive the compensation package that the student gets. They need to know what questions to ask the people who they are going to be working for: Where is the company in its funding? How many more rounds does the company have to go before it goes public? How does the company think it will give up to venture capitalists?

Q: In the community of career center directors, is this state of recruiting considered a fad?
A: I don't know if it's a fad. It's similar to the spike in interest that we saw in consulting a couple of years ago. That interest has since leveled off. In regards to technology, at some point, student interest will wane, or the opportunities will start to level off. We can't keep going like this. To me, this is a peak in a cycle. Tech has been building over several years, but this is the year where it has received the most focus.

I don't know what the next big thing will be. Much of it will depend on how long the economy can keep chugging along at the pace that it has been.

Q: With the recent shift in career interests, there's more emphasis on the "individual" career search, where a student seeks out contacts at companies, connects with employees in the company, and pursues a job. Do Kellogg's MBAs have the savvy to pursue jobs on their own?
A: Yes. For years, we've done workshops on the [individual job search]. Working intimately with various clubs, such as the Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital, and the High-Tech Club, to do supplemental independent job search workshops about networking, etc., is helpful.

We do an independent job search workshop in November. Today, in a meeting I was in with students, they said they'd like to see a series of workshops that start earlier, in October. I don't know if it's going to happen or not. We have to sit down with the students to discuss that. We can do that much earlier, but if the audience isn't ready to focus, then delaying it makes more sense. And I don't think you have to start the full-force independent job search in the fall.

Q: Is that different advice than you gave at the beginning of the 1990s?
A: Definitely. Today, MBAs can find a job with much greater ease. Employers tell you that. The advertisements on the radio and on the television for search sites and Web sites scream that at you. There is one [advertisement] that I heard today: "Never before has this job market been so great as it is for you as a job seeker!" And it's true. It is a buyer's market, so to speak.

Q: How has that reality forced you to change the definition of your role?
A: It has only changed in that the companies I'm calling on represent different industries, and they're companies of different sizes. I'm still pretty hands-on. I need to be in very close touch with the students so I know where their interests are so that I can market those interests, their backgrounds, and the students themselves to employers. And I'm always involved with new companies and getting them to post opportunities with us on our Web site.

Instead of coaching people to prepare for the on-campus interview, we provide more guidance to students on how to conduct the off-campus interviews and job search. We direct them to a number of resources. They are a combination of Web sites, student-managed databases, for example the high-tech career database. It has elevated the importance of our career resource center manager, who spends more time than ever staying current on all the different [career] Web sites so she can refer students to those sites.

There's also a need, on our part, to help students with their negotiation skills. We help them figure out which packages make sense and which don't.

Q: Which skills are the MBAs lacking?
A: General knowledge of how small or early-stage startup companies are structured. For instance, how the company puts its compensation together for employees. There is a range, and you can't apply the old model of recruiting that companies like Ford, General Mills, Procter & Gamble, McKinsey, and Goldman Sachs have to the younger companies.

Q: One-third of Kellogg MBAs are non-U.S. citizens. Does that population have its own career counselor to help it land jobs in the U.S., or at home?
A: As an office, we're all generalists, but I do have an associate director who is the point person for international students and their issues. Her job is to float those issues by us as the students raise them with her. Their primary concern continues to be why there aren't more companies coming to campus to recruit them.

Q: And what is the answer?
A: Some companies are more confident with their citizenship or work authorization requirements. Still, even though they make exceptions, they say: "We will not talk to anybody who doesn't already have a green card or isn't already a U.S. citizen."

We tell the students that exceptions are made. A student with compelling skills can be hired on an F1 visa for 18 months of practical training, and then apply for the H1 visa status. And cross your fingers and hope that it comes through.

Still, it's employer driven. If it were up to us, there would be no barriers. We work with the students and try to identify companies that we know have a track record of making these exceptions.

Q: Part-time MBAs. Kellogg's Career Services office serves 2,500 MBAs between its full- and part-timers. What separated the two groups in the ways that they seek new jobs?
A: The part-time population is figuring out how to do it while they're working full-time and going to school. Any free time that they have gets sucked up by the schoolwork. We help them balance the challenge of a 40-plus-hour-a-week job, one or two classes every term, and another one or two evenings a week of study groups. Then we help them figure out how to be more efficient with the [job] search and to be focused on the self-assessment piece of the job search. They don't have the luxury of shopping as much as the day student might have.

