northwestern video essay

How to Successfully Complete the Kellogg Video Essay

Sep 14, 2023

Why does Kellogg require a video essay?

How does the kellogg video essay work, which types of questions are asked, the difference between a good and great video essay, make sure you get into kellogg.

UPDATE : This article was originally posted on September 16, 2019. It has been updated with new information and tips below! 

With its Global Hub, Kellogg of Management at Northwestern University has reinforced itself as a haven for collaboratively-minded leaders. However, if you want to experience the Global Hub for yourself, you’ve got quite the road ahead, as Kellogg is one of the world’s most elite, competitive business schools.

Despite this fact, many applicants dedicate countless hours to writing Kellogg’s admissions essays and then rush through the video essay component. 

This is a huge mistake. 

In addition to giving the admissions committee the chance to “put a face with a name,” the video essay is an essential part of the Kellogg application, as it allows committee members to determine if your communication style and values are a good fit with the Kellogg community. 

In fact, in our experience helping our Kellogg applicants secure a place at the school, we have noticed that the video essay can be as influential in an applicant’s admissions decision as the admissions interview . 

That’s why we’ve prepared this guide to help you understand how the Kellogg video essay works and have shared a list of Kellogg video essay questions to ensure you put your best foot forward! 

When we first started working with Kellogg applicants many years ago, the video essay component had not yet been introduced. However, since its launch in 2013, the video essay has quickly become a critical part of the application. 

That’s because it gives the admissions committee the chance to truly “meet” candidates — as well as identify red flags in potential members of the Kellogg community. 

According to Kellogg’s admissions committee, 

“The Video Essays provide applicants with an additional opportunity to demonstrate what they will bring to our vibrant Kellogg community – in an interactive way. Each applicant will complete two short video essay questions. The questions are designed to bring to life the person we have learned about on paper.” 

They also give applicants this advice:

With that in mind, it’s extremely important to make sure you fully understand this component of the application. 

The way the video essay works is very simple. 

After submitting your application, you will receive an email from a company called Kira Talent. This email will contain a link that allows you to access the video essay platform. 

After signing in and starting the session, you will get three Kellogg video essay questions in total, one at a time. After receiving the questions, you will have 20 seconds to think and then 1 minute to answer. There are no opportunities to redo the question, and you only get one chance to speak and provide your answer.

Unlike previous years, where some of the questions applicants received were random, Kellogg has pre-announced the three questions you will need to answer this year. We’ll go more into detail about the types of questions you can expect below. 

If you’ve taken the TOEFL exam , you’ve already practiced for the type of format you can expect in the Kellogg video essay! 

After signing in and “starting” the session, a video will appear on the screen. This video will show a member of the Kellogg community, who will read the question you are tasked with answering. The question will also appear in written form under the video. 

After the time runs out, the screen video will disappear and your image will be visible on the screen. At this point, your 20 seconds to think will automatically appear. 

After the preparation time runs out, the clock to answer (60 seconds!) will start, and you will need to give your answer during this period of time. Remember: you cannot redo any of the questions.

After you answer the question, the system will upload your answer to the server (depending on your connection this can take a while) and will present you with the next question. 

DO NOT leave your computer during the upload time , even if it’s taking a while. You cannot pause the process, and you may end up missing questions!

Technical requirements

Given past applicants’ issues with iPad and mobile versions of the application, we strongly suggest you record your answer on a computer . 

If you do end up experiencing technical issues, access the support page here . 

Regardless of when you submit your application, you need to submit your video essay response no more than 96 hours after the round’s deadline . Find Kellogg’s most current application deadlines here . 

If you submit your application early, you can submit your responses to Kellogg’s video essay questions at any time, as long as you make the final deadline.  

The Kellogg video essay questions are grouped into three different categories, each with a different focus. 

Question 1: Introduce Yourself

The first question Kellogg asks gives you the chance to share who you are beyond your CV and admissions essays. 

“ Please introduce yourself and tell us something that is not on your CV that you want us to know about you.” Consider this your opportunity to share what you would want your future Kellogg classmates and our admissions committee to know about you. What makes you, you?”

Despite the innocent-seeming question, be careful about what you choose to show here. Keep in mind that Kellogg prefers community-focused, growth-minded leaders, so don’t miss an opportunity to reinforce your personal brand and your fit with the school’s values. You should also focus on reinforcing elements of your profile that you might not have had a chance to explain elsewhere, such as volunteer work or a special skill you possess. 

You do not need to speak about your goals or why you want to attend Kellogg. 

Questions 2 & 3: Randomized interview-type questions

For this question, there won’t be a specific prompt you can answer in advance. Instead, you’re going to receive a random behavioral-based question. This question may be focused on your characteristics, or it may allow you to share a professional example that highlights your personality traits. 

The best advice for this section is to think about what it’s asking you and what you can show about yourself, your achievements, and your values.

If the question asks about your favorite book, the admissions committee will get a certain impression of you based on what you choose. If you choose a book that’s all about adventure, we’ll assume that’s important to you. If you choose a book about economics, we’ll assume that’s a key part of your life. 

So think about how you want the admissions committee to learn about you beyond what you’ve already shared in your application. 

If you get a question that’s more like a traditional behavioral interview question, try to draw on examples. Furthermore, make sure to show your human side and demonstrate that you genuinely care for others and want teams you join to succeed. It can be easy to answer in a very conversational way, but doing so can often lead to an answer without a point, so make sure you use your planning time to structure the key elements of your answer. 

Regardless, be careful about what you choose to show here. Keep in mind that Kellogg prefers globally-minded leaders who embrace diversity, so don’t miss an opportunity to reinforce your personal brand and your fit with the school’s values. 

Here is a list of the types of questions you can expect.

• Tell us about a time you took a risk. What did you learn?
• If you were a team leader and you had a member of your team who constantly under-delivered, what would you do?
• Tell us about a time you experienced a professional failure. What did you learn from it?
• Tell me about a time you worked with a dysfunctional team. How did you manage the situation?
• Tell us about a conflict you have had with your boss/with a team at work. How did you manage to resolve it?
• What accomplishment are you proudest of?
• Tell us about an organization or activity to which you have devoted a significant amount of time. Why was it meaningful to you?
• What will your classmates be most surprised to learn about you?
• What is the most challenging aspect of working in an internationally diverse environment?
• What do you like to do in your free time?
• Tell us about a time a team member did not “pull his weight” in the team.
• Who is someone you deeply admire and why?
• What’s the best piece of advice you have ever received that you also shared with other people?
• When you have a problem, who do you approach for advice and why?
• How would your teammates describe you?
• If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be and why?
• Tell us about a time you worked with diversity in the workplace.
• Tell us about a time you contributed to improving a process in your organization.
• Tell us about a time you solved a problem in a creative way. 
• Tell us about a time when you faced a conflict on a team that affected its productivity. How did you face it?
• Tell us about a positive impact that you made. Why was it important to you?
• Whose leadership style do you admire and why?

TOP TIP : Remember that Kellogg values teamwork-oriented, collaborative individuals. 

Given the importance of the video essay in your Kellogg application, it’s crucial to make sure you don’t just have a good video essay, but that you have a great video essay. 

Now that you’ve learned how the video essay will work, we’ve gathered our top 5 tips here to ensure your video essay performance brings you one step closer to reaching your goal of attending Kellogg. 

You have stressed about every aspect of your Kellogg application, and now you are ready to record your video essay! With the right preparation, this can be your chance to shine and get a highly-coveted spot at Kellogg. 

However, maybe you don’t know where to start in preparing, or maybe you ramble on and lose your focus while answering. Maybe you’ve even downloaded the sample questions and written out your answers. The problem is, when you try to apply these templates to your own story, it doesn’t quite work.

Our video essay prep focuses on helping you determine how to present yourself to Kellogg while using appropriate, impact-driven language without being artificial, or worse, robotic.

Regardless of where you’re from or what type of experience you have, we are focused on helping you do your best. 

Want to put the Ellin Lolis advantage to work for you? Schedule your preparation session with our team of interview experts today! 

Real MBA Essays That Got People In

School-specific sample essays that got our clients accepted

Get Access Now

98.9% Success Rate

With our expertise and 98.9% success rate in placing our consulting clients in at least one of their target schools, we can add more value to your application than you ever thought possible.

Recent Articles

Impress the Adcom: 5 Steps to Killer MBA Essays

May 20, 2024

Are you gearing up to apply to business school and feeling overwhelmed by the essay writing process? You're not alone. Many MBA applicants struggle to convey what makes them unique in a way that truly sets them apart from the competition. The stakes are high, and a...

How To Secure an Outstanding Recommendation Letter For Your MBA

Why MBA LORs are Important How To Choose Your Recommenders Asking For the Recommendation How To Structure a Letter of Recommendation What Makes a Strong Letter of Recommendation? Submitting Your Letters of...

How To Get Into a Top MBA Program: Creating A Profile That Stands Out

May 17, 2024

What are you passionate about?  What is your career vision? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What achievements are you proudest of? What are your goals?  Get expert help...

Ready to start your MBA Success?

We can improve your MBA profile and boost your candidacy. Gain insight into the review process and eliminate weaknesses from your MBA application.

Note: You must have javascript enabled to submit the form.

Kellogg MBA Essays for 2023-2024

Are you targeting Northwestern University’s  Kellogg School of Management ? Then it’s time to shift into high gear. The Kellogg MBA essays and deadlines for the 2023-2024 admissions cycle have been confirmed.

The essays let you explain, in your own words, why you think Kellogg is right for you. Take some time to think through the experiences that led you here and how they have shaped where you want to go.

Kellogg MBA Essays for the Class of 2026

The following two essays are required of all applicants:

Question 1: Kellogg Leaders are primed to tackle today’s pressing concerns everywhere, from the boardroom to their neighborhoods. Tell us about a time in your life where  you’ve  needed a combination of skills to solve a problem or overcome a challenge. Which skills did you use? What did you  accomplish ? (450 words)

Question 2: At Kellogg, our values are based on research that concludes organizations  comprised of leaders with varied backgrounds and perspectives outperform homogeneous ones. How do you believe your personal and professional experiences to date will help to enrich the Kellogg community? (450 words)

Reapplicants : How have you grown or changed personally and professionally since you previously applied and what steps have you taken to become the strongest candidate you can be? (250 words)

All applicants have the opportunity to provide explanations or clarification in  Additional Information . Use this section if you think the person reviewing your application might have a few questions about one or more of your responses. This could include:

• Unexplained gaps in work experience
• Academic, GMAT, or GRE performance
• Extenuating circumstances that we should be aware of when reviewing your application

Video Essays

Per the Kellogg AdCom : We’ve read your essays, we’ve read your resume — now we want you to bring all that to life in a video. Show us the person behind all those carefully crafted words. The video will be comprised of three questions, each designed to help you showcase your personality and share some of the experiences that brought you here today.

We find these videos to be a great opportunity for you to tell us more about your story, experiences and why Kellogg is the right place for you.

