{"id":46560,"date":"2019-08-05T17:31:10","date_gmt":"2019-08-06T00:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=46560"},"modified":"2019-08-05T17:49:36","modified_gmt":"2019-08-06T00:49:36","slug":"insead-mba-essay-tips-deadlines-2019-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/insead-mba-essay-tips-deadlines-2019-20\/","title":{"rendered":"INSEAD MBA Essay  Tips &#038; Deadlines: 2019-20"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"270\" src=\"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Insead.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-42929\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Insead.jpg 500w, https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Insead-300x162.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The one-year MBA program offered by INSEAD is quite intense, but the international student body makes it worthwhile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The MBA application\nform for the September 2020 intake of INSEAD\u2019s MBA program is available on\nINSEAD\u2019s website now. The essay questions (Job description and motivation\nessays ), as well as the video essay component remain the same this year also,<em> <\/em>so our analysis of the &nbsp;essay questions also remains the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insead.edu\/master-programmes\/mba\/admissions\"><strong>&nbsp;Application Deadlines<\/strong><\/a><strong>&nbsp;for the September 2020 Intake:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<table class=\"wp-block-table\"><tbody><tr><td>\n  <strong>Round<\/strong><strong><\/strong>\n  <\/td><td>\n  <strong>Application Deadline<\/strong><strong><\/strong>\n  <\/td><td>\n  <strong>Decisions Released<\/strong><strong><\/strong>\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  Round 1\n  <\/td><td>\n  September 18, 2019\n  <\/td><td>\n  November 22, 2019\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  Round 2\n  <\/td><td>\n  November 6, 2019\n  <\/td><td>\n  January 24, 2020\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  Round 3\n  <\/td><td>\n  January 15, 2020\n  <\/td><td>\n  March 20, 2020\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  Round 4\n  <\/td><td>\n  February 26, 2020\n  <\/td><td>\n  April 30, 2020\n  <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>INSEAD's Admission\u2019s Criteria<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Academic capacity<\/li><li>Leadership potential<\/li><li>International Motivation<\/li><li>Ability to contribute<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For more\ninformation on application requirements and advice on video essays, please\nvisit the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.insead.edu\/master-programmes\/mba\/admissions\">INSEAD MBA admissions<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>INSEAD\u2019s job\ndescription questions and motivation essays<\/strong>&nbsp;allow\ncandidates to discuss a variety of topics related to their interests and\nexperiences, thus providing them ample opportunity to present each aspect of\ntheir candidacy- their personal stories, their triumphs and\nfailures. The \u201cjob questions\u201d ask for a factual account of one\u2019s current\nposition and career progression, as well as short-term and long-term career\ngoals with an MBA from INSEAD. There is no prescribed word limit for job\nquestions, so you can use 150-200 words. The three \u201cmotivation essays\u201d call for\nshort reflections and discussion of a variety of topics e.g.&nbsp;strengths and\nweaknesses,&nbsp;failures,&nbsp;accomplishments,&nbsp;extra-curricular l\nactivities&nbsp;etc. With careful thought and planning, you can use these\nessays to present your well-rounded personality. Here is\nyour chance,&nbsp; to be creative and\nhighlight your experiences. It is important to present your essay precisely,\nkeeping the soul of your story intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>According to INSEAD\nAdmission Team<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>This is a\ncritical part of our evaluation process. As such, we advise you to spend a\nsignificant amount of time on your application essays. Your responses provide\nthe best opportunity to be creative and tell us about yourself. We would like\nto get to know you and to find out what motivates you. The essay questions are\nnot meant to be academic articles or business memos, but rather your personal\nstories. You can fill in the essay questions online or copy\/paste your answers\nin the text boxes directly within your application<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Job description Essays:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1. Briefly summarize your current (or most recent) job, including the nature of work, major responsibilities, and, where relevant, employees under your supervision, size of budget, clients\/products and results achieved. (short answer)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This question\nrequests a snapshot of the applicant\u2019s current or most recent job. Keeping in\nmind that this will be the admission committee's introduction to your\ncandidacy, you should also provide information to help the reader understand\nyour place within the organization and the work that occupies your days. Please\nstay focused on the details of your present job, nature of