Q: Are more part-time MBAs switching jobs than they were when you started a decade ago?
A: Yes, it has doubled. When I first joined, we had 50 to 75 [part-timers looking for new jobs], and every year that number started creeping up. On average now, about 150 part-timers register with our office.



1999-2000 Kellogg Placement Profile

Total enrollment   2,500   Full-time students   1,200   art-time students   1,300  
Students with first job offer by graduation   90%  

Top recruiters (no. hired)

McKinsey & Co. (44)
AT Kearney (21)
PricewaterhouseCoopers (19)
Boston Consulting Group (18)
Ernst & Young (18)

Average job offers received by graduation   3  
Companies recruiting second-year students   275  
Companies recruiting first-year students   180  
Percentage of class placed at companies with fewer than 100 employees   36%  
Average starting base salary   $86,000  
Average first-year signing bonus   $21,000  



Q: First-year internships. Has the first-year, full-timer had any exposure to electives that makes them more marketable to recruiters?
A: One of the beauties of the quarter system [at Kellogg] is that you have three shots at [taking courses in a concentration] before finishing the first year. If you're finance-focused, you'll have a chance to take two or three courses in finance in the spring term.

Q: Where are the first-year MBAs going to work this summer?
A: All over. It is a mirror of the second-year class in a lot of ways. The vast majority will wind up in consulting and investment banking. The third-most popular choice is everything that falls under the high-tech umbrella.

Some first-year students pick up part-time work if they know that they're going to be a dramatic career-changer. They may pick up a job in a venture capital firm, a small or a large company working 10 hours a week on a particular project. We get a lot of part-time opportunities posted with us because we're in an urban area.

If you can do it and not impact your grade point average in an adverse way, go for it, because all that experience can only help you clarify whether or not this part-time job is the right direction.

Q: Two hundred seventy-five companies recruited your second-year MBAs in 1999. What companies lack a presence at Kellogg?
A: Right now, we need more venture capital and private equity firms. The VC part of the equity arena is the one where I would love to see more activity.

Q: Are you bringing the students out on these great all-American treks?
A: (Laughs) Yes. It's a logistics nightmare. We have a series of varied programs that we started in January when we bring industry representatives to our Digital Frontiers Conference. That's a student-run industry conference held at Kellogg that includes a series of keynote speakers, and break-out meetings, all related to technology. It gives students broad exposure to a lot of different people from the tech arena. In February, we also do an annual high-tech career fair on the West Coast. In 2000, about 160 students flew out there on their own dime and schmoozed with 40 companies.

In March, there's a class that culminates with a trip out to the Valley called Tech Venture. About 150 to 160 students went on that trip with four professors and myself. We met with 80 different companies. In April, we did an interviewing event out on the West Coast again and had about 60 students go out to interview.

Q: Does the career fair atmosphere really work?
A: Yes. It gives the students exposure to many different players in a more condensed format. The students like it, and companies eat it up.

Q: Yet many B-Schools hype such programs. Are Kellogg's really any different?
A: We have a willingness from the dean's office down to have the students go out there and help plan these events. I don't know how other schools [run their trips], so I can't compare. But my sense is that in many other organizations, it's either 100% student-driven or 100% career-office-driven, and not as much of a 50/50 split that we've gone towards. Everybody owns it.

Q: What do you foresee over the next year. Will MBAs change their interests again?
A: It's difficult to predict, but there will be a core of folks next year who, regardless of what happens in the markets, will believe that they can make something work. Those jumping on the [dot-com] bandwagon will fall by the wayside and go back to the more traditional things. Their risk-tolerance is high, but it's not high enough to go along with the potential scenario of signing on with a company that could be gone in another month.

Q: Admissions directors have said that evidence of job-hopping is frowned upon. B-schools think companies will look at that work record and say, "That's not a serious person." Yet, jumping jobs is in. People go to startups for six months, only to move to another, where they attain the position that their boss held at the old job. Are those work standards changing?
A: If people can give strong reasons why they made those changes, then I don't think it will be a hindrance. Some [employers] will see it as an advantage.

