Meet Northwestern Kellogg’s MBA Class Of 2025 (2024)

A CLASS PROFILE

The Kellogg MBA Class of 2025 features 529 members, up from the 503 students who populate the 2nd-year class. Women make up 48% of the class, with international students holding 39% of class seats. Underrepresented minorities and first generation students account for a 19% and 13% share of the class, followed by LGBTQ+ students at 9% of the class.

Overall, the class boasts a 731 average GMAT, including scores ranging from 620 (low) to 780 (high). Undergraduate GPAs also averaged 3.7, stretching from 2.8 (low) to 4.0 (high). At the same time, median Verbal and Quant GRE scores both hit 163. As undergraduates, 50% of the Class of 2025 majored in areas related to Business or Economics. 38% hold degrees in STEM-related fields with the remainder possessing an academic background in the Humanities.

Professionally, 26% of the class last worked in Consulting. Financial Services and Technology professionals each constitute 19% of the class, followed by Healthcare (8%), Consumer Products (5%), Media & Entertainment (4%), Government and Education (4%), Manufacturing (3%), and the Military (3%). As a whole, the class possesses an average of 62 months of professional experience.

A HAPPY MEDIUM

The Kellogg MBA is often described as “the best of both worlds” due to its Evanston-Chicago dynamic. With Chicago, you have attractions like Miracle Mile shopping, comedy clubs, world-renowned architecture, top-rated restaurants, historic sports teams – not to mention galleries, theaters, clubs, music venues and museums galore! That doesn’t include a lower cost of living than New York City, Boston, or Los Angeles (or one of the world’s largest airports that can take you anywhere). Add to that, Chicago is a business mecca. It is home to 31 Fortune 500 companies (2nd only to New York City). At the same time, Chicago ranks among the world’s 20-best startup ecosystems according to Startup Genome.

“Chicago stands as a prominent business hub, encompassing everything from consulting companies to technology startups to venture capital firms,” adds Brandon Fazal. “Kellogg’s proximity to Chicago provides students with valuable networking opportunities, such as coffee chats, case competitions, and conferences. The flexibility afforded by Kellogg’s location empowers students to tailor their experience, striking a balance between the dynamic offerings of Chicago and the peaceful ambiance of Evanston. Ultimately, it offers students the best of both worlds.”

And then there’s Evanston, with its tree-lined streets, nature trails, and glorious lakefront views – clean, spacious, and slow. Think of it as the quintessential college town, replete with coffee houses, pizza joints, and fall football pageantry. And you can even see the Chicago skyline from Kellogg’s Global Hub. In Evanston, you can enjoy a Lakefront jog in the morning and a home-cooked dinner with classmates in the evening. After all, says ‘23 gradLauren Cziesla, most Kellogg students live within a 10-minute walk of each other.

“Evanston’s tight-knit feel means that Kellogg students can really get to know each other both inside the classroom and out in the community,” explains Catherine Malloy. “I love knowing that I’m equally likely to see familiar Kellogg faces at a Cubs game and an Evanston coffee shop, and the camaraderie that comes with living within walking distance of my 600+ classmates is something that I haven’t taken for granted over the past few months.”

Or missed out on anything, either. “I was also drawn to the Chicago area because it is situated in the middle of the country, so I’m able to meet interesting people from both coasts as well as internationally,” adds Courtney Sloan, an LA native and Penn grad. “I’ve already met some amazing classmates that come from the technology epicenter of San Francisco as well as the Financial Services hub of New York. I recently traveled to Malaysia with classmates from more than six countries (and our group was only 20 people!). I know this diversity will lead to a super enriching business school experience.”

AN ENTREPRENEURIAL POWERHOUSE

Kellogg’s marketing prowess is well-documented. Every February, Kellogg makes headlines for its Super Bowl Ad Review, where students apply the school’s ADPLAN framework to measure the true effectiveness of big game commercials. However, the school is increasingly gaining stature for its entrepreneurship programming. Michael Manzano, a ’23 alum, was stunned by just how many resources that Kellogg invests in entrepreneurship, singling out opportunities like the New Venture Series and the Zell Fellows Program.

“Academically, there a menu of entrepreneurship-focused classes from the New Venture series to Launching and Leading Startups to finance classes like Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital,” Manzano observes. “Many of these classes exist to help you test out your venture ideas in the real world with little to no risk and more time than you’d have while working a full-time job. Outside of the classroom, Kellogg’sZell Fellows Programsupports students interested in starting their own venture through the New Venture Track or those who want to purchase a small to medium sized business in the Entrepreneurship through Acquisition (ETA) Track. There are also pitch competitions throughout the year and incubators like The Garage where you have access to additional funding, community, and resources to help build your business.”

Last year, the Zell Fellowship program celebrated its 10-year anniversary, Over its first decade, Zell has helped Kellogg MBAs launch 127 business, raise $705 million dollars, and create over 1,600 jobs. Unlike many startup programs, Zell is designed to develop the founder as much as the enterprise. That means intensive coaching and mentoring, be it with faculty, alumni, classmates, and area business leaders. More than that, student founders are given funding and support with everything from physical space and office supplies to free legal counsel and technical support. To be among the 1-in-4 applicants ultimately accepted into Zell, Program director David Schonthal says he seeks a daunting set of qualities.

