IESE or INSEAD

Question

Hi Everybody,

This post is going to be long so I'm extremely grateful to whoever will spend time to help me!!

I have been lucky to be admitted to both IESE (with ≈25% scholarship) and INSEAD MBA full time programs.

Background:
-  M&A and finance lawyer  at tier 1 international law firm for 6+ years
- Want to use the MBA to either (A) join  management consulting firm  (most common path for people with my background) and use such intermediate step to move in the medium/long term to a corporate executive role; (B) join a  MBA rotational program  and explore functions I am not even aware of due to my background. I know MBA applicants should have their career plans from now to 2090 crystal clear but this is simply not me. I am quite eclectic and for me exploring different options is essential not to get bored
-  start-up  world sounds extremely exciting (as for everybody) and would consider options that might come but I'm also aware that I'm a lawyer (=risk-adverse inclination) 
- from Southern Europe but with quite an  international experience  for a lawyer (studied and worked also in US, Asia and around Europe). Would not mind to live abroad in the future but in the medium/long term I see myself in some Mediterranean country
-  priorities : 
 (i) having the possibility to explore and understand different career options
 (ii) really acquire business and management knowledge (especially as I am trained in law). I am aware of the importance of network but coming from the best university and best law firm in my country I have also realized that one cannot live off of network (acutally one could, but not me haha)
 (iii) getting a job that is diverse and pays me enough to be happy and live a decent life. Let's say that becoming "extremely rich" (as relative as it can be) is not my life goal

INSEAD  
Pros:
- prestige (!!!) and network 
- best place for mgmt consulting
- quicker (I'm almost 30 + living with no income for just 10 months would be easier)
- I'm sure every person from my firm / uni would choose INSEAD as it is more known
- would be a good chance to also learn French (not scared at all by language barriers)
- campus exchange

Cons:
- too fast (which would not give me enough time to explore). No intermediate internsip possibility, which means I have to apply for mgmt consulting applications after a few months (weeks?) from start
- would start in French campus. With never ending COVID, the idea of spending 10 months closed in an apt in a tiny city sounds awful to me (and I'm not sure that it will be easy to move to Singapore/Abu Dhabi in the following terms due to existing restrictions worldwide)
- no scholarship
- environment: no, no, no. And no. I have probably been very unlucky but after speaking with 7 people from INSEAD, with different backgrounds, there was no one single person that I found inspiring or that really motivated me (other than repeating "INSEAD is the best and everybody knows it")

IESE  
Pros:
- 19 months track, possibility to do an intership (!!!)
- enviroment & values: yes! I found alumni so close to the kind of person I am and I want to be
- scholarship
- exchange with US universities (I've been digged by some M7 and would love to experience it)
- time to explore entrepreunership world too
- case method. I appreciate it may be nonsense in certain classes (accounting) but I've experienced it in the US and it does help me really "turn on" my brain
- opens doors also in Spain: salaries are lower but I already lived in Spain and the life quality kind of compensates for the missing money. The prestife IESE has in South America also intrigues me (in the short term)
- might the fact that all people from my circle would choose INSEAD actually differentiate me? Not sure, but who knows (the counterargument is that all people in my country will consider me foolish for choosing IESE over INSEAD)
- I already speak Spanish. Might use this experience to improve it and learn in any case an additional language
- Barcelona >> Fontainebleau. I am also a bit meteropathic and living by the sea does make a difference
- general (naive) concern: I have taken all my life decisions that would allow me to be happy one day, even if such decisions would not make me that happy during the journey itself. I am wondering if living something that does make me happy  per se  could be the key to my success (enthusiasm is something that I often lack, while I have a super strong sense of duty). Not sure if this is very childish of me or mature.

Cons:
- less prestige and less network
- if I am considering also mgmt consulting (ideally at MBB), why not going to INSEAD
- students are a bit younger than me
- very international but probably not as much as INSEAD (many people at IESE are from South America, India and Middle East: all incredible countries but probably the spectrum at INSEAD is wider)

Final note: I am still waiting for response by London Business School. It might be a great compromise (prestige + duration and flexible curriculum) but also at LBS I was not really attracted by community and students (and while I am aware that London is much stronger than Barcelona in terms of career options, I would not spend more than a couple years after graduation there).

Thank you so much for taking time to read this LONG post.

Cheers and all the best to everybody!

HqLife · Answer

I am currently in my GMAT studies and will be applying to B-School next year. IESE, INSEAD, LBS are my top choices. I have been constantly researching these schools for the past 2 years and have reached out to the alumni through LinkedIn.

Given this - take my comment as you will. There are others who attend these schools and give better advise.

From a general point - I would take INSEAD over LBS and IESE. But everyone's situation is different.

