Those of you who've been following my blog will know that I was honoured to receive MBA admits to both INSEAD* and MIT Sloan**. And, while it all seemed a lot clearer when I started this process, choosing between these two great institutions took me a lot of time.
Having thought long and hard about which school to attend, I eventually withdrew my INSEAD application in favour of MIT Sloan.
You hear a lot about "fit" when you start researching MBA programmes. Having had the benefit(!) of going through the admissions process with MIT Sloan once already, I really felt I understood its culture, so I devoted a lot more time to getting to know INSEAD.
Like many of you, I visited both b schools, attended classes, met students, researched special initiatives and clubs which I then connected with. Both schools have an amazing staff and admissions teams and - most importantly of all - a passionate and welcoming student and alumni network. All my research built up very convincing cases for attending either school ...and made it a lot more difficult to turn one of them down.
If I had to nail my reasons down in a few words, I'd say: 'Ultimately, I decided to pursue a longer programme which will give me time - and a true melting pot of entrepreneurial minds and undergraduate faculties - to develop and start a new business.'
Other than that, there are of course myriad smaller reasons for choosing one school over another, and I don't mean to discredit either school by going into a long list here. I would, however, like to highlight two personal reasons why MIT Sloan made more sense for me:
1. The two-year programme allows me to settle my young family in one place, while I use the opportunity to travel extensively during my MBA. I'm an older candidate, I have two kids, a dog and plans to expand(!). As I learned more about the awesome Action Learning Labs, treks and more at MIT Sloan, I wanted to give my family some stability while I embarked on these ventures;
2. INSEAD has this irritating language policy, whereby you need to have proficiency in two additional languages (in addition to English). As a Brit, I'm in a small minority of people who would actually have to learn two additional languages. I'm not lazy and I do see the value in learning new languages, but I'd rather make that decision myself than have it forced on me.
Minor irks and wrinkles aside, I'm much happier having made my decision! Please reach out if you want to compare notes on either school, or have any questions.
*
https://topdogmba.com/2014/11/26/do-you- ... ead-offer/**
https://topdogmba.com/2014/12/17/do-you- ... oan-offer/