Fully funded PhD in Management, offered in France and Singapore

Dear Ms. Ann,

INSEAD gets my interest when I see the information about full scholarship (Link: https://phd.insead.edu/financing/) along with the lines that INSEAD use to encourage and persuade students to learn in its campus.

However, it is such a pity that INSEAD do not accept IELTS score in lieu of the TOEFL. Is there any exception?

Some info about my background (I am 25 years old)
a) I possess highest distinction in MBA (8.59/10) and pursue for PhD in Marketing
b) I have JUST got an IELTS after a month of struggling (Listening: 8; Reading: 8.5; Writing: 7; Speaking: 6.5; Total: 7.5)
c) I have a TOEFL ITP RATHER THAN a "traditional" TOEFL
d) I have two journal papers published in this 2015. One is in International Journal of Economics, Finance and Trade. One is in Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics (Index SCOPUS, rank B).
e) Now I am trying hard for GMAT test.

With such merit and credit, though not outstanding like others, does INSEAD reconsider the case of "not accepting IELTS"?

If INSEAD does reconsider this case, I believe it is only of BOTH benefits because the following words from the website just obsess me:

"The reason we offer such generous support to you as a student is that your development as a scholar is an investment in the institution itself. From our perspective, if you become a world-renowned researcher and successful professor in academia, the profile of INSEAD as a leading business school is only further enhanced."

Thank you very much for your reading this.

Yours sincerely,

Dear Blayel,

Thank you for your reply to my post, and your interest in the programme.

Yes, we do provide full Fellowship to all admitted students. This is because the programme is rigorous and intensive, and we would like our students to concentrate on their training of becoming professors in management, post-doctoral degree. Hence, we need students to concentrate on their studies, and not worry on expenses typically associated with postgraduate degrees. The Fellowship covers full tuition fee waiver, stipend, research budget support and health insurance coverage for 5 years.

We can waive the TOEFL requirement if any of your degrees (undergrad or graduate) was taught in the English language. Your transcripts in English will suffice as proof of waiver. However, if none of your degrees' medium of instruction is in English, as well as your native language, then you will need to submit the TOEFL requirement. My sincere regrets that we are unable to accept the IELTS in lieu of the TOEFL.

Given the information you provided albeit brief, I would encourage you to apply. While we can never anticipate an applicant’s potential for admission with any degree of accuracy as the decisions are made based on the collective application pool and faculty preferences, I can say that you have the background, and again, I would encourage you to apply.

Regarding your GMAT test, when do you intend to take the test? Kindly take the test as early as you can, the latest by end of November so that we will have time to receive the original score reports to be sent to us by GMAC. As you may know, we have a December 15 preferred deadline, which for us to have time to check for completeness of your dossier. Otherwise, you can submit your packet by Jan 02, 2016.

Good luck in your GMAT test. Let me know if you have more questions.

Best regards,

Dear Ms Ann,

I will take GMAT Test on Wedenesday November 11th, preparing for my applications for PhD Full Scholarship to certain universities.

I only have one question which resulted from your website:

"Processing of applications begins after the deadline, and candidates are advised of admissions decisions in early April. No feedback or updates will be provided from deadline until admissions list is confirmed in early April. "

Normally, an application will take 5-6 weeks and the result will be announced. But in this case, if I completed my application, say before the end of December, I will have to wait a complete more than FOUR months in a complete... silence because no announcement will be provided.

Well, it concerns me because at the stage of a PhD, a candidate (like me) surely knows the value of a PhD and the academic career that he pursues to the extent that he will not "mass-apply" (also, it costs a fee, in your case: 50 pounds) like other MBA candidates. Logically, it means that when I apply for a scholarship, I know what "attractive" qualities I might have AND the scholarships are of extreme EQUAL importance to me. Thus, the sooner the announcement the better, not only for me but also for everyone because if an applicant knows that his application has been accepted or rejected, he will have more time to prepare for the next applications or other procedures.

In sum, would you please clarify the point that your website shows? I would be of great attitude towards your help and INSEAD's generous welcome of students.

Thank you very much. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Dear Blayel,

Thank you again for your message.

Admissions at the PhD Programme takes into consideration the entire application pool, on how an application stands out given the current pool of applications we receive. Hence, the admissions committee, comprised of faculty members, can only do this when we have closed admissions (last of day of submission). The committee will then convene to discuss which of the applications they will shortlist for interview. From there, the interview process for the shortlisted candidates will start. Shortlisting is based on the overall profile of the applicant, including their academic records, GMAT or GRE tests, research potential (as reflected in their statement of purpose and recommendation letters, coupled with faculty preferences (alignment with the area's research). The interview process takes time. The duration of 3-4 months is on the average, but I do have areas who are now able to provide a quicker than the rest admissions decision (already an improvement), based on a similar feedback that we have received in previous rounds. Some areas have already provided decisions as early as mid- to late-February, but definitely, on the other side of the coin, we will be providing a feedback to those who did not make in early March.

