ESADE MBA Program Guide 2026

The interview ran about 50 minutes. The setup was completely relaxed: no formal structure, no scorin... Read More

The interview ran about 50 minutes. The setup was completely relaxed: no formal structure, no scoring rubric feeling to it. She had clearly read my entire application beforehand, but unlike what I expected, she didn't go through my essays question by question. Instead the conversation went in a different direction entirely. Current economic situation: she asked about my perspective on what's happening in the global economy and how it affects the markets and industries I work in. This wasn't a test with a right answer; she wanted to see how I reason about macro trends. Takeaways from interviewing at multiple schools: she asked what I had learned from going through the admissions process at several universities, what patterns I noticed, and how my thinking had evolved. A genuinely interesting question that I hadn't specifically prepared for. Expectations from the MBA: not the standard "what are your goals" framing, but more specifically what I was expecting the experience to be like and what I hoped to walk away with beyond the degree. Handling cultural differences: how I would approach the challenge of being in a highly diverse cohort where working styles, communication norms, and expectations differ significantly across cultures. Given I'm coming from a frontier market with a fairly distinct professional culture, this felt relevant to my profile specifically. Very warm and conversational from start to finish. She is genuinely engaging and curious: she asked follow-up questions because she was interested, not to stress-test me. It felt more like a dialogue between two professionals than an admissions interview. I came in prepared for a structured competency-based format and that preparation still helped, but the actual conversation required me to think on my feet more than rehearse polished answers. Read Less

I had my interview with Annemie Peeters. The interview was quite conversational and we went through ... Read More

I had my interview with Annemie Peeters. The interview was quite conversational and we went through my application together. It lasted for about 45 minutes. Here’s a summary of the questions asked: 1. Tell me two things (one professional and one extracurricular) that are interesting or not already mentioned in your resume. 2. Why MBA at this point? My response: I worked in expat tax at a Big 4 firm for three years. I now want to transition into strategy consulting because I don't want to restrict myself to one specific business problem. I’m looking to work on broader and more diverse challenges—hence, the MBA. 3. A follow-up: Do you have any connections in the consulting world or would it be completely new for you? 4. Preferred working location post-MBA. 5. What are your Plan A and Plan B in terms of professional goals—both short-term and mid-term? 6. Which other universities have you applied to and have you received any responses yet? 7. What parameters did you use to select your target MBA programs and why ESADE specifically? 8. Details about my previous compensation. 9. My funding plans and whether I would still join if I don’t receive a scholarship. 10. Questions about my test scores. (I had given the Esade admissions test, she had mentioned that I got a good score in the test and asked about my GMAT score as well) 11. Whether I had interacted with any ESADE alumni. 12. Any questions I had for her. Good luck!! Read Less

The interview was very straightforward. All questions were asked from resume & the application. Ques... Read More

The interview was very straightforward. All questions were asked from resume & the application. Questions included: 1. Tell me about yourself in 2-3mins. 2. Why MBA at this point in your career ? 3. What do you like & dislike about your current job? 4. Which other schools you applied to, why ESADE & why not those schools? 5. Questions about the extra curriculars mentioned in the application essays. 6. Did you talk to any alumni or current students ? 7. IF admitted without scholarship, will you go ahead ? 8. Short term & Long term goals & how the school will help It was more of a conversation than an interview. Lasted for around 45minutes. Read Less

The interview is fairly straight forward - they want to understand your fit for the culture, your so... Read More

The interview is fairly straight forward - they want to understand your fit for the culture, your soft skills, motivation for the program and the school, do you understand your short/long term goals & past professional experiences. In my case, she was particularly interested in understanding 2-3 specific chunks out of my work ex, my extra curricular and my international exposure. I got my admit in December Read Less

I interviewed with the admissions director. She was amazing to speak with. The conversation went ver... Read More

I interviewed with the admissions director. She was amazing to speak with. The conversation went very smoothly. The questions were as follows: 1. What other schools have you applied to? Have you got admits from any? and scholarships from any? 2. What is your short term post MBA goal and then long term? 3. Tell me about yourself in 2 minutes 4. What do you like about your current role? 5. What do you dislike about your current role? 6. What would you say are your top 3 strengths? 7. Areas that you'd like to improve on via the MBA programme? 8. Soft Skills that you would want to highlight? 9. Why MBA at this point in your career? 10. Any questions I have The interview lasted about 45 minutes Read Less

