Congratulations on earning your Kellogg interview. Let's make sure you're ready for it.

Northwestern Kellogg full-time MBA · 2026-27 full-time MBA applicants

Your Kellogg interview

Kellogg tries to interview as many applicants as it can, and every full-time MBA interview is now held virtually. It is blind and behavioral: your interviewer has only your resume and asks how you handled real situations.

Sources (8)

Kellogg: The Kellogg Full-Time MBA Interview Process · Kellogg: Full-Time MBA Application Series: The Interview · Kellogg: How to Apply - Full-Time MBA · YouTube: Emily Hayden, Kellogg's Interim Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, on how the blind beha · Reddit: Kellogg R1 interview released already? (2026) · Reddit: Kellogg R1: Interviews Megathread (2026) · Reddit: Bombed my Kellogg MBA Interview (2025) · Reddit: Kellogg Interview experience : r/MBA (2024)

80-90%+of applicants get an interview, by applicants' own estimates (2022-2026). Kellogg publishes no count and says only that it aims to interview as many as possible. Reddit · Reddit · Kellogg · Kellogg

Congratulations again: Kellogg interviews far more of its applicants than most schools, so an invitation is a normal step rather than a rare signal. The school's own line is that the interview is one component of a holistic review and no single element can make or break an application. Kellogg publishes no interview or admit counts, so the share above is applicants' guesswork.

Sources (4)

Kellogg: The Kellogg Full-Time MBA Interview Process · Kellogg: Full-Time MBA Application Series: The Interview · Reddit: Kellogg Interview (2026) · Reddit: Does everyone get an Interview from Kellogg? : r/MBA (2022)

WhoAn admissions officer, a trained current student or an alum. Kellogg evaluates all interviews the same way Kellogg · Clear Admit · Reddit · Reddit · Reddit · Reddit

How longApplicants report about 30 minutes, with a range of roughly 20 to 45 Reddit · Reddit · Reddit · Reddit · Reddit

WhereVirtual only. Applicants report Zoom Kellogg · Kellogg · Clear Admit · Clear Admit

What they knowOnly your resume. The interviewer has not read your application and never will Kellogg · Kellogg · YouTube · Reddit

4 more: format, when, does it count, odds

FormatBehavioral questions about specific situations; Kellogg suggests the STAR method Kellogg · Kellogg · YouTube

WhenInvitations roll out after you apply, up to the week before decisions. R2 deadline Jan. 6, 2027; R3 March 31, 2027 Clear Admit · Reddit · Reddit · Kellogg

Does it countYes, the interview report is part of your file, but no single element makes or breaks an application Kellogg · Kellogg · YouTube

OddsKellogg aims to interview as many applicants as possible; applicants estimate 80% or more Kellogg · Kellogg · Reddit · Reddit

How you get an interview

You don't have to request a special invitation. Kellogg says it aims to interview as many candidates as possible, so they can share their stories one on one.

Rolling invitations. Applicants report invites arriving anywhere from soon after the deadline to a month or more later, and Kellogg's admissions director says they go out through the week before decisions are released.
Timing means nothing. Kellogg says when you get your interview assignment does not reflect the strength of your application. Applicants say the same about late invites.
Scheduling moves fast. Applicants report a short window to book and slots that fill quickly. Some book in the portal or through a direct link (admissions interviews); with student or alum interviewers, applicants report getting a name and email and reaching out themselves.
Booked times are final. Kellogg says scheduled virtual interview times can't be changed, though you can cancel by calling admissions at 847.491.3308.

If you aren't offered one. Kellogg says that when it waives an interview, the waiver has no negative bearing on your evaluation, and admissions may still contact you if it needs more information.

Sources: Kellogg: The Kellogg Full-Time MBA Interview Process · Kellogg: Full-Time MBA Application Series: The Interview · Kellogg: How to Apply - Full-Time MBA · Clear Admit: Admissions Director Q&A: Steve Thompson of Northwestern Kellogg (2026) · Reddit: Kellogg R2 (2026) · Reddit: Kellogg R1 interview released already? (2026) · Reddit: Kellogg Interview Invites 2025 R1!!! (2025) · Reddit: Kellogg Interview (2026) · Reddit: Does everyone get an Interview from Kellogg? : r/MBA (2022) · YouTube: Shimri Winters of ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting on expected Kellogg interview questions and prepar

The interview itself

It's held virtually. One applicant reported (2024) getting a link three hours ahead to a landing page with a countdown clock, then entering the Zoom room at the exact start time.

