KELLOGG · MBA GUIDE
Kellogg’s Two-Year MBA runs from September to June over two academic years in Evanston, Illinois, with a summer of work in between. Its application this year is one essay and five short video answers. Start here to understand the program and prepare each part.
Fall 2027 entry
GET TO KNOW THE PROGRAM
You start in September and finish in June two academic years later. Kellogg’s 2025–26 academic manual sets out six full-time quarters, with a work experience of 6 to 12 weeks in the summer between them.
THE CORE
The 2025–26 core runs from Financial Accounting and Business Strategy to Marketing and Operations Management. You can waive an eligible course by application or exam.
SUMMER
A summer work experience of 6 to 12 weeks sits between your first and second years.
ELECTIVES
Electives and experiential projects let you go deep in a major, such as Finance, Marketing, or Strategy, and in specializations like Analytics and AI or Healthcare at Kellogg.
The Two-Year MBA is based at the Kellogg Global Hub on Northwestern’s Evanston campus. Kellogg lists more than 120 clubs, and Joint Ventures and Kellogg Kids run activities for partners and children.
The core: The 2025–26 manual lists nine units: Financial Accounting; Leadership in Organizations; Business Strategy; Business Analytics I and II; Microeconomic Analysis; Finance I or Accelerated Corporate Finance; Marketing Management; Operations Management; and Leadership and Crisis Management.
Waiving a core course: A partial waiver swaps the course for an approved advanced one, and a full waiver meets the requirement. Neither shortens the degree, and each waiver exam can be taken once.
Majors: Kellogg’s majors include Accounting, Economics, Finance, Managing Organizations, Marketing, Operations, and Strategy. Check the majors page for the current list, because Management Analytics isn’t open to students who started after Spring 2025.
Specializations: These used to be called pathways. They’re cross-functional course sequences, such as Growth and Scaling, Asset Management, Real Estate, or Private Equity and Venture Capital. You can pursue as many as you like, and they don’t appear on your transcript.
Going abroad: Global Initiatives in Management pairs a course with research in another country. KWEST trips are planned by students and led by second-years, and exchanges run in 20 countries.
One-Year MBA: Twelve months, June to June, for applicants with business fundamentals and focused goals rather than a major career switch. You need Statistics and Economics before the summer, then join the second-year class in September. It uses the same three rounds.
MMM (the MBA plus an MS in Design Innovation): Two years, June to June.
MBAi and joint degrees: MBAi is an AI-focused MBA with Northwestern’s McCormick engineering school, over 1.5 years. Kellogg also offers a three-year JD-MBA and an MD-MBA for students at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
Kellogg Future Leaders (KFL): If you’re in your final year of college, or of a master’s you started straight after college, and you graduate between October 2026 and September 2027, KFL lets you secure a place now and start after two to five years of work. Its deadline is April 21, 2027, with decisions on June 23, 2027. There’s no fee, and only Northwestern undergraduates can skip the GMAT or GRE. These dates and that test exception apply to KFL only.
Which round: Kellogg strongly encourages international candidates to apply in Round 1 or 2, to leave time for a visa.
English tests: If English isn’t your first language, send a TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo English Test score, unless you hold a U.S. degree, a degree taught entirely in English, or have worked at least two consecutive years in the U.S. or another English-speaking country within the past five. Kellogg can still ask for a test.
Degrees: Certain three-year degrees, including some from India or the UK, may meet the requirement for a U.S. bachelor’s equivalent.
Your visa: Once admitted, you show funding for your first year’s tuition and living costs, plus any dependents, before Northwestern issues your I-20, the form you need for an F-1 student visa. Northwestern says processing currently takes up to four weeks.
Health insurance: For 2026–27, degree-seeking students on F-1 or J-1 visas must keep Northwestern’s own student health plan, with no exceptions for other coverage.
Loans: International students complete Kellogg’s financial aid form after their round’s deadline. Northwestern’s loan for Kellogg international students has an option with an international co-signer, so don’t assume you can borrow without one.
UNDERSTAND WHAT KELLOGG LOOKS FOR
Kellogg describes candidates who “question the status quo” and “motivate a team to drive impact.” It weighs the breadth and depth of your work, how you collaborate, and your application as a whole.
YOUR WORK
Kellogg strongly recommends at least two years of full-time work by the time you start, and asks you to explain your progress and any changes of direction.