Here are some things to keep in mind as you prepare to complete this section:

• Video essays are due 96 hours after the application deadline.
• A video essay link will appear on your application status page after you submit your application and payment.
• You will need an internet-connected computer with a webcam and microphone
• The video should take about 20-25 minutes to complete, which includes time for setup.

After submitting your application and payment, you will be able to access the video essay through your application status page.

Here are some additional tips:

• There are practice questions that you may complete as many times as you like to get comfortable with the format and technology. The practice questions and experience will simulate the actual video essay experience, so this is meant to be a useful tool to help you feel prepared.
• We encourage you to practice so you are comfortable with the format once it is time to complete the official questions. You will not have an opportunity to re-do the answer to the official video essay questions.
• You will have 20 seconds to think about the question and up to one minute to give your response.

For more information on applying, please visit the Kellogg School MBA admissions website. If you need guidance on your Kellogg essays and MBA application or wish to discuss your MBA plans, reach out for a complimentary analysis of your candidacy. We’re here to help! Meanwhile, here’s a snapshot of the Kellogg expertise on our team:

SBC’s star-studded consultant team is unparalleled. Our clients benefit from current intelligence that we receive from the former MBA Admissions Officers from Kellogg, Booth and every elite business program in the US and Europe.  These MBA Admissions Officers have chosen to work exclusively with SBC.

Just two of the many superstars on the SBC team: Meet Beth who held the position of Director of Admissions for Kellogg’s Full Time MBA program selecting candidates for the 2-year, 1-year, MMM and JD MBA programs.

Meet Kim , who was an Senior Associate Director of Admissions at Chicago Booth.

Tap into this inside knowledge for your MBA applications by requesting a consultation .

You May Also Like

Kellogg MBA Deadlines for 2023-2024

Face Off: Kellogg vs. Ross

Kellogg MBA Acceptance Rate, Deconstructed

B-schooled podcast episode #86: spotlight on kellogg school of management, leave a reply cancel reply.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Learn About Our All-In Service

Meet the sbc consulting team.

(323) 934-3936 info@StacyBlackman.com

Latest Blog Post

Strengthen your quant profile for mba applications.

Many business school applicants worry they need a more substantial quantitative background to get into a top program. If your entire career has been in marketing, for example, how can you convince an admissions ... →

• Menlo Coaching
• Top MBA Programs
• Admissions Essays
• Apply to Work With Us

Kellogg MBA Essays: Tips for 2023-2024

This year’s MBA application prompts have been released, so it’s time to start brainstorming what your topics will be. Wondering where to start, what to write? No worries, we have all the tips you need to get a nice start on writing a quality essay for the Kellogg School of Management.  

At Menlo Coaching, we noticed that most MBA essays will fall into one of a number of categories: personal essays, career goals essays, and behavioral essays etc. Read ahead for our expert guide on approaching these essays for Northwestern Kellogg. 

The Behavioral Essay

• Kellogg Leaders are primed to tackle today’s pressing concerns everywhere, from the boardroom to their neighborhoods. Tell us about a time in your life where you’ve needed a combination of skills to solve a problem or overcome a challenge. Which skills did you use? What did you accomplish? (450 words)

The Personal Statement Essay

• At Kellogg, our values are based on research that concludes organizations comprised of leaders with varied backgrounds and perspectives outperform homogeneous ones. How do you believe your personal and professional experiences to date will help to enrich the Kellogg community? (450 words)

Optional Video Essay

You’ll complete video essays after you submit your application and payment. This is a great opportunity to tell us more about you and explain why Kellogg is the right place for you.

The video portion of the applications will include three questions, each designed to help you showcase your personality and share some of the experiences that brought you to where you are today. 

Please note, video essays are due 96 hours after the application deadline.  

Applying to Northwestern Kellogg

Student life at Kellogg is very active in the surrounding Evanston area, and the school frequently participates in philanthropic events, such as the Charity Auction Ball held in the winter, for example. Through the story you relate in your essay, the admissions council is looking to see if you reflect the same values that the school does. Kellogg is looking for students who are ready to be fully immersed in the programs, eager for group study spaces, and excited to collaborate with their fellow students. The best way to represent that you possess those qualities is through the type of essay you choose to write. 

Looking for Last-Minute Essay Help?

MBA Deadlines are fast approaching…

Did you know that Menlo Coaching can help you with your MBA essays on an hourly basis?

Our five-hour package starts at $2,500, and you can work with our MBA admissions consultants on anything you like, including:

✓ Essay and Resume Edits

✓ Recommender Support

✓ Application Form Reviews

✓ Interview Preparation

Like we touched on earlier, schools are looking for the right fit for their campus community, just as you are searching for the school that aligns best with your goals. In the personal essay, this is your chance to show Kellogg the values that drive you both as a person and as a student. These values tell the admissions council what you prioritize, the moral code you live by, and, most importantly, who you are as a person. 

Kellogg is looking for applicants who are willing to be vulnerable. Doing this allows you to more fully understand the concepts you are learning, especially when the lessons deal with situations in your real life. Being vulnerable also enables students to relate to one another, thus creating a comfortable, encouraging learning environment. 

In these essays, you can talk about almost anything; typically, applicants will write about relationships in their lives, or times when there was a hardship they had to overcome. Be warned, though: there are some topics to avoid, and we have outlined a few things to watch out for in this article . 

To make it simple: the behavioral essay is meant to show the Kellogg admissions team that you have developed some sort of leadership skills, what your values are as a leader, and how you are going to most benefit from their development programs. 

The admissions committee is looking for applicants that are self-reflective. Whether it’s through a setback you’ve experienced, or how you dealt with situations that have gone awry, the school is looking for students who are resilient and able to learn from their mistakes.

Do not overexaggerate (or underexaggerate!) the situations you decide to write about. Be honest about what happened; Kellogg is looking for genuine people to join their campus community, and they are less likely to admit an applicant who has overinflated their prior experiences. 

Last but not least, make sure to describe what you learned and how you implemented this in a subsequent situation. This is an expected element of the behavioral essay, even if it’s not directly written in the prompt. Kellogg utilizes case studies and experiential activities to help leaders realize their full potential, and they want to see that you have that ability already within you. Prompts that deal with these topics can be daunting, especially when they require you to write about a weakness you have or a failure you’ve experienced. 

The Optional Video Essay

Northwestern Kellogg also invites applicants to record an optional video essay, after submitting their application.

When it comes to  video essays  specifically, we have some advice:

• Practice—but don’t memorize:  it’s always clear if someone has memorized what they intend to say in a video essay verbatim, and this can make your content seem staged and inauthentic. If you find that you’re repeating the same speech over and over again, change the first sentence. You’ll be surprised at how this will throw you off!
• Make sure that your setting is appropriate:  you want to make sure that your lighting is good and that there are no empty tequila bottles in the background.
• Speak slowly and clearly:  clear diction can make a big difference when it comes to reviewing your video essay.

If you are interested to know more about the use of video essays in the admissions process at Northwestern Kellog, you can head to our page on Kellogg admissions basics .

Writing strong, coherent, genuine stories is an essential part of your MBA application. These essays are meant to help you stand out among many other applicants, so it is worth your time to do the work and write about situations unique to your life and that you truly learned from.

Trust our proven MBA application consultant expertise to navigate the Kellogg MBA essay prompts and optimize your chances of admission.

Related Articles

• Northwestern Kellogg MBA Program Overview
• MBA Essay Tips From 3 Top Admissions Consultants
• How to Get Into MBA Programs at Top Business Schools

The Ultimate MBA Admissions Checklist

Our free, comprehensive checklist covers everything you need to shop for an MBA admissions consultant.

✓ Compare pricing across 35+ MBA admissions consulting firms

✓ Learn why “success rates” are not to be trusted

✓ Find the right service model for your needs

✓ Prep for your consultation calls

Homepage > MBA Admissions > How to make an impressive MBA Application Video Essay

How to make an impressive MBA Application Video Essay

Posted by Nayeem Noor | Oct 4, 2022 | MBA Admissions , MBA Application Process

Video essays are an integral part of the MBA application process for many business schools. They are also an excellent opportunity for the admission committee to evaluate your interpersonal skills.

Through the video essay, the admissions committee gets a more direct understanding of who you are, and you get a chance to substantiate the authenticity of your story and offer a glimpse into your personality.

Here is a brief outline of this article:

• What is a video essay?

Types of MBA Video Essays

• Top B-Schools which ask for video essays and common questions

Tip #1 – Plan your answers

• Tip #2 – Create an ideal set-up for video recording
• Tip #3 – Importance of practice
• Tip #4 – Present yourself well

Tip #5 – Don’t get tensed

Instead, you can also watch this video on expert advice from admissions officers and consultants on how to create a video essay.

What is an MBA video essay?

The reason business schools made video essays a part of the MBA application was that they were looking for more genuine responses from applicants, without any direct involvement of admissions consultants or other professionals. Below are the responses of admission committees of Rotman, Kellogg, and INSEAD on why business schools ask Video Essays as a part of their application process?

• University of Toronto’s Rotman School, the B-School, which pioneered the video essay as a part of the application process, says that the video essay allows the admissions team to screen for different aptitudes and competencies in the admissions process.
• Kellogg MBA Admissions committee, says, “the video essay provides students with an added opportunity to demonstrate what they will bring to our vibrant Kellogg community — in an interactive way.”
• According to INSEAD’s Admissions committee , the video should be a unique opportunity for students to share their passions, their motivations, and who they are. The Admissions Committee is interested in finding an authentic view of the applicant as a person, to see how a student thinks on your feet and how he/she convey ideas.

Typically, the school will provide one or more questions, and some time to think about them (around 30 – 60 seconds per question) and is then expected to provide the school with a recorded answer.

Learn the importance of MBA Essays in Business School applications

There are two types of videos an applicant may be asked to submit as a part of the MBA application.

• Questions specified in the school’s application instruction: In such questions, you will get an opportunity to prepare for the question prior. The question can vary from asking about your career path to introducing yourself to the admission committee.
• Random Questions: School will ask a random question to each student. You will be provided a time frame to think and answer the questions. You must prepare yourself with some personal situational stories that are relevant to diverse topics.
• Record offline and submit the video : Schools like MIT Sloan asks applicants to provide a video statement on the topic specified in the application instruction. Most of the school as for single take (no editing) videos not lasting more than one minute.

For some business schools such as Texas McCombs, the video essay is not mandatory to submit during application. But the student gets an optional video essay as a part of the application. If you get an optional video essay as part of the application, it is better to take it. The optional video essay is an opportunity for you to showcase your personality and the motivation to pursue an MBA program.

A video essay is one of the 5 types of MBA essays typically asked in a business school application.

Top B-Schools which ask for Video essays and common questions

Below are some of the top business schools which ask applicants to submit a video essay as a part of their admission process:

INSEAD Video Essay

After finishing your online application , you will receive an e-mail from the admission committee with a unique link to complete the video essay portion. Each applicant will be asked to record answers to 4 questions. The questions can be related to your interest in INSEAD, teamwork, diversity & culture, etc. After receiving the question, you will have 45 seconds to prepare each answer and 1 minute to record your answer.

