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IppoMakunouchi
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Help Needed with Profile Evaluation | INSEAD January 2026 Intake 24 Feb 2025, 14:56
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Hi all,

I'm planning to apply to INSEAD for January 2026 MBA FT intake (R1) but having second thoughts about my score. From your experience, can you share if I stand a realistic chance? Profile Below:

- Demographics: Indian, Male, Engineer & MBA.
- Engineering Degree: From an NIT (National Institute of Technology i.e. one tier below IITs which are the top engineering schools in India) with a GPA of 7.8/10.
- MBA: From FMS, Delhi (A tier-1, top 5 B-School in India) with 72% score (top quartile in the batch).
- Work Experience: 9.5 years (by Jan'25). Initial career experience in management consulting (4.5 years), then moved to Google in a marketing role.
- International Exposure: Projects in Europe and Middle East during consulting days and trainings/business meetings in the US during Google. Did an internship from an engineering school in The Netherlands during my bachelors.
- GMAT FE Score: 665 (93rd Percentile).

I'm well aware that I'm from an over represented demographic and so, doubts are creeping in about whether I should apply in R1 or wait till R2 and try to improve my GMAT score.
Please share your advice. If you need additional information, let me know. TIA!https://gmatclub.com/forum/help-needed-with-profile-evaluation-insead-january-2026-intake-441786.html
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Help Needed with Profile Evaluation | INSEAD January 2026 Intake 24 Feb 2025, 18:08
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Your profile is strong with a solid academic background (NIT + FMS), extensive work experience (consulting + Google), and international exposure. However, as an Indian male engineer, you're in a highly competitive pool at INSEAD. While a 665 GMAT FE (93rd percentile) is decent, it's slightly below the typical range for competitive Indian applicants.

Applying in R1 gives you an advantage due to higher acceptance rates, but if you believe you can push your score higher (700+), retaking before R2 could strengthen your chances. If the rest of your application is exceptional (essays, LORs, leadership impact), you still stand a good chance in R1.
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Help Needed with Profile Evaluation | INSEAD January 2026 Intake 24 Feb 2025, 20:00
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IppoMakanouchi - some thoughts and clarifications:

1. Your undergrad/ Masters pedigrees and grades are good. What's the sectional split of your GMAT score? The overall GMAT score is fine, but if you feel you could improve (e.g. did you score better in mocks), a retake is worth it considering the competitive Indian applicant pool at INSEAD.

2. Your consulting/ Google experiences and international exposure are strong angles. Was the consulting firm branded (e.g. MBB or boutique) and were there promotions in your roles? Would like to understand your work-ex more to assess better.

3. You didn't mention the career goals, but it'd also be crucial to have a strong narrative covering your experiences, goals, and how INSEAD fits in. Likewise, highlighting the motivation for a second MBA is also important.

4. Anything on the Extracurriculars side?

Hope this helps a bit. Feel free to reach out for a chat.

Regards,
Arvind
Founder, admitStreet | Request a free profile evaluation
W: https://admitstreet.com | E: consultingteam@admitstreet.com | LinkedIn
IppoMakanouchi
Hi all,

I'm planning to apply to INSEAD for January 2026 MBA FT intake (R1) but having second thoughts about my score. From your experience, can you share if I stand a realistic chance? Profile Below:

- Demographics: Indian, Male, Engineer & MBA.
- Engineering Degree: From an NIT (National Institute of Technology i.e. one tier below IITs which are the top engineering schools in India) with a GPA of 7.8/10.
- MBA: From FMS, Delhi (A tier-1, top 5 B-School in India) with 72% score (top quartile in the batch).
- Work Experience: 9.5 years (by Jan'25). Initial career experience in management consulting (4.5 years), then moved to Google in a marketing role.
- International Exposure: Projects in Europe and Middle East during consulting days and trainings/business meetings in the US during Google. Did an internship from an engineering school in The Netherlands during my bachelors.
- GMAT FE Score: 665 (93rd Percentile).