Letrado’s adviceGive each move on your résumé a reason. A reader outside your industry should see why you took each step.
COLLABORATION
Kellogg asks your recommenders how you’ve engaged with colleagues, clients, or stakeholders who saw things differently, and what that shows about how you lead.
Letrado’s adviceFind a time people saw a problem differently and you still got them to a decision. Make sure one of your recommenders was there to see it.
ACADEMICS
Any bachelor’s subject is fine, but Kellogg encourages preparation in calculus and statistics. It sets no minimum test score.
Letrado’s adviceIf your transcript has little math, a recent quantitative course or a solid quant score can answer the question for you.
WHAT KELLOGG DESCRIBES
Up to one minute each, due 96 hours after your round’s deadline. Allow about 30 minutes in all, including setup.
Virtual and one-on-one with a member of the Kellogg community, if you’re invited
The video link arrives after you submit and pay. You can practice as often as you like, but you can’t retake an official answer, and you get a brief moment to prepare for each one.
Interview invitations go out by email on a rolling basis until the decision date. Kellogg says their timing doesn’t signal anything about your application.
TWO-YEAR CLASS OF 2027
The GMAT Focus Edition is the current GMAT, scored from 205 to 805. Students who took the earlier GMAT averaged 733 on its own scale. Before Kellogg, 32% worked in consulting, 24% in financial services, and 15% in technology and communications. Of the class, 9% are U.S. veterans.
These are averages for one class, not minimums. Kellogg sets no minimum score and has no preference between the GMAT and the GRE.
WHAT KELLOGG ASKS
How you engaged with people who held different perspectives, and what that shows about how you lead or collaborate
How your performance compares with other well-qualified people in similar roles, with examples
The most important constructive feedback they’ve given you, and how you responded
Kellogg suggests your current supervisor plus someone who can assess your work and leadership, such as a former supervisor or a client. It discourages extra letters. In 2016, Kellogg’s admissions team advised that recommenders write the letter themselves.
WHAT KELLOGG SAYS
Kellogg’s public MBA admissions pages don’t set a rule on AI tools or outside help. They ask you to present yourself authentically and honestly. The application itself may include its own certification, so read it before you submit.
If you apply through the Consortium, you sign a statement that your essays were written by you and your letters by your recommenders.
PLAN THE APPLICATION
Kellogg reviews fall 2027 applications in three rounds. You submit the application and essay by the deadline, then record five video answers within 96 hours.
Round 1
Sep 9, 2026Round 2
Jan 6, 2027Round 3
Mar 31, 2027Kellogg’s round table doesn’t show a submission time, so check it in the application. International candidates are encouraged to apply in Round 1 or 2.
One essay of up to 550 words and a résumé in any format or length, written for a general reader. The fee is $250, waived for active U.S. military and veterans, and for Teach For America, Title I school, AmeriCorps, or Peace Corps service within the past three years, with evidence.
Required, with no preference and no minimum. Your score must still be valid, within five years, when you submit.
Uploaded records from every college or university you attended, including study abroad. Records in another language need the original and an authorized word-for-word translation.
Ideally your current supervisor and someone else who can assess your work and leadership.
Five video answers from everyone, and a virtual interview by invitation.
If you’re reapplying: You submit a new application with updated transcripts and résumé, two new recommendations, the current essay plus a 250-word reapplicant essay, and a new interview. Valid test scores you sent before don’t need resending. You can apply once per cycle.
A second program: You choose one full-time program each year. After you submit, you can name one alternate full-time program, the Evening & Weekend MBA, or both, with a short paragraph on your interest.
After you’re admitted: If you want to defer, contact the admissions office. Kellogg doesn’t promise approval or set a standard length.
Score codes: Use 6WZ-3J-89 for the GMAT and 7921 for the GRE.
One sitting: Kellogg evaluates a single test sitting, not a superscore (your best section scores combined from several sittings), so send the test that’s strongest as a whole.
Transcripts: Credits from a transfer or study abroad don’t need a separate transcript if they appear on your degree record. You send official copies only if you enroll, plus proof your degree was awarded if the transcript doesn’t show it.
The Consortium: Kellogg is a member of the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management. The route is open to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) committed to its mission. You write a 400-word goals essay and three 300-word mission essays, plus Kellogg’s supplement, and send two professional letters and a mission recommendation. The fee is $150 for membership and one program.