You want to go to Management Consulting, but you also want to explore. Given you are in the September class of INSEAD - you do not have the opportunity to pursue and internship and explore. What you do have is a class of ~500 students that come from various backgrounds and industries that can share their experience with you. Same thing can be said about IESE. 
You want to explore US schools - which both IESE and INSEAD offer. But due to the limited amount of partnering schools for INSEAD (Wharton & Kellogg) it can be quite difficult to pursue. 
You want to enjoy B-School and be happy - Since INSEAD is 10 months, it does get quite hectic. You will always be busy with school work and will have to sacrifice sleep to enjoy other aspects of the school.

At the end - I believe that both INSEAD and IESE will help you achieve your goal of attending Management Consulting/Rotational Program, and explore other opportunities. 
It comes down to where you will be happy and not regret your decision. From your writing - it feels like the community is telling you INSEAD, but your heart is telling you IESE. Go where you will enjoy and make the most out of it!

Dleerium · Answer

Hi SE1,

Looks like you got a quality problem and congrats on getting into both schools.

From the sounds of your post you seem to be conflicted between your heart and mind. The mind says INSEAD but you heart says IESE. It’s a tough decision but hopefully I can dispel shine some light as someone who just completed their MBA, was in your shoes 2 years ago and also applied to MBB.

- Consulting is a very competitive field even in the MBA. Lots of people applying and many ending up disappointed. INSEAD will give you the best chance because it’s a target school for MBB. What most people don’t know is that MBB will have application rounds specifically for INSEAD and LBS first. After all of them have finished interviewing they will have rounds for IESE, Oxford, Cambridge and other European MBAs. Therefore INSEAD and LBS will have top priority but also you will be in a more competitive pool of applicants (more applicants and more graduate spots in general). Even though going to INSEAD can skew the odds in your favor it’s not guaranteed.

- 10 months at INSEAD is very quick. You will be thrown into an environment of intense study, networking and applying for jobs. 19 months at IESE will give you more the breathing space and hopefully more time to practice for case prep, explore your options and think about life beyond work and the MBA.

- Your initial impressions matter. If you got the wrong vibe from INSEAD and good vibes out of the people at IESE then it’s a good proxy of the people you will be close to at the MBA and your future network.

A framework that helped me was looking at it from a view of ‘least regret’. If you were 80 looking back at yourself at this point in time, what would be the choice that would make you regret the least.

Hopefully that helps but feel free to DM me if you have any questions

-D

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

I love the idea of "gregret matrix"! I need to use that more often!
Thank you Dleerium!

I would like to echo the point that consulting is VERY competitive. I think your law background gives you a great leg up and probably some forgivness in case you have one strike against you. Also ability to argue and hopefully intimidate your opponent can get handy in a consulting interview where strength is respected and you are expected to give quick answers and think on your feet.

One thing to point out about 1 vs 2-year MBA. I did the 2-year program and for exactly the same reason you did it - I wanted time and i did not want to be pressured. That was naive, shortsighted, and foolish. Don't make my mistakes. Let's compare INSEAD vs. IESE for how the year will go:

1. INSEAD: you will start school in August and by October you will be doing mock interviews on campus with students who came from the consulting background. Then in Nov - Feb you will be applying and interviewing for a job in Consulting

2. IESE: you will start school in August, relaxed, then November you will realize you need to interview for internships and you are completely unprepared, you will blow through a few desperately look for one that does not look horrible on your resume. You probably don't want to do that and if you don't, your schedule for 2021 will look pretty much exactly like it will in INSEAD except you will be recruiting for an internship instead of a job. The internship is supposed to give you UMPH in recruiting in case your work experience is lacking because you are switching industries or coming from a non-traditional background. In your case, it does not sound you will benefit from an internship.

Ultimately your IESE and INSEAD will look very similar except you will potentially be doing it twice. If you don't have a strong brand on your resume, then definitely need an internship to bridge the gap. However, I don't know that you want to do recruiting twice. it won't be relaxing - i can tell you the truth (you will have fun moments but between the professors turning up the fire underneath you and the pressure of recruiting and finding a job will be everpresent). I feel doing a 2-year program with a plan to relax and figure things out like I did is a disservice to yourself since you will be setting yourself up for failure.

Also, doing an exchange is very tricky. All schools do exchanges during the fall semester in the 2nd year and that is usually the time when people do the most critical leg of consulting recruiting. It is possible that if you do not fail the first round of internship recruiting, get an internship with a return offer at the end, your second year will be almost like a lame-duck year, and in that case, you can relax - that is the only time you can relax, but then you are just sitting and running the clock down. (This is common with second-year students when the last quarter/block/semester feels like it will never end. They are tired of being poor. Can't wait to get a job and a sign-on bonus and move into a nicer place and move on with their lives but the job offer does not start until July...)

P.S. Instead is probably not as expensive as you think since you can start working sooner/faster so make sure you compare apples to apples with opportunity cost/time.