Applicants describe a simple shape: why an MBA and why Kellogg, then behavioral questions, then your questions for the interviewer. Common questions:

Your story. Tell me about yourself, or walk me through your resume, often with follow-ups on why you took or left each job.
Motivation. Why MBA, short- and long-term goals, why Kellogg, and sometimes a Plan B if your first recruiting goal doesn't work out.
Behavioral. Leadership, teamwork, a diverse team, conflict, failure or a project that didn't go as expected, influencing without authority.
Something new. One 2026 report had "what's something that's not on your resume?"

Styles vary. Some applicants call it super chill and conversational. Others describe interviewers reading from a list, taking heavy notes and giving little back, or one who pushed hard on details. Applicants report that many admitted students had stiff interviews, so a neutral face is not a bad sign.

Sources: Kellogg: The Kellogg Full-Time MBA Interview Process · Kellogg: How to Apply - Full-Time MBA · Reddit: Kellogg Interview experience : r/MBA (2024) · Reddit: Kellogg Interview Tips R2 : r/MBA (2026) · Clear Admit: MBA Admissions Interview Reports Archive (2026) · Clear Admit: Northwestern / Kellogg Interview Questions & Reports (2026) · Reddit: Kellogg R1 interview released already? (2026) · Reddit: Kellogg R1: Interviews Megathread (2026) · Reddit: Bombed my Kellogg MBA Interview (2025) · Reddit: Kellogg MBA interview... : r/MBA (2025) · Reddit: Kellogg (R2) interviews - how was your experience and what were you asked? (2026)

What they're looking for

Kellogg's admissions team says the interviewer is assessing how you think, how you work with others and how you arrive at a solution. Kellogg's admissions director describes it as a two-way conversation about your interpersonal style, communication skills and motivations.

Real examples. The questions are behavioral, so they want specific situations and what you did.
Teamwork and collaboration. Kellogg calls these cornerstones of the experience, which is why it interviews so widely. Applicants say to show fit with the team-based, collaborative culture.
Clear reasons. Why an MBA, why now and why Kellogg come up in nearly every report.
You, not a script. Kellogg says being prepared is different from reciting memorized answers that miss the question.

Sources: YouTube: Emily Hayden, Kellogg's Interim Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, on how the blind beha · Clear Admit: Admissions Director Q&A: Steve Thompson of Northwestern Kellogg (2026) · Clear Admit: Admissions Director Q&A: Steve Thompson of Northwestern Kellogg (2025) · Kellogg: The Kellogg Full-Time MBA Interview Process · Reddit: Kellogg Interview Invites 2025 R1!!! (2025) · Reddit: Kellogg Interview Tips R2 : r/MBA (2026) · Reddit: Kellogg R1 interview released already? (2026) · YouTube: Andrew D., a Leland coach and Kellogg MBA alum, on the Kellogg interview format, common questions and · YouTube: Shimri Winters of ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting on expected Kellogg interview questions and prepar

How to prepare

Learn STAR. Kellogg's admissions staff recommend the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for behavioral answers.
Build a story bank. Prepare a range of stories from different points in your career, not just the ones in your essays. One applicant (2022) was asked for two examples per question.
Cover the usual themes. One 2026 applicant suggests 5-6 stories on leadership, teamwork, failure, conflict and influencing without authority, about 90 seconds each.
Know your resume choices. Expect why you chose and left each job, your team sizes and day-to-day work.
Have a Plan B. Applicants report being asked what they'd do if they aren't recruited into their target role.
Make Why Kellogg specific. Tie it to clubs, classes and experiential pieces.
Practice out loud, then loosen up. Do timed practice with a partner, but Kellogg warns against sounding so rehearsed that they can't see who you are.
Bring 2-3 real questions. Have genuine, non-canned questions for your interviewer.

