INSEAD -January 2014 Intake - Calling All Applicants

if you count on scholarship, you would better apply in R1 and R2

and it applies not only to Indian candidates

First of all, Male, Indian, Engineer is competitive. So, I wouldn't recommend R3. Either R2 for Jan 2014 or If you need more time, apply for R1 Sep 2014

Thanks for the reply..But the R2 deadline for Jan'14 (12th June) is already over. and i prefer Jan because it includes the internship which is important incase of the career switch.

Please Suggest.

Well

Pros:
1. Internship for career switch
2. Starting in Jan 2014.

Cons
1. You are in a very competitive applicants pool. Keep in mind that by the time you apply, others Indian applicants already admit from R1 and R2, which will increase the competitiveness.
2. Harder to apply for scholarship

Post your profile, and I can comment on it.

Your chance of acceptance is probably lower in R3 even though the total acceptance rate is the same in all rounds. Unless you got an unique profile it's likely that someone with very similar profiles are already accepted. In addition to scholarship, consider when you think you'll deliver the best app. How will another year of work look? Will it be another year of the same you are already doing or can you get some new valuable experiences? How old are you? If you're already well above 30 it might be better to get the app in this year. Can you improve the GMAT or EC activities during the next year?

Insead doesn't encourage reapplicants so make sure you give it your very best the first time.

if dinged, I would have 2 threads of activities:
1) get to management consulting (although without MBA it would be somewhat stretch). if not successful then I
2) take a rest and try LBS, Oxford and may be some schools from the US (those news about Harvard requiring just one essay is really interesting), might consider IE as well. LBS is a good school, which is my 2nd choice because of program length. Oxford is weird - they require TOEFL ibt=110 while INSEAD and other top schools require only 105. I got 109 so if I get serious about Oxford, I have to retake. I wonder, what makes their academics different so that they require higher toefl?

Cyber,

What make you want to become an MC ?

once I did it and enjoyed, it was in house consulting on the crossroads of operations and IT. then I went for 5 years in pure operations management. so now I see a natural step to combine both experiences and get to strategy consulting

One of my interviewer has a similar experience. He was a chemist working in operation management before INSEAD. After INSEAD, he worked for Mckinsey in Moscow Office and hate it. This is his experience though, but the common theme I asked about all former MC is that they feel like they spend endless time consulting the management, doing financial analysis, and for some reasons, the management decided to self the propose plan.

Most of the former consultants have this feeling like they do not do much impact, and sometime wasting their time to an extend. I did extensive research while weighting between MC and IB, and decide to go with IB for this reason. It boils down to 2 things when i talked/read about what former consultant and banker said

Consult: Give advice, but hardly ever implement-----> feel like a waste of time
Banker: Long hours, lack of work life balance (worse than consultant) ----> I can deal with long hours for a couple of years

I like MC more, because in IB or in finance in general one works only with abstract data, finance is a derivative of actual operations, while in MC one has a wider range of tasks, including observing actual operations on the shop floor

I do like the financial alchemy of Wall Street

Any R2 guys heard back from an AC yet? If yes, what was the time period between your submission and their reply?

I'll be traveling for the next 15 days and will have limited phone network / Internet access. Just hoping they don't contact me requesting any supporting documents while ill be away.

Thanks cyberhawk. All the best!

2 more weeks for R1 Jan 2014 folks. Godspeed and good luck, everyone.

Hi
I have received a confirmation mail from INSEAD that my R2 application is in order and all necessary documents are there. Hanny Stefanie is my coordinator. I submitted on 12th Jun and got the reply on 14th Jun... And Yes, her mail first landed in the SPAM..

Now, the wait starts...

Btw, does anyone have any idea what is the time period between interview call and the actual interviews? The reason I am asking is whether I should start preparing for them rightaway OR wait till the time there is interview confirmation from them.

Look my signature and adjust your preparation accordingly