““We want people that are generous,” he tells P&Q. “We want people that are others focused. We want people that have an internal metronome that makes them hustle; we don’t want hustle to come from the outside. We want them to be evidence driven so that they are willing to realize they’re wrong and willing to pivot and willing to adjust. We want them to be coachable.”

THE RELATIONSHIPS THAT MATTER

Among past Zell participants, you’ll find the program provided different benefits. Ian Goldberg, a 2019 grad, relished site visits that took him from Cleveland to Austin to Rio de Janeiro to see how different companies successfully operate. Four years after graduation, Sahar Jamal (’19) is still working with the same coach she had at Kellogg! While Jordan Hollander (’16) gained critical insights from weekly meetings with Chicago-area entrepreneurs, he found another source of support equally valuable.

“The most helpful thing for me was having a like-minded peer group going through the same challenges and rollercoaster. Entrepreneurship didn’t feel lonely because we were all doing it together…it’s really the relationships. To be honest I went in looking for outcomes – i.e. growing my business. The relationships I just didn’t expect would grow as strong as they did but with the retreats and trips it really forms a strong bond.”

Among the Class of 2025, Catherine Malloy plans to take advantage of similar resources. “As a student with a strong interest in Entrepreneurship, I’m most excited about Kellogg’s New Venture series. The New Venture series is sequence of three courses where students ideate, incubate, and launch new ventures over the course of the academic year. Kellogg connects student founder teams with alumni mentors, industry experts, and investors to help students get their ventures off the ground, and I’m excited to fine tune my entrepreneurial skills throughout the series.”

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ASSISTANT DEAN OF ADMISSIONS AND FINANCIAL AID

It has been another upbeat 12 months for the Kellogg School. Median starting pay for the Class of 2023 climbed above $200K, with 95% of graduates receiving job offers within three months of graduation. At the same time, Kellogg attracted a $25 million dollar gift for its Entrepreneurship Fellows program. What’s next on the horizon. Last fall, P&Q reached out to Emily Haydon, Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid. Here’s what students and stakeholders can expect next at the Kellogg School.

P&Q: What have been the two most important developments in your MBA program over the past year? What type of impact will they have on current and future MBAs?

Haydon: “There are several exciting things happening at Kellogg this year! Recently, we’ve announced a number of transformative gifts that contribute to both our student experience and our reputation as a world-renowned research institution.

Just recently the Zell Family Foundation made a historic $25 million gift to Kellogg, endowing the highly successful Zell Fellows Program. The program, initiated in 2013, offers an exclusive entrepreneurial experience for Kellogg students who aspire to start or acquire businesses. Participants receive mentorship from Kellogg faculty and external experts, engage in global treks, and obtain stipends for their ventures. Upon graduation, they join the Zell Global Entrepreneurship Network. Over the last decade, 200 Kellogg students have participated, launching 127 ventures, raising over $705 million in capital, and creating an estimated 3,600 jobs.

In September, Kellogg announced a $25 million gift from the Ryan Family Foundation to fund the Ryan Institute on Complexity, which will place Kellogg and Northwestern at the forefront of solving increasingly complex societal, business and market challenges by harnessing the power of big data and artificial intelligence. The problems businesses – and business leaders – face today are multifaceted and rapidly evolving. By harnessing the principles of complexity — looking at an issue from many angles with many points of expertise — we will better prepare future leaders to solve increasingly complex societal, business and market challenges.Across Kellogg, we teach our students how to best respond to changing business dynamics. In recent years, many of the biggest changes have been centered around emerging technologies such as generative AI.

Kellogg is committed to evolving our curriculum and class offerings to give students the necessary opportunities and skills to become the leaders of tomorrow.In 2023, and looking ahead into 2024, we are launching 10 new courses. A few of these courses include:

Using Analytics to Create and Capture Value in Healthcare: Taught by Professor Amanda Starc, the course is designed for students who want to better understand empirical arguments in the healthcare industry. Students will become familiar with basic tools of modern data science through hands-on experience and will learn how to use analytics and data to address decisions faced by healthcare firms.

Think Like a Behavioral Scientist: Improving Thinking, Motivation, and Action at Work: Taught by Professor Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, it is for future leaders who are interested in improving their own thinking, motivation, and behavior in the workplace, or the thinking, motivation, and behavior of others.”

P&Q: Give us your one-minute pitch for your business school. What makes you unique?

Haydon: “Kellogg equips students with a unique and special combination of analytical, creative and social intelligence to help them thrive and lead in today’s unpredictable and increasingly complex business environment.

Confirmed by incoming students every year, our culture of collaboration, inclusivity, and empathy is what truly sets our program apart. We are always looking for students who aren’t afraid to take risks, who want to drive lasting impact for their organizations and communities and who truly embody ‘high-impact, low ego’ leadership.

The school’s focus is on developing a leader than can navigate an environment of change, and a leader who has been shaped by and embodies the essential quality of creativity and collaboration. With this focus and shared culture, we produce leaders who leverage this empathic mindset to drive relationships and performance both professionally and personally.”