You can practice on the INSEAD online platform before recording your answers. The practice session will have multiple questions available, and you practice as many questions as you need to feel comfortable. You can create an account on the online platform and come back later without any limit on the number of practice sessions.

Northwestern Kellogg Video Essay

Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management is the first amongst the M7 B-Schools, which popularized the video essay in the MBA admission process . After submitting your application and payment, you can access the video essay portal from your Kellogg application status page.

You will be asked to answer 3 questions. You will be given 20 seconds to think about the question and up to 1 minute to give your response. Out of 3 questions, Kellogg provides questions upfront in their application instructions for two, and one will be randomly selected question.

For the intake of 2020, the static questions given by the admission committee are, ‘Please introduce yourself to the admission committee’ and ‘What path are you interested in pursuing, how will you get there, and why is this program right for you?’.

The third question will be a behavioral type question that asks about how you handled a challenging situation in your professional or personal life. You can answer as many practice questions as required to get comfortable with format and technology in the application portal.

Yale SoM Video Essay

After submission of your application, you will receive access to the video questions portal. You will get three basic behavior-based questions as a part of the admission process . You will get 30 seconds to structure your thought and 90 seconds to respond to the questions. Like Kellogg and INSEAD, you can utilize Yale’s Video question practice tool to get familiarised with the technology.

MIT Sloan Video Essay

As a part of the MIT Sloan application , you must submit a video statement along with other documents. Unlike the other schools, where you record the video in the admission portal, in MIT Sloan video statement, you can record and upload the video at your convenience on their portal.

The video prompt is – ‘Introduce yourself to your future classmates’. The video statement must be a single take (no editing) with a duration of fewer than 60 seconds. The admission committee recommends delivering a response that includes a bit on your experience and why you chose MIT Sloan to pursue your MBA. Upload instructions are provided with the application.

Did you know a  GMAT score of 730+ yields incremental $500K in ROI ? Start your GMAT Preparation by  Signing up for our FREE Trial  and get access to FREE online GMAT preparation resources. We are the  most reviewed GMAT preparation company on GMATClub  with more than 2400 reviews.

How to prepare for video essays?

Video essays allow MBA admissions to evaluate your confidence, language skills, and capability to think on your feet. A video essay is one opportunity you can leverage to leave a long-lasting effect upon the admissions committee. The following are the top 5 tips that will help you create a better video essay for your MBA application.

Many applicants wobble when they hear ‘you have to think on your feet while facing video questions’. However, you will not feel like you’re being thrown under a bus when you see a question prompt on the screen if you create and a question bank and use a framework for your responses.

Identify personal and professional stories: You will get many practice questions from your target school’s website. You can find a part of questions school asks on the application instruction. A few business schools also mention the category under which the random question will fall into.

Many of the video essay questions fall under the why MBA/career goals, or behavioral type questions. Based on the category, you should create a repository of personal/career experiences and jot down your answers around it. When you get the opportunity, talk about why that B-School is an excellent match for your career ambition. Talk about your exact goals and how you will accomplish them through this specific program.

Learn to answer succinctly : Most of the schools ask applicants to think and answer the questions in less a minute. Try to answer questions in Situation, Action, Result (SAR) method. Answer the essay questions by using one of your personal or professional examples of a situation that you were in; the action that you took; and the result. Approaching questions in the SAR method will help you to answer concisely.

Choose words wisely : One key aspect of communication is vocabulary. You should keep your vocabulary on a professional level and choose words carefully. Avoid the usage of colloquial words, and although you are required to be formal, you should avoid the frivolous use of formality in the video essay.

Tip #2 – Create a set-up for video recording

While preparing your set-up for your video essay recording, make sure to follow the given instructions.

Choose quite and well-lit area : Make sure you choose a space where there is enough light on your face and no background noise. You should have any noise distractions while recording the video. If possible, ask a friend or family member to surveillance the area to avoid any voice distraction while you take the interview.

Recording accessories : Even though most of the schools don’t mention about the video output, it is advisable to use good quality webcam and microphone for recording your video essay. If you feel your laptop webcam output is substandard, connect an external webcam to record the video. When you choose the microphone, make sure your voice is audible properly. You must record a sample video and test the quality of the video, audio output, and the lighting.

Make sure your devices don’t take away your attention : Before starting the interview, make sure your mobile phone is on Do not disturb mode and close all unnecessary computer applications and browser tabs.

Chose plain background : While recording, it is advisable to choose a single color background. If there are too many elements behind you, the viewer may lose focus away from your presentation.

Keep a notepad and pen handy : In most of the essay questions, you will get less one minute to structure your thought before delivering the answer. You may need to keep a notepad and a pen ready in the table to jot down the main points and supporting examples you want to deliver while answering.

Tip #3 – Practice makes perfect

Once you have the question bank, learned how to respond in a crisp & clear manner, and set up your recording area, it is now time to practice and perfect your responses.

Using a camera, film yourself giving the response to the questions you have on your list. Filming the responses will help to introspect the style in which you respond. Start evaluating the video after at least a few hours have passed. While evaluating, make sure you are not saying fillers like “like..” and “umm…”. Hemming and hawing create the impression of being unprepared.

Check your posture and facial expressions while answering the questions. If you are not satisfied with the first take, do retakes, till you get the desired output. Send your final production to people you trust for critique. It is the best way to figure out what kind of judgments a person will make while evaluating your video essay.

Another way to practice is to get the help of a friend and replicate the video essay set-up at your home. Provide your question bank to your friend and connect for a video call through applications like Skype with your friend. Make sure he/she switches off the video. This mock video essay activity is an excellent exercise for you to get rid of camera shyness and improve your confidence.

Some B-Schools have portals where an applicant can practice video essay questions before starting the official attempt of essay questions. Using this portal is the best way to get a hold on the type of questions asked and get familiarised with B-School’s video essay recording platform.

During your final recording, you may get a situational question, choose whether one of your stories can help you answer the question. Also, be ready to think swiftly because some questions are genuinely random. The best response is to be authentic, so be yourself and don’t overthink things. While practicing with your friend, you can instruct him to ask a question that is out of your question bank to get used to such random questions.

Tip #4 – Present yourself well

Dress Professionally : The video essay is a professional video, and it is considered as a ‘pre-interview’ communication with the Admissions Committee. Because of the same reason, it is important to dress professionally.

Avoid excess motion : The video should be conversational like a speech. So, you should avoid excessive gesturing and movement throughout the recording of your video essay.

Speak Clearly with proper enunciation :  Make sure you do not narrate the whole essay expressionlessly. You should take enough pauses in between to emphasize your words and thoughts to encourage the admissions committee to accept you as a serious applicant. You must deliver the response in a fluid tone and pitch that carries your conviction and passion.

Mind your body language : It is a vital aspect to pay attention to during your video essay. You should keep in mind to sit straight throughout the recording. The best way to identify issues with your body language is by filming yourself, giving the response to some of the questions in your list, and analyzing them. Practicing while correcting such errors will remove nervousness and nervous ticks before sitting down for the final take.

Position the camera : Make sure you do not lean forward or put your head down to face the camera. Position the webcam to your eye level to deliver the answer with your head straight. Always make sure you look into the camera while responding.

Using a camera, film yourself responding to a few questions on your list. Evaluate your background, lighting, and outfit to make sure they look good.

You aced the GMAT, curated an impressive resume, got your letters of recommendation, filled out your entire application, and checked it thrice. You crossed all the hard checkpoints. For video essay, it is just one mantra – be your best self. When it’s showtime, let yourself relax and enjoy the experience. As you respond to the questions to the questions, don’t forget to smile.

Avoid these MBA application mistakes and make it to your dream business school.

Key Takeaways | How to Prepare for MBA Video Essays

• Video Essays are an opportunity for the admission committee to evaluate your interpersonal skills and determine your ‘fit’ for an MBA program.
• Video essay questions can be related to your personal and career experience, your post-MBA goals, and Why MBA?
• Prepare for your Video Essays by creating a framework and identifying stories from your personal and professional life that relate to the above topics.
• Many business schools offer the option to practice video essays and familiarise yourself with the process. Take advantage of this opportunity.

An increasing number of B-Schools have started to integrate video essays into their MBA applications. In a video essay, you are not expected to be scripted. You are expected to be prepared. The admission committee hopes applicants who are not great on paper will have a chance to shine and exhibit their personality that is not seen elsewhere in a traditional application. With structured preparation, you can make an outstanding video essay without it getting on your nerves.

About The Author

Nayeem Noor

Don't miss these.

Helpful posts Curated just for you!

You might also like

Browse Related Topics

Take a free diagnostic SIGma-X mock test

Gauge your section-wise ability and get started with your gmat prep.

Adaptive mock test with ESR+ analysis

400+ practice questions with detailed solutions, 10+ hours of ai-driven video lessons.

Take the first step to score 740+

6 Northwestern Essay Examples & Why Northwestern (2023)

Writing your Northwestern supplemental essays can be tricky, but they're important because your responses can have a big effect on your application chances.

Along with your personal statement essays , Northwestern offers students the chance to respond to a "Why Northwestern" essay prompt as part of its writing supplement.

In this article, I've gathered 6 essays that worked that helped get students admitted into Northwestern recently.

What is Northwestern University's Acceptance Rate?

Getting into Northwestern is quite difficult. Last year, a record 51,554 students applied to Northwestern.

And Northwestern had an overall admit rate of only 7%. Or in other words, about 1 in 13 students get accepted.

Northwestern University Acceptance Scattergram

To get into Northwestern, you've got to stand out from the crowd, which you can do by writing a strong writing supplement section.

What are the Northwestern Supplemental Prompts for 2022-23?

The Northwestern writing supplement for this year only asks one essay question of 300 words: Why Northwestern?

''Why Northwestern'' Statement :

While other parts of your application give us a sense of who you are, we are also excited to hear more about how you see yourself engaging with the larger Northwestern community.

In 300 words or less, help us understand how you might engage specific resources, opportunities, and/or communities here. We are curious about what these specifics are, as well as how they may enrich your time at Northwestern and beyond.

6 Northwestern University EssaysThatWorked

Here are 6 of the best Northwestern essays that worked, including example essays for the "Why Northwestern" statement prompt.

I've also included some great Common App essays from admitted Northwestern students.

Get inspired and start writing your "Why" statement with the help of these examples.

• Northwestern University Essay Example #1
• Northwestern University Essay Example #2
• Northwestern University Essay Example #3
• Northwestern University Essay Example #4
• Northwestern University Essay Example #5
• Northwestern University Essay Example #6

"Why Northwestern?" Essay Example #1

Prompt: "Why Northwestern" Statement:

In 300 words or less, help us understand how you might engage specific resources, opportunities, and/or communities here. We are curious about what these specifics are, as well as how they may enrich your time at Northwestern and beyond. (300 words max)

I love Northwestern’s academic flexibility, including the freedom of the curriculum to explore a variety of fields and the emphasis on cross-department study. Also, the quarter system provides a faster pace of learning and the opportunity to take more classes than a semester school.