I was interviewed through Zoom. In no particular order 1) If we aren't able to provide scholarship... Read More

I was interviewed through Zoom. In no particular order 1) If we aren't able to provide scholarships, would you be able to join ESADE? 2) In one minute, a brief about yourself 3) Describe yourself in three words 4) A Constructive feedback 5) Why ESADE 6) How is ESADE different from other schools 7) Why MBA 8) Post MBA Goals 9) Consider that I am a friend, tell me about ESADE in a minute 10) Have you connected with Alumni? 11) Any questions to me? 12) One strength that you have and one skill that you want to improve 13) How will your cohort benefit from you Read Less

1 about my current position and experience 2 entrepreneurial journey and experience 3 examples of ... Read More

1 about my current position and experience 2 entrepreneurial journey and experience 3 examples of leadership quality 4 why Esade 5 as an Esade representative , convince the interviewer to choose Esade 6 compare yourself with a brand 7 post Mba goals 8 why should you be chosen for the program 9 describe yourself in a very short sentence Read Less

I had my interview on 7th October... interview questions were as usual.. discussed on the following ... Read More

I had my interview on 7th October... interview questions were as usual.. discussed on the following topics 1. About my professional exp., 2. International exposur, 3. A brief about my entrepreneurial venture., 4. More questions on my current profession, 5. Why Esade and which other schools.. if admitted which college would I chose and why. My interview was on skype and lasted for 1 hr Read Less

This interview is for ESADE MSc Business Analytics Interview. The interview was pretty conversation... Read More

This interview is for ESADE MSc Business Analytics Interview. The interview was pretty conversational, nothing too difficult or technical. - It was mostly about my CV, - why this particular course, - why ESADE, - what are my goals after graduating and - how ESADE can help me. The interview lasted about 45 minutes. I don't how it went, because the kind of questions that were asked don't really have a right or wrong answer, so I don't know what to expect. Read Less

Round 1 Interview - Sept 2019 Intake; Location: Mumbai The interview took place with 1 AdCom member... Read More