work, major\nresponsibilities, supervision, size of the budget, number of clients\/products,\nand most importantly, \u201cresults achieved\u201d. While detailing out your current job,\nyou should also focus on the impact you have made on your organization. But\nplease avoid elaborating your greatest achievement as you will get an\nopportunity to do that in the second motivation essay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2. What would be your next step in terms of position if you were to remain in the same company? (short answer)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For this question,\nyou need to show that your next position should be more challenging than your\ncurrent one. But if MBA at INSEAD is your next step, you probably don\u2019t need\nyour next promotion. Through this question, the admission committee wants to\ndetermine whether you have a clear sense of your career trajectory. You may\noutline a next step that would entail increased responsibility in terms of\nproject size or complexity or number of employees managed. You may also mention\nan estimated timeline for promotion into this position, if applicable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3. Please give us a full description of your career since graduating from university. Describe your career path with the rationale behind your choices. (short answer)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This question can\nbe considered as a walk-through of resume in the essay format. The purpose of\nthis question is to get an understanding of how you have progressed along your\ncareer path. Your best bet is to focus on each full-time position you\u2019ve held,\nthe reasons behind each move, increases and changes in responsibility, and the\nlessons\/ skills learned. It is important to show progress at each stage of your\ncareer, which is straightforward if you have worked for the same company and\nreceived regular promotions. If you have changed companies, make sure to\nexplain the reason how and why you made your career choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4. Discuss your short-term and long-term career aspirations with an MBA from INSEAD. (short answer)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a fairly\nstraightforward career&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/myessayreview.com\/mba-topics\/career-goals-why-mba-essay\/\">goals<\/a>&nbsp;essay asking\nyou to explain your short-term and long-term goals. After detailing out your\ncareer history, explain where you stand now why you believe that an MBA is the\nnext logical step in your career path NOW? What are those skills that you still\nlack which you hope to acquire by an MBA? How an MBA will fill the gaps in your\ncareer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then explain your\nshort-term (3-5 years after MBA) and long-term goals (5 - 10 years after MBA).\nPlease identify the position that you hope to hold immediately after MBA\nprogram, specifying both a job title and 1-2 organizations\/companies for which\nyou would like to work. Then you will discuss your long-term 5-10-year plan,\nexplaining not just what role you hope to occupy but also the broader impact\nyou hope to have in this position. Please make sure to demonstrate a logical\nconnection between your short-term and long-term goals. In other words, explain\nhow you will move from step 1 to step 2 and so on. Make sure that your goals\nare realistic as well as ambitious. That is, if you aim for a technology or a\nconsulting role, you\u2019ll need to demonstrate that you already possess some\nskills\/experience in that area and are now aiming to enhance those skills.\nLikewise, if you are a career changer, you should provide evidence as to how\nyour current skill set would facilitate this transition. (Approximately 150-200\nwords)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5. If you are currently not working or if you plan to leave your current employer more than two months before the programme starts, please explain your activities and occupation between leaving your job and the start of the programme. (optional)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the seventh\n&nbsp;year that INSEAD has included a question\nproviding unemployed applicants the space to explain their situation. This\nshows that INSEAD is not excluding unemployed candidates from admission if they\nare utilizing their time productively. So, it provides them an opportunity to\nadvocate their case and discuss the new skills they are learning, the volunteer\nwork they are involved in, and any conferences and professional development\nworkshops they are attending, and other efforts they are making to secure\nshort-term employment before MBA. This would validate their growth even during\nthe time they are unemployed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This question also\nincludes applicants who are planning to take a break of more than two months\nbetween the time they submit their applications and the time they would join\nINSEAD\u2019s program. In this case also, they need to evidence how they are\nactively developing skills, making productive use of their time, and\nprogressing toward their career goals. This essay is also a place for the\napplicants who are leaving their current employer to join another one, two\nmonths before entering the program. They should use this essay