Q: Roxanne, the last time that we spoke to you in 1998, you mentioned your staff size: about 13 staff for 2,500 students. How do 13 people manage 2,500?
A: We have the same structure and it works great. We've lost one counselor. We don't have turnover very often here. We have a lot of bench strength. The four of us who do counseling on a day-to-day basis have been around the school for a while, and know jobs pretty well out in the marketplace. We know alumni that we can refer students to, and we are avid readers to stay current. It works well.

The numbers of students, at times, are overwhelming, but most days it's just fine. And when it is more overwhelming is that we've got too many things going on. We have mistakenly over-committed ourselves, which we have a tendency to do.

Q: What's going to change next year?
A: We had some education about compensation this year, but it's a moving target. There were new things that seemed to crop up over the year that we had limited knowledge of. It was the same on every campus. Next year, they will have to be fully equipped. The expectations of students are going to shift dramatically.

We got a lot of questions from student on valuing options over the last two years: "I'm valuing options. How much should I be getting from the start-up companies?" Things along those lines. Next year, the questions will be there, but the expectation will be different. Then students and employers are going to expect folks in our jobs to know those answers as opposed to guessing them, because it won't be as novel next year. Going forward, my gut is that the expectation will be that we have a base line to work off of with two years of experience answering such questions.

We're going to add a function in our current management system where employers can input more information, too, which will be nice. They'll be able to input their job descriptions, which hopefully will give students quicker access to that information. It'll be more real-time than it currently is.

Q: Is there anything else that you see as giving the Kellogg students an advantage over other MBAs?
A: This is a place that's very flexible. The whole school listens to what the needs are from students, and we try to respond to them. For instance, a year ago, it was evident that students were asking a lot of questions about networking, how executive search firms operate, et cetera. So we put a workshop together to answer those questions. That way, the students can ask the next level of question.

Students also have easy access. It isn't difficult for a student to get into the office, and an appointment with us. We want to be an available group to the students.

allen2009

Please be noticed that the following chat was made on Aug.10,2001
+++
A Chat with Northwestern's New Dean

Dipak Jain, dean of Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management, shares his vision for the school's future




Dean Dipak Jain
Kellogg Graduate School of Management
Northwestern University


Printer-Friendly Version

E-Mail This Story


This summer, a number of top-rated business schools have changed deans. The leadership shift brings new faces and styles to schools that have held some of BusinessWeek's top-ranked positions.

In upcoming weeks, BusinessWeek Online will be running a brief series of interviews to introduce you to some of the new deans. Our third guest is Dipak C. Jain of Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management, ranked No. 2 on BusinessWeek's biennial MBA rankings in September, 2000. A professor who has spent the past 15 years at Kellogg, Jain has juggled consulting jobs, teaching loads in the MBA and executive programs, and enough research to cover 20 published articles in leading journals. He took over the position held for 26 years by Don Jacobs. For the past five years, Jain was dean for academic affairs.

He was our guest on July 23, 2001, and spoke with Mica Schneider , BusinessWeek Online's reporter covering management education. Here's an edited transcript of their discussion:

Q: Dean Jain, we spoke in May, when Kellogg first announced that you'd replace Don Jacobs as dean. At the time, you said that there was "no need for any changes" at the B-school. Two months on the job, has your opinion changed?
A: No. There are not major structural changes. We don't need to change the curriculum, but within the curriculum, we need to make sure that the more we integrate theory and practice, the better we are. Every professor can do that because part of the theory would come from the research they do, and so if they can show the relevance of their research, they strengthen the foundation of the student knowledge base.

One thing for sure that is happening is that the market conditions have changed significantly. Business of management education is also driven by what happens in the marketplace.

Q: Deans tend to say that B-school enrollment is countercyclical.
A: Absolutely. It's countercyclical in the following sense: When business is bad, you get more applications. People think that this is the time to go to school.

