Ask INSEAD Admissions

HI Team,

I have a small query. I have done my Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, where all courses were taught exclusively in English.
Do I still require to give a TOEFL/IELTS score?

Thanks,
Rohit

Hi Rohit ,
Although the question was intended for Leizel , but let me share what I know - Yes, no need.
I think, IIT states the same(re exclusively in English) in transcripts also...

Just my two cents!

Thank you for the info.

Dear Leizel / INSEAD Admissions,

Thank you for reaching out to prospective applicants on this forum. I kindly would like to ask a few questions:

1) Fluent in Mandarin and Arabic, I am interested in taking part in both the CEIBS exchange and the Abu Dhabi module/campus exchange; is this possible? How many seats are there for each exchange? Are all student exchange demands granted?

To follow-up on Q1:
-> Can I take part in both exchanges in Q1 and attend both Singapore and France campuses?
-> Do I need to apply for a particular intake (Jan/Sept enrolment) in order to participate in particular exchanges?

2) I have heard that not all Wharton MBA/elective modules are open for INSEAD students on exchange. Is this true and is there a list of available modules we can consult?

3) Immediately after graduating from INSEAD with an MBA, is it common that those with only 1 year / 2 years pre-MBA experience end up doing Bachelor's level jobs instead of MBA-level jobs ?

Moreover, I am concerned about future career prospects: If I pursue an MBA at INSEAD with only 1 or 2 years' experience I am concerned I won't be able to find an MBA-level job after graduating as I have seen some MBA graduate/internship positions that require applicants to have at least 3 years' experience.

4) Can you comment on this and provide some statistics to show salaries and destinations pre-/post MBA (ideally showing MBA-level destinations/salaries of those who had only 1 and 2 years pre-MBA experience)?

5) How do recruiters (be them agencies or company HR personnel) view MBA grads with only 1 year pre-MBA experience? How about only 2 years' experience?

I hope I haven't asked too many questions but as you can imagine I am very eager on pursuing an INSEAD MBA.

Hi again,

It's been almost a week since my last post so I was wondering if, maybe, Adcom are on leave for vacation or something similar.

So, if anyone (applicants/current students/alumni/recruiters) has answers/advice for my questions I would greatly appreciate them sharing them/it with us.

Many thanks in advance!

Hello,

Apologies for the delay, let me answer your questions all together. First of all, our MBA students have an average length of postgraduate work experience of 6 years. The selection process is very competitive so we highly encourage those with lesser work experience to apply only once their application package is as strong and as competitive as possible. The four admissions requirements that are carefully weighted and considered for the entire applicant pool are academic excellence, professional experience (minimum of 2 years of full-time postgraduate experience), ability to contribute to the INSEAD experience and international outlook. For more information on admissions requirements, I recommend that you read in detail at our homepage https://www.insead.edu/mba/admissions/requirements.cfm.

For admitted students, campus exchange in CEIBS is only open for those from January intake while the module taught in Abu Dhabi is only offered to September intake classes. In this case, it is not possible to have a campus exchange to CEIBS then do an elective in Abu Dhabi as they are offered in separate intakes.

Students are required to spend the first two periods of their programme in their home (starting) campus. Therefore the optional campus exchange only starts from Period 3 onwards. To apply for Campus Exchange is through a bidding process. Once admitted, you will be awarded a number of points that you will draw upon to bid for the INSEAD campus exchange, the US or China exchange as well as for the elective course bidding. Seats are limited ranging from 15-35 seats per class depending on the campus and criteria. Since a campus exchange is not obligatory, usually 25% of the class choose to remain on one campus throughout 10 months.

The Wharton Exchange will be available during the 4th or 5th period (Sept – Oct or Nov‐Dec) for January intake. If you commence in September, the exchange will be open to you during the 4th period (Mar‐Apr). The selection process will take place in Period 1. As there is generally higher demand than supply, students are limited to only one period (equivalent to one Wharton quarter) on exchange. This explains the limited courses that can be taken in Wharton for INSEAD students. To know more about alliances and partnerships, please go to this link: https://about.insead.edu/partnerships/

You may wish to have a look at our Employment Statistics for a better view of post-MBA opportunities at INSEAD: https://mba.insead.edu/form/employment_statistics.cfm

It would be best to discuss your further concerns in person by attending our events where you can speak with an MBA representative. I encourage you to sign up for our events mailing list so that you will know whenever we are at a city near you via this link: https://mba.insead.edu/events/full_list_events.cfm. We do also have some virtual information sessions that you could register for. You will find this at the same link. Also, you can visit our campus in France and Singapore during regular school hours during weekdays.


Regards,
Leizel

Is the application deadline for recommendations still one week after the actual deadline. Furthermore, can recommenders submit before we submit our application ?

Hello,

On Section 11 of the online application form, you will need to input the information of your two chosen recommenders and click the link to send an email notification to allow then access to the forms for them to start working on their recommendations. They will receive one single email with the PDF document and the link to upload their PDF document. The specific questions are private but are relatively short questions to gauge your leadership and managerial potential. It can be completed in one sitting and should take no more than one hour (this is the maximum estimate). Your recommenders can work on their recommendations in parallel to you completing your application. Thus, the recommenders will have until the deadline to upload their recommendations.