I'm well aware that I'm from an over represented demographic and so, doubts are creeping in about whether I should apply in R1 or wait till R2 and try to improve my GMAT score.
Please share your advice. If you need additional information, let me know. TIA!https://gmatclub.com/forum/help-needed-with-profile-evaluation-insead-january-2026-intake-441786.html
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Help Needed with Profile Evaluation | INSEAD January 2026 Intake 24 Feb 2025, 22:21
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IppoMakanouchi, GMAT is fine for INSEAD. Don't lose the R1 advantage for that!

Do bear in mind however that MBA after 30 is tricky and you'll face these challenges. INSEAD can also be a bit on the fence when it comes to second MBA grads. Always good to spread your risks - check out IMD and HEC Jan intake too for that.

Do reach out with a resume for further discussion on mcb@mbacrystalball.com
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IppoMakunouchi
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Help Needed with Profile Evaluation | INSEAD January 2026 Intake 24 Feb 2025, 23:41
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admitStreet
IppoMakanouchi - some thoughts and clarifications:

1. Your undergrad/ Masters pedigrees and grades are good. What's the sectional split of your GMAT score? The overall GMAT score is fine, but if you feel you could improve (e.g. did you score better in mocks), a retake is worth it considering the competitive Indian applicant pool at INSEAD.

2. Your consulting/ Google experiences and international exposure are strong angles. Was the consulting firm branded (e.g. MBB or boutique) and were there promotions in your roles? Would like to understand your work-ex more to assess better.

3. You didn't mention the career goals, but it'd also be crucial to have a strong narrative covering your experiences, goals, and how INSEAD fits in. Likewise, highlighting the motivation for a second MBA is also important.

4. Anything on the Extracurriculars side?

Hope this helps a bit. Feel free to reach out for a chat.

Regards,
Arvind
Founder, admitStreet

IppoMakanouchi
Hi all,

I'm planning to apply to INSEAD for January 2026 MBA FT intake (R1) but having second thoughts about my score. From your experience, can you share if I stand a realistic chance? Profile Below:

- Demographics: Indian, Male, Engineer & MBA.
- Engineering Degree: From an NIT (National Institute of Technology i.e. one tier below IITs which are the top engineering schools in India) with a GPA of 7.8/10.
- MBA: From FMS, Delhi (A tier-1, top 5 B-School in India) with 72% score (top quartile in the batch).
- Work Experience: 9.5 years (by Jan'25). Initial career experience in management consulting (4.5 years), then moved to Google in a marketing role.
- International Exposure: Projects in Europe and Middle East during consulting days and trainings/business meetings in the US during Google. Did an internship from an engineering school in The Netherlands during my bachelors.
- GMAT FE Score: 665 (93rd Percentile).

I'm well aware that I'm from an over represented demographic and so, doubts are creeping in about whether I should apply in R1 or wait till R2 and try to improve my GMAT score.
Please share your advice. If you need additional information, let me know. TIA!https://gmatclub.com/forum/help-needed-with-profile-evaluation-insead-january-2026-intake-441786.htmlHi Arvind,

Thank you for the detailed response. Adding a few more details about my profile for you to take into consideration.

  1. Sectional Split & Retake: My sectional split is fairly even across the board. I scored 84th percentile in Verbal, 88th in Quant and 89th in DI. My score was indeed slightly below expectations. I scored 685 and 695 in the most recent official mocks before the exam. The main differentiating factor was quant where I scored 96th and 100th percentile in mocks. However, due to personal reasons I can't retake the test before R1 deadline. So the question is, do I let go of the advantage of applying in R1 in the hopes of a better score by R2 deadline.
  2. Work Experience: I do not have MBB experience. My consulting tenure was at Accenture Strategy & Consulting team in their Global Strategy Pool. While it's one of the top consulting firms in India behind MBB, not sure how it's viewed globally esp. by INSEAD adcom. I have had 1 promotion each at Accenture Strategy & Google. In Accenture, I was fortunate to receive a fast track promotion in consulting. At Google though, it was at usual pace.
  3. Narrative: Yes I agree, I will be working extensively on my essays, LORs and resume for this. Hopefully I can communicate my purpose and conviction clearly through these.
  4. Extra Curricular: I do have a few positions of responsibility throughout my undergrad and MBA. These include Music club secretary, Media and Communications head for annual college fest and a couple of others (not as notable) during my undergrad. During MBA, I won 2 business case competitions and 1 national finalist (2 fortune 500 global MNCs and 1 leading Indian automobile company). In terms of positions of responsibility, I was elected as an executive member of the consulting club at my business school (1 year tenure).