Specifically, I am excited by the Spanish and Portuguese department and the classes on Hispanic and Lusophone culture, literature, and phonetics. For example, the accelerated Portuguese program is a perfect way to pick up the language at a faster pace using my prior knowledge of Spanish. I intend to supplement my language acquisition through the study abroad programs offered at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro or an affiliate program in Santiago, Chile. Additionally, the GESI program in Costa Rica is another intriguing opportunity through its intersectionality. It will allow me to combine a practical application of my language skills with studies in environmental conservation that I find a pressing and interesting issue. As an open-minded learner keen to forge links between academic fields of study, I believe I would be an excellent fit for the program.

I am also interested in Linguistics and pursuing undergraduate research or possibly undertaking the coterminal BA/MA program. The opportunity to link my research to a modern language of choice and investigate, for example, regional variation in Latin American Spanish or how Portuguese loanwords have infiltrated native Amazonian languages sounds fascinating and exciting.

Finally, the unique sense of community at Northwestern captivated me when I visited campus. The residential college system, the school spirit at Wildcat games, and the friendliness of the students I met, one of whom described the school as “the most welcoming place ever”, were all emblematic of this atmosphere for me. I think I will thrive in such a dynamic and inquisitive place.

"Why Northwestern?" Essay Example #2

The only reason I fear going for lunch in a hotel is probably because I wouldn’t choose between fried chicken and roasted meat and so is my dilemma over my college major. The multifaceted whole brain approach at McCormick, however, grants me the perfect opportunity to pursue my interest in Computer Science whilst acquiring the appropriate skills in entrepreneurship to a one day startup as an innovator.

As a NU computer scientist, I particularly look forward to Software Development EECS 473 – NUvention: Web, through which I would not only learn intricacies of Software development, but have related studies in real time software development in relation to market requirements in CS+X that would form a base for a startup. That would also provide a bridge for me to join Prof Todd Warren at Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation where I would specifically join the NUvention; Web + Media. Through this unparalleled program I would have the intimacy of working in a team with fellow wild cats towards an innovative business project. The results of which will be an introduction to the Northwestern Innovation and New Ventures Office (INVO) through which I look forward to gaining practical exposure in launching businesses to the general public.

Outside McCormick, I would be excited to pursue the Managerial analytics Certificate program at Kellogg to acquire intelligent business management skills, let off steam at SPARK exploring hacks while fostering entrepreneurial habits, and eventually joining preparations for the Benedictine Eagle Invite at the Henry Crown Sport’s Pavilion (SPAC) with the NU track club. I may not the best of singers, but I do have intense phases of music obsessions and where best to let it off than taking non major classes at Bienen and, joining one of the numerous Acapella groups as I await Armadillo day!

"Why Northwestern?" Essay Example #3

Why Northwestern? Because this introduction was so difficult to write; because I cannot possibly summarize these reasons in one introductory sentence. Simply put, my interests span across a wide range, and Northwestern has a place for them all.

As an enthusiastic programmer and advocate for positive minority representation in the media, I hope to combine both these interests and conduct research on the influence of media on society. To my delight as a prospective communications major, the School of Communication's research labs showcase project topics ranging from the depiction of STEM in media to improving digital communication. I look forward to taking advantage of the high-quality research, internship and even career opportunities offered to explore my ideas.

My multiple passions keep me creative and energetic, and I plan to continue pursuing them at Northwestern. With years of editing and writing experience for school publications under my belt, for instance, I hope to join the staff of Helicon and North by Northwestern . Last but not least is the constant school spirit and sense of inclusion present within campus. During my campus tour, each tour guide seemed genuinely excited to introduce prospective students to the school. As my particular tour guide described the quarter system and tradition of guarding and painting the rock with passion in her eyes, I knew that only at Northwestern could I find students as enthusiastic about the school itself as they are about their majors. I also spotted many students of color while visiting; as an Asian woman, Northwestern's focus on diversifying reassures me that not only will I not be judged for my background, but that I will get to meet students of all ethnicities and cultures.

College is a time of self-discovery, and I firmly believe I can see my dreams become reality at Northwestern.

Learn the secrets of successful top-20 college essays

Join 4,000+ students and parents that already receive our 5-minute free newsletter , packed with top-20 essay examples, writing tips & tricks, and step-by-step guides.

"Why Northwestern?" Essay Example #4

I felt the cold sheets beneath me and the beeping sounds of a monitor next to my bed, my chest moving up and down and my body sinking into the mattress. I opened my eyes and was greeted with a plastic surgeon holding the cyst that was once in the corner of my eye. Medicine, I decided, was my destiny.

Flash forward to 8th grade, the year I decided to read 100 books. Emerson, John Green, Ernest Cline--you name the author, I read them. I became instantly inspired to learn to write like the wonderful authors I had read. So, writing, I decided (maybe), was my destiny.

Wait--or was it medicine? Well, perhaps it can be both.

The thing I find most striking about Northwestern is its emphasis on the word “AND.” Northwestern students can love computer science AND music theory, poetry AND Latin History, journalism AND business--I can love science AND English. At Northwestern, my interests would not be hindered by strict and unwavering guidelines. Rather, they could be effortlessly streamlined and integrated into one another. I could go from ​PSYCH 361--Brain Damage and the Mind to ENG 206 - Reading and Writing Poetry to Carol Clayberger’s Lab to continue my extensive research on T-lymphocytes, similar to that I conducted at UPMC. I would be learning each level of the human psyche, communicating my thoughts through writing, and putting them into action through my research.

At Northwestern, I plan to take advantage of the various resources that would enable me to pursue my passions, find new ones, and combine them into one, pulling from both sides of my brain. I know that I am right for Northwestern and Northwestern is right for me because we have a mutual understanding of what education should look like--emphasis on “AND,” not “OR.”

"Why Northwestern?" Essay Example #5

Think Purple: Aspiring journalist dreams of being a Wildcat F​iled under ​A​dmissions​, ​Top Stories

After brochure browsing, website wandering, and campus canvassing what felt like hundreds of different schools, it took Daisy Conant exactly 32 seconds on the Northwestern University campus to realize she had found the one.

“Northwestern is undefinable in the best way, an addicting hub of intellectuality, creativity, and school spirit - something especially appealing to a football lover,” laughed Conant. “But what excites me most about NU is the opportunity to study at the Medill School of Journalism.”

A writer with hopes of becoming a foreign correspondent, Conant has always been drawn to people and their stories, especially those completely unfamiliar to herself and her experiences. Once learning she could start on day one at Medill acquiring investigative journalism experience writing an enterprise story and end on day 600 with a journalism residency and international experience already under her belt, she was hooked.

“Conducting groundbreaking research on the socioeconomic disparities in the CPS system for the Medill Justice Project, spending a semester abroad reporting on cultural crisis in Greece, interning at the Post - at Medill, my options are boundless,” remarked Conant. “I could explore the world of print news writing in-focuses for the Daily Northwestern, dabble in magazine editing laying out spreads for North by Northwestern, even try my hand at broadcast reporting for WNUR.”

A journalist at heart, Conant is fascinated with the intersections of other disciplines. As an NU student she would be free to engage her passions for international studies and business through outside concentrations in addition to investigative journalism, uncovering the adventures (and discovering the tenacious Wildcats) that lie between Evanston and the shores of Lake Michigan. “My story is just beginning,” said Conant. “And Northwestern is the perfect lede.”

Northwestern Essay Example #6

Prompt: Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (100-250 words)

I held my breath as my trembling fingers, made for the enter key, my eyes glued to the screen savoring every moment. In a split of a second, the results of my sleepless nights were imprinted on the screen.

>>>syntax error

I felt my eyes became watery but I quickly forged a smile convincing myself I wasn’t about to cry.

However disappointed I felt that moment, it wasn’t something new to me. I am not a natural programmer and I have failed more than a million times when running my codes. In fact, I have gotten used to failing, that anytime I get it right on the first attempt I assume I got lucky and I redo the code. Every time I get a syntax error I have eventually learned something new from the code. It’s at these moments that I have learnt more about my world.

Through coding, I have learnt to appreciate shortcomings in life as room for improvements. I have come to understand being raised in a camp in Chalbi dessert is a chance for me to have the first-hand experience of what needs to be done to make the world a better place. I stopped being disappointed I was born in a less tech-savvy country and seen it as an opportunity for me to create an impact with the much I have learnt. I understand with every syntax error, every life obstacle, I learn and take a step closer to a perfect code, achieving my dreams.

What Can You Learn From These Northwestern Essays?

These 6 Northwestern essays that worked show you exactly what it takes to write successful "Why Northwestern?" essays. Answering the "Why Northwestern" statement as best you can is the key to having a successful Northwestern application.

What did you think of these Northwestern essays?

Ryan Chiang , Founder of EssaysThatWorked

Want to read more amazing essays that worked for top schools?

Hey! 👋 I'm Ryan Chiang, the founder of EssaysThatWorked.

Get our 5-minute free newsletter packed with essay tips and college admissions resources, backed by real-life examples from admitted students at top-20 schools.

Meet the Author

Ryan Chiang

I'm Ryan Chiang and I created EssaysThatWorked - a website dedicated to helping students write college essays they're proud of. We publish the best college admissions essays from successful applicants every year to inspire and teach future students.

You might also like:

12 Best Stanford Supplemental Essays That Worked 2023

9 Tufts University EssaysThatWorked

8 Notre Dame EssaysThatWorked

4 University of Southern California (USC) EssaysThatWorked

What do outstanding essays have in common? Here are our 23 most effective strategies based on lessons from admitted students.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

By signing up you agree to Terms and Privacy Policy

Now available for November 2023 ...

The College Essay Workshop

Join my on-demand step-by-step course for crafting outstanding college admissions essays, plus 1-on-1 help.

Here's everything needed to write essays worthy of Top-20 colleges.

Google Rating

Join our students who have earned acceptances to schools like...

See exactly how students wrote admitted essays for top schools.

Our 231 essay examples show you how ordinary students wrote outstanding essays that helped their applications - all in their own words.

These aren’t just essay examples - but real acceptance stories, from real students who share their most intimate details with you - down to their real essays and exact profiel stats.

How do I find a unique topic? How do I write a great essay? And how do I stand out?

Our 231 essay examples break down these exact questions. Every type of essay prompt, student, and school.

You’ll realize these students are just like you - and that, deep down, you can do it too.

Princeton Admitted Essay

People love to ask why. Why do you wear a turban? Why do you have long hair? Why are you playing a guitar with only 3 strings and watching TV at 3 A.M.—where did you get that cat? Why won’t you go back to your country, you terrorist? My answer is... uncomfortable. Many truths of the world are uncomfortable...

