I will teach you how to bring your life stories to essays faster with F1GMAT's essay guides. Download below or subscribe to F1GMAT's Service and work with me - Atul Jose, Author/Editor/Founding Consultant, F1GMAT(16 Years of helping applicants gain admissions to M7 and Top 30 schools) INSEAD captures a broad range of personal, academic, and career traits with their comprehensive MBA application.
In this application breakdown of the INSEAD MBA program, we cover:
• INSEAD MBA Application Deadlines
• Home Campus
• Exam Results
• Academic Degree
• Current Work Experience
• Job Description Essay
• International Exposure
• Languages
• Activities and Interest
• Supplementary Information
• Letter of Recommendation
• INSEAD MBA Recommendation letter Questions
• Supporting Documents
• Motivation Essays
• Video Interview
INSEAD MBA Application Deadlines
INSEAD has two intakes – August and January. The school has announced the four rounds for the 2023 January intake.
| Round | Deadline | Interview Notification | Final Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | 12th Sep 2023 | 13th Oct 2023 | 17th Nov 2023 |
| Round 2 | 7th Nov 2023 | 8th Dec 2023 | 12th Jan 2024 |
| Round 3 | 16th Jan 2024 | 16th Feb 2024 | 22nd Mar 2024 |
| Round 4 | 5th Mar 2024 | 5th Apr 2024 | 10th May 2024 |
Home Campus
You must choose between Fontainebleau or Singapore campuses. If you are uncertain that by choosing the Singapore campus, your post-MBA remuneration will get affected, or the entering class has an IMPACT on your placement opportunities, INSEAD has clearly indicated that they would be offering a ‘centralized pool’ of candidates from France, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi campuses in addition to presenting candidates from US and China programs (EMBA) to the recruiters. The MiM candidates are also included in the pool depending on the recruiter’s age and profile demands.
Personal Data
The school asks for the standard personal information (date of birth, phone number, nationality, and address) with optional information to enter Marital Status and link to your LinkedIn profile.
Exam Results
The school gives you the option to enter either your GMAT/GRE or both. For international students who had their university degree taught in a language other than English, they must show proof of proficiency in English by sharing the scores of either TOEFL/PTE/IELTS tests.
Academic Degree
INSEAD accepts transcripts in English or French, provided the French transcript is translated with a certified provider. For schools not listed in the pre-populated Institution, choose ‘Other University’.
Note: The transcript is mandatory to evaluate your application. It should be attached to the supporting document section or sent via post. Once accepted, the school would require the original transcript sent via post or as a soft copy if the university has rules to directly send the transcript to the institutions offering higher education.
Add proof of academic awards to the ‘Supporting Documents’ section of the application. Mention the award as an entry in the Academic Degree section. You can add multiple entries.
Current Work Experience
Company: The section requires Company contact information, industry (sector of activity), and the number of employees assigned locally. We recommend that you enter the optional Company revenue information as the revenue quoted in your resume and essay narratives would require validation. Although Recommenders can offer that context, data in the application would be another data point for the admissions team. They should match with what recommenders mention if they choose to do so. Therefore, use a conservative estimate or a range.
Current Position: The sub-section requires Job Title, Job Function, Date of Appointment, and Expected leaving date (date when you plan to resign before joining INSEAD). Some applicants leverage the gap between leaving their current job and joining INSEAD for pre-MBA courses in Statistics and Accounting or travel the world. The good thing about the application is that the Gross Annual Salary that you must enter is in your local currency. This would avoid the PPP conversions to USD that could be faulty.
The leadership aspect is also captured in this sub-section, with the 'Number of Staff' directly reporting to you. Even if there are no direct reports, the second entry - "Total Staff under your responsibility" should be used strategically to demonstrate leadership.
Employer Contact Information and Sponsorship details are other optional sub-sections. For Sponsorship, you must mention other modes of funding to fill the gap in expenses.
Job Description Essays
INSEAD has four mandatory job description essays covering responsibilities, career path, career growth, and post-MBA goals. An optional essay requires the candidates to explain how they plan to utilize the time between leaving the current employer and joining INSEAD MBA.
Q) Briefly summarize your current (or most recent) job, including the nature of work, major responsibilities, and where relevant, employees under your supervision, size of budget, clients/products and results achieved. (200 words maximum)
Q) What would be your next step in terms of position if you were to remain in the same company instead of going to business school? (200 words maximum)
Q) Please give a full description of your career since graduating from university. Describe your career path with the rationale behind your choices. (300 words maximum)
Q) Discuss your short and long term career aspirations with an MBA from INSEAD. (100 words maximum)
Q) If you are currently not working or if you plan to leave your current employer more than 2 months before the programme starts, please explain your activities and occupations between leaving your job and the start of the programme. (optional)
International Exposure
In our interview with INSEAD’s MBA Admissions team, we learned that some international exposure is mandatory for increasing admission chances. Fortunately, in the application, the school has clearly mentioned the nature of the experience.
It should be from one of the following:
• Au-pair
• Business Seminar
• Business meeting
• Business training
• Exchange program
• Full time work
• Growing-up
• High school
• Holiday
• Internship
• Language course
• Military Assignment
• Part time work
• Pro-Bono work
• Project assignment
• Research
• Seasonal work
• Sports competition
• Study abroad
• Summer holidays (childhood)
• Summer school
• Traveling
• Visiting family
• Volunteering
• Workshop
Do remember that working, studying, and living abroad for an extended period of time (more than 3 months) has a clear advantage over short-duration trips and engagements. This could be a challenge for those who couldn’t travel due to COVID-related travel restrictions. Remote work or working with an international team virtually should not be included under project assignment, internship, business meeting, volunteering, or summer school.
3 or more International exposures is the typical experience of an INSEAD MBA candidate.