to discuss their\nnew employment. This essay is also an opportunity to discuss the actions you\nplan to take in preparation for MBA such as getting involved in voluntary\nactivities, attending conferences, and engaging in any other activities for\nprofessional development before beginning the INSEAD MBA program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a><strong><ins>Motivation Essays:<\/ins><\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Motivation Essay #1: Give a candid description of yourself (who you are as a person), stressing the personal characteristics you feel to be your strengths and weaknesses and the main factors which have influenced your personal development, giving examples when necessary. (approximately 500 words<\/strong>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through this\nopen-ended question, the Admissions Committee wants to gain insights into your\npersonality and values. Therefore, you will need to do a lot of self-reflection\ninto your life experiences that have shaped your personality and have made you\nwho you are. While it is important to address all parts of the prompt:\nstrengths, weaknesses, and main factors responsible for your personal\ndevelopment, it\u2019s important to focus as much as possible on the positive\ntraits. In view of this, you may want to begin with&nbsp;two or three positive\nqualities&nbsp;and then comment on one or two weaknesses, and then substantiate\nyour personal traits with real-life examples. This question gives applicants the\nfreedom to select examples from your personal, professional or extracurricular\nlife, so try to select your examples to present a balanced picture of personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What two methods\nyou can use to draft this essay?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You may select\neither of the following&nbsp;two methods&nbsp;for discussing strengths or\nweaknesses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>a. Make statements\nabout your character and back them up with examples as \u2018evidences\u2019 of your statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>b. Find a single\nstory (from your personal or professional life) that will illustrate all of\nyour strengths, and, if possible, weaknesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When discussing\nyour weaknesses, make sure to explain how they have affected you and what you\nhave done or are doing now to rectify them. If relevant, mention which B-school\nresources can help you get over these weaknesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How you can discuss\nfactors that have influenced your personal development?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember that for\neach personal characteristic introduced, you should reflect on the factors that\nhave influenced your personality. It is up to you if you want to discuss these\ninfluential factors while discussing your strengths and weaknesses or after\nhaving discussed them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Roughly, you may\naim at allotting 200-250 words to strengths, 100 words to weakness\/weaknesses,\nand 150-200 words to the main factors that have shaped your\ncharacter\/personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Motivation Essay #2: Describe the achievement of which you are most proud of and explain why? In addition, describe a situation where you failed. How did these experiences impact your relationship with others? Comment on what you learned. (approximately 400 words<\/strong>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through this\nquestion, INSEAD now expects you to discuss both your accomplishment and failure\nin one single essay. You need to dig deeper and explain how these experiences\nhave impacted your relationship with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since you can use\nonly 400 words, it is in your best interest to allot approximately 200 words to\neach of your stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, this accomplishment\nand failure should tie into your \u201cstrengths and weaknesses\u201d essay. That is,\nyour experiences of achievement and failure should illustrate the \u201cstrengths\u201d\nand \u201cweaknesses\u201d you have already discussed in your first essay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your accomplishment\nstory should have the four components:&nbsp;the challenge, the achievement, the\noutcome\/result,&nbsp;and&nbsp;the significance. That is, you should explain why\nthis accomplishment is meaningful to you both in terms of the challenges you\novercame, the results you produced, and the lessons you learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To explain your\nfailure story, you\u2019ll need to reflect on a life experience when you could not\nlive up to your expectations. You should describe how the situation went wrong\nand why. Like accomplishment story, your failure story should also have the\nfour components:&nbsp;the challenge, the action, the\noutcome\/result,&nbsp;and&nbsp;the significance or effect. That is, you should\nexplain how that failure taught you important lessons that you later used in\nyour life to better yourself. The failure story may be presented in such a way\nthat it presents&nbsp;you in a positive light, revealing your strengths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Make