Q: Isn't a souring economy also the time that recruiters decide to hold off on hiring MBAs?
A: No. From a recruiter's point of view, they cannot take pause. That's because you always want to sample the quality of students coming out [of MBA programs]. It's not good for any company not to come on campus, because they need a feel for what the crowd looks like.

For example, I was in charge of [faculty] recruiting for the marketing department. Suppose I don't have an open position, I still would look at the professors' market just to see what kinds of people are there. And sometimes I would recruit someone who's good this year, since you don't get such people all the time. So we need to take a broader perspective on recruiting rather than trying to optimize in the short run.

Q: You're already traveling quite a bit, returning just yesterday from the Philippines. What interest does Evanston, Ill.-based Kellogg have in that region?
A: I spent a day meeting with our alumni. We don't have that large a group [of alumni in the Philippines], but they're the most active group of all the Kellogg alumni clubs. The group meets once a month, religiously. We had alums come from there as [far back] as 1955. We picked a nice spot, the Manila Golf Club, and I spoke for about two hours about my vision for Kellogg, the priorities, and the role our alumni can play in shaping and implementing that vision. I also spoke about how the Philippines can become more competitive in the global arena, and the [country's] need to focus on biotechnology, primarily in the agricultural sector. Then, I talked about how the alumni can keep in touch with Kellogg, challenges such as market consolidations, and took questions from the audience.

Q: So you're of the camp of deans that's trying to offer more to alumni in an effort to keep them roped into B-school affairs?
A: One of my initiatives definitely is to use my first year as an opportunity to connect with active alumni around the world and to tell them what I expect from them.

The way I look at it is that the alumni are such a big resource for any business school that it isn't good for schools not to tap into that resource. If there is any segment that has the highest loyalty [to the school], it's the alums.

Q: What is it that you expect from Kellogg alums?
A: Several things. At Kellogg, we interview every candidate. I want to create a consistent view of Kellogg and a consistent review process of the candidate, such that we truly create a global Kellogg brand [as alumni tell people] what makes the school an exciting and stimulating environment. I want our [alumni] interviewers to have a common vocabulary.

The second thing [concerns] brand. In the Philippines, for example, when someone is thinking of applying to a management education program, Kellogg should be among the top three schools they consider. Brand means that when you talk the product, your name pops in. When people talk of cars, Ford has to come [into the conversation], otherwise Ford doesn't have a product. So I've been talking to alums, asking them -- these people are well connected, and in Asia, they're in high places -- to do whatever they can to promote our brand. At least they can tell people what differentiates Kellogg from other schools.

Q: Still, you can't fly to Manila every week to stay connected to alumni.
A: No, and they don't want that, either. What is important is for the alumni to have continuing education, or what we call MBA Update. I told the alumni about the program in Hong Kong. We have an alliance with Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to offer the executive MBA. Our faculty go there to teach in this program, so I mentioned it to the alumni group in response to a question about Kellogg starting an executive MBA in Manila, which is just an hour-and-a-half flight from Hong Kong.

Since the alumni are meeting once a month, we can plan meetings where some faculty member who comes to teach in Hong Kong for the EMBA program could easily make a trip to Manila and talk to them about the new developments in his or her specialty area. The faculty presence in Hong Kong can make the MBA Update a regular series [in Manila].

Q: Can e-learning enter the picture, if schools are focusing more on alumni? Does MBA Update play a role?
A: That is also true. We've created the MBA Update last year. We held one at Kellogg and one in Paris. When we do this lecture, we create a CD-ROM that we send to alumni. So now in the Philippines, when they get together to meet, together they will watch those tapes or CDs, have a small discussion group around it, send me feedback about their response to those tapes, and also questions that they have pertaining to their environment. The whole point is that there has to be a dialogue; [learning] can't be one-way. We are creating an e-learning device that we can use throughout the world.

Q: Good ties to alumni can help pad the pockets of Kellogg's endowment, as well.
A: Of course. But the [thing] about donations isn't to get $10 from everyone. If you hit one good alumnus, or one good person, then you get the best return on your investment.

