infosense

This INSEAD 2011 MBA Application tip post is one of a series of posts providing MBA application and essay advice for applicants to top MBA programs around the world. You can access the entire series at http://blog.accepted.com/acceptedcom_blog/tag/2011-mba-application-tips. My tips for answering INSEAD’s essay questions are in blue below.

INSEAD 2011 MBA Essay Questions

JOB ESSAYS

1. Please give a detailed description of your job, including nature of work, major responsibilities; and, where relevant, employees under your supervision, size of budget, number of clients/products and results achieved. (250 words)

Note the emphasis on quantifying results. Numbers speak volumes about the responsibility you have handled and the impact you have had. Also, while the description asks for major responsibilities, if you focus on achievements and accomplishments, you will reveal both your responsibilities and those occasions when you really shined.

2. Please give us a full description of your career since graduating from university. If you were to remain with your present employer, what would be your next step in terms of position? (250 words)

Don’t confuse “full description” with “complete history.” How would you characterize your career since college? You also have to answer the second part of the question and you only have 250 words. Choose the most important elements.

ESSAYS 

1. Give a candid description of yourself, 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. (400 words approx.)

For a question like this I recommend two strengths and one weakness. If you can choose one anecdote that reveals both the strengths and the weakness, you will have a strong essay. Don’t forget to discuss how these qualities influenced your personal development.

A word on weaknesses. Be honest without going overboard. Don’t make up a phony weakness. I attended an HBS info session a few years ago. One of the alumni said that he discussed a “phony weakness” in his essays (required for HBS that year) and his interviewer focused right on it, and basically said, “Come on. What’s a real weakness?” The applicant had to get real in a hurry. Take advantage of the essay: Give it some thought and respond with the benefit of that reflection. For more information, please see “Flaws Make You Real.”

At last year’s AIGAC conference one of the adcom members remembered that an applicant in response to a similar question had listed his weakness in “pitching new ideas in a meeting.” The adcom member felt that the applicant was specific, real, and showed self-