Kellogg School of Management Essay Guide

Quick facts: Kellogg 2026–2027

Why Kellogg essays are different

Kellogg receives roughly 4,500 applications for ~530 seats in the two-year MBA. The essay set tests collaborative leadership and value alignment, and Kellogg's team-first culture isn't marketing — readers explicitly look for stories where the applicant made other people better, not stories where the applicant was the smartest person in the room. Essay 1 (450 words) on a leadership moment is read for who else is named, what they did, and what existed after the applicant left the situation. Essay 2 (450 words) on values is graded on specificity: applicants who list four values get filtered, applicants who pick one value and earn it through a specific story advance. Kellogg also runs video essays — three questions, one minute each, recorded on the application platform — and reads them as essay material, not interview material. A strong written essay set with weak video responses is a common ding pattern.

• 01

  Collaborative leadership with named teammates

  Readers count how many other people are named in the leadership essay. Three or more, and the story scans as collaborative; one (you), and it scans as solo.

• 02

  Lasting value — what existed after you left

  The strongest Kellogg leadership essays end with what the team did the year after the applicant moved on. The lasting outcome is the proof of the leadership.

• 03

  A values essay that picks a value, not a list

  Three-value essays read as résumé padding. One-value essays earn the value with a single story where it cost something.

• 04

  Specific Kellogg clubs, courses, or experiential learning

  Cite a course code, a professor, or a Kellogg Worldwide Experiences program — vague 'global focus' references fall flat with readers who run those programs themselves.

Kellogg leaders are primed to tackle challenges everywhere. Tell us about a time you have demonstrated leadership and created lasting value. What challenges did you face, and what did you learn?

450 word limit

Grade with this prompt

Values are what guide you in your life and work. What values are important to you and how have they influenced you?

450 word limit

Grade with this prompt

1. 01

   List five leadership moments from the last 3 years. Cross out any where you can't name at least three other people involved.

2. 02

   For the remaining stories, ask: what existed after I left? Keep only the ones with a clear lasting outcome.

3. 03

   For Essay 2, write down 8–10 values that feel true to you. Pick the one that has cost you something measurable.

4. 04

   Draft both essays at full length first, then cut to 450. Resist the urge to add a second value 'for balance'.

5. 05

   Prepare for the video essays in parallel. Three 1-minute recordings — practice on uncommon prompts, not the public examples.

6. 06

   Read the leadership essay back and underline every name. Aim for at least three other humans on the page.

A strong Kellogg leadership essay names the team in the first paragraph, surfaces a real disagreement in the middle, and ends with a quantified outcome the team owns — not the applicant. The values essay opens with a single specific moment when the value was hard to hold, not a definition. The Kellogg-specific paragraph at the end of either essay names one course (e.g., GIM, KWEST follow-on), one club leadership role the applicant intends to run for, and one professor whose research connects to a specific past experience.

Want to see a fully scored example? Read a real HBS essay critique →

• ✗ Leadership stories where you're the only named person

  Solo-hero essays directly contradict Kellogg's culture brand. Even technically true stories of solo work should be reframed around the team you assembled.

• ✗ Listing four values instead of choosing one

  Kellogg's value essay is a depth test, not a breadth test. Pick the value you've paid for.

• ✗ Generic 'collaboration' language

  'I love working in teams' is the opening line of half the rejected essays. Skip the meta-statement; let the story do it.