MIT Admitted Essay

Her baking is not confined to an amalgamation of sugar, butter, and flour. It's an outstretched hand, an open invitation, a makeshift bridge thrown across the divides of age and culture. Thanks to Buni, the reason I bake has evolved. What started as stress relief is now a lifeline to my heritage, a language that allows me to communicate with my family in ways my tongue cannot. By rolling dough for saratele and crushing walnuts for cornulete, my baking speaks more fluently to my Romanian heritage than my broken Romanian ever could....

UPenn Admitted Essay

A cow gave birth and I watched. Staring from the window of our stopped car, I experienced two beginnings that day: the small bovine life and my future. Both emerged when I was only 10 years old and cruising along the twisting roads of rural Maryland...

Over 200 more admitted essays like these...

Learn the secrets behind outstanding application essays.

College essays are confusing. And it's not your fault. You're not taught how to write them in school.

How should I structure my essay? Can I use humor? What makes a truly great essay?

There's so much conflicting advice out there.

And with people selling "magic formulas" and "structures" to follow... it's easy to be led astray.

You’ll get access to courses, live events, a dedicated essay coach, and countless resources to help you write your best essays.

You finally have a place where you can ask these questions, get advice, and see exactly how admitted students before you did it.

You’re no longer figuring out everything on your own. You're no longer stuck wondering.

Everything you get

231 essays analyzed

Explore our database of 200+ admitted essays from top-20 colleges. Filter by prompt, school, topic, word count, and more. Get expert insights into why they worked and what you can learn from them.

Exclusive access to essay editing

You'll get access to our essay editing services, which is only offered for members. You can get your essays reviewed personally by me (Ryan). I'll give you detailed feedback on how to improve your essays and make them stand out.

Dedicated essay coach & support

You'll get access to our private community, where you can ask questions and get help from me directly. I'll be there to answer your questions and provide unlimited personalized advice.

44 in-depth video lessons

Learn the secrets behind outstanding essays. We break down the entire process, from brainstorming to writing and editing. You'll learn how to write amazing college essays for any prompt, with step-by-step guides and actionable tips.

26 downloadable guides

Get our best tips and tricks in easy-to-read guides. Learn what makes great essays, how to brainstorm your best topics, and how to write specific parts like a powerful hook and memorable ending.

Tons of bonuses

Get the Ultimate College Application Planner, my 154-Point Essay Checklist, and more. You'll also get a free copy of my eBooks, including 23 College Essay Tips to Stand Out and more.

Don't take our word for it

Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of our students and parents.

" Ryan, I want to express our great appreciation to you for your help on George's application essays. You have provided invaluable resources! P.S. I will certainly recommend you to our friends. "

" Ryan—David got into The University of Michigan!!! Only 4 kids got in out of 200 that applied at his school!!! Thank you so so much for everything "

" Thank you for the incredible help Ryan - both Hannah and I have said repeatedly that we could not have done it without you! "

" Thank you for your help with my essays back in November, including my Yale supplements. Just wanted to let you know I ended up getting into and committing to Yale! "

" I feel so much more reassured to press the submit button now. I wish I knew about your site sooner! "

" ... Invaluable to me during the college admissions process! It gave me a different perspective to look at my essays. "

" Initially I was skeptical about my essay's idea and whether it was properly reflected in my writing. This gave me a clear direction! "

Don't miss out on writing your best college essays.

© 2018- 2023 Essays That Worked . All rights reserved.

Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms and Conditions , Privacy Policy , and Cookie Policy .

We have no affiliation with any university or colleges on this site. All product names, logos, and brands are the property of their respective owners.

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

3 Inspiring Northwestern Essay Examples

What’s covered:, essay example #1 – why northwestern, music and business, essay example #2 – why northwestern, farming, essay example #3 – why northwestern, civil engineering, where to get your northwestern essays edited.

Northwestern University, located in Evanston, IL, is one of the top colleges in the country. With a total enrollment of over 20,000 and a suburban location, many students across the country look to call Northwestern home. This university offers six undergraduate schools, over 200 programs of study, over 4,700 undergraduate courses, and three, rather than two, academic terms to give students more opportunities to explore their academic interests. 

Since it’s such a competitive school, your application needs to shine. One of the most important parts of your application is your supplemental essays. In this post, we’ll share two essays from real students who applied to Northwestern and cover what each did well and should improve upon. 

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. 

Read our Northwestern essay breakdown to get a comprehensive overview of this year’s supplemental prompts. 

Prompt: While other parts of your application give us a sense of who you are, we are also excited to hear more about how you see yourself engaging with the larger Northwestern community.

In 300 words or less, help us understand how you might engage specific resources, opportunities, and/or communities here. We are curious about what these specifics are, as well as how they may enrich your time at Northwestern and beyond. (300 words)

The Venn diagram of my life encompasses many different passions; however, none are as prominent as the dichotomy of business and music. 

On the left side of my Venn diagram lies business, my primary pursuit at Northwestern. While not a traditional business major, economics will allow me to gain a deep understanding of the fluctuation of markets and how it impacts our everyday lives. As an aspiring business owner, courses such as Microeconomics I and Microeconomics II will provide valuable insight into profitable business decisions and their effects on the company. Additionally, by minoring in entrepreneurship, I will receive more guidance on starting a company. To further explore this interest, I will join the club Lending for Evanston and Northwestern Development (LEND) to see the innerworkings of small businesses as well as give back to my Northwestern community.

Contrarily, the right side of my Venn diagram holds my passion for music. With ten years of experience playing the guitar and many more years exploring different styles and genres, music has always played a big role in my life. During my time at Northwestern, I have no desire to change that. With the flexibility allowed in the curriculum, I will take courses such as Harmony, Form and Analysis, and Class Composition to cultivate my love of music composition and performance.

Ordinarily, two seemingly unrelated passions in life can be hard to intertwine; however, Northwestern will encourage the combination of my love for business and music. By providing opportunities like LEND and Microeconomics courses, I will be able to gain the necessary tools to become a business owner at no expense to my musical endeavors. Although the two sides of my Venn diagram are separate, the overlap in the middle is where I want to be: Northwestern.

What the Essay Did Well

A strength of this “Why School?” essay is the Venn diagram analogy that runs throughout the response. Not only is this a clever way to address two seemingly unrelated interests, but the student does a nice job of incorporating the analogy into every paragraph, rather than using it as a hook and abandoning it until the conclusion. Having it continue through the essay makes the response feel much more cohesive.

This student also does a good job fully addressing the prompt in the business paragraph. They include an academic (Microeconomics) and non-academic (LEND) opportunity they hope to engage with and how taking advantage of that resource will help them in the future by sharing their dream to be an entrepreneur. Northwestern is looking for active community members, so discussing opportunities both inside and outside the classroom is a good way to demonstrate how you will contribute to the campus. The student ran out of space to go into the same level of detail for the music paragraph, so it’s important to remember to allocate space properly while still fully answering the prompt.

What Could Be Improved

Ultimately, the biggest thing missing from this essay is this student’s motivation. While we know what their two primary interests are and how they intend to expand on those interests at Northwestern, the crucial element the essay doesn’t touch on is why they are passionate about business and music. Including the why is what would take this essay from good to great.

What does that look like? They could share their first experience with either subject and the feelings that it sparked. Or, describe the way they lose themselves when engaging with a topic they are passionate about. Maybe the student would explain how music and business stirs up nostalgia or brings them closer to others in their life. There are many ways to delve into the emotional connection behind your academic and extracurricular interests, just make sure what you write is genuine to you.

One other thing this essay should have avoided is restating opportunities that were already discussed in the final paragraph. Every word counts in college essays, especially when you only have 300 words, so do not waste your space discussing things you already shared. While it can sometimes work to bring back ideas in your conclusion for extra emphasis, in an essay like this, avoid restating specific classes and programs to make the essay less redundant. 

Prompt:  While other parts of your application give us a sense of who you are, we are also excited to hear more about how you see yourself engaging with the larger Northwestern community.

For as long as I can remember, I have seen my parents, both farmers, struggling to produce food because of the challenges presented by the environment. Joining Northwestern’s community, and majoring in Environmental Engineering, will allow me to understand what are the reasons behind climate change and learn how to stop them and/or prevent them from happening. 

Having witnessed how plant diseases affect crops, I would like to collaborate in the PLANT-Dx project and in its widespread application. I strongly believe that it will be able to help farmers to improve the quality and quantity of their production, and reduce famine around the world. At some point in my education, I want to take advantage of the study-abroad programs Northwestern has to offer and learn about farming practices in a different part of the world. In addition, I want to conduct research on sustainable alternative farming methods that adapt to the new environmental conditions and that can be practiced in countries with fewer resources.

Apart from having access to outstanding professors, rigorous academics, and cutting-edge research resources, I will be able to be part of a close-knit community genuinely curious about others’ activities, truly passionate about what they do, and not afraid to step out of their comfort zone to make of this world a better place. Being part of Engineers for a Sustainable World at Northwestern will allow me to get to know people that share one of my passions in addition to learning and teaching how to apply sustainable practices in daily life.  

I am already looking forward to marching through the Weber Arch. 

This essay, in responding to the same “Why School?” prompt as above, does a good job of establishing a direct connection between the student and their intended major. By telling the reader right off the bat that they have personally been affected by a lack of agricultural solutions, we understand how much this student could gain from a degree in environmental engineering. That connection is strengthened with the inclusion of opportunities that span a range of disciplines—project teams, studying abroad, conducting research, and social communities—but all directly correlate to their interest in sustainable farming.

It’s very clear what this student hopes to get out of their Northwestern education and how they plan to make a difference in the world. The last part of the prompt wants to know how the resources you discuss will impact you beyond your college career, so this student’s elaboration on what they will get out of each opportunity shows the reader how they will benefit from being at Northwestern, without having to explicitly spell out the direct impact each resource has on their future.  

While this essay includes four Northwestern opportunities that nicely relate back to this student’s passion, they could have used more detail and elaboration to make the essay more specific.

For example, they should have mentioned a specific country or region of the world they hope to study abroad in that piqued their interest because of a unique farming practice or a particular need for innovation. Additionally, they described the type of research they want to conduct, but it would have been great if they included the name of a Northwestern faculty member or class that focuses on that research to show that they can only fully realize their goals at Northwestern.

Another way this essay could be improved is with more sophisticated language. The student relies on “I” statements (“I have”, “I want”, “I believe”, etc) that separate the reader from the author. Rather than feeling like we have been invited into the mind of the student who just shares their thoughts, they are telling us what they want and think, almost as if they are a third person. Great college essays should read like a transcript of a student’s thoughts and feelings, which is much easier to convey with more sophisticated and intentional language.

In my everyday life I often find myself considering how things around me could be better designed. Generally these are insignificant issues, like a poorly designed door handle or an un-ergonomic chair. Other times, however, the issues are on a grander scale. A traffic light that causes never ending backups. A public bus transport system that forces the primarily lower income students that use it to choose between getting help after school or having to wait until an evening bus. It is the opportunity to fix those design problems that gravitates me towards civil engineering. Because of this, I am especially excited about the opportunities Northwestern offers to gain experience in engineering while helping local and global communities. By participating in a program like the Civic Engagement Certificate, I will be able to begin achieving my career goal of bettering communities through civil engineering as I am completing my education.