Looking forward to your thoughts. Cheers!
Show more
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IppoMakunouchi
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GMAT Focus 1: 665 Q85 V83 DI81
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Posts: 38
Kudos: 7
Help Needed with Profile Evaluation | INSEAD January 2026 Intake 24 Feb 2025, 23:41
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admitStreet
IppoMakanouchi - some thoughts and clarifications:

1. Your undergrad/ Masters pedigrees and grades are good. What's the sectional split of your GMAT score? The overall GMAT score is fine, but if you feel you could improve (e.g. did you score better in mocks), a retake is worth it considering the competitive Indian applicant pool at INSEAD.

2. Your consulting/ Google experiences and international exposure are strong angles. Was the consulting firm branded (e.g. MBB or boutique) and were there promotions in your roles? Would like to understand your work-ex more to assess better.

3. You didn't mention the career goals, but it'd also be crucial to have a strong narrative covering your experiences, goals, and how INSEAD fits in. Likewise, highlighting the motivation for a second MBA is also important.

4. Anything on the Extracurriculars side?

Hope this helps a bit. Feel free to reach out for a chat.

Regards,
Arvind
Founder, admitStreet

IppoMakanouchi
Hi all,

I'm planning to apply to INSEAD for January 2026 MBA FT intake (R1) but having second thoughts about my score. From your experience, can you share if I stand a realistic chance? Profile Below:

- Demographics: Indian, Male, Engineer & MBA.
- Engineering Degree: From an NIT (National Institute of Technology i.e. one tier below IITs which are the top engineering schools in India) with a GPA of 7.8/10.
- MBA: From FMS, Delhi (A tier-1, top 5 B-School in India) with 72% score (top quartile in the batch).
- Work Experience: 9.5 years (by Jan'25). Initial career experience in management consulting (4.5 years), then moved to Google in a marketing role.
- International Exposure: Projects in Europe and Middle East during consulting days and trainings/business meetings in the US during Google. Did an internship from an engineering school in The Netherlands during my bachelors.
- GMAT FE Score: 665 (93rd Percentile).

I'm well aware that I'm from an over represented demographic and so, doubts are creeping in about whether I should apply in R1 or wait till R2 and try to improve my GMAT score.
Please share your advice. If you need additional information, let me know. TIA!https://gmatclub.com/forum/help-needed-with-profile-evaluation-insead-january-2026-intake-441786.htmlHi Arvind,

Thank you for the detailed response. Adding a few more details about my profile for you to take into consideration.

  1. Sectional Split & Retake: My sectional split is fairly even across the board. I scored 84th percentile in Verbal, 88th in Quant and 89th in DI. My score was indeed slightly below expectations. I scored 685 and 695 in the most recent official mocks before the exam. The main differentiating factor was quant where I scored 96th and 100th percentile in mocks. However, due to personal reasons I can't retake the test before R1 deadline. So the question is, do I let go of the advantage of applying in R1 in the hopes of a better score by R2 deadline.
  2. Work Experience: I do not have MBB experience. My consulting tenure was at Accenture Strategy & Consulting team in their Global Strategy Pool. While it's one of the top consulting firms in India behind MBB, not sure how it's viewed globally esp. by INSEAD adcom. I have had 1 promotion each at Accenture Strategy & Google. In Accenture, I was fortunate to receive a fast track promotion in consulting. At Google though, it was at usual pace.
  3. Narrative: Yes I agree, I will be working extensively on my essays, LORs and resume for this. Hopefully I can communicate my purpose and conviction clearly through these.
  4. Extra Curricular: I do have a few positions of responsibility throughout my undergrad and MBA. These include Music club secretary, Media and Communications head for annual college fest and a couple of others (not as notable) during my undergrad. During MBA, I won 2 business case competitions and 1 national finalist (2 fortune 500 global MNCs and 1 leading Indian automobile company). In terms of positions of responsibility, I was elected as an executive member of the consulting club at my business school (1 year tenure).