Q: We spoke with another new dean last week, Robert Dolan [see BW Online, 7/30/01, "A Talk With Michigan's New Dean"] from Michigan Business School. He spent some time talking about the new Michigan message for recruiters, alumni, students, and the business community in general. What's Kellogg's new message?
A: I'm a big believer in this concept of a nice combination of rigor and relevance. Kellogg management education is a good combination of how you tackle business problems in a structured, analytical way. And at the same time, the framework you have should have relevance to business decisionmaking. We're not doing this for classroom purpose. We need to demonstrate how it's worked for leading companies. All schools are moving in that direction, and that's the right direction. But the recruiters need to learn that these students are well trained both in theory and practice.

[Now,] I think that we're getting it, but we're not connecting the theory to practice the way we should be.

Q: Does that mean that the case study hasn't been effective?
A: No, it has been [effective]. But here's my philosophy as a teacher. When I teach a Monday class, which is generally a lecture, I present concepts, tools, and techniques. On Thursday, I apply those tools and techniques to a real case and show them other illustrations to make sure that they don't think that this will happen in all cases. And I also show them what kind of market information they need to implement a framework. That means I can connect my lecture to the case and demonstrate the link between what I tell them that we should do and then, in the case, show them what would happen in either scenario. Simply teaching case studies isn't the way to achieve the result. We need to come up with the right frameworks, which are more general, global, or broader. Then you can show the illustrations of this framework in different situations and then demonstrate that to students.

We aren't in the business of finding the right answers -- because who knows what the right answers are? We're in the business of teaching MBA students the process. Outcomes or results are the sight. The process to reach the outcome is the insight. So B-schools should be focused on the process of how to achieve certain results. Getting 30% market share may be the outcome, but the question is: what did they do to reach that, and what prevents other companies from doing it? Those are the items of discussion that are more in-depth and challenging to the students in the class.

Q: What needs to change in management education?
A: When we're doing management education today, we need to think about how we focus more on people skills -- and then spend more [time] on how we help these students harness their own potential. Each individual has significant energy and skills within him or her. We have not done a good job in sharpening the inner intellect. One should cope with work pressures, family demands, social obligations by harnessing the power within. In other words, I mean personality development [internal] as opposed to career development [external]. Knowledge is external; wisdom is internal.

Management faculty in the future would be short in supply because there's not much growth or interest in the PhD. What is the solution? To hire more people -- the brightest and the best -- from the basic disciplines, such as mathematics, statistics, economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and others. Then, expose [those people] to business problems. They come in with special skills that are needed to solve complex, unstructured management issues today. Kellogg started this in the early 1970s and 1980s and created a world-class faculty over time. I came with a background in mathematics and statistics.

Q: How many new faculty members does Kellogg need?
A: Right now, I'm talking to almost every department, including executive education, to see what their needs are. I don't believe in a quota; I'm asking each department for a plan that they have for growth over the next five years. Once I do that, I'll have a better number in mind.

Q: BusinessWeek has given a lot of attention to the future of management education. What's your vision?
A: Companies are hiring non-MBAs. They're putting them into analyst jobs, for instance, and then they want the people to have a formal training in business education. That means that there would be an increased demand of what I call short-term, MBA-type programs [held] for specific companies.

These programs aren't in-house MBAs, and this is different from executive education. When they come here for 10 or 20 weeks, there would be a kind of evaluation, just as we do in the MBA program. It may not be a grade, but it gives them some feedback about the work [they do]. I'm not clear what the final program would look like, but the training is...maybe three months to a year.

Q: Has Kellogg begun such work?
A: Yes, we have a 12-week summer program that started with Andersen Consulting, now Accenture. We teach them all of the core courses in our MBA program. We've also done the same kind of thing for Societe Generale, though they come for a shorter duration. They also send their mid-level people.

We have been exploring this market because [such] relationships can develop so that the [companies] become [MBA] recruiters. I'm not sure I want to optimize (the program), since I also have to look at the resources I have to train the faculty.

We're also fortunate in that we have a one-year MBA program. We have lots of people who come from companies that wouldn't spare their people for two years, but are willing to give them a year off to get an MBA.

Q: Dipak, few U.S. B-schools can say that their dean holds a passport from another country as you do, from India. Is management education in the U.S. becoming more global?
A: In the last 10 years, when the economy became global, the professors also became very global. The same companies that the professors were doing consulting work for in the U.S. invited them to their Asian and European divisions. When they started to travel abroad, they [gained] examples that they now use in their teaching. Overall, I think that U.S. education is getting extremely global.

