Re: INSEAD vs. Stanford MSx
[#permalink]
Updated on: 22 Aug 2018, 22:50
Hi everyone,
Thanks for the discussion, advice, and your poll participation. I wanted to give an update on my decision. I have decided to attend the Stanford MSx program. This comes after a long period of reflection and also researching articles, blogs, and interviewing alumni. At the end of the day, for my interests, you just can't do better than Stanford. Stanford walks the talk on social entrepreneurship, design thinking, personal development and the school mission is a better fit for me.
The following were the major deciding factors to what was otherwise a very tough decision. As a caveat, since I ultimately chose Stanford the deciding factors will seem skewed:
More resources = more room to explore
There are overwhelmingly more resources at Stanford. Besides being a full-fledged University and a top business school, Stanford is also a powerhouse at fundraising. This means that they have the ability to support more fellowships, centers, programs, and more varied electives. With regards to my interest in Social Impact/Design they have the Center for Social Innovation, Impact Labs, D.School, Social Impact Fellowship, offer certificate programs and double-majors, publish the Stanford Social Innovation Review, and have professors recruited from the UN, World Bank, etc. INSEAD has a student group INDEVOR that runs a wide variety of social impact activities on campus and about 3 electives that I could find which are tailored to social impact, and a 3-day design thinking bootcamp. The INSEAD menu had one of everything that I was interested in, but it was more of an appetizer rather than a full course meal.
Pay to Play
At INSEAD you pay for add-ons what Stanford offers for free. Outside of coursework, INSEAD requires students to pay a discounted "student fee" for things like startup/design bootcamps (at the tune of 400+ Euros a pop). From what I can tell, Stanford students access these same types of opportunities for free as electives, can make use of the wider university resources for free, and in addition, can even get a student discount for Bay Area professional conferences and events. Also, it surprised me that the INSEAD deposit was the highest I had ever encountered at 10K USD to reserve your seat. Between paying your own way for bootcamps, events, and social activities/travels, the cost of the full INSEAD experience can start climbing quickly.
Cohort and Alumni Network
Where INSEAD wowed me was with the friendliness and caliber of their students. All the alumni speak about the program with great enthusiasm. They're incredibly proud that INSEAD is grown into its potential. There is an instant camaraderie that I've come to find is characteristic of INSEAD students/alumni, which comes from the incredibly unique set of traditions and experiences that make up the INSEAD MBA program.
With Stanford, I was not connected to their alumni chapters as that's reserved for active students and alumni (not prospective students). This made it harder to compare programs and was initially a major disadvantage for Stanford as I had built a rapport with INSEAD alumni. However subsequent conversations with a few Stanford alumni connections helped set expectations. I'm relying on assurances from the alumni I interviewed that GSB has a vibrant community, unusually responsive alumni, and that the school takes a very active role in organizing and funding events for alumni to stay connected. INSEAD alumni events seem largely self-sponsored.
Pace of program
The pace of the full INSEAD experience seemed unnecessarily complex between squeezing in an exit foreign language, sightseeing other countries on the weekends, student clubs that meet over Skype to coordinate between France/Singapore, an entire period flying to multiple countries as part of the recruitment process, working around electives that are only available in one of the campuses, the pain of moving campuses halfway through school and finding new apartments/services, friends who come in and out of your circle because they switched campuses and later scatter to various corners of the earth after graduation - all within a 10 month span. Exhilarating for some, but exhausting for me.
I also felt that INSEAD's exit language and new leadership development requirements would not have enhanced my experience but rather burden an already packed schedule. As an aspiring career changer, I want more mental space to thoughtfully explore interests and tee up my future. Stanford's 12 month program and the fact that opportunities come to campus seemed a more effective use of time.
Culture of Changemakers
Although I value a culture of diversity, which INSEAD offers in spades, I value even more a culture of dreamers, moonshots, and change-makers. Stanford embodies an idealism yet down-to-earth quality that I find compelling. Personally, I'm looking for a journey of self-discovery and not a path to a MBB job. In addition, as another reply mentioned, the MSx program is 60% internationals and hosts their own 'National' event for fellow classmates. I am confident that I will still get an international perspective from my cohort.
When I reflected on my reasons for going to business school in the first place Stanford became a no brainer. Put another way, talking to INSEAD alumni made me excited about the social life, travels, and traditions at INSEAD. Talking to Stanford alumni made me excited about my future, encouraged to take risks, and try to "change the world". Between the "Best year of my life" vs. "Change my life", I opted for the program that I felt would bring the most personal and professional transformation.
Originally posted by
karroty on 11 Dec 2017, 23:16.
Last edited by
karroty on 22 Aug 2018, 22:50, edited 1 time in total.
close