Looking forward to your thoughts. Cheers!
Show more
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IppoMakunouchi
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Help Needed with Profile Evaluation | INSEAD January 2026 Intake 24 Feb 2025, 23:41
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admitStreet
IppoMakanouchi - some thoughts and clarifications:

1. Your undergrad/ Masters pedigrees and grades are good. What's the sectional split of your GMAT score? The overall GMAT score is fine, but if you feel you could improve (e.g. did you score better in mocks), a retake is worth it considering the competitive Indian applicant pool at INSEAD.

2. Your consulting/ Google experiences and international exposure are strong angles. Was the consulting firm branded (e.g. MBB or boutique) and were there promotions in your roles? Would like to understand your work-ex more to assess better.

3. You didn't mention the career goals, but it'd also be crucial to have a strong narrative covering your experiences, goals, and how INSEAD fits in. Likewise, highlighting the motivation for a second MBA is also important.

4. Anything on the Extracurriculars side?

Hope this helps a bit. Feel free to reach out for a chat.

Regards,
Arvind
Founder, admitStreet

IppoMakanouchi
Hi all,

I'm planning to apply to INSEAD for January 2026 MBA FT intake (R1) but having second thoughts about my score. From your experience, can you share if I stand a realistic chance? Profile Below:

- Demographics: Indian, Male, Engineer & MBA.
- Engineering Degree: From an NIT (National Institute of Technology i.e. one tier below IITs which are the top engineering schools in India) with a GPA of 7.8/10.
- MBA: From FMS, Delhi (A tier-1, top 5 B-School in India) with 72% score (top quartile in the batch).
- Work Experience: 9.5 years (by Jan'25). Initial career experience in management consulting (4.5 years), then moved to Google in a marketing role.
- International Exposure: Projects in Europe and Middle East during consulting days and trainings/business meetings in the US during Google. Did an internship from an engineering school in The Netherlands during my bachelors.
- GMAT FE Score: 665 (93rd Percentile).

I'm well aware that I'm from an over represented demographic and so, doubts are creeping in about whether I should apply in R1 or wait till R2 and try to improve my GMAT score.
Please share your advice. If you need additional information, let me know. TIA!https://gmatclub.com/forum/help-needed-with-profile-evaluation-insead-january-2026-intake-441786.htmlHi Arvind,

Thank you for the detailed response. Adding a few more details about my profile for you to take into consideration.

  1. Sectional Split & Retake: My sectional split is fairly even across the board. I scored 84th percentile in Verbal, 88th in Quant and 89th in DI. My score was indeed slightly below expectations. I scored 685 and 695 in the most recent official mocks before the exam. The main differentiating factor was quant where I scored 96th and 100th percentile in mocks. However, due to personal reasons I can't retake the test before R1 deadline. So the question is, do I let go of the advantage of applying in R1 in the hopes of a better score by R2 deadline.
  2. Work Experience: I do not have MBB experience. My consulting tenure was at Accenture Strategy & Consulting team in their Global Strategy Pool. While it's one of the top consulting firms in India behind MBB, not sure how it's viewed globally esp. by INSEAD adcom. I have had 1 promotion each at Accenture Strategy & Google. In Accenture, I was fortunate to receive a fast track promotion in consulting. At Google though, it was at usual pace.
  3. Narrative: Yes I agree, I will be working extensively on my essays, LORs and resume for this. Hopefully I can communicate my purpose and conviction clearly through these.
  4. Extra Curricular: I do have a few positions of responsibility throughout my undergrad and MBA. These include Music club secretary, Media and Communications head for annual college fest and a couple of others (not as notable) during my undergrad. During MBA, I won 2 business case competitions and 1 national finalist (2 fortune 500 global MNCs and 1 leading Indian automobile company). In terms of positions of responsibility, I was elected as an executive member of the consulting club at my business school (1 year tenure).

