Answering the Toughest Interview Question | dMBA Weekly Check-In: April 21, 2025
Why Kellogg? Why Harvard? Get ready to answer these simple, yet daunting questions in your interviews.
Last year, while visiting Chicago for the weekend, I had the opportunity to make the 30-minute ride up to Evanston to visit Northwestern University, the school which I’ve committed to attending for my own deferred MBA! Although most of the buildings (including the Kellogg Global Hub) were closed for Sunday, it was such a great opportunity to visit the school again, now knowing for certain that I’ll be living there in just a few years.
I took a quick walking tour with my partner Grace around the university, in which we visited the Lakefill, the Block Art Museum, and even the McManus Center, the on-campus student residence hall for MBA students.
The trip was incredibly motivating and exciting for me as I started to visualize what I want for myself in my MBA experience.
Being on campus had me ruminating about a particular question that I had to answer just one year ago: why Kellogg?
To be completely honest, while I was applying to deferred MBA programs, Kellogg was not my first pick — mostly due to location. I grew up in California and currently live in Boston, so I was really only looking at schools on either coast. Northwestern’s location in — well, not the northwest but the Midwest — was a bit daunting for me. I can count on one hand the amount of people I know in the Chicago area.
So how did I end up choosing to commit to Kellogg?
In today’s check-in:
Quick plug on MBAxcel Coaching!
On Your Radar: This week’s deferred MBA admissions events
Tip of the Week: Choosing the right school is a nuanced process.
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On Your Radar
One last event for the current application cycle! Here it is:
Northwestern (Kellogg): Kellogg Future Leaders Last Minute Application Tips
When: Monday, April 21, 2025, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM CDT
Where: Virtual
Details: Join us for a virtual chat with members of the admissions team to get your application questions answered. We'll cover everything you need to know to submit your application including essay, recommendations, and deadlines.
Editor’s Note
Many dMBA schools offer on-campus events regularly, which I do not always include in these posts. I’ll usually highlight them here if they are deferred MBA-specific.
Looking for a full list of dMBA admissions sites?
Check out our FREE updated 2025 dMBA admissions guide here!
MBAxcel Tip of the Week: Choosing the right school is a nuanced process.
I’m gonna take a bit of a different approach this week: today, I’m going to pull a lot on my personal experience deciding which schools to apply to.
Now, it’s far too early to get too deep about choosing which school to commit to — that’s a conversation we’ll have in a couple of months — but, as we’ve spoken about multiple times, you’ve gotta have a great reason why you’re applying to the programs which you are applying to.
That’s one of the key questions you’ll be asked in your interview, and, therefore, you’ll need to have a polished, reasoned answer to this question.
I applied to six deferred MBA programs.
I’ll list ‘em (in no particular order): Columbia, Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg, Haas, and Stanford.
In my head, each of these schools could give me something unique:
For Columbia, I wanted the location. New York City has always been a dream of mine to live in, and it’s one where I could see myself potentially launching an entrepreneurial career.
For Harvard, I wanted to experience the case study method. I’ve taken many classes at BU during my undergrad modeled after the Harvard method, and they’ve consistently been the ones I learned best from.
For Wharton, I wanted the network. Wharton is one of the biggest MBA programs (if not the biggest) and it’s one that boasts a strong alumni network and community.
For Kellogg, I wanted the culture. After visiting the campus and speaking with current students and alum, their “high-impact, low-ego” unofficial motto was something that stuck with me.
For Haas, I wanted the location (yes, the same as Columbia). It helps that Berkeley is just 30 minutes away from my hometown, for sure, but it’s also in the heart of the technology sector and all of the exciting rumblings around Silicon Valley.
And finally, for Stanford, I wanted the startup environment. Stanford is huge into launching exciting new companies, especially in the technology space, and I wanted to be in the heart of it.
As you can tell, my reasoning for some programs was stronger than others.
Let’s be real. School rankings had a sway on my decision making. While we can all acknowledge that a lot of these ranking systems are flawed and inconsistent, we cannot deny that the value of one’s MBA program is perceived by others, at least partially, by the “academic prestige” of the school.
Don’t get me wrong, all of the schools offering deferred MBAs are some of the best institutions in the world. But I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I didn’t consider the silly nuances of school ranks.
So, how did I end up choosing Kellogg?
It wasn’t just the culture that was important to me — although that was a very important factor.
For me, my ultimate decision to choose Kellogg was a process of elimination. It was a stressful situation to be picking between schools — but not one I was upset about at all! I felt so grateful and lucky to be in the situation to choose.
I was admitted to Kellogg, Columbia, and Haas, all programs that were different, but amazing and exciting in their own ways. I had to think about my priorities: does location really matter if it’s just a two year program? What do I realistically want to pivot to post-MBA, and which program will set me up best for success for that specific career path?
Kellogg ended up being a great culture fit, one that I felt I could really learn and grow from, but it also was the best fit in terms of opportunities in consulting and tech — both industries that I saw myself pursuing after graduate school. These were the factors that ultimately led me to commit.
What’s important to you?
What a loaded question, right?
The reality is, I can’t tell you why to like the schools you like and why not to like the schools that you don’t. Sometimes, it’s a gut instinct.
For now, it’s not about choosing the “right choice.” All of the schools you applied to will be the right choice.
As a deferred MBA student, you’ve got the next several years to figure out how the MBA will fit into your career, so don’t worry about timing. And, for better or for worse, as a deferred MBA, you won’t know anything about your financial aid situation until the year you matriculate, so that’s another factor that is not worth stressing about this early in your admissions journey.
So tell me. What is it that you want out of an MBA at Kellogg? Or at Harvard? Wharton?
Postscript.
I’ll see you next week for the final weekly installment of MBAxcel for this application cycle! It’s been such a blast and I hope you took something away from these weekly updates and tips.
Looking to get some one-on-one interview prep going? Schedule a coaching session with me and let’s chat!