However, there is one thing where we need more work to be done: knowledge creation. With our global program at Kellogg -- we started a business school in India on July 1 -- I want the business schools that are there to produce good, interesting case studies and articles. They would be good [additions] in the U.S. since we don't have as many cases from those parts of the world -- for instance, managing family business in the Philippines or entrepreneurship in India. We can create more knowledge and material that can be used in India, Hong Kong, and back here at Kellogg. So rather than teaching in my executive program six cases, which are predominantly from the U.S. or Europe, I can add one or two Asian cases. It's more enriching.

[Editor's note: Dean Jain will still teach two courses this fall and has increased the number of doctoral students he advises to three.]

Q: You have described the typical week as a professor as working seven days a week, starting at 7 a.m. most days. How has that changed now that you're dean?
A: It has become worse. The difference between my earlier job and the new job is symbolic in that I had been the dean for academic affairs for five years at Kellogg. I was doing almost all of the work earlier, but fortunately if something went wrong, I could blame it on [Dean] Jacobs. Now, I have no one to blame it on. I have two more things -- to be responsible and accountable for every action. I also have significant added responsibilities, such as alumni relations, fundraising, corporate relationships, university relations, and media and external relations.

Q: How, then, do you encourage business students to lead healthy, balanced lives?
A: To me, if you enjoy doing something, then you feel like that's where you get the maximum pleasure. People should definitely have a nice balance between their professional and personal lives. That's why one major change I made in Kellogg after I became dean was to split my former job as associate dean in two. Nobody should do what I did for five years. Now there are two associate deans for academic affairs. The first, David Besanko, is in charge of curriculum and teaching. He's our star teacher in management and strategy. The other, Robert Magee, is in charge of faculty and research, and the PhD. program comes under his group. He is in the accounting department. In business terms, one is the associate dean of demand, and the other [is] associate dean of supply.

Q: What can the B-school expect from you as dean?
A: They'll get a person who is a good listener, that's for sure. One of the communication skills we need to teach to our MBAs is [to have] good listening skills. When I was dean of faculty, and someone was angry, I would just listen and let the person complete his or her story. I won't say anything at this time. Later on, after analyzing, I'll tell the person what I wanted to say the first day. At that time, the person will be more receptive. You have to have an open-door policy and transparent communication. Nothing should be a black box, and people should know where you stand. Never do anything in life you think you can hide. Always do everything as if it will be open [to the world] tomorrow. Yesterday, I was just like my colleagues, tomorrow I will be the same. This is a temporary role.

Q: Your predecessor held the role for 25 years. Will you?
A: Nobody will guarantee it. I've completed 23 days, and I haven't been fired yet. The duration isn't in your control, I never think like that. I do the best at this moment and keep doing. In my first term, I'd like to see if I can achieve something fruitful for Kellogg and for management education. I want to motivate my people -- it's best we all work together, and then let's see what happens.

allen2009

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




Michele Rogers
Director of MBA Admissions
Northwestern (Kellogg)


Printer-Friendly Version

E-Mail This Story

RECENT TRANSCRIPTS

B-Schoolers on B-School

B-School: The View from the Trenches

A Chat with Michigan's Placement Director

UChicago's Admissions and Financial Aid Director

Making the Cut at Kellogg

The 2002 B-School Countdown

UCLA: Admissions Advice from a Vet

NYU: Stern Advice from the Big Apple

When the Going Gets Tougher

Shopping for Financial Aid



Even in this toughest of job markets, Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management came through with flying colors this year, keeping recruiters happy and landing jobs for an impressive 91% of its MBAs jobs within three months of graduation. That vital combination propelled the Evanston, Ill., B-school back to No. 1 in BusinessWeek's MBA rankings, a position it last held in 1992.

Story Continues Below Ad





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.

子溪

allen, 太好了，这么多的好资料！谢谢！

allen2009

Any body got admission by Kellogg?
I've got a really difficult situation and hope to talk with an admit, please!!

zhongdong1976

vality of valities, all is vality.