INSEAD Waitlist January 2021 Intake

Hey everyone, sharing here that I've removed myself from the waitlist and will reapply in the coming years. This was a super hard decision so have taken a long time to think about it and talked to peers and mentors who've taken MBAs and had great experiences. Thought it would be worth sharing here my conclusions from their notes too in case helpful for your thought process:

1. While the 10-month MBA of INSEAD was advantageous for those who couldn't afford to be out of work for the 2-year American MBAs, it's now not so advantageous because that means it's likely that INSEAD's MBA will be mostly online at this rate, and we won't get to do the campus exchange - which, from what alumni and mentors who've done MBAs said, is such a key aspect of the whole MBA experience (networking) - a dealbreaker, even. Not sure how you build that camaraderie through Zoom in the same way. I would hate to have graduated 21D having paid the full 90K fees in debt and then see future cohorts take in the better, fuller experience.

2. Graduating into a recession - again, the shorter MBA disadvantage. While in an economic crisis they say it's wise to head into education and ride out the recession, a shortened MBA doesn't give you this same coverage. Some mentors said if you are lucky to be in employment, buckle down, stay in because you don't know when you'll get back in. There are new INSEAD graduates who are apparently still job hunting or who's internship contracts fell through. I don't want to graduate into a recession (and this is going to be an interesting one - it definitely will not be over by December next year). Whereas American MBA graduates starting at the same time have two years to ride out into a hopefully more stable economy.

3. The value piece really got to me in the end. Paying the same amount for an undeniably weaker MBA. I decided in my personal circumstances, I was willing to wait to get my money's worth.

I hope these notes have helped you guys! I'm gutted but looking forward to reopening the file again soon!

Thanks for sharing and best of luck! You definitely mentioned quite interesting points to consider.

Regards,
Pablo

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Thanks, Pablo! It wasn't an easy decision but I know I was thorough.

DuaQuad indeed it's not an easy decision.

just FYI for the rest of people, I guess you can still request to defer after you got the offer. You can choose to defer for half a year or one year. i.e. for 21D, you can choose to defer to 22J or 22D. Hopefully by end of 2022 the job market can resume.

That's such a hard decision, but I think you made the right choice.
**Disclaimer: this is what I think will happen, my own opinion from what I am seeing.

I predict the final admit for 21D will be around 600, and the admission committee will want a good number of them to differ, bringing the number down to 500-ish. I don't believe they will have a larger class than 500. The faculty has already committed to teaching the same class multiple times in order to provide students an in-person experience.

They are keeping people on the waitlist in case the number goes below 500, but I don't think this will happen. On top of that, INSEAD doesn't recommend reapplication.

However, that being said, I don't agree with the "weaker MBA" I think an MBA is as good as you make it, and doing it during uncertain times teaches you a completely different set of skills that can be highly useful for your future careers.

Best of luck!

Since you are already admitted to 21D, Do you see things changing currently in terms of some people deferring to 22J or 22D?

Hey, if you don't mind me asking have you been admitted to 21D?

yeah, didn't do as bad as I thought on my GMAT after all...

For class of 21D, number of people who deferred is less than 100 if I had to guess. Because the total number of 21D still remains 510+ when I’m typing this reply (before R3 is admitted), it fluctuated up n down but always remain at 510+. I also don’t feel a sentiment in my batch that lots people are deferring like what happened in 21J.

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Thanks, slimmz2004! So to your point re. reapplication. My AO actually sent me a super nice message encouraging me to reapply so I would say to you guys not to be put off by reapplications, especially if you were put on the waitlist. You were clearly put on it for a good reason, i.e. your profile was strong enough to be shortlisted.

Re. the weaker MBA, given it was such a tough decision (and I'm using my own money to pay for this MBA, no personal loans or parents money or company sponsorship), I went to the efforts of asking many alumni what they thought of this virtual MBA. An overwhelming number of them said they would wait it out for another time to attend when they could do it in person. They said the networking, team-building and building the skill of thinking on your feet in a classroom setting is vital to then bring into a corporate environment in a leadership role. I'm not sure I agree that the skills you'll learn in overcoming zoom classes and virtual learning is as important and something I'd pay 90K for.

Sorry guys, I know this probably isn't what you want to hear - it's not what I wanted to hear either. I feel obliged to share this because I think there might be a few of you out there who are also using your own well-saved money and good work to get this far for something that isn't as good as it should be.

Thanks, slimmz2004! So to your point re. reapplication. My AO actually sent me a super nice message encouraging me to reapply so I would say to you guys not to be put off by reapplications, especially if you were put on the waitlist. You were clearly put on it for a good reason, i.e. your profile was strong enough to be shortlisted.

Re. the weaker MBA, given it was such a tough decision (and I'm using my own money to pay for this MBA, no personal loans or parents money or company sponsorship), I went to the efforts of asking many alumni what they thought of this virtual MBA. An overwhelming number of them said they would wait it out for another time to attend when they could do it in person. They said the networking, team-building and building the skill of thinking on your feet in a classroom setting is vital to then bring into a corporate environment in a leadership role. I'm not sure I agree that the skills you'll learn in overcoming zoom classes and virtual learning is as important and something I'd pay 90K for.

Sorry guys, I know this probably isn't what you want to hear - it's not what I wanted to hear either. I feel obliged to share this because I think there might be a few of you out there who are also using your own well-saved money and good work to get this far for something that isn't as good as it should be.

Hi guys, has anyone accepted from waitlist?

Just to update, the number of students deferred to later classes from 21D should be more than 20, but less than 100.

just got waitlisted. what does everyone think of the chances here?? Im hoping for openings after the deposit deadlines - anyone know when that is?

The deposit deadline should be one month after the admittance notification (so latest should be 3 Oct based on 4 Sep admittance notification deadline). Don't forget there's still a R4.

21D is really overcrowded now, there are a few dozens of R3 admits, and not much students defer to later batches, plus there’s R4 coming as well. In another thread. someone mentions he/she applied for 21D R3, but got an offer of 22D. I think to increase your chance of being admitted, you can indicate that you don’t mind to be admitted to later batches as well, i.e. 22J or 22D.

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Thank you for keeping us updated. Very Much appreciated