As what you have mentioned in your earlier comment about other universities providing results 4-5 / 5-6 weeks, we do work closely with candidates on these. If you have received any admissions decisions requiring your immediate attention, we also welcome the feedback so that we can let the committee know and based on their feedback or reply, we will be able to inform you of the next steps.

If you have more feedback, please do not hesitate to let us know here.

Best regards,
Ann Marie

Dear Ms Ann,

Thank you for your wholehearted guidance.

Everything is clear. What I will have to concentrate now is the GMAT Test so that the result will contribute more to my background.

As mentioned, I will take the test on next Wednesday 11th. By allowing 3 weeks for the result, I will complete the online application process at around the end of November. Briefly, before this November 31st, you will see my post here to confirm I have completed the online application to INSEAD.

Again, thank you very much for your information. I hope everything will live up to INSEAD's expectations.

Yours sincerely,

You are most welcome and good luck in your GMAT next week.



Dear Blayel,

Thank you again for your message.

Admissions at the PhD Programme takes into consideration the entire application pool, on how an application stands out given the current pool of applications we receive. Hence, the admissions committee, comprised of faculty members, can only do this when we have closed admissions (last of day of submission). The committee will then convene to discuss which of the applications they will shortlist for interview. From there, the interview process for the shortlisted candidates will start. Shortlisting is based on the overall profile of the applicant, including their academic records, GMAT or GRE tests, research potential (as reflected in their statement of purpose and recommendation letters, coupled with faculty preferences (alignment with the area's research). The interview process takes time. The duration of 3-4 months is on the average, but I do have areas who are now able to provide a quicker than the rest admissions decision (already an improvement), based on a similar feedback that we have received in previous rounds. Some areas have already provided decisions as early as mid- to late-February, but definitely, on the other side of the coin, we will be providing a feedback to those who did not make in early March.

As what you have mentioned in your earlier comment about other universities providing results 4-5 / 5-6 weeks, we do work closely with candidates on these. If you have received any admissions decisions requiring your immediate attention, we also welcome the feedback so that we can let the committee know and based on their feedback or reply, we will be able to inform you of the next steps.

If you have more feedback, please do not hesitate to let us know here.

Best regards,
Ann Marie

Deadlines:

From my ongoing discussion with Blayel (thank you for initiating this), I understand that there might be concerns on the deadline.
Although we will start review of applications after the last day of submissions, we still encourage everyone to submit on or before the preferred deadline of December 15.

What's the advantage of submitting on or before December 15, 2015?
By submitting on the 15th, this will allow the PhD Admissions team to review completeness of applications, i.e. we will provide feedback if your application is missing requirements, or the PDFs have missing pages. This way, you are given time to send us the new PDFs or time to send us the missing documents.

If you are submitting between the preferred deadline (Dec 16) until January 02, 2016, we will take your application as it is. Any missing documents or PDFs, we won't be able to check anymore.

For recommendation submission, based on the feedback from our last round of admissions, we have empowered our applicants to send reminders to their referees, and see the status of submission. This is regardless of when you submit the application.

I hope this helps manage your time in completing your application for the 2016 intake of the INSEAD PhD Programme.

Hi Ann Marie Julaton, I am very keen on the PhD with INSEAD. Do you have any minimum GMAT score requirement?

As fopr any other Top BS a safety score is at least 700. If I remember well the Average score in 2011 for the MBA class was 704. Now is more.

Although, is not good to mix apple and orange,i.e. PhD and MBA is reasonable to think that the average score they consider is more or less on the same line

Regards

The info about the safety score is correct - Although we do not have any cut off scores, in order to be competitive, it is good to have at least a 700 GMAT . Kindly note that our selection looks at the overall profile of the applicant, including academic background. A GMAT or GRE score is one component of the many factors considered. Perfect scores do not guarantee admission and lower than average scores do not invalidate your candidacy.

Thank you for the reply Ann Marie Julaton. That will be score range I will be aiming for in my next test. Btw, is a Master's degree required for admission as well?

Our minimum requirement is a bachelor's degree, coming from any area (many of our students come from engineering, economics, social sciences, etc backgrounds; a business degree is not mandatory when applying). If you have a master's degree, do state that in your application, along with transcripts and certificates.

Thank you for the reply Ann Marie Julaton. That will be score range I will be aiming for in my next test. Btw, is a Master's degree required for admission as well?[/quote]

Thanks for sharing information

Thanks!

We are now in the swing of recruitment for the September 2018 intake, starting with an on-campus information session in our campus in Fontainebleau, France on May 19, Friday. If you or anyone reading this thread would like to have a good head start in preparing for a career in academia, understanding what it is all about in order to assess whether it is really for you, we encourage you to attend this on-campus PhD recruitment.

May 19, 2017 Friday
2:30pm - 4:00pm (registration starts at 2:00pm)
Amphi Loudon
INSEAD Europe Campus
Boulevard de Constance, 77305 Fontainebleau Cedex, France
Details and registration are on insead.edu / phd / events

We hope to see you there.

Ann Marie
Recruitment and Admissions
INSEAD PhD Programme