Languages
INSEAD is famous for calibrating the class in such a way that only 12% of the MBA class would be from the same nationality. Students are required to be bilingual while getting into the program and learn another language by graduation. The third should be different in script and nature of expression from the language the student knows.
Add more than 2 languages to remain consistent with INSEAD’s expectations. You must mention the fluency for each language (Native/Fluent/Business/Practical/Basic/Beginner). Since the options are wide, starting a language class while preparing for the GMAT/GRE is a strategy that has worked for our clients.
Activities and Interest
Unlike US Schools, INSEAD doesn’t require the same weightage in extra-curricular and volunteering engagement. If you have diverse international work or study experience, it will compensate for the lack of volunteering experience. Having said that, try to add at least 3 entries for the Activities and Interest section. Since the activities also include club and association membership, include all your professional membership details. Fortune 500 companies have dedicated CSR and volunteering teams that dedicate weekends for the less privileged. Mention such engagements regardless of the duration.
Awards: There is a separate Awards sub-section to include “distinctions, honours, and awards.” If you have a certificate of participation, include that in the Awards sections since the definition of awards is broad. The section asks for Grantor and date of awards. Reference letters appreciating your contribution should be the last example to include in the Awards section. Preferably, include a traditional certificate of excellence.
Also, ensure that one of the awards is narrated in the essay.
Supplementary Information
This section asks to include details of any family member that has attended INSEAD, disabilities (visual/learning/hearing/medical/mobility or others) if any, intent on bringing family (spouse/children), interest in the Dual Degree program, and if applicable share the status of Military Service.
Letter of Recommendation
Applicants can choose two recommenders with the option for the supervisors to submit the letters two days after the deadline. However, the school recommends that applicants submit the application 2 days before the deadline and the supervisors meet the deadline as well to avoid challenges that could arise from last-minute coordination.
The letter can be saved in draft and iteratively edited. However, once submitted, they cannot be edited. Convey this feature to your supervisor.
The section starts with the Relationship to Candidate: Professional/Educational/Personal
The first question is the duration for which the supervisor has known/worked with the applicant and the nature of the relationship.
Q) How long have you known the candidate? Define your relationship with the candidate and the circumstances whereby you met.
The second section is a rating matrix that the supervisor must fill on six rankings (Outstanding (top 2%), Very Good (top 10%), Above Average (top 25%), Average (top 50%), Below Average (bottom 50%) and Unobserved).
The criteria include Professionalism, Focus on the task at hand, Readiness to use opportunities for achievement, Creativity and resourcefulness, Intellectual curiosity, Energy and drive, Personal integrity, Ability to work in a team, Organizational ability, Oral communication skills, and Written communication skills.
The leadership potential rating is related to the applicant’s potential as a successful manager for an international business.
Q) How do you rate the candidate’s potential for becoming a responsible and successful manager in international business compared with other students or employees whom you have known in a similar capacity?
The supervisor must select from - Excellent (top 2%)/Very good (top 10%)/Above average (top 25%)/Average (top 50%) and Below average (bottom 50%).
The recommendation letter questions are similar to the GMAC common questions with questions on career progression, strengths, and weakness/pro-active steps to address them. Two additional questions are in questions on the candidate’s potential in senior management and describe the candidate as a person.
INSEAD MBA Recommendation Letter Questions
Please give your answers to each of the following questions.
1. Comment on the candidate's career progress to date and his/her career focus.
2. What do you consider to be the candidate's major strengths? Comment on the factors that distinguish the candidate from other individuals at his/her level.
3. What do you consider to be the candidate’s major areas for development/improvement?
4. Comment on the candidate’s potential for senior management. Do you see him/her as a future leader?
5. Describe the candidate as a person. Comment on his/her ability to establish and maintain relationships, sensitivity to others, self-confidence, attitude, etc. Specifically, comment on the candidate's behavior or skills in a group setting/team environment.
Motivation Essays
INSEAD’s motivation essays are comprehensive with questions that cover description about yourself, achievements and failure with its impact on relationships, extra-curricular, and their impact, and other information not shared in the essay or the application.
INSEAD MBA Motivation Essay Questions for the 2023 entering class are:
1) Give a candid description of yourself (who are you as a person), stressing the personal characteristics you feel to be your strengths and weaknesses and the main factors which have influenced your personal development, giving examples when necessary (maximum 500 words). *
2) Describe the achievement of which you are most proud and explain why. In addition, describe a situation where you failed. How did these experiences impact your relationships with others? Comment on what you learned(maximum 400 words).
3) Describe all types of extra-professional activities in which you have been or are still involved for a significant amount of time (clubs, sports, music, arts, etc). How are you enriched by these activities? (maximum 300 words) *
4) Is there anything else that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? (maximum 300 words)
Download F1GMAT’s INSEAD MBA Essay Guide for 19+ Sample Essays and 200+ pages of Essay Editing Tips
Supporting Documents
The supporting documents are divided into two sections – mandatory documents that need to be submitted before or on the day of the deadline (transcripts, GMAT/GRE score report, and Curriculum Vitae) and other documents that are not mandatory (Awards & Scholarships, Language Certification, Additional Letters and other documents). Make sure that each document doesn’t exceed 1 MB.
For transcripts, the option is limited to four 1 MB pages, GMAT/GRE two 1 MB pages, and for others just one 1 MB document. Make sure that the documents are compressed to fit the need.
Note: Only PDF is allowed as a filetype.
Video Interview
After submitting the application, applicants would be required to submit a video interview. INSEAD video interviews are sets of 4 questions where each applicant is given 45 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to answer. There are no retakes. Make sure that your mic and internet connections are foolproof. Download Commonly asked INSEAD Video Interview Question with F1GMAT’s INSEAD MBA Essay Guide and address the questions heads-on.
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