Calling all Applicants: INSEAD January 2023 Intake

Hi guys

I just finished up my kira talent video interview questions. Had submitted the written portion on 28th June.

I had a few queries if someone could help out:

1. How long does it usually take from application submission to interview decision? Couldnt find a break up of the admissions process

2. One of my recommendations is still pending I saw. Cant get a hold of the person, I think they might be travelling. Do application evaluations only begin after the recommendations, written portion, and video interviews are done?

3. How soon after submissions is an AO allotted to applicants?


Due to my personal circumstances i suddenly find myself in need for an expedited process, hence these questions. as luck would have it, the situation changed after the previous deadline which I could potentially have made it to as well. so cant stop kicking myself for that.

Hey NV2013,

I must say that you have scored a good GMAT with 740 score but let me be straight forward, it is harder to be admitted after Round 1 and 2. Each round is equally competitive, as the ratio of acceptance is the same for all rounds. When choosing which round to apply in (we have four application rounds for the MBA programme), the most important consideration is to dedicate enough time and thought to your application so that it accurately represents your strengths and talents, instead of rushing to meet the next available application deadline.

Also as you have mentioned that you have 13yr of work experience so this can also be a red alert to get an admit from Insead. Insead do accept applicants who have only two years’ work experience and are 24-25 years old, as well as those who have up to 10 years work experience and are in their mid-thirties.

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Received interview invitation today.

Hi

Received interview invite yesterday and promptly sent off emails to the alumni.

Now waiting to hear back from them..

any tips or suggestions?
also, did anyone have difficulties or delays in scheduling interviews?

Hello sidby Congratulations on making it to the interview round!

Regarding the interview schedule, the alumni are super flexible regarding the date and time. In case, they cannot agree to your time slot (for some unforeseeable reason), they will be more than willing to accommodate a common convenient time. Depending on their current location, you may expect a delay of few days (but there is nothing to worry!). In case they are unavailable, your AO will immediately send you the information and contact details of another alum. (It happened with me. One of the interviewers informed that she could not make it, and within a day I received an email from my AO with new contact details )
Regarding interview tips, the first one- it is never an interview! It will merely be a conversation over a cup of coffee
Be yourself! Most of the questions will be circled around whatever you have provided in the application and resume.
Be confident about your decision to pursue an MBA, your choice of school-INSEAD and you post MBA goals. They never expect you to be flawless so do not try it! I am sure you are going to enjoy those 60 mins of conversation with INSEAD alumni.
Good luck! I am sure you will nail it.

P.S: alumni may ask for a soft copy of your application and resume. So make sure, you have it handy

The fourth and final application deadline for the MBA January 2023 intake has been extended to 17 August 2022.

Hi Swagata,

Thanks for the detailed reply. It helps to clarify a lot!
Ive heard this a lot now that the interview is mostly a conversation.. will approach it as such then.
I already emailed them the soft copies of my application pdf as well as my cv along with the email i wrote them. hope thats enough.
2 more quick queries if i may:
1. were your interviews in person? u mentioned a conversation over a cup of coffee so was wondering.. the email i received said that its advisable to have virtual interviews..

2. I understand the scheduling around mutually convenient times and potential unavailability in rare cases, but what is the appropriate next move if there is no response to the initial email? its been 2 days, which is frankly not a lot i know, but what does one do after waiting say 4-5 days? INSEAD provided phone numbers but i felt that email would be most appropriate.. any tips regarding establishing initial contact would be really helpful...

thanks once again for your detailed and extremely helpful reply

Hi sidby,

Congratulations on the interview invite! Swagata covered the tips excellently (I have nothing to add )

To your other 2 questions:

1) They can be physical or virtual. Most people from this batch were able to meet their interviewers in person because covid rules had gotten relaxed (this can be dependent country to country). However, I interviewed in the peak of covid (23J deferred) so both my interviews were zoom sessions. One was even based in New York, so there was no other option (although 90% cases they try to match you with one in your area). You can work this out with your interviewers and ask them what they prefer!

2) If you have waited for 4-5 days, follow up again with an email (or if they are on wa you can shoot them a message there as well. My AO encouraged me to sms after a few days of no reply). If it has been a week or so, let your AO know and she will follow up with them, or assign you a new interviewer.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

hi icarus77,

Yes i concur that swagata clarified most doubts pertaining to the interview very well.. sorted on those for now.

As it happens did exactly what you have recommended regarding establishing contact, this morning itself. Succesfully established contact with one of the alums and hoping to hear back from the other maybe later on in the day/evening today. Had dropped an sms this morning.

