Choosing the Kellogg One-Year MBA program
By Amrit Chavada
It’s been three months since the Kellogg One-Year MBA class of 2016 stepped onto the Evanston campus, and it has been an intense and fun experience.
After spending a summer taking core classes together on campus, we joined the incoming two-year MBA class for KWEST across various locations around the world. An important part of the KWEST tradition is that participants are not allowed to reveal information about their past. There were other fellow 1Y students on our trips, and having spent the summer together, we already knew each other. It was great fun pretending to not know each other and have our KWEST groups think we were a part of the incoming Two-Year batch!
After a short break, we just resumed our fall quarter classes in Evanston and will now be taking various electives depending on our individual interests and goals.
It was a little over a year ago when I was researching about one-year MBA programs. While you may have various professional and personal reasons for choosing a one-year or two-year MBA, here are some of the unique features of Kellogg’s One-Year MBA program that may be considered while trying to navigate though the decision.
Size of the class
The class is divided into two sections, and we each take core classes together. However, since the class is aware of the fact we have limited time together, we make the most of this time with the number of activities we do as a group. From catching up with people over informal lunches to taking weekend trips together, there are ways to interact with almost everyone on a one-on-one basis, which makes for a fabulous experience. Coming back to Kellogg after KWEST and the summer break, classmates met at the Jacobs Center like long-lost friends (even though we had barely spent three weeks apart). The fact that we are a relatively smaller class has definitely contributed to this camaraderie.
Interaction with the Kellogg community
As a one-year class starting over the summer, we had a chance to interact with MMM students who also start out during the same time frame. During the MBA admissions process, we connected with many of the incoming two-year students in various cities across the world through informal meetings and Kellogg-hosted events (including Day at Kellogg). Through KWEST, we continued to form relationships not only with the incoming class, but also the current second-year students. Additionally, the Kellogg alumni network is always accessible for informational or meaningful conversations. These past few months have enabled us to connect with a culturally and professionally diverse set of people.
Quality faculty interaction
Over the summer, we had some world-class Kellogg faculty members on campus with us, and we got to spend time with them as they shared their experiences with us in class, over lunches and in informal sessions. Some students started work on an independent project with a faculty member while others chose to take professional and personal development advice from them.
Additionally, as 1Ys, we are inundated with opportunities for leadership roles, extracurricular activities and professional development options. For example, an entrepreneurial one-year student could choose to use the resources available and develop a startup idea. If one wanted to learn more about international business, there are opportunities to do meaningful projects in various geographies across the globe. From consulting projects with local businesses to other real world applications of concepts learned in class, the options are endless.
Making the most of these opportunities is what makes for a very exciting action-packed one-year journey!
Amrit Chavada is a student in Kellogg’s One-Year MBA Program. Prior to Kellogg she worked in various brand management, business development and marketing roles in retail, telecom as well as a startup. She is from Mumbai, India.