Regards,
Leizel

Hi,

Thanks for the quick response. I have a few more questions as well:

First, in reference to my first post can the recommenders submit the file before we submit the online application ?

Second, just wanted to reconfirm that as an Indian national if Hindi is my native language and my education at university Overseas was entirely in English, does this meet the entry language requirement ?

Third, is it compulsory to input part time work experience or only full time ?

Fourth, for academic distinctions we are required to put grantor and the date in the application form. However, for example deans list is a distinction that you get after every semester for achieving a certain grade. There is no specific date that it is granted. Can we put an approximate date in this case ?

Hello,

1) Yes, your recommender can send the recommendation letter even before you submit your online application.

2) Yes, you need not to take the English test ONLY if your transcript reflects a statement that English is the medium of instruction during the entire course. If this statement cannot be found, you would have to take the test to prove fluency.

3) It is not mandatory but the admissions team expects that all candidates would declare all relevant information especially regarding professional and academic requirements.

4) I would suggest using the optional essay to explain your academic achievements. Usually this is what others would do if they're having difficulty enumerating or declaring certain achievements in their profile.

Regards,
Leizel

Hi,

An important question on the GMAT Score report in relation to the supporting document deadlines.

I have already taken the GMAT once and had the score report sent to INSEAD. My re-take is scheduled for the 22nd of July. The app deadline is the 25th, which is not a problem as my application is complete and ready for submission. The issue is as follows:

The official score report is made available to universities within 20 days of taking the test as per the GMAT website. I remember the official score report was available to me within 2 days of taking the test last time. Hence, I will be able to enter the score details into my application form.

However, if the official score report does not reach INSEAD before the application deadline will INSEAD admissions consider the official score report for the 2nd GMAT test or will it be considered past the application deadline and only the first score report will be taken into consideration? If this is this is the case I would prefer to apply for the next in-take.

Look forward to your reply. Thank you.

Hello,

Apologies for the late response. Actually, a candidate can take GMAT as late as the day of the application deadline itself, and in this case the scanned copy of the unofficial score report should be attached to the application form. We can start processing the application based on the unofficial score; the official score should reach us after about two weeks and this is fine for our purposes. If you have declared you're unofficial score but did not attach the score report under supporting document, please email it to mba.candidates@insead.edu citing your name and location so the Admissions Officer in-charge of your region can easily locate your profile.

Regards,
Leizel

Hi,

I have read great stats about entrepreneurship at INSEAD, e.g. 50% of grads start their own company at some time in their career, but I wonder if putting that as post-MBA career goal can somehow limit the chance of admission. My concern is that only 5% actually start a business after the MBA, so maybe one is more likely to be admitted if he puts as objective an area where INSEAD has stronger placement (e.g. consulting), even if that's not the preferred post-MBA job. Could it be the case?

Thank you.

Hello,

You may have the opportunity to express your post-MBA goals through essay but the Admissions team will still be focusing on your qualifications and accomplishments during application. During the interview stage, you are expected to show genuine interest to the programme and to have an open mind to any possibilities for change (industry, function, geography). Electives in Entrepreneurship are popular to our MBA students so an interest in this field should not be a hindrance to be admitted to INSEAD. It will all depend on how an INSEAD MBA can help you, and what you, as a student, can contribute to the class.

Regards,
Leizel

Hello,

I'm applying for the September 2015 intake, and i have a question about my application:

I'm from Peru and in my country the internships are different that most country's, you do them while you're in school and is almost a full time job (30-40 hours a week), so i wanted to know if when you review my file you will count the internship i put as work experience, because with that one year my work experience will be 5.5 by the time i would go to insead, and the work i did was exactly the same as an assistant.

Thank You

Hi Zoid,

The lower % of post-mba entrepreneurship ventures is not a reflection of the admission selection but rather cost related. You'll find out that the % of students starting a business right after graduation is fairly similar accross all top school (5-6%). The reason is that all students have to finance their programme and the majority have to reimburse their loan. Therefore, they don't have the capital to start up a business just after their MBA.

INSEAD being the school with the fastest ROI, you'll find out that 5 years out, 30% of our Alumni have given a shot at settin up their own business.

The entrepreneurship interest is very high among our students even during the programme. Close to 80% will take at least 1 course related to the subject. 25% will take 5 or more Entrepreneurship courses!

So, if your dream is to become an entrepreneur, then you should be true to yourself and tell us so in your application. INSEAD is all about diversity! and this goes beyond nationalities. It is also about diversity of experiences and aspirations.

Cheers,
Camille

Hi Esteban,

Yes, we will also consider your internship(s). Though, with 4.5yrs of work experience (without internship), you shouldn't be worried. If students have on average 6yrs of professional experience, 80% of students have between 3 and 8 years of work exp.

Cheers,
Camille