Essay 2: Describe a highly stressful situation you faced and how you managed it. What did this experience teach you about yourself and your interactions with others? (400 words)
The INSEAD MBA application highly stressful situation essay could be made personal with trauma and life events that offer the admissions team a perspective about you outside your professional career.
IMPOSTOR Syndrome – A Rarely Used Essay Theme
But a theme that is not often used but has been consistently cited by high achievers is the ‘IMPOSTOR Syndrome’.
For the essay I wrote for F1GMAT’s INSEAD MBA essay guide, I start the essay with the financial insecurity an applicant faced growing up in a low-income single-parent household. The generosity of his aunt gave the applicant a sense of privilege and an escape from poverty.
Without wasting any words, I went straight to the applicant’s background in the opening paragraph.
Opening Paragraph – Highly Stressful Situation Essay (IMPOSTOR Syndrome)
At the age of three, my father abandoned our family. Through the kindness of a distant aunt, we joined her ancestral home and agreed to support her through old age in return for a roof over our heads. My mother joined and supported the family's non-profit outreach.
Once I established the applicant’s background, I wanted to quickly capture the impostor syndrome.
I have used the following lines to mention IMPOSTOR Syndrome
I felt 'guilt' – a guilt for succeeding; a guilt for escaping poverty. That sense of inadequacy was a constant stress that took deep roots in my consciousness. Even after arriving at Wharton, I would second-guess my place in the prestigious school.
Connecting IMPOSTOR syndrome to Applicant’s VC role
The bigger challenge for me was crafting an essay that is not just about personal emotions, but also about the emotional roller coaster of the role. The role requires rejecting the ideas and proposals of entrepreneurs.
I have captured the angst of the applicant with the line, “Each due diligence and evaluation for me is a stressful event. I don't want to ignore an entrepreneur who could turn around the malaise of society.”
By demonstrating vulnerability, I am showing the applicant’s purpose and responsible leadership – traits that are highly valued at INSEAD MBA.
Read F1GMAT’s INSEAD MBA Essay Guide, where Atul Jose, the Author and Founding Consultant of F1GMAT's essay guides demonstrates how to write the highly stressful situation essay, with IMPOSTOR syndrome as a theme.
