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Your MBA application resume and essays are of central importance in building your case for admission. In this session, we will discuss a set of tips to help you create a superb MBA application resume and essays.
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Re: INSEAD Calling all Applicants(SEPT 2015 Intake)Class of 2016
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17 Jun 2014, 11:16
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Essay Topics
The application for Sept 2015 intake is live now. Here are the essay questions:
MOTIVATION ESSAYS
Essay 1 Give a candid description of yourself (who are you 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. (600 words max.)
Essay 2 Describe the achievement of which you are most proud and explain why. In addition, describe a situation where you failed. How did these experiences impact your relationships with others? Comment on what you learned. (400 words max.)
Essay 3 Tell us about an experience where you were significantly impacted by cultural diversity, in a positive or negative way. (300 words max.)
Essay 4 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? (300 words max.)
Essay 5 (optional) Is there anything else that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? (300 words max.)
JOB DESCRIPTION ESSAYS
Essay 1 Briefly summarise 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. What would be your next step in terms of position if you were to remain in the same company? (350 words max.)
Essay 2 Please give a full description of your career since graduating from university. It should be written as if you were talking to someone at a social gathering detailing your career path with the rationale behind your choices. Discuss your short and long term career aspirations. (350 words max.)
Essay 3 If you are currently not working or if you plan to leave your current employer more than 2 months before the programme starts, please explain your activities and occupations between leaving your job and the start of the program me.(optional)
Re: INSEAD Calling all Applicants(SEPT 2015 Intake)Class of 2016
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11 Jul 2014, 07:56
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Thought I'd share the key takeaways from my INSEAD research.
- September (10 months) and January (10 months plus summer) intakes - Suggested to start in Singapore (2 of 5 semesters) and then move to Fontainebleau (3 of 5 semesters) to avoid European winter! - Short programme, but can use the time to broaden yourself out, learn more general management skills and reevaluate your options - International experience is key - Strong entrepreneurship focus – many courses on new business ventures, raising funds etc. - Most popular electives are entrepreneurship – 25% of electives in this field - Multi-geographical setup means it is not always easy to arrange meetings – staff travel to other campuses a lot - Alliances with (inter alia) Wharton and Kellogg - 10,500 executive participants pass through campus each year - Upon graduation, approx. 85% of student change career in some way (section, function and/or geography
This is from discussions with adcoms, professors, support staff, current students, alums and admission consultants. It is not complete, I may have put my own spin on things (linked to my specific interests) and some stuff may well have changed, but I'm hoping to spark a bit of debate and hopefully help your applications too.
Re: INSEAD Calling all Applicants(SEPT 2015 Intake)Class of 2016
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21 Jul 2014, 01:01
Hello again. Anyone know what the recommenders' questions are for September 2015 applicants?
My application is live but I haven't added my recommenders yet (it seems the only way to get the questions is to add them and then they receive a link to the template form).
Re: INSEAD Calling all Applicants(SEPT 2015 Intake)Class of 2016
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21 Jul 2014, 01:36
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TopDogMBA wrote:
Hello again. Anyone know what the recommenders' questions are for September 2015 applicants?
My application is live but I haven't added my recommenders yet (it seems the only way to get the questions is to add them and then they receive a link to the template form).
Although I am not sure of the source, they are the only ones who have published recommendation questions.
Thank you, although by comparing the other essay prompts with those in my current application, they are out-of-date. Probably the recommender questions will be out-of-date too.
I will share the questions once I send the link to my recommenders (this week).
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Re: INSEAD Calling all Applicants(SEPT 2015 Intake)Class of 2016
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26 Jul 2014, 23:43
Global INSEAD Day on 12th September 2014. It is such an amazing concept to keep the diversity alive and feel part of INSEAD diverse cultural experiences even after you leave INSEAD. Check out the video
Re: INSEAD Calling all Applicants(SEPT 2015 Intake)Class of 2016
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02 Aug 2014, 11:33
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Thought I'd share some specific feedback from a senior alum and a 2009 graduate (who has also interviewed a dozen or so candidates when invited to interview):
- Given desire to switch career and geography, will get a lot more out of full time MBA (rather than Exec MBA) - INSEAD is a lot more broad-minded [than other European schools], rewards diversity (own mentality and nature of people worked with) and people who have worked up the ladder - Alumni are passionate about helping the school and people interested to come to INSEAD - INSEAD is an innovative and entrepreneurial place: stimulating environment with many start-ups; several older classmates (mid 30s) who went on to work for eBay - Good to show focus in your application (i.e. specific goals) but also be careful to show you are open-minded, i.e. expect you may change your mind once you get on campus - Be honest about any shortcomings – tell how you have since “pulled your socks up” - Will typically rank c. 60% of candidates as ‘recommend admit’ (rest split 50/50 between ‘possible admit’ and ‘no admit’)
Most important questions for an older applicant: - Why now? Why not earlier? - Why not the Exec MBA programme? - How will you interact with others [given family commitments]? Will you be able to integrate into the social culture of INSEAD?