sure to\naddress the second part of this question and discuss in what ways these\nexperiences have impacted your relationship with others at work or in community\nand what learnings you have gleaned from your experiences. Discussing two\nstories in only 400 words is indeed challenging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Click&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/myessayreview.com\/essay-tips\/business-school-application-essays-less-is-more\/\">here<\/a>&nbsp;to learn\nsome&nbsp;useful techniques to help you say \u2018more\u2019 in \u2018less\u2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Motivation Essay #3: Describe all types of extra professional activities in which you have been or are still involved for a significant amount of time (clubs, sports, music, arts, politics, etc.). How are you enriched by these activities? (approximately 300 words)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nextra-curricular is &nbsp;an important element\nof how INSEAD evaluates the candidate on one of its four key admissions\ncriteria: \u2018ability to contribute\u2019. They want to know if you are an applicant\nwho will not only contribute to the class room but also to the life of the\ncommunity outside the classroom as a student, and later, as a member of the\nalumni network. Candidates who have other interests\/hobbies that they are\npassionate about, and who perhaps have some achievement in sports, music, arts,\netc. will go on to become students who will take the lead in student clubs and\nwill be actively involved in the alumni network. When describing your\nextracurricular activities, please make sure to focus on social or\ncommunity-based activities instead of solo involvements, such as reading,\nworking out in the gym, or watching movies, as admission committee is seeking\napplicants who can contribute to the INSEAD community by collaborating and engaging\nwith their peers through various clubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Motivation Essay #4: Is there anything that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? (approximately 300 words)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An optional essay\nis an opportunity for you to give the Admissions Committee relevant information\nthat you could not give in other essays or other parts of your application.\nThis question is also meant to shine a spotlight on\nan&nbsp;experience&nbsp;or&nbsp;a side of your personality&nbsp;that has not\nbeen revealed in the other parts of your application: essays, recommendation\nletters, and resume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even though INSEAD\nhas provided you enough ground to cover about your candidacy, you may still use\nthis essay in a variety of ways to further strengthen your candidacy. More importantly,\nyou should also use the optional essay to address a&nbsp;weakness in your\nprofile, such as low GPA or GMAT,&nbsp;a gap in your job history, or&nbsp;your\ninability to get a recommendation&nbsp;from your current supervisor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For further assistance in developing your application essays, you may\nreview the general&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/myessayreview.com\/essay-tips\/creating-compelling-essays-a-summary\/\">Essay\nTips<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For essay analysis&nbsp; of other\nschools by MER, click&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/myessayreview.com\/category\/essay-question-analysis\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 2011, MER (<a href=\"https:\/\/myessayreview.com\/\">myEssayReview<\/a>) has helped applicants get\naccepted into top 20 MBA, programs, including INSEAD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Click&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/5gmTESri_8Q\">here<\/a>&nbsp;for INSEAD admit, Mansi's\ninterview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This <a href=\"https:\/\/myessayreview.com\/essay-question-analysis\/insead-mba-essay-tips-deadlines-2019-20\/\">article<\/a>\nwas first published in <a href=\"https:\/\/myessayreview.com\/\">myEssayReview<\/a>\nblog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Want to discuss?\nE-mail Poonam at &nbsp;poonam@myessayreview.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/myessayreview.com\/index.php\">Web<\/a>&nbsp;\/<a href=\"https:\/\/myessayreview.com\/blog\/\">Blog<\/a>\/&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/myessayreview.com\/beforeafter.php\">Free resources<\/a>\/<a href=\"https:\/\/linkedinprofile\/\">LinkedIn<\/a>\/<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/myessayreview?notif_t=page_user_activity\">&nbsp;Facebook<\/a>\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The one-year MBA program offered by INSEAD is quite intense, but the international student body makes it worthwhile. The MBA application form for the September 2020 intake of INSEAD\u2019s MBA&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[811,1434],"class_list":["post-46560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-essay-tips","tag-insead-mba","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46560"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46566,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46560\/revisions\/46566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}