Sources: Kellogg: The Kellogg Full-Time MBA Interview Process · YouTube: Emily Hayden, Kellogg's Interim Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, on how the blind beha · Reddit: Kellogg Interview Tips R2 : r/MBA (2026) · Reddit: Bombed my Kellogg Interview (2022) · Reddit: Kellogg R1 interview released already? (2026) · Clear Admit: MBA Admissions Interview Reports Archive (2026) · Clear Admit: Northwestern / Kellogg Interview Questions & Reports (2026) · Reddit: Kellogg Interview experience : r/MBA (2024) · Reddit: AMA: Kellogg first year (2020) · YouTube: Andrew D., a Leland coach and Kellogg MBA alum, on the Kellogg interview format, common questions and · YouTube: Shimri Winters of ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting on expected Kellogg interview questions and prepar

How much it counts, and after

Kellogg lists the interview report among the things the admissions committee evaluates, and its admissions team calls the interview highly valued. It also says the interview is just one component of a holistic review, built so that no single element can make or break an application.

Interviewer doesn't change your odds. Kellogg says interviews are evaluated the same way whether run by an admissions officer or a student.
Don't overread a rough one. Many applicants who felt they bombed say admitted students felt the same, and that admissions knows which interviewers run tough.
Thank-you notes. Applicants suggest a short thank-you by email or LinkedIn, and one notes you can briefly add a point you missed.

Sources: Kellogg: How to Apply - Full-Time MBA · YouTube: Emily Hayden, Kellogg's Interim Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, on how the blind beha · Kellogg: The Kellogg Full-Time MBA Interview Process · Kellogg: Full-Time MBA Application Series: The Interview · Reddit: Kellogg Interview (2026) · Reddit: Bombed my Kellogg MBA Interview (2025) · Reddit: Kellogg MBA interview... : r/MBA (2025) · Reddit: Kellogg R1: Interviews Megathread (2026) · Reddit: Bombed my Kellogg Interview (2022)

The rest of the application

Video essay. Five short video questions, 60 seconds each, due within 96 hours of the round deadline. Kellogg estimates about 30 minutes including setup. Applicants report prompts such as something not on your resume, a failure, or someone who helped you.
Written essay. One core essay of up to 550 words on pivotal career decisions, your ambition and what you hope to contribute to peers.
Recommendations. Two letters, one ideally from a current supervisor.
Tests. GMAT or GRE from a single sitting; no superscores.

Your interviewer won't see any of this, so it's fine to reuse your best examples alongside new ones.

Sources: Kellogg: How to Apply - Full-Time MBA · Kellogg: Kellogg Full-Time MBA application is now live - here's what's new · Reddit: Kellogg 2024 Video Essay Questions? (2024) · Kellogg: The Kellogg Full-Time MBA Interview Process

Your interviewer

Rachel Oyelaran Fictional interviewer

Get a briefing on your own interviewer

Know who's interviewing you? Their LinkedIn profile is the best source.

Use a computer if you can. Open their LinkedIn profile in a web browser, click More (or ⋯) under their name, then Save to PDF.
On a phone: the LinkedIn app can't save a profile. Open linkedin.com in your phone's browser instead, switch to the desktop site, and use More → Save to PDF.
Upload the PDF here, or paste what you know about them (a bio, a profile page).

See the sample briefing

Kellogg MBA '17 alum, Director of Strategy at a regional health system in Atlanta, experienced alumni interviewer since 2019

Rachel is a Kellogg alum (MBA 2015-2017, Strategy and Healthcare Management) who has interviewed applicants for Admissions since 2019, about 15 video interviews a season. That is roughly seven or eight seasons and likely over 100 interviews, so she has heard every polished answer. She says in her own profile that she reads only your resume and cares more about how you work with people than how impressive your bullets sound. Her career runs from four years supervising a 40-person overnight packaging shift, to healthcare strategy consulting in Chicago, to strategy at an 11-hospital nonprofit system where she leads a team of 6. Expect her to probe the people side of your stories: who was in the room, what you actually did, and how others reacted. She knows frontline operations well and will likely notice vague or inflated claims. Her style is likely conversational, but don't count on it, and don't read anything into her tone either way.

