Kellogg welcomes the diverse, driven and talented Class of 2018
By Melissa Rapp
We are thrilled to welcome the Class of 2018, a dynamic group of students who share a record of high achievement, strong leadership and intellectual merit.
We’re particularly proud of our new cohort’s exceptional diversity. Specifically:
U.S. minorities account for more than one-quarter of the incoming class, and international students account for more than one-third. It’s incredibly important to us to attract a diverse class, and throughout the year we host a variety of events to give ethnically diverse students a taste of Kellogg’s culture. Diversity Preview Day is a day-long event hosted with the Africa Business Club, Black Management Association and Hispanic Management Association, in which prospective students are exposed to sample classes, student panels and clubs. Our admissions team also hosts networking events across the country.
When combined with last year’s class, Kellogg’s 2Y MBA program now counts more total women than ever before. In close collaboration with the Women’s Business Association, one of the largest and most active organizations on campus, our admissions team hosts a variety of events to help prospective female students get to know Kellogg – including Women’s Preview Day, Women’s Leadership Workshop and dinners with alumni, to name a few.
Once women students are at Kellogg, they can take advantage of a new five-week seminar launched this past winter called the Women’s Leadership Seminar. Through lectures, alumni panels and guest speakers, more than 120 Kellogg women learned about negotiation, creating a personal narrative and building a personal network.
“We left inspired for the next 15 years of our careers,” wrote Libby Koerbel, who took the course in the winter and graduated in June. “Everyone I spoke to after the seminar expressed a newfound sense of inspiration as we prepare to reenter into the workforce and to become leaders in our respective fields.”
The incoming class brings a dynamic range of professional and academic backgrounds. With the strongest representation from the financial services, consulting and tech industries, the variety of industry experience across the class will enrich classroom discussions. The number of students in tech nearly doubled this year, from 8 percent to 14 percent, and this interest continues while students are here and after they graduate. Many of our students go on to pursue a career in tech after Kellogg, with companies ranging from Google and Apple to smaller startups showing strong demand for Kellogg grads.
Our class also comes from a variety of undergraduate backgrounds, with those coming from STEM and humanities even outnumbering those coming from economics and business.
Finally, our incoming class demonstrates high intellectual merit with a record-high average GMAT score of 728.
As we prepare for Complete Immersion in Management (CIM) Week, our new student orientation, the entire Kellogg community is abuzz with excitement. We can’t wait to welcome the ambitious, talented and diverse students of the Class of 2018. And we can’t wait to see what these students will accomplish – at Kellogg and beyond.
Melissa Rapp is the Director of Admissions for the Full-Time MBA and MS in Management Studies Programs. Melissa joined the Evanston Admissions team in January 2016 and was previously the Director of Admissions for the Evening & Weekend MBA Program located on Kellogg’s Chicago campus. She has over 15 years of higher education and admissions experience.