Within civil engineering I am most interested in transportation engineering. Because of this, Northwestern’s pioneering transport center is a huge draw for me. Past research at the center such as work on utilizing the network-like structure of urban areas to improve school bus routing truly excites me, and I would love to participate in similar research in the future. Northwestern’s transportation and logistics minor is also a unique offering that I would love to take advantage of. By combining engineering and economics in such an interdisciplinary program, the minor would expand my horizons as an engineer and better prepare me to tackle the socio-economic challenges facing communities. 

Northwestern’s strong commitment to social justice and emphasis on innovation and community improvement perfectly align with my career goals and what draws me to civil engineering. Combined with extremely prestigious academics, these commitments make the Northwestern experience a perfect fit for my future.

This third “Why School?” essay makes an excellent use of the limited space and is able to provide the reader with details about their background interest in civic engineering, the unique opportunities they can only take advantage of at Northwestern, and how they hope to make a positive difference in the world. It’s concise and every sentence included is intentional and contributes to the narrative, thus making it quick and engaging to read.

Although the student only includes three Northwestern resources, they demonstrate their knowledge of those resources and how each opportunity directly relates to the student’s interest and future career aspirations. Discussing the past research the center has conducted that directly relates to their passion mentioned in the introduction is a great way to show exactly how the student would fit into the community. Additionally, they explain the economics requirement of the minor and how that would allow them to more effectively pursue their career. 

Overall, this essay very nicely encapsulates how this student will engage with the Northwestern community and how the Northwestern community will enrich the student for the future. There is a nice balance between what they hope to do in the short-run (in college) and long-run (post-grad), combined with enough background details in the introduction to understand what drives this student to pursue civic engineering. 

This essay does an excellent job of showing us what this student’s interest is and exactly how they plan to pursue it at Northwestern, but this prompt does specifically ask for opportunities and resources. To better address the prompt, the student should have included one or two more Northwestern-specific opportunities in their response. 

An easy way to add in additional opportunities without taking up too much space is to include the names of classes or professors. This could work in nicely by mentioning one of the required classes for the transportation and logistics minor that interests them, or listing one or two faculty members at the center that the student is excited to work with. 

While CollegeVine normally cautions against name-dropping in these types of essays, given how flushed out and detailed the other opportunities already are, incorporating the names of professors or classes into these opportunities would bolster the response, rather than detracting from it. As long as the elaboration is already there, adding more details will help to show your dedication to and excitement for the school.

Do you want feedback on your Northwestern essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

The Video Essay: Celebrating an Exciting New Literary Form

• Student Experience
• Weinberg College

EVANSTON, Ill. --- TriQuarterly, Northwestern University’s celebrated literary journal that moved to an online format three years ago, is among the leading literary outlets of the video essay, an exciting new literary form.

"Today's digital technology gives writers unprecedented creative freedom," said Northwestern faculty member John Bresland, who curates the online journal’s video essays. An award-winning essayist working in video, radio and print, he equates the impact of 21st century technology on creativity to the invention of the printing press.

TriQuarterly, an international journal of writing, art and cultural inquiry, is part of Northwestern's degree program in creative writing, one of the nation's few part-time graduate writing programs. The latest issue of the magazine is twice the usual size, and it features a piece by noted author Ron Carlson as well. 

See the new Summer/Fall 2013 issue of TriQuarterly online. 

Writers of every genre who have composed on the page for decades -- novelist Bill Roorbach, essayist and Northwestern faculty member Eula Biss, poet Joe Wenderoth -- now also author works for the screen. Variations of this fast-emerging form of expression are taught in institutions of higher education across the country. 

When Bresland surveyed the curricula of 30 major universities, he found nearly all offered classes similar to video essay courses he teaches in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and School of Continuing Studies. But what he calls video essay, another university might label "experimental media," "multimedia storytelling" or "writing with video." 

That lack of uniformity reminds Bresland that turn-of-the-century cars were once called horseless carriages. "In 1885, we could only name this invention with familiar terms -- part horse, part buggy -- though clearly it was a radically new category that reordered the landscape," he said. 

As today’s literary landscape is reordered by digital technology, TriQuarterly is embracing not just the video essay but a form of visual poetry called “cinepoetry,” a term borrowed from avant-garde photographer Man Ray. When TQ’s latest edition launches July 15, it will include a suite of five video essays and “cinepoems.” 

Bresland’s personal site  is jam-packed with video essays and writings about the new genre, including his highly influential  “On the Origin of the Video Essay.” We talked with Bresland and asked him to expand on this revolutionary literary development. 

How are mobile technologies revolutionizing the essay?

The screen of an iPad, for example, isn’t just a substitute for paper. It’s a canvas, a movie screen, an animation studio, a keyboard, a guitar, a microphone, a mixing board. The mobile devices we now use to collect our thoughts and memories don’t care whether we compose using words or images or sounds or all three. I believe the act of writing will always be, as writer Don DeLillo describes it, a concentrated form of thinking. But I also believe that fewer authors in the years ahead will choose to stop at the printed word.”

How do your students respond to this new literary form?  

They go bright-eyed when you tell them writing doesn’t mean strictly words on a page. Most own a mobile device capable of acquiring video and sound. They delight in making sense of their world using the full arsenal of sensory input -- image, text, sound, voice. Not that it’s all wine and roses. I think most students realize, in the end, that no matter the medium, the heavy lifting of real thinking can’t be avoided. 

Where is the video essay appearing?

Today I know of about a dozen literary journals that feature video essays and poems; 10 years ago there were none. I believe Blackbird and Ninth Letter were the first to realize the possibilities of a new kind of literature conveyed with image and sound, yet still had language at its core. Press Play is doing some thrilling work in the form, perhaps altering the rules of engagement between critic and film. TriQuarterly has featured video essays for 18 months. 

Can you describe some the video essays or cinepoems that have appeared in TQ?

One of my favorites is Dinty W. Moore’s “ History ." Moore is an accomplished essayist who I knew could take great photographs but had never before worked in video. “History” is a memoir assembled from the faces of strangers he photographed in Scotland. It’s just a moving, gorgeous work. 

TriQuarterly often features the still image in video essays. Angela Mears’ “ You Are Here ” and Bill Roorbach’s “ Starflower ” are short, brilliant essays built around a single still, and intense meditations likely to alter the viewer’s relationship to that image. 

Kristen Radtke’s “ That Kind of Daughter ” is another great video essay. Visually it’s animated as a cut-out, one of the oldest animation techniques there is, just flat shapes arranged within a frame. But the text is so good and so densely lyrical and personal that it takes your breath away.

I also really love “ Wolfvision ” by Robin Schiff, who recently had a poem in The New Yorker, and Nick Twemlow. Assembled from Schiff’s text and from video that Twemlow gleaned from YouTube, “Wolfvision” is a haunting and beautiful essay, if it’s an essay. I do think the video essay lends itself to poetry, often skirting the line separating these two genre categories, if such a line really exists.  

Are there other subgenres of the video essay?

There are at least two that have been getting a lot of attention the past couple years. One, which tends to go viral -- no doubt because it’s such a pleasure to experience -- is the video essay made up entirely of clips from previously released films, often held together and enriched by a sustained voiceover track. A wonderful recent work by Kevin B. Lee, called “ The Spielberg Face ” is a wall-to-wall compilation of reaction shots from the famous director’s body of work -- full of moments like the one in “Jaws” when Sheriff Brody first sees the shark, right before he utters the greatest line in the history of deadpan. 

Aaron Aradillas and Matt Zoller Seitz have consistently produced compulsively watchable, insightful video essays about the credit sequences of David Fincher films, say, or “Rocky III,” as a test-bed for the popular films of the 1980s that followed it. What’s key is that critics have found a new venue for talking about film that’s not on the page -- their voices overlay the films themselves. It’s the perfect match of subject and form. Before the advent of online video in 2006 or so, this never would have been possible.

Another subgenre popping up all over academia is a hybrid of the personal essay and the old-school academic essay. A few years ago, Tufts University invited applicants to submit video essays that said “something about you.”  Some 1,000 applicants took up the challenge. On the strength of Tufts’ video essay buzz, the number of applicants surged to its highest level in a generation. And now there’s not an admissions dean in America who hasn’t taken note. Dartmouth’s dean of admissions told National Public Radio that there’s no stopping video: “It’s the language of this generation.” As more and more media savvy students enter the academy, more teachers are compelled to speak that language. 

Are there already “masters” of the video essay?

I’ve always loved Agnes Varda, who looks like this nice old French lady but, in fact, makes fierce essays for the screen. Her best might be “The Gleaners and I,” which came out in 2000 and caused something of a sensation in France and was popular here, too. Maybe we’re hungry for films that make us do more than “feel” -- we want to think, too, and we want to act on our convictions. 

Chris Marker’s 1983 “Sans Soleil” is another classic film essay that, like any great work of art, seems to change as we change. But the greats don’t all have French passports. Ross McElwee has been releasing personal film-essays for decades -- “Time Indefinite” in 1993 and “Bright Leaves” in 2003 are among my favorites. What these filmmakers have in common is a knack for making smart, literate films that invite the viewer to co-create meaning. Most films today don’t leave any room for the viewer’s imagination. The smallness of the video essay, the fact that it tends to be the work of a single author or just one or two collaborators, can result in a work that’s less interested in a commercial payoff and more interested in asking difficult questions of others and of ourselves. 

Editor’s Picks

This algorithm makes robots perform better

‘the night watchman’ named next one book selection, six northwestern faculty elected to american academy of arts and sciences, related stories.

The childhood of Hans Christian Andersen explored in musical at Northwestern University

Northwestern academy supports evanston students, trethewey named to the academy of american poets.

Educate your inbox

Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else.

Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm.

Annie Ma, Associated Press Annie Ma, Associated Press

Collin Binkley, Associated Press Collin Binkley, Associated Press

Leave your feedback

• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-leaders-of-rutgers-ucla-northwestern-testify-on-antisemitism-on-college-campuses-in-house-hearing

WATCH: Leaders of Rutgers, UCLA, Northwestern testify on antisemitism on college campuses in House hearing

WASHINGTON (AP) — The presidents of Northwestern and Rutgers universities defended their decisions to end pro-Palestinian encampments through negotiations rather than police force, telling a House committee on Thursday that they defused the danger without ceding ground to protesters.

Watch the hearing in the player above.

“We had to get the encampment down,” Northwestern’s Michael Schill said. “The police solution was not going to be available to us to keep people safe, and also may not be the wisest solution as we’ve seen at other campuses across the country.”

Schill and Jonathan Holloway of Rutgers were called before the House Education and the Workforce Committee as part of a series of hearings examining how colleges have responded to allegations of antisemitism.

