Calling all Applicants: INSEAD Jan 2020 Intake (Class of Dec 2020)

Not yet.... My AO is also IR....

Posted from my mobile device

Does this mean that if the admissions committee has any questions about your application, they would have been asked at this stage, and not after the interview?
- Judging from my case alone, I would say they will contact you before interview and ask you to clarify the things about which they have doubts.

And is the AO part of the team that evaluates our applications, or just a liaison between us and the team that evaluates our applications?
- The AO's title is Admission Coordinator, which implies they are not the ones who make the call.

loneo

there are sources of common INSEAD alumni interview questions for these 2 interviews and what I recommend is that you work with a coach on formulating your responses to those common questions; build your case and narrative. This should be consistent with everything you have presented so far from the INSEAD app, but to be honest, alumni interview questions are "new content" distinct from essays.

that is the first step; yes, it's good to do mock interviews but first have a clear idea on what you be presenting in the way of responses. I'm not saying you should create a script where you repeat things word for word, but definitely create talking points for at least the common questions; go through your examples/stories and make sure they are very clear and compelling - before working on delivery.

This is my approach and it works every time. One guy was waitlisted at MIT, went to GSB instead. otherwise, every time.
Congrats on being shortlisted!

Congrats to all those who are invited for interview and good luck to the rest!

Just to notify y'all, we now have an inbuilt chat room in INSEAD forum for applicants to hang out and share info/updates with others. It can be used without leaving the forum page. Check the screenshot below..

Just received a rejection email from AO EL. Good luck for the rest of applicants!

Got dinged

AO is IR

Posted from my mobile device

Same here bro

Guys,

Does INSEAD has any disadvantage for candidates with 10 years of work experience? Profile - Indian male, Undergrad from IIT, worked & lived across India,china, Europe and now in USA since 2 years, working with a big consumer product company as group manager, GMAT 700. Thinking of applying to INSEAD but confused between R3 of Jan 2020 vs R 1 of Sep 2020 intake. I will have 10 year experience by Sep 2020 and 9.5 years by Jan 2020.

Any suggestions?

Hey Coolabinash!

You have a good GMAT score with experience to put on table. Attributes such as Leadership, International Exposure and Academic Capacity are clearly visible in your profile. Would need more information on you to comment further. I have friends in my batch (2017) with a lesser GMAT score (<700) and similar work experience (10+ years). So to answer your question - nothing is disadvantageous, if you can sell your story.

Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma
MBA and Beyond Consulting
Schedule a Free Session here.

Hi coolabinash,

I don't think that 10 years is a dealbreaker; the key is to make sure that you are marketable for the goal you outline in your essays. So if you are going for investment banking in NYC this might be a problem because they really target younger candidates. So make sure your goal is realistic for your age and experience, at least on paper.

I would recommend Indian applicants to look at September at this point - the standards for R3 are a bit higher now that the seats are being filled - your GMAT is a bit under the average and weak for an Indian applicant, so, would love to see you bring that up as much as possible, have R1 advantage, and have as much time as possible to do deep introspection, research your goals, and research INSEAD.

Unless you are on a long vacation at work, taking a single-minded approach, 3 weeks is not enough time to do a quality job on 7 essays, your CV, talking points for recommenders, video question prep. Obviously IIT is great - love the international work experience. Make sure to articulate a habit of leadership and contribution. This is a frequent miss - but contribution has so much to do with your overall value proposition.

If you must have an internship, than January is the only option, however. If you are going for consulting, this is not necessary. But if finance, it's compulsory.

Hope this helps!
Farrell

PS - I had a candidate with 10 years get passed over for an interview this cycle, but offered a spot in their EMBA program - so I feel we did a good job articulating his work experience; however he had bad grades/test scores/contribution track record and not much in the way of international motivation. We declined the offer; he is headed to IESE for the full-time program in September, waiting on scholarship info, he's excited and delighted.

With regards to interview prep - wanted to clarify my points in the post to loneo

What works best for my candidates is that we prepare talking points but not script them.

List points you want to hit on but by all means do not lay things out word for word or it will ruin the energetic flow of the interview.

Just have an idea of what you're going to say and the main points you want to make.

So definitely prepare talking points but allow yourself to speak extemporaneously with regards to those talking points for the most part.

To everyone interviewing: I really strongly caution people against "winging it" and doing no preparation.

Preparation is what allows you to focus on the interpersonal aspect of the interview because you're not sweating bullets trying to figure out what you're going to say next and it allows you to interact more.

Hi all
I am invited for R2 interviews and wondering if there were any alumns interested in giving me mock interviews. on skype or over the phone?

Does anybody know whether submitting a better GMAT score later in the application process will improve the chance of getting a scholarship?

I am in the interview process for R2 and also studying for GMAT and going to take a GMAT exam in 2-3 weeks in case I don't get accepted to apply for other schools.

Recently, I received the email regarding scholarship application from INSEAD so that this question popped up in my mind.

Thank you

hongly88

The scholarship application for Round 2 is June 3rd, so it's a little bit of a bummer that you're not taking the GMAT sooner.
https://www.insead.edu/master-programmes/mba/financing/scholarship-guide

You can indicate that you will be retaking the test and give them the test date, and offer to update your them with the results. I do think if it's soon after the deadline they might consider an improved result.

Of course this might get a little awkward if the result is not better. You can just take the test and hope for the best as well; however without giving them notice that you have a pending result, that seems riskier to me.

Given that you're taking the exam again for other applications, I’m of two minds in recommending that you take the exam earlier than you might be prepared for, for this purpose alone.

If you're not getting close to the maximum attempts then you might move forward with this plan and then retake it again later if you feel the score does not reflect your full potential.

Hello!

INSEAD alum here. Would love to help you.

Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma
MBA and Beyond Consulting
Schedule Mock Interview here.
Schedule a Free Intro Session here.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shantanu-sharma-b7938431/

Hi Farrell,

While we're on the topic of scholarships, I have a few questions about the process and how I match the criteria - let me know if I can PM you.