Full-Time MBA Application Series: Extracurriculars and Clubs
By the Kellogg Admissions Team
One of my favorite parts about reading applications is seeing the incredible diversity in the interests, passions and hobbies of our applicants. These activities and interests give our team insight into who you are, what you care about, and help our admissions team understand how you’ll make an impact in the Kellogg community.
What counts?
With that said, what are we looking for when it comes to these “extracurricular” activities? We see it as impact. We want to know how you’ve chosen to spend your time outside of the duties of your job. Are you on a board of an organization? Volunteer as a mentor? Led a student organization in college? I’ve read about everything from traditional Indian dance to teaching kids to code to starting a new pottery business as a creative outlet. We love learning about applicants involved with something they’re truly passionate about.
However, we also recognize that some jobs don’t leave much room for activities outside of work hours, so we also love to hear about how you’ve made a difference and gone above and beyond within your organization. Do you lead a recruiting team? Have you helped to impact workplace culture through monthly lunches or a day of service? These are applicable, important and interesting to our team as well!
One general rule of thumb: Quality matters more than quantity. We prefer seeing deep involvement and dedication to a couple of causes, rather than superficial involvement in ten. And that goes back to impact. Being deeply involved means you have the opportunity to truly make meaningful change or improvement.
Picture yourself on campus
In addition to what you’ve done, our team is interested in learning about what you intend to do and where you see yourself becoming involved at Kellogg. Tell us about the clubs you intend to join, the conferences you intend to lead and where you intend to spend your time while here! There’s more than 100 clubs at Kellogg and no right or wrong choice here; passion and engagement are at the heart of the Kellogg culture and experience. Our students are game-changers who identify new opportunities and see possibilities others can’t. They grow through their experiences at Kellogg and continue to develop as leaders.
What’s important to know is that we love when our applicants bring their whole selves to the process- this rich diversity is one of the things that makes Kellogg great. The team and I look forward to hearing more about how you’ve made an impact, given back and intend to pay it forward here at Kellogg.