INSEAD -January 2014 Intake - Calling All Applicants

The way I see. Our MBA candidacy started even before we apply to business school. Our background, who we were, who we are, and who we will be play an important part in INSEAD decision.

We did the best we can with the GMAT and the essays to demonstrate to INSEAD we are a good fit. At this point, I can have negative thought, be worry or I can have positive thought and be happy. Accepted or Rejected, If I am not good enough for INSEAD, I will try again next year (I am 27 by Jan 2014, so I still have sometime) at different schools.

You are in a better position since you had offers from other schools already, so I wouldn't worry if I were you. In addition, the school that you got in are INSEAD's competitors, so it tells them a lot of about your candidacy. If they see "gold" and they don't take it, it will be their lost.

This is a support group after all :D

I came to the U.S as an exchange student also. This feels the same for me, except 10 years later lol.

Do you guys think its really a smart idea to tell them about the other schools that you have been accepted to? Not sure how I would go about letting them know that at this point (when I applied I'd only been accepted to ESADE). Is this something to mention in the interview?

I kinda worried that they would take this as a negative because they might be concerned about being a second choice? Maybe less so with ESADE and HEC but let's say Wharton had admitted me? ( I did not apply there)

P.S. I saw something interesting with regards to GMAT on youtube. The head of admissions said they look at the break down of your scores more closely than the combined score. They want to see that you can score in the 70th percentile on both Math and Verbal and not necessarily at the same time.

It is all about presentation and how you say it. This is the consultant in me speaking: I would ask your interviewers when they apply to INSEAD, what other schools did they apply to, and why they choose INSEAD over the other school. This is one of the questions the interviewers might ask you anyways, might as well throw it back at them. Three case could come out of this.

1. If they said the INSEAD is the only school that they apply and get in, don't mentioned you got into the other school. Focus on saying how INSEAD fit you, and you will fit for INSEAD

2. If they said they also apply and didn't get into the other schools, and those school are the one you get into, don't mentioned it. Focus on saying how INSEAD fit you, and you will fit for INSEAD

3. If they said they also apply and got into the other schools, and those school are the one you get into. Ask them why they choose INSEAD over the others. Establish the common ground, then causally mentioned that INSEAD is your first choice (I hope it is), then mentioned that you also get into the other school, but INSEAD fit you so much, you can't pass up the opportunity.



Yes, I saw this too. If you take the GMAT multiple time. They will consider the highest of Quan, and the highest of Verbal. This is why I love INSEAD. Below is the quote from ASK INSEAD thread

I think the best strategy is to tell the truth, but position it wisely:
1) when you tell the truth you sound naturally
2) ad com officer can double check if you were really admitted to another school. many ad com officer are actually colleagues and friends so they can use their connections to find the information informally
3) even with Wharton vs INSEAD there are many reasons to choose INSEAD. mentioning other top-notch schools may actually improve your chances. probably not with INSEAD, but other schools can even offer a scholarship to make strong candidates to choose them over competitors

Some folks even claim their GMAT score as a combination of the highest scores from several actual gmat tests and then taking the overall score from the reference table from the gmatclub. To my mind, a bit too aggressive.

Anyone know if we need to get local "Police Clearance" for the French student visa application for INSEAD? Spain is asking for this for ESADE and it looks like it might take the better part of a decade to get because of where I live. I'm hoping this is a Spain thing and not an entire EU thing.

Only tell them if the other schools are at least as good as INSEAD. So no, ESADE doesn't count. I would only mention other schools if it were M7 or LBS.

However, even in that case, I would always mention that INSEAD is your first choice. Because, it is, right?

Hi ducceus
I am almost 31. Spent a significant amount of time, perhaps 2-3hrs every day over a month, writing the essays. The essays were well written and specific. I worked in the field of equity research for 7 years, with a front end role for about 6 years. Got some international experience in the form of client roadshows. With this experience, I highlighted that I wanted to get into a leading AMC.

Possibly they are not confident about financial services placements. Possibly they prefer candidates with a consulting bent of mind.

Thank you for advice! I am thinking of retaking, but i am afraid not to this class, because i need at least 2-3 months to get to the desired level. So will be ready approximately by august, which is the deadline for round 3. I am lookind for a scholarship and any financial assisstance, while in round 3 you miss most of the deadlines for financial support. So now thinking of applying for the next class (Sep14). It is pitty because i was liiking for an internship opportunity, well will see how it goes.

I dont know, man. My profile is not as good as you. I spend a lot of time writting essays tho. I also aim to go into finance. I am engineering consultant now, I want to switch to IB. Basically, I want to get an MBA, so I can get into IB. I am not sure why you need an MBA o.O

How old are you ? why not wait a year and apply next Jan, so you got more time to prepare. I heard September intakes is hard to get internship. Jam intake give you better chance of internship

it's the deadline, 9 am in France. Good luck to all still awaiting for reply from INSEAD!

I have decided to go to LBS, so will decline my interviews.

One more potential space to fill - Good luck guys!

Yeah dude, you got me clobbered too. Something doesnt add up here. Do you not have any international experience? Did they maybe think you're more likely to go to Wharton or one of those? From what I gather about the school, if you don't do international they dont want you - end of story. Everything else is negotiable including GMAT. Do you not speak any foreign languages other than English? I'm assuming you are Indian so they might not really see it as a "foreign language" in your case.

Congrats. What was your basis for the choice?

LBS offered a scholarship (which seemed unlikely at INSEAD), preference of finance and slightly longer course made the decision for me. I definitely have a better fit at LBS rather than INSEAD. Variety of exchange opportunities at LBS was also a big draw, just a shame they don't do an exchange with INSEAD, would have been perfect

Would obviously have been very happy to go to INSEAD, but was an easy decision in the end.