Consortium dates and funding: Its published deadlines are October 15 and January 5 each year, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Check its portal for the current cycle. Schools decide fellowships of partial to full funding, which isn’t guaranteed.
QuestBridge: QuestBridge alumni, National College Match finalists who graduated from its partner colleges, can apply through its MBA Match. Kellogg’s supplement and videos for the 2026 Match were due on September 20, 2026, with the same 550-word essay and two career answers of 500 characters each. A match brings full tuition.
WRITE IN YOUR OWN VOICE
550 words, plus five video answersOne required essay in two parts, 550 words in total, and five video questions of up to one minute each. Reapplicants add a 250-word essay.
This cycle’s application replaces Kellogg’s older essay set with one essay and five videos. Kellogg’s public admissions pages don’t set an AI rule, so the words should simply be yours.
Letrado’s advicePart I can easily eat all 550 words. Choose your Part II example first, something specific you’d bring to classmates, then fit Part I around it.
Describe the pivotal experiences and decisions that led to this point in your career, how they shaped your ambitions, and why now is the right time for an MBA.
Kellogg asks you to “turn the lens outward”: beyond what you hope to gain, what you hope to contribute to the students who learn alongside you.
Kellogg doesn’t publish the questions, so practice talking through a few real moments from your work instead of memorizing answers.
Explain how you’ve grown personally and professionally since you last applied, and the steps you’ve taken to become the strongest candidate you can be.
It asks what excites you about finance and how you plan to make an impact in a finance career after your MBA. It needs a separate interest form after you submit, due in the same round.
MAKE ROOM FOR THE FINANCIAL QUESTION
Kellogg considers every admitted candidate for scholarships automatically and tells you with your admission decision.
MERIT REVIEW
Admitted candidates are considered for scholarships with no separate form, and hear with their admission decision.
FINANCE FELLOWS
For Two-Year candidates headed into finance, with mentorship. It needs a 250-word essay and an interest form in the same round.
AUSTIN SCHOLARS
For up to two years, for Two-Year and MMM candidates selected at admission for leadership and achievement.
Kellogg also lists named awards, including Donald P. Jacobs international awards and healthcare awards. Applying for Finance Fellows doesn’t affect your MBA admission decision. If need-based aid matters to you, ask the financial aid office how it’s assessed for fall 2027 entry.
Kellogg scholarships (opens in a new tab)PUBLISHED 2026–27 BUDGET · TWO-YEAR MBA, FIRST YEAR
$130,072Tuition is $88,536. The rest covers food and housing, health insurance, books and a computer, fees, travel, and personal costs for the first year.
This is the first year only, not the whole degree. For fall 2027 entry, use the 2027–28 budget when Kellogg publishes it. Kellogg doesn’t print a budget for a partner or children, so plan that separately.
Kellogg tuition and expenses (opens in a new tab)Letrado’s adviceIf you’re aiming at finance, write the Finance Fellows essay with your application, not after it: it’s due in the same round.
Kellogg reports that 86% of its Two-Year Class of 2025 job seekers accepted an offer within three months of graduation. Median base salaries were $175,000 for jobs in the U.S., $129,848 outside the U.S., and $129,618 in Asia.
Kellogg career outcomes (opens in a new tab)ADMITTED TO KELLOGG · M.T.
She had five years in healthcare operations and a moderate test score. We helped her set a limit on retesting and tell one difficult rollout honestly.
She improved modestly and gave the rest of her year to her application, so the score didn’t take over.
Nurses, administrators, and engineers each defined success differently. She gathered objections, changed the order of training, and accepted a slower launch.
She chose supervisors who had watched her work through disagreement.
Kellogg now asks recommenders how you’ve worked with people who held different perspectives, the same skill M.T.’s rollout story showed.
AI illustrationHER KELLOGG OUTCOME
Offered a place in the Kellogg MBA
HER CHOICE: KELLOGGKellogg Global Hub, Northwestern University · Photo: Joseph Gage / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Cropped.
She weighed healthcare resources, collaborative learning, and her preferred recruiting path. She still rated MIT highly for academics, but cost and community fit changed her final order.
ALSO ADMITTED TO
WHEN YOU’D LIKE A HAND
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