Ask INSEAD Admissions

Hi J0ey,


Yes, indeed. You will be able to take up to 3 exemption exams for the entire year and be exempted up to 2 core courses per period. You will be offered to sit the exemption exams at the beginning of each period.

I will to have to get back to you on this.

Your profile has been carefully selected to be part of a homogenous class and for this reason deferrals are very rarely granted and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Camille

Hi Kannn,

INSEAD doesn't have a strict policy regarding the age of candidates. To give you a few stats, 80% of the class of the class is aged between 26 and 31. Out of the 20% outside this range, we actually have more students aged over 31 than below 26! (12% vs 8%)
Regarding work experience, the average is 5 years, but most of the students have between 3 and 7 years of working experience and over 20% actually have more than 7 years! When we talk about diversity, it's not only about nationality, it's also about background and experiences!
Indeed, you would be a candidates rather on the 'higher' end of the range but by no means an isolated case To assess your profile, we will look at the combination of your age, work experience and lenth of your study.

Camille

Again, this is a combination of many things. Let me give you 2 examples.

1) Imagine Tom, a 35 year old docteur. He has conducted very long studies (8 or 9 years), he's worked more or less 3/4 years. Now he wants to open his own private practice. Even though, Tom is quite older than the average MBA student, he has less working experience than average! However, medical studies are probably the longest one can conduct and we are very much aware of this.

2) Now take, Manish. He's a 30. He has a 2 years university degree after which he joined the family business working alongside his father. He wants to do an MBA to take over once his Dad retires and go international. Manish is right in the middle of the age range, but already has over 10 years of working experience!

Well, these 2 extremly different profiles (and anything in between!) will be looked at with equal interest! We believe an interesting profile is made of a combination of factors. The key is to be personal and to convince the admission committee than the MBA is the right thing to do at this given time of your career.

Hope this help
Camille

Hi Camille.
I am interested in changing my career from Information Technology to Mining Industry. Do you think a degree from INSEAD can help me achieve that? Do you have mining companies recruiting on campus (Especially for internship in Summer)?

Thank you for your time

Hello - I am wondering how you treat dual citizens. I understand that you make sure no single country represents more than 15% of the class, so where do dual citizens fall? Thanks.

Hello Camille,

With regard to the GMAT, the website states:

"While we do not have a minimum score required for admission, we advise candidates to aim for a score at or above the 70-75th percentile for both the quantitative and verbal sections of the GMAT and a percentile of 75-80th or above for the quantitative and verbal sections of the GRE. Please keep in mind, however, that standardized tests are just one of several admission criteria. A high score does not guarantee admission, and a below average score does not eliminate a candidate."

I am just wondering how strict this advisory is. If a total score is beyond the 85th percentile yet one of the two categories is below the advised 70th percentile, will it be required to retake the GMAT? I just do not want to complete the full application in vein.

Thank you very much,

JK

Hi Patcheko80,

INSEAD MBA participants have a huge appetite for change. Thanks to their international experience and renowned adaptability, 81% of INSEAD’s 2010 graduates succeeded in changing their function, sector or country of work on leaving the MBA programme. 22% changed all three at once!
We have roughly 6% of students taking job in Energy/Petroleum and 4% in Primary Industries.
You can consult our https://mba.insead.edu/documents/MBA_EMPLOYMENT_STATISTICS.pdf (2011 soon to come out)
All the data you are looking for is in there!

Camille

Hi Shoescars,
First, let me point out that we have absolutely no quotas! If you're a dual citizen, you should apply under the nationality that you feel the closest too. Which of the 2 languages do you speak best? which one do you culturally indentify more with? Go with your gut feeling.

Best,
Camille

Hi jklarich,


More than your overall score, we are looking at balanced verbal and quant scores. So if you have 85% in quant and 55% in verbal, then it's not good. If you have 85% Q and 69% verbal - then you shouldn't worry. This is because we need to be sure that you will be Ok to following a finance class as much as a negociation class!

Now, bear in mind that we do not base our decision only on GMAT scores. There are many other points to take into account! Like your working experience, the quality of your essays, your leadership potential, international exposure, your letters of reference etc…

Camille

Hi Camille

I am interested in a consulting career post my MBA. I wanted to know what are the "usual verticals" in "consulting companies" that Insead students get placed in immediately post their Insead MBA. From the website i could find out the names of the companies but not the specific verticals in which Insead students in particular get placed.

Appreciate your feedback in advance, thinking of applying for Jan'13 intake.

Thanks

Hello INSEAD,

Do you have plans to offer some kind of a master degree (for example Master in Management) in the near future ? Thank you in advance!

Hi INSEAD Adcom,

I am planning for the September intake of 2012.
The Application checklist has one of requirement as "English language certification".
Does INSEAD waive of taking the TOEFL if the undergraduate major primary language of teaching is only English ?

Thanks,
Herin

Hi,

I have a question regarding AWA section in GMAT - does it matter somehow? I guess that Insead has plenty of opportunities for a Candidate evaluation based on numerous Essays…what is the official version?

Thanks!

Hello, thank you for your time.

Are there more plans to increase class sizes? It appears that some alums are already concerned about the increased class sizes and the dilution in the brand. How is INSEAD managing to maintain the same high quality of the student body when selectivity is declining (i.e. no longer accepting just the top x number of students, but now close to 1000)? How would you reassure alums about this concern?

Hi Kapac,

INSEAD has launched a new Master in Finance https://specialised-degrees.insead.edu/master-in-finance/index.cfm. We have no plan at the moment to launch another Master Programme in any other discipline.

Best,
camille

Hi agentzap,

INSEAD encourages all applicants to take the AWA part of the GMAT at least once. If you are re-taking the GMAT, then sitting the AWA a second time is not necessary.

Best,
camille

Hi Phighter,

It took me a little time to reply to you as i'm not an expert in consulting. I had to seek advice from a Career Services advisor. Here is his say:

"If what you're asking is what industry verticals or sectors students would cover if they work in consulting firms after INSEAD. The answer is that most of the large firms like McKinsey, Bain, Booz & BCG would hire MBAs to be generalist and give them a variety of work across verticals or sectors. In a few cases there are smaller firms that specialize in areas such as tech/media/telecom or health care or energy, but they often prefer that their hires already have some experience in these areas. This would be true of any business school MBA graduate, not just INSEAD"

Thanks to my Colleague Chris in Career Services @ INSEAD!
Camille