Who is in the Northwestern Kellogg MBA Class of 2027? GMAT scores, undergrad majors & more

Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management offers one of the most prestigious MBA programs in the US. The program ranks among the top five US MBAs according to all three of the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and US News.

One of the program’s key strengths is the diversity of disciplines students can specialize in. As well as offering numerous majors, including accounting, marketing, strategy, and managing organizations, the school provides “pathways” for students to explore evolving industries. These offer students deeper insights into areas like data analytics, venture capital, and social impact.

The results speak for themselves. Data for the most recent graduating class shows that students secured a record-high median salary of $175,000, a figure that has risen 22% in the last five years. Most alumni accept roles in the ‘Big Three’ MBA industries of consulting, tech, and finance, often with the world’s biggest companies, including McKinsey & Company, Google, and P&G.

Hoping this could be you in future? To present a competitive application, it helps to understand the kind of students who make it onto the Kellogg MBA. Here, we’ve broken down the Kellogg MBA class profile for the Class of 2027 to give you an idea.

Who gets into the Kellogg MBA class?

The Kellogg MBA Class of 2027 comprises 534 professionals from varied backgrounds, a class size that strikes a balance between breadth and depth of networking potential.

Kellogg’s program made headlines in 2025 when it became the first M7 business school to achieve gender parity in its MBA program. This year, however, gender data is notably absent from the class breakdown, as is data on the number of LGBTQ+ students in the cohort.

The ratio of international students in the Kellogg MBA has dropped by three percentage points this year, to 37%. However, the number of veteran enrolments has increased, reaching 9%.

How hard is it to get into the Kellogg MBA? GMAT and GRE scores

A high GMAT score is a strong addition to any MBA application. At top-ranked schools that receive hundreds, if not thousands, of applications each year, this can become a real source of competition for applicants.

The MBA at the Kellogg School of Management is no different. Like the classes of many top programs, the Kellogg MBA Class of 2027 scored exceptionally well on the GMAT.

As of 2024, GMAT scoring has changed as part of a new iteration of the test, meaning top GMAT scores now look different from previous years. Under the previous scoring convention, the average GMAT score for the Class of 2027 was 733, placing the typical student in the 95th percentile. That means the average Kellogg MBA student performed better than 95% of GMAT test-takers. The average GMAT score under the current exam format among this year’s Kellogg MBAs is 687. However, scores ranged from 515 to 775, a range that extends to the top 30% of global test takers. It’s highly likely that lower-scoring students showcased other desirable attributes within the rest of their application, for example in their MBA admissions essays.

Average GRE scores are equally high among the Kellogg MBA Class of 2027. The average verbal and quantitative scores are both 162, with some students scoring as high as 170 on both portions of the exam.

What are the Kellogg MBA Class of 2027’s undergraduate majors & GPAs?

We’ve seen that the Kellogg MBA class generally performs well on the GMAT. They are also an academically impressive group of people who come to the MBA from a diverse range of undergraduate majors. The average GPA for the Class of 2027 is 3.68.

About half of the cohort studied economics or business at undergraduate level, and well over one-third (41%) entered the program after studying STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math).

Outside of these more traditional MBA backgrounds, 21% of the Class of 2027 came from the humanities.

These figures total more than 100% because double majors were counted in both categories—another testament to the diverse disciplines on display in the Kellogg MBA class profile.

What industries do Kellogg MBA students come from?

Like most MBA programs, the Kellogg MBA targets professionals in their early-to-mid careers, with the average student entering the program after five years in the workforce.

Nearly one-third (32%) of the Class of 2027 come from the consulting industry, with financial services (24%) and technology (15%) rounding out the three most well-represented industries. Far fewer students come from the tech industry compared with previous cohorts, while the proportion of students from the financial services industry is at its highest level since 2021.

Other industries represented in this year’s cohort include consumer products, healthcare, manufacturing, and the military—proof of Kellogg’s increased veteran enrollments.

As for where Kellogg MBAs want to work after their degrees, the cohort’s top five target industries largely align with common MBA career paths: consulting, financial services, technology, healthcare, and consumer products.

Who is the ideal applicant for the Kellogg MBA?

Although the Kellogg MBA follows the patterns of many MBA programs in terms of career outcomes, it is a leading MBA to target for highly ambitious professionals of all backgrounds.

Applicants would do well to study up on the GMAT, as Kellogg MBAs typically perform strongly here. However, the range of scores represented by the class suggests that applicants without a sky-high standardized test score shouldn’t be discouraged.

If you can showcase your unique background and how the Kellogg MBA fits into your overall career trajectory, you have a good chance of making it into the class.

*The data sourced in this article is based on the Northwestern Kellogg MBA 2027 Class Profile