Also testifying was Gene Block, chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles, which has come under scrutiny for a delayed police response to violence between pro-Palestinian protesters and counterprotesters.

The committee’s inquiry expanded to large, public universities, UCLA and Rutgers, after earlier hearings largely focused on private, Ivy League colleges. Meantime, at Harvard’s commencement Thursday, hundreds of students in graduation robes chanted “Free, Free Palestine” as they walked out of the ceremony. The school had announced on Wednesday that 13 students who participated in a protest encampment would not be able to receive diplomas alongside their classmates.

READ MORE: Pro-Palestinian campus protests are evolving. Here’s what to watch

On Capitol Hill, committee Republicans accused the university leaders at the hearing of tolerating antisemitism, with particular scorn for Northwestern and Rutgers, where schools struck deals to end or limit protests .

Neither Northwestern nor Rutgers agreed to sever business ties with Israel — one of the protesters’ chief demands. Rutgers agreed to discuss the topic; Northwestern revived a committee on “investment responsibility.”

Other terms focused on expanding institutional support for Muslim and Arab students and scholars on campus, and Rutgers promised not to retaliate against those who participated in protests.

“Each of you should be ashamed of your decisions that allowed antisemitic encampments to endanger Jewish students,” said Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, the committee chair. “Mr. Schill and Dr. Holloway, you should be doubly ashamed for capitulating to the antisemitic rule breakers.”

The presidents considered police action but said it was not necessary.

“We made a choice — that choice was to engage our students through dialogue as a first option instead of police action,” Holloway said. “We had seen what transpired at other universities and sought a different way.”

Schill said students were willing to negotiate and reach a compromise that did not include divestment, their main demand. He said agreeing to a space for Muslim students where they could eat and pray, like other faith communities had on campus, was something he supported.

“We had students who were willing to negotiate and gave up their demands,” Schill said. “We said no, nothing that singles out Israel. Let’s think about what will make the university stronger.”

Protesters hailed the agreements as victories. But on Capitol Hill, the presidents said they did not lose any ground.

“I would never recommend to the Board of Trustees divestment of anything or any academic boycott of Israel,” Schill said.

Even so, Foxx countered that Schill “created the perception” he would support divestment, “which encouraged other universities to cave on this.”

Each president denounced the rise of antisemitism amid the Israel-Hamas war. Schill and Block, who are Jewish, expressed their own disgust at some of the rhetoric and imagery used by protesters.

Block said public universities are in an especially tough bind as they work to shield students from discrimination while also upholding free speech. Unlike private universities, public universities are bound by the First Amendment. Even hateful speech must be protected, Block said, but UCLA draws the line when it crosses into threats and harassment.

WATCH: Protesters against Israel’s war in Gaza interrupt Blinken repeatedly in the Senate

He expressed remorse over the handling of a UCLA encampment that was attacked in early May. Counterprotesters threw traffic cones and released pepper spray in fighting that went on for hours before police stepped in, drawing criticism from Muslim students and political leaders.

“Tragically, it took several hours for law enforcement to quell the violence,” Block said “With the benefit of hindsight, we should have been prepared to immediately remove the encampment if and when the safety of our community was put at risk.”

On Wednesday, the police chief at UCLA was reassigned “pending an examination of our security processes,” according to a statement from the school.

A new pro-Palestinian encampment appeared on the UCLA campus as Bock testified. “Our safety personnel are on site and actively monitoring the situation,” Mary Osako, vice chancellor for UCLA Strategic Communications, said in a statement.

As in previous hearings, Republicans pressed the leaders on discipline. They asked how many students had been expelled and how many faculty had been fired over antisemitic incidents since Oct. 7, when Hamas attacked Israel.

None of the presidents said students had been expelled, though they said there are dozens of ongoing investigations. Four students were suspended at Rutgers, Holloway said.

Schill said the numbers aren’t a reflection of inaction.

“The fact that we didn’t have not yet suspended or expelled students does not mean that students have not received discipline,” he said. “There’s a wide range of discipline, and discipline has been meted out to many of those students.”

Tensions over the Israel-Hamas war have been high on campuses since the fall and spiked in recent weeks with a wave of pro-Palestinian tent encampments that led to over 3,000 arrests nationwide.

After the first congressional hearings in December, an outcry of criticism from donors, students and politicians led to the resignations of the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, who gave cautious, halting answers to questions about whether calls for the genocide of Jews would violate their schools’ conduct policies.

In April, the committee turned its attention to Columbia President Minouche Shafik , who took a more conciliatory approach to Republican-led questioning. Shafik’s concessions around faculty academic freedom upset students and professors at Columbia. Her testimony, and subsequent decision to call in police, escalated protests on campus that inspired students at other colleges to launch similar demonstrations.

Originally, the presidents of Yale University and the University of Michigan were called to testify on Thursday. But the committee shifted its attention to Northwestern and Rutgers after those colleges struck deals with pro-Palestinian protesters to limit or disband encampments.

Associated Press writer John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Support Provided By: Learn more

International Criminal Court seeks war crimes charges for Israeli and Hamas leaders

World May 20

I'm a Canadian who's lived in the US for over 30 years. I don't get why so many Americans want to move to Canada.

• Jim D. moved from a small town in Canada to the American South to escape cold winters.
• He's lived in the US for 30 years, enjoying better food and easier travel around the country.
• Jim warned Americans looking for greener grass in Canada to lower their expectations.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jim D., a Canadian who moved to the US when he was 27 and now lives in Arizona between Flagstaff and Phoenix. Jim, 59, asked to withhold his full last name because of privacy concerns. Business Insider has verified his identity. The conversation was edited for length and clarity.

I was born and raised in Fort Frances, Ontario, across from International Falls, Minnesota, the coldest spot in America — they call it the freezer of America.

Fort Frances is a little border town with a population of 7,000.

I grew up crossing the border. We were always running into Minnesota. Gas was cheaper, and groceries were cheaper. Our money was worth more back then, so we got more value for our Canadian dollar when we went shopping in the States.

That has changed. Now it's the other way around.

I went to Africa in 1991 and spent two months in Tanzania. I was only supposed to go for a month, but I ended up staying for two months. I was sitting by the pool in the beautiful weather — 100-degree weather — listening to Led Zeppelin. I made a decision: I will never spend another winter in Canada because it's miserable and cold.

In July of that summer, I got a call from an old girlfriend whom I dated for years. She was an American living in Atlanta and said, "Hey, why don't you come and spend the winter with me?" And so it all fell into place.

I sold everything I owned in Canada, packed up my little Toyota Tercel, and drove to Atlanta.

It's so easy to get around the US

There wasn't much I did not like about moving to the US.

I was a young kid. Everything was new and exciting.

It almost seemed like Canada was 10 or 20 years behind, progressive-wise — and I don't mean politically. The amenities, the shopping, the food, and the restaurants in Canada are way behind if you're outside Vancouver or Toronto.

I did not want to be in the cold, so I went south of the Mason-Dixon line and spent the rest of my US time down here by design.

I've lived in Birmingham, Alabama; New Orleans; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; and Houston. I'm working my way across Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Hawaii, and then back through a lot of those same states again.

It's kind of like a typewriter: back and forth.

The roadways were amazing . When you live in Northwestern Ontario, getting places is very difficult — and that's in the summer.

Related stories

The maneuverability to get around the United States because of the well-designed infrastructure of the roadways was phenomenal compared to northwestern Ontario.

Healthcare is free in Canada, but we pay for it elsewhere

Canada has expensive housing , groceries, gas, cost of living, homelessness, and a drug problem.

There's drug paraphernalia all over the ground and needles everywhere in the park . Gang violence is through the roof from Toronto to Northwestern Ontario to Vancouver.

Gas prices are also through the roof: CA$ 6 to CA$ 8, or $4.39 to $5.86, a gallon.

Healthcare is not free . That's a lie. Nothing is free in this world, but especially healthcare. You are paying for it through many other means.

The goods-and-services tax is 13% across the board. In Ontario, it's 13% on everything you buy. That is the government taxation that they're supposed to be paying for health insurance with.

The healthcare system in the US is absolutely broken . It's run by the insurance companies, run by lobbyists, and run by the pharmaceutical companies. It's ridiculous that people are paying premiums down here.

But that's run by independent companies. The difference is — and maybe there's no difference because they're both run horribly — Canada's healthcare is run from province to province.

In Ontario, there is the Ontario Health Insurance Plan. It's a government-subsidized program that is broken.

Before I moved to the US, after high school, I moved from Fort Frances to Thunder Bay, Ontario. That was going from 7,000 people to 115,000. In Thunder Bay, they don't even have doctors. There were a couple of doctors who retired last year.

I was in Canada last year, and I wanted to see a cardiologist. I was there for eight months. I couldn't get into one.

I'm still waiting for a letter — 2 ½ years later — from the government to say, "We have an appointment with the doctor for you."

I don't see why Canada is so appealing to Americans

Canada used to be an admired country worldwide, and now it's horrible. In the old days, when I traveled around the world, I used to proudly wear my Canadian flags. Now I'm embarrassed.

When I went back to Canada, disappointment, disgust, and anger were my emotions.

I think the effects of inflation have hit both countries the same in housing and rental property. I think people who are leaving Canada for the US are running into the same housing problem. The cost of housing is ridiculous in both places.

You can't get a one-bedroom apartment in Thunder Bay for under $2,000. Toronto is as expensive as Phoenix if you're comparing cities in both countries.

I wouldn't advise Americans to move to Canada . I think that people trying to escape each country's downfalls are going to be surprised.

The reality is — no matter which way you come, north to south or south to north — you will be rudely awakened: "Oh my God, they have the same problems, if not worse, in either country."

Watch: All the differences between Tim Hortons in the US and the UK

• Main content

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

3 More College Leaders to Face Congress Over Antisemitism Claims

The heads of Rutgers, Northwestern and U.C.L.A. will be the first university leaders to testify since a wave of protest encampments roiled college campuses.

By Sharon Otterman ,  Ernesto Londoño and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs

For the fourth time in six months, the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce is summoning school leaders to Washington to be questioned about accusations of antisemitism at their institutions.

This time, on Thursday, the committee’s focus will be on how three diverse universities reacted when pro-Palestinian encampments sprung up on their lawns as part of an international wave of student activism against the war in Gaza.

Two of the schools whose leaders will testify — Northwestern and Rutgers — made deals with protesters to end their encampments peacefully. The third, the University of California, Los Angeles, called in the police to dismantle its encampment, but only after a violent attack by counterprotesters the night before caused the situation to veer out of control .

Representative Virginia Foxx, the chairwoman of the committee, has blasted Rutgers and Northwestern for negotiating with the demonstrators, whose views she has described as antisemitic and supportive of terrorism. But she has also derided U.C.L.A.’s chancellor for calling the police too late, saying he allowed his campus to become a “severe and pervasive hostile environment for Jewish students.”

“The committee has a clear message for mealy-mouthed, spineless college leaders: Congress will not tolerate your dereliction of your duty to your Jewish students,” Ms. Foxx said in a May 16 statement announcing the hearing. “No stone must go unturned while buildings are being defaced, campus greens are being captured or graduations are being ruined.”