Looking forward to your thoughts. Cheers!
Show more
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Help Needed with Profile Evaluation | INSEAD January 2026 Intake 28 Feb 2025, 22:05
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Hello IppoMakanouchi,

Thanks for writing in.

You should apply to INSEAD after pushing your GMAT score; a score in excess of 695 would be desirable - not to say it guarantees an interview call but it definitely puts you in a competitive spot.

All the best!
IppoMakanouchi
Hi all,

I'm planning to apply to INSEAD for January 2026 MBA FT intake (R1) but having second thoughts about my score. From your experience, can you share if I stand a realistic chance? Profile Below:

- Demographics: Indian, Male, Engineer & MBA.
- Engineering Degree: From an NIT (National Institute of Technology i.e. one tier below IITs which are the top engineering schools in India) with a GPA of 7.8/10.
- MBA: From FMS, Delhi (A tier-1, top 5 B-School in India) with 72% score (top quartile in the batch).
- Work Experience: 9.5 years (by Jan'25). Initial career experience in management consulting (4.5 years), then moved to Google in a marketing role.
- International Exposure: Projects in Europe and Middle East during consulting days and trainings/business meetings in the US during Google. Did an internship from an engineering school in The Netherlands during my bachelors.
- GMAT FE Score: 665 (93rd Percentile).

I'm well aware that I'm from an over represented demographic and so, doubts are creeping in about whether I should apply in R1 or wait till R2 and try to improve my GMAT score.
Please share your advice. If you need additional information, let me know. TIA!https://gmatclub.com/forum/help-needed-with-profile-evaluation-insead-january-2026-intake-441786.html
Show more
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Help Needed with Profile Evaluation | INSEAD January 2026 Intake 01 Mar 2025, 06:00
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IppoMakanouchi
Hi all,

I'm planning to apply to INSEAD for January 2026 MBA FT intake (R1) but having second thoughts about my score. From your experience, can you share if I stand a realistic chance? Profile Below:

- Demographics: Indian, Male, Engineer & MBA.
- Engineering Degree: From an NIT (National Institute of Technology i.e. one tier below IITs which are the top engineering schools in India) with a GPA of 7.8/10.
- MBA: From FMS, Delhi (A tier-1, top 5 B-School in India) with 72% score (top quartile in the batch).
- Work Experience: 9.5 years (by Jan'25). Initial career experience in management consulting (4.5 years), then moved to Google in a marketing role.
- International Exposure: Projects in Europe and Middle East during consulting days and trainings/business meetings in the US during Google. Did an internship from an engineering school in The Netherlands during my bachelors.
- GMAT FE Score: 665 (93rd Percentile).

I'm well aware that I'm from an over represented demographic and so, doubts are creeping in about whether I should apply in R1 or wait till R2 and try to improve my GMAT score.
Please share your advice. If you need additional information, let me know. TIA!https://gmatclub.com/forum/help-needed-with-profile-evaluation-insead-january-2026-intake-441786.html
Show more
Hi IppoMakanouchi ! Your profile looks good, with academic foundation from NIT and FMS Delhi, nearly a decade of experience spanning consulting and marketing at Google, and valuable international exposure across Europe, the Middle East, and the US. However, as an Indian male engineer(a highly competitive applicant pool), your GMAT FE score of 665, is slightly on the lower side for INSEAD. Given your second MBA, the admissions committee will closely evaluate your rationale, so a compelling narrative on WHY INSEAD is necessary for your career goals is crucial. If your essays are polished and your story is strong, applying in Round 1 is viable. Regardless of timing, crafting a standout application that highlights leadership, impact, and global perspective will be key to standing out. We would love to learn more about your profile to gain a better understanding of your journey and aspirations. If you'd like, please feel free to book a profile evaluation call.

You can also take a look at this Success Story.