Their path

BS Industrial and Systems Engineering, Ohio State (2007-2011)
Operations Supervisor, then Plant Planning Lead, Brightmoor Consumer Brands, Columbus (2011-2015): ran an overnight shift of 40 line workers and cut packaging-line changeover time 30%
Kellogg MBA, Strategy and Healthcare Management (2015-2017): Healthcare Club co-president, Kellogg Board Fellows, Kellogg Cares
Consultant, then Engagement Manager, Calder & Quill Advisory, a healthcare strategy firm in Chicago (2017-2019)
Senior Manager, Strategic Planning, Fernbrook Health (2019-2022): business case for converting two rural hospitals into outpatient and emergency campuses
Director of Strategy, Fernbrook Health (2022-present, about 4 years): leads a team of 6 and built a plan for 14 new clinics
Alumni admissions interviewer for Kellogg (2019-present); mentors first-gen college students; nonprofit clinic board member

What it means for your conversation

She has said outright that how you work with people matters more to her than your resume bullets. Lead your stories with the people: the teammates, the disagreements, how you brought others along.
She supervised hourly workers on a night shift, so she will likely see through 'I led' claims that were really 'I was on the team.' Be precise about your role, the team size and your own actions.
She switched careers through Kellogg, from operations to consulting to healthcare strategy. She will probably follow a career-change story easily, and probably also probe whether your goals and Plan B are realistic.
Her strategy job is about tradeoffs: where to build and what to stop doing. Answers that show how you weighed options and made a call will likely land better than a list of accomplishments.
After seven-plus seasons of interviews, she will likely spot a memorized script. Know your stories, but tell them like a conversation.
Her Kellogg activities (Board Fellows, Kellogg Cares, Healthcare Club leadership) suggest she values students who contribute to the community. Be ready to say concretely what you would add to the class, not just what you would take from it.

Questions they may lean toward

Tell me about a time you had to lead or influence people who didn't report to you, or who were skeptical of you. She managed 40 line workers early in her career and says she cares most about how people work with others.
Walk me through why you made each job move, and what you'd do if your first-choice recruiting path doesn't work out. She made a deliberate career pivot herself, and Kellogg interviewers commonly ask about job choices and a Plan B.
Tell me about a time you had to recommend stopping something or choosing between competing options. Her work is deciding where to invest and what to stop doing. This is an inference from her role, not a confirmed question.
Follow-up probes on your stories: who disagreed, what you said to them, what happened afterward. Experienced interviewers who say they don't care about how impressive the bullets look tend to dig into the details.
What's something not on your resume? She reads only the resume and says she looks beyond it. Applicants also reported this question in 2026.

Honest common ground

She went to Kellogg about five years into her career, as you are, and used it to change direction. Your why-MBA-now reasoning will make sense to her.
If you have worked in operations, manufacturing or with frontline or hourly teams, that overlap is real and worth mentioning naturally.
If you are actually aiming for healthcare, consulting or strategy, she can speak to it from experience. Don't adopt that interest just for her.
If you are genuinely first-generation, you can mention it where it fits your story; she mentors first-gen students. Bring it up only if it is true and relevant.

Questions to ask them

You moved from running a night shift into strategy. What from Kellogg actually helped with that transition, and what did you have to learn on the job? This is a real question about career change that she can answer from experience, and it doesn't flatter her.
You were involved in Kellogg Board Fellows. How did hands-on experiences like that compare with what you learned in class? It ties to a specific Kellogg program and helps you test your own Why Kellogg.
What do you think separates students who get the most out of Kellogg's team-based culture from those who don't? It goes to collaboration, which Kellogg and she both emphasize, and her answer gives you useful insight.

Avoid

Reciting her resume back to her or bringing up her personal interests (running, cooking, Scrabble, her daughter). It reads as surveillance, not rapport.
Claiming interest in healthcare just because she works in it.
Inflating your role or team size; she knows what supervising people actually involves.
Stories that are all metrics and no people.
Answers that sound memorized, or a one-size Why Kellogg without specific clubs, classes or experiential programs.
Treating a neutral or note-taking manner as a bad sign.

A sample, to show what the briefing looks like: Rachel Oyelaran and their employers are invented.

Based on: The sample interviewer's profile (fictional) · Kellogg: The Kellogg Full-Time MBA Interview Process · Kellogg: Full-Time MBA Application Series: The Interview · Kellogg: How to Apply - Full-Time MBA · YouTube: Emily Hayden, Kellogg's Interim Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, on how the blind beha · Reddit: Kellogg R1 interview released already? (2026) · Reddit: Kellogg R1: Interviews Megathread (2026) · Reddit: Bombed my Kellogg MBA Interview (2025) · Reddit: Kellogg Interview experience : r/MBA (2024)

All sources · 34 plus 14 applicant threads

Applicant threads are linked under each question.