The three college leaders do not dispute that Jewish students have faced antisemitism, both on and off their campuses. But all have largely defended their responses, saying that they have taken steps to stop it.

How aggressive they will be in pushing back against the committee’s claims, however, remains to be seen.

School leaders have taken different approaches at past hearings. The presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania were measured and legalistic; the president of Columbia was conciliatory. Three public school superintendents, who testified earlier this month, ceded little ground, sparring with lawmakers in ways rarely seen on Capitol Hill.

Those who distrust the committee’s motivations in grilling the college leaders hope Thursday will represent another moment of pushback. Many faculty members and students have seen the hearings as government intrusions motivated more by partisan politics than real concern for Jewish students.

Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, the chair of religious studies at Northwestern, defended the school’s decision to end its encampment using negotiation as a model of constructive conflict resolution.

“We can be proud of our administration and we can be proud of our students,” she said. She added that it pained her to see Northwestern’s president “dragged up there and subjected to this inquisitorial process that is so reminiscent of McCarthyism.”

Thursday’s hearing represents the first time that leaders of public universities — U.C.L.A. and Rutgers — have been brought to testify about campus antisemitism since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. This changes the hearing’s context somewhat, as public universities must follow First Amendment principles of free speech on their campuses, while private universities have more freedom to restrict what can be said.

It is also the first time that university leaders have been questioned since the decision of Columbia’s president, Nemat Shafik, to call in the police to end a pro-Palestinian encampment on April 18, shortly after her own congressional testimony.

Since then, at least 65 other university leaders across the country have cracked down on pro-Palestinian student protesters by detaining or arresting them, with nearly 3,000 arrests so far , according to a New York Times tracker. But more than a dozen colleges have reached agreements with demonstrators, often by consenting to talk about their key demand: severing their school’s financial ties with companies that profit from Israeli actions in Gaza and the West Bank.

The university leaders speaking before the committee Thursday face a variety of circumstances at their campuses, and their testimony is likely to vary in style and focus.

Only months from a preplanned retirement, Gene D. Block, the chancellor of U.C.L.A. and an expert in neuroscience, may feel freer than the other two college leaders to parry with committee members.

His campus was thrown into turmoil three weeks ago amid a flurry of conflict over the pro-Palestinian student encampment there. The conflict culminated in an attack on the camp on April 30 by a group of pro-Israel counterprotesters. The following night, the police arrested more than 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

Since then, Dr. Block and the university’s police force have faced criticism on multiple fronts. Many have questioned why the counterprotesters were allowed to attack students in the encampment for several hours before the police intervened, and why only members of the camp — and not those who attacked it — have been arrested so far.

“It wasn’t that we were arrested that bothered us — at least for me, it was, What is this unreal double standard?” said Aidan Doyle, a third-year student who was arrested in the pro-Palestinian encampment after being injured by counterprotesters.

The education committee has charged that U.C.L.A. did not act soon enough to clear the camp, allowing acts of harassment against some Jewish students.

In his written testimony to the committee, provided to The Times, Dr. Block mentioned his childhood as a Jewish boy growing up in the Catskills region of New York, with relatives who were Holocaust survivors. He described how as chancellor of a public university, he must both allow free speech and keep students safe from discrimination, a difficult balance.

He also took some blame, acknowledging that U.C.L.A. was insufficiently prepared with security resources when violence broke out around the encampment. He pledged reform.

“With the benefit of hindsight, we should have been prepared to immediately remove the encampment if and when the safety of our community was put at risk,” he said.

On Wednesday, the school removed the campus police chief , John Thomas, from his post and reassigned him, according to U.C.L.A. officials.

Michael Schill , the president of Northwestern University since September 2022, is a legal scholar who has made safeguarding free speech one of his core priorities.

On April 29, Mr. Schill became the first university president to strike a deal with students who had called on their school to sever financial ties with companies profiting from Israel’s military campaign.

Under the agreement, students dismantled their tent encampment and Northwestern promised to be more transparent about its financial holdings. It also agreed to award scholarships to five Palestinian students affected by the conflict and to create roles for two Palestinian professors.

The deal restored a sense of normalcy on campus, but it was met with vociferous criticism from pro-Israel groups, which accused Mr. Schill of condoning antisemitism. Mr. Schill, who is Jewish, is expected to face tough questions about the deal on Thursday.

“I used to say that it was very hard to make everyone happy,” Mr. Schill said in an interview days after the agreement was announced. “Today it’s virtually impossible to make anyone happy.”

Eman Hamed, a junior at Northwestern who helped organize the pro-Palestinian demonstrations, said lawmakers and university administrators had focused too much on allegations of antisemitism while glossing over instances of harassment and abuse directed at Arab students.

“There’s a single story being told right now by presidents like Schill, who only honor and condemn antisemitism with no regard for rampant anti-Arab sentiment,” said Ms. Hamed.

Jonathan Holloway , the president of Rutgers since 2020, is a historian specializing in African American history. One of his goals at Rutgers, he has said , is to foster “a beloved community,” a university culture defined by tolerance, diversity and the spirited exchange of opinions and ideas.

He has also come under considerable criticism since negotiating an end to a large pro-Palestinian encampment on Rutgers’s campus in New Brunswick, N.J., on May 2. Under the agreement, the university will welcome 10 displaced Palestinian students to finish their educations at Rutgers, plan for a new cultural center for Arab and Muslim students and allow protesters to formally present their divestment requests.

Two Democratic congressmen from New Jersey, Donald Norcross and Josh Gottheimer, denounced Dr. Holloway’s response in a letter.

“We are concerned that Rutgers appears to have incentivized people to act in a lawless and threatening manner by appeasing the demands of violent and hateful agitators,” they wrote of the deal.

But Dr. Holloway has defended his approach, noting on May 6 that “the result of our actions was a peaceful return to the normal course of business.” (He has also allowed a second, smaller tent encampment to remain at the university’s Newark campus for three weeks. On Tuesday, administrators told protesters to “ leave now .”)

While some Jewish faculty members and students are upset by what they view as a capitulation to the protesters, others support Dr. Holloway.

“The negotiated agreement avoided the brutal confrontation with the police that we have seen unfold on other campuses across the country,” several Jewish Rutgers professors wrote in an open letter that has now been signed by more than 600 Jewish professors nationally.

Sharon Otterman is a Times reporter covering higher education, public health and other issues facing New York City. More about Sharon Otterman

Ernesto Londoño is a Times reporter based in Minnesota, covering news in the Midwest and drug use and counternarcotics policy. More about Ernesto Londoño

Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs reports on national stories across the United States with a focus on criminal justice. He is from upstate New York. More about Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs

The Campus Protests Over the Gaza War

News and Analysis

​​A union for academic workers in the University of California system announced that an ongoing strike challenging the system’s handling of pro-Palestinian demonstrations would extend to two more campuses , U.C.L.A. and U.C. Davis.

​​With speeches canceled , students at the City University of New York School of Law ceremony chanted, carried signs and walked out .

​​Hundreds of students walked out of Harvard’s commencement ceremony , while hundreds of others chanted “Let them walk!”, a reference to 13 student protesters who were not allowed to graduate.

A Complex Summer:  Many university leaders and officials may be confronting federal investigations, disputes over student discipline  — and the prospect that the protests start all over again in the fall.

Graduation’s Pomp Goes On:  Commencement is the rare American ritual that still has rules. That’s why it’s ripe for disruption .

A New Litmus Test:  Some Jewish students say their views on Zionism — which are sometimes assumed — have affected their social life on campus .

College President Openings:  Presidential posts are available at U.C.L.A., Yale, Harvard, Cornell, Penn and many others. But the job is not what it used to be .

The Experience

• Career Impact
• Inclusion and Belonging
• Global Opportunities

More about Kellogg

• History & Legacy
• Convocation Ceremony

Degree Programs

• Full-Time MBA
• Executive MBA
• Master in Management
• Evening & Weekend MBA
• Certificate Program for Undergraduates
• Which Program is Right for Me?
• Academic Calendars

Executive Education

• Online Programs
• Programs for Individuals
• Nonprofit Programs
• Programs for Groups
• The Kellogg Advantage
• Contact Executive Education
• Request a Brochure
• Find a Program
• Alumni Network
• Career Journeys
• Global Impact
• Student Stories
• Applying to Kellogg

Publications and blogs

• Kellogg Magazine
• Kellogg Insight
• See All News + Stories

Academics + Research

• Faculty Directory
• Research Centers
• Case Studies
• Faculty Teaching Awards
• Academic Departments
• Research + Books
• Faculty Recruiting

Academic expertise

• Data Analytics
• Family Business
• Leadership & Organizations
• Social Impact
• Entrepreneurship
• Full-Time MBA Admissions
• Evening & Weekend MBA Admissions
• Executive MBA Admissions

Additional resources

• Master in Management Admissions
• PhD / Doctoral Admissions
• Undergraduate Certificate Admissions
• Admissions Events
• Financial Aid Office
• Log into my account portal
• Companies + Recruiters

Kellogg Future Leaders - Deferred Enrollment Program

The future is yours. What will you do with it?

Charter your own path to success with kellogg future leaders, our deferred mba program..

We know you're hungry for something bold, dynamic and impactful. The Kellogg Future Leaders program is a road map to life after undergrad so you can graduate with the confidence that incredible things are ahead.  This is the start of an amazing journey — both personally and professionally.

The application is designed to give us a sense of who you are, what drives you and why you think Kellogg is the right place for you.

The 2024 KFL application and deadlines will be published this fall. When the application becomes available, click "Apply Now" and select KFL from our list of programs. Click  here to learn more. 

Apply Now   Attend an event

Interested in a deferred MBA? Connect with us and take the next step.

What’s it all about.

Getting accepted as a Kellogg Future Leader secures your place in our MBA program before you graduate. Then, we'll hold your spot for two to five years while you gain experience in the professional world. Once you're ready to step back on campus, you'll be fully integrated into one of our top-tier MBA programs. Another perk? As a part of your deferred enrollment, you’ll have access to premiere Kellogg resources and receive support from a dedicated admissions officer.

• Students who graduate between October 2023 and September 2024 can apply this year.
• Undergraduates in the last year of school, majoring in any discipline.
• Master's students who went directly into a graduate program from undergrad.
• Domestic and international students.

*Ph.D., medical, and law students should apply through the standard Kellogg admissions process.

• No application fees.
• GMAT or GRE required*.
• TOEFL required for English-as-a-second language speakers, unless university school was conducted entirely in English.
• Application includes brief essays, video essays, a letter of recommendation, and an interview by invitation.

*GMAT/GRE optional for Northwestern University undergraduates.

• Deferment lasts two to five years .
• Admissions deposit is $500, then $500 every year of deferment.

Contact us about the Kellogg Future Leaders deferred enrollment program

Application deadline: April 24, 2024 Decision released: June 26, 2024