A lot of this is quite specific to me (older applicant) but hope it helps someone else out there.
Re: INSEAD Calling all Applicants(SEPT 2015 Intake)Class of 2016
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07 Aug 2014, 03:21
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Hi everyone. After a short delay (it's summertime after all!) I got the questions from one of my recommenders for the current intake.
They're the same as last season, as follows: 1. How long have you known the candidate? Define your relationship with the candidate and the circumstances whereby you met. 2. Comment on the candidate's career progress to date and his/her career focus. 3. What do you consider to be the candidate's major strengths? Comment on the factors that distinguish the candidate from other individuals at his/her level. 4. What do you consider to be the candidate's major weaknesses? 5. Comment on the candidate's potential for senior management. Do you see him/her as a future leader? 6. Describe the candidate as a person. Comment on his/her ability to establish and maintain relationships, sensititivity to others, self-confidence, attitude, etc. Specifically comment on the candidate's behaviour or skills in a group setting/team environment.
Please note there's also a grid for your recommender to rate you on 12 criteria (competence in his/her field, professionalism, focus on the task at hand etc.) as well as a final rating of your "potential for becoming a responsible and successful manager in international business..." on a scale of excellent (top 2%) to below average (bottom 50%).
Re: INSEAD Calling all Applicants(SEPT 2015 Intake)Class of 2016
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07 Aug 2014, 22:55
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I have interacted with 3 Indian students/alums.
Sharing my learning for others benefits
1. Jan term ofcourse is much more hectic than Sept term(as students have an Internship option for Jan)
2. For Indians, the application process is much more challenging due to the sheer number of Indian applicants to INSEAD.
3. INSEAD pays a lot of attention to overall candidature-international exposure (clients, projects, travel etc), leadership opportunities, previous work experience /awards/ etc apart from your GMAT score
4. Most of the career activities are student driven through networking.
5. INSEAD has a confidentiality policy on grades, so you are not allowed to disclose your grades even to fellow students, INSEAD does not disclose grades to recruiters
6. Consulting as an option is open to people coming from various fields, you don't need to have prior experience, this is in line with INSEAD's reputation of 80% student changing atleast two of the three( Industry, Function and Geography)
Re: INSEAD Calling all Applicants(SEPT 2015 Intake)Class of 2016
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18 Aug 2014, 09:11
How many of you plan to write this essay Essay 3 If you are currently not working or if you plan to leave your current employer more than 2 months before the programme starts, please explain your activities and occupations between leaving your job and the start of the program me.(optional)
Although I will be pretty tempted to leave before 2 months, I am doing pretty well in my current job and I would really like to save money before I start the term. I still harbor a dream to travel before the term starts, I am still confused about this essay.
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Re: INSEAD Calling all Applicants(SEPT 2015 Intake)Class of 2016
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23 Aug 2014, 06:31
farhanc85 wrote:
How many of you plan to write this essay Essay 3 If you are currently not working or if you plan to leave your current employer more than 2 months before the programme starts, please explain your activities and occupations between leaving your job and the start of the program me.(optional)
Although I will be pretty tempted to leave before 2 months, I am doing pretty well in my current job and I would really like to save money before I start the term. I still harbor a dream to travel before the term starts, I am still confused about this essay.
What do you guys think?
I agree it's a bit unusual. Personally, I'm planning to say, simply, "not applicable". It's not as if there isn't a lot of other space in your essays to get your key message across.
I'm also planning 6-8 weeks off before school but, as it will be largely relaxing and visiting friends and family across the globe, I don't think it adds a lot to my application.
What's more, I have a lot (10+ years) of professional experience so think my application has enough data points for them to make a decision.
If you're planning to do something really cool, by all means add it in.
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