Kellogg has maintained the same prompts as last year suggesting that the admission committee is happy with the kind of responses it has been getting. The school is focused on building an inclusive, high-growth and collaborative culture and you would want to make sure that you allow these aspects of your personality shine through in the essays.

The first prompt sounds like a typical behavioral interview question and you would be well-served by using the time and tested behavioral interview STAR framework. Start by describing the situation as succinctly as possible while making sure that your situation is clear to someone completely unfamiliar with your work domain. Then talk about the task you were given to accomplish and why. In the next step, describe the actions you took, the responses of these actions, the challenges that you faced and how you overcame them. Finally, conclude by describing the results and your learnings from the experience.

Even though the question is framed as two-parts, it is better to blend in the challenges and learnings in the story to make sure that your storyline is cohesive and reels the reader in. Make sure that the story that you select has elements of team work and leadership in it. Also pay close attention to the word “lasting”. The admission committee is looking for examples where you were instrumental in creating lasting value – this can be in the form of new processes, long-term relationships or enabling other’s successes.

Kellogg is a school made up of great team players and collaborators who are not afraid to step up and take charge when required – and Kellogg uses this essay prompt pretty well to communicate to its applicants what it stands for.