Round 1 Interview - Sept 2019 Intake; Location: Mumbai The interview took place with 1 AdCom member. The setting was a comfortable coffee shop of an upscale hotel in Mumbai. On the whole, the interview was extremely relaxed and detailed. The interviewer genuinely seemed interested in knowing about me as an individual and about my profile in depth. She did not interrupt me even when I somewhat spoke at length about some experience or my personal motivations as a response to some question of hers. To reiterate, the interview was indeed quite detailed. It lasted approx. 50 minutes. And almost all of the questions any applicant would prepare for were asked by her. Some of the questions asked are listed below (in no particular order): 1) Tell me something about yourself. Notes: I dove right in giving her a background of my education, work experience, the motivation for my decision to pursue an MBA along with its genesis, my subsequent actions to show my seriousness about MBA, and why MBA is the perfect way to achieve my goals. 2) Why ESADE? Notes: Listed 4-5 USPs of ESADE - Brand Value, Flexible MBA, Exhaustive list of B-Schools for International Exchanges, Network of alumni, especially in Europe and Asia. I also added that it is a 1 year course, which means I minimise my loss of work ex. And it is an European B-school, which is important because I want to work in the EU. Plus, I mentioned that I had done my due diligence by actively reaching out to an ESADE alumnus and finding out important details. (ESADE appreciates such initiative of reaching out and connecting with alumni. It is important to highlight this.) 3) Why you? 4) But you have low work experience. Notes: More work ex in my current field won't further my goal - MBA is the only appropriate tool to shift fields. Plus, hours spent per week at work were extreme. Converted the number of hours into equivalent months of work ex, and explained how they add up to more than double my current work ex. So effectively, actual work ex (in number of hours) perfectly fits the profile of the average student at ESADE, i.e., 5-5.5 years at the time of joining. (While this is obviously not very accurate or convincing, the idea was to show my confidence in fitting in at ESADE, managing the work load and that I had put in enough thought before applying to ESADE and coming to interview). 5) Which industry do you want to work in after your MBA? Where do you see yourself in 8 years? Notes: Listed out my short term (right after MBA), medium term (8-10 years) and long-term (ultimate objective) goals. Also, named a few companies in my industry of interest who have a long standing relationship with ESADE (to show my familiarity with ESADE's employment report). 6) What is your proudest achievement - personal or professional? 7) What is your biggest flaw? 8) If we bump into a colleague of yours in this hotel, and then we get talking. And then you excuse yourself to visit the washroom. In those 2-5 minutes that you are gone, if I ask your colleague what they think about you and ask them to describe you, what will they say? 9) GOOGLY - Now imagine you are in my place - an ESADE AdCom member, and I am a prospective applicant. How would you sell ESADE to me in 30 seconds? Go. Notes: Gave a quick description (essentially an elevator pitch) of ESADE USPs. She appeared to be both pleased and amused by my answer. (ESADE often likes to throw such apparently weird questions. The important thing is to not get flustered. They are essentially normal questions that you have prepared for, presented in a twisted manner. In my case, she was essentially asking a repeat of a question she had asked earlier - why ESADE? To be able to answer her question (by selling ESADE to a prospective applicant) I had to have done my research on ESADE and then list out the things that I like about this B-school.) 10) Now flip our current scenario. You are an ESADE AdCom member and I am an applicant. What qualities or characteristics will you look for in me during the interview, to determine whether I will be a good fit for ESADE? Notes: Named the personal characteristics similar to the ones I had listed about myself in the previous questions. (The idea is to link your profile with the suitable profile for an ESADE applicant.) 11) How would you contribute to ESADE? 12) How do plan on getting practical experience during your MBA? Notes: Spoke about the Business Labs program and the importance of mixing practical experience with theoretical knowledge. 13) Are you aware of Career Acceleration Program? Notes: I had no idea. So I said I was aware of the existence of the Program but was not too familiar with the details. She then spoke about the Program, explained what it does and how it would help me. 14) What do you do to relax / what do you do in your free time? Notes: Named a sport - described how it calms me, gives me time to reflect and get away from the stress of life and work for a few hours every week. Also, passionate about Formula 1. 15) But if you have such a stressful life, how do you find time to play your sport? Notes: If you are serious and passionate about something, you can always find time and make time for it. I understand the importance of taking time off and resetting / recharging batteries. (Idea was to highlight that I understand the importance of maintaining work-life balance and that I am not a unidimensional workhorse.) 16) You said you watch Formula 1 races live. Where have you watched such races? 17) Have you travelled abroad? How many countries have you visited? 18) Give an example of how you found differences in cultures during your travels abroad. 19) How will you handle the stress and manage the course-load and various demands of the MBA program? Notes: College + work ex till now has been so intense, that multitasking comes naturally. Course-load and stress will not be an issue. 20) How comfortable will you be living in Spain for 1-1.5 years? 21) Are you aware that ESADE and other B-schools in Europe are not like Indian B-schools. There are no campus placements, and students are expected to actively work towards securing the job placements on their own. 22) What will you do if you do not get secure a job in Europe and have to return to India? Notes: No problem. I know it is certainly a possibility. But India in the short term does not mean I cannot make a lateral shift to the EU a few years down the line. So not too worried. 23) How do you plan to finance the MBA program? 24) Which other B-schools have you applied to? And why? Notes: Mentioned the ones I had already mentioned in my submitted application. Rationale - Top 1 year MBA B-schools in the EU. Which fit my goals and requirements. 25) What will you do if you get admission offers from any or all of these other B-schools you have applied to? Notes: This is always a tricky question. Especially when the other B-schools you have applied to are regarded as better ones. I replied by stating that I would still choose ESADE because of the batch size. The other top B-schools in EU have batch sizes ranging from 500-800. Whereas ESADE is between 180 and 200. I would want a smaller batch size to forge meaningful relationships and deeper connections with my cohort, something which would not be possible in a big batch. 26) If someone is not doing their part in a team, how will you handle the situation? 27) Do you have any questions for me? Notes: Asked her two pre-planned questions - 1) How important is it to know Advanced Spanish and / or Catalan to work in Spain, especially Barcelona? and 2) What is the selection procedure for the international exchange program as that information is not provided on the website. On the whole, it was quite an enjoyable interview, not stressful at all. Before leaving, I asked them AdCom member when we could expect to hear some replies by, just to get an idea. She said it will take at least 2-3 weeks, but they informed me of the admission offer 9 days after the interview. Good luck for your interviews! And PM me if you have any further questions. Read Less