PPS. It does make sense to enjoy the journey and not just the destination when you get there. We often wait years to get to a certain destination and we suck it up and wait and say it will be worth it. It may be, but I agree with your view - your satisfaction will be a lot higher if you enjoy the process. I also prefer Barcelona to Fonty or Paris and Spain to France. If you are planning to settle long term in Spain and esp Barcelona, it makes sense to go to school there. South America will probably have the respect for INSEAD as much as for IESE so that does not seem like a big differentiator to me. In terms of standing out among your collegues, I don't think there is a reward for "diversity" in terms of we are tired of the INSEAD folks so let's try to sample IESE, but it rather may be a connection from IESE that they would not have that would make a difference....

Sorry if my picture is not super pretty - I am painting using a rear-view mirror

I think you will have pros and cons in either situation. It is a personal choice and I think it is Ok to choose either.

rtbs15 · Answer

Congrats on your admits, you have great options in front of you (hopefully LBS materializes as well) Not much to add on how to frame the problem, I think you're framing it in the right way. - Only thing, adding to bb 's comment, is that I wouldn't agree that more time will give you more opportunities to figure things out, I wouldn't make that a deciding argument. At INSEAD you'll get all of the industries coming in a condensed time, and you will have time to choose (at a fast pace of course) with a time limit that is more than enough to figure out how you feel about your potential next move. Process should roughly be: 1) Speak to people from every industry and figure out how life is working there - 4 weeks? You'll be speaking to plenty of ppl 2) Figure out how you feel, and let that mull on you while you go through different thought stages and decide - 4 weeks? You can extend this to 1.5 years of course, but the likelihood of getting a fresh new insight decreases exponentially over time Lastly, potentially naive thought but it might help you, when I was in your shoes I said look I'll have a year to figure stuff out which is a lot, and in case I don't, I can apply to Singularity or something like that, graduate and still be earlier than a 2 yr program (again, naively. Who knows if I'd even get in

). I figured it out much earlier tbh, if you choose INSEAD I hope it works out for you as well. - As for location, your statement re: being stuck in FBL for a year in lockdown made me feel sick to my stomach. Spot on there, don't know what the actual risk of that happening would be but if you see that as material, invest in life experience and go to BCN. If it's not, FBL is a great uni town with lots to do, and you'll be doing so much already that you'll be pretty swamped with activities + moving to SGP without losing your network is pretty cool as well. - Exchanges: I don't think they add much other than living in another place and you disconnect a bit from your network which is the main reason for doing an MBA in the first place. INSEAD has Wharton + Kellogg, but it is for very specific profiles that don't mind losing their core experience to go to the US. Getting the exchanges is not hard: I got Wharton but decided not to go at the end, being in a 10 month program and losing 20% of it exchanging and not connecting to my class didn't make sense to me. - Internship: If it really is a deciding factor, defer to the D class. Even at the worst batch ever last year they granted a lot of deferrals, it's very likely you'll get it + you'll still graduate faster than going to IESE / LBS - Job outcomes: Same as you say, INSEAD is a tier higher, better suited for consulting + it's a MBB core school. Spain is very well represented as well as Italy, so your networks are going to be great. Only thing I'd say is that IESE might be better suited for some startups that are not typical MBA recruiters (early stage, etc), so being in BCN speaking to these companies might be a big plus. In sum, I am biased. But when I was in your shoes I chose INSEAD, it worked out great for me and had a blast travelling like mad, getting a great job and sleeping close to 4 hs a day for the whole year. As a lawyer this might even be a lot to you

Last super biased thought: If it's arguably better (than IESE) or equally regarded (as LBS), but it takes half the time, why wouldn't you choose INSEAD?

FlyingFish · Answer

Hey congrats on your offers!

Honestly, both of these programs place well into the careers that you are looking for. Both are target schools.

You can't "go wrong" with either, but I think this is a big decision which will have a massive and lasting impact in your life. It's not like choosing a dental care plan or something. It sounds like you are not at all excited about one of the options, and both of them can get you where you want, so if I were you I would really try to talk to more people and understand the cultural fit. Can you really justify going to a place you are not excited about? It sounds like that's not an ideal situation to you, to the school, to your potential classmates... that said, if I were in your shoes I would try to further connect with both communities before you make up your mind.

I think that's a great point and it's hard to believe how many people seem to not give this much thought. I believe there are people graduating now who have never really interacted much with their class in physical form. Considering the current situation in Europe, it's hard to imagine you will have anything close to a "normal" experience for the first six months. But since one program is 10 months long and the other is 19, in the latter you have more bandwidth to allow things to normalize during your study period.

Cheers

Xyznubz · Answer

Hey, what did you choose eventually?

Posted from my mobile device

IESE or INSEAD

INSEAD or IESE (not in general, but in light of my situation)

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