The alum i am in touch with is also leaning toward a meeting, though he wasnt aware of my location at that point. Itll involve a bit of travel for me but its no big deal. Was in his neighbourhood last week as it turns out when i had received the invite to interview. Anyway dress code is the only remaining query I have. I suppose business formal?

Thanks for your pointers, will wait another 2-3 days to establish contact with the second alum, failing which will drop INSEAD an email.

Hi sidby sorry I may have missed your post somehow! To answer your questions:

1. I had one virtual and one in-person; virtual because we were in different countries and in-person because we were in the same city. As far as I have understood, your AO will try to set up at least one in-person interview (depending on the covid policies and availability). But at the end of the day, it really doesnot matter. I had amazing experiences in both the scenarios. (One perk you get with virtual interview is that you don't have to get dressed and travel ).

I have written a debrief about my experience here https://gmatclub.com/forum/insead-201/i ... brief-2316
I hope it helps!

2. icarus77 perfectly answered your question. If you think it is too late for you, just drop an email to your AO and he/she will take care of the rest.
Regarding the dress code, I received mixed opinions. So I ended up meeting my interviewers in a formal attire. As long as you are not trying to be too funky ( ), I think it is fine. Wear whatever you are comfortable with and whatever makes you confident. More than the attire, it's the body language that you will be carrying!

Wishing you the best of luck and hoping to see you

Hi Swagata06,

Thanks for another detailed reply. Helps a lot. Sorted on the dress code too now.

Seems like i dont have great luck, one of the interviewers i was trying to establish contact with still hasn't responded, and it seems the phone number provided is also out of service! so just ended up dropping the AO an email regarding that.

and after initial contact with interviewer 2, no further replies.

i guess this will take its sweet time. hope it all works out in the end

thanks again!

Hey sidby
I hope you get the schedule soon! Just a quick question. You mentioned that you had an initial contact with the interviewer 2. May I know if you were able to schedule the meeting? When I emailed my interviewers, I got straight to the point ( ) by providing them 3 meeting slots and asking them to choose from them. One of my interviewers accepted one of the slots and the other one gave a new slot from his end as he was travelling at that time.

Hello,

does anyone have any idea about the best approach to ask for an accelerated reply from INSEAD Admission office?

context : I am done with interviews since July 13th , and I am waiting for the final result from INSEAD(Deadline mentioned for my round is 16 august), however I am bounded by another school deadline which happens to be on August 6 (I need to transfer the deposit by this date to confirm my place)

Hey Swagata06,

So yeah, since the last post interviewer one suddenly replied and we have scheduled for tomorrow. I am happy about that and prepping.

Yeah interviewer 2 responded to my text on Monday and since then nothing. sent a follow up today. He never replied to the email from last week, just one small text on Monday asking me my location and convenience, no meeting or even potential dates was discussed.

Your approach was probably the best it seems. Probably should have gone with that.
Now i am just stuck in limbo but have one interview tomorrow and can hope that the other one responds to my text from today. I ditched emailing him cos the only response i got back was by text. Have informed him of my location which is different than his and that I already have one tomorrow. So im hoping he may do remote over the weekend.

Hi sidby,

just real quick if I may. I understand you are not feeling very comfortable with the situation. But this is somewhat common and your approach was correct.

I can't stress this enough but interviewers are volunteers and by no means this is part of their jobs. Moreover, they are aware of the deadline to complete the interviews and know that the date the interviews happen has no impact on the final outcome.

Therefore, it is common that these interviews for some alumni volunteers are not very high on their priority list.

Moreover, the most important part of the interview process is your personality and how you come across as a person. And they are already assessing this by how you communicate with them to schedule these interviews. So, if you come across as "pushy", that could be bad for you.

So, just wait patiently for the second interview to be scheduled and always show appreciation for their time, both in written (i.e. emails, text messages...) and orally during the actual interviews. They will appreciate and will form a positive image of yourself.

I hope this helps.

Warm regards
Alex

Hi ZeusC,

it varies by round, but usually, INSEAD starts calling admits about 2 weeks before the deadline stated on their website. So, if admitted, there is a chance you'll get the call just a few days after August 6th.

So, instead of asking your AO for an early decision, I would simply buy time from the other school. They won't withdraw their offer if you don't pay the deposit by August 6th. Schools are not that strict. Just let them know you are having issues getting the money or something like that.

I hope this helps.

Warm regards
Alex

Hi All,

Real quick one- How much work ex is required to apply for INSEAD MBA? Does work ex hold a huge value in admission? I come from 2 years of experience and targeting Europe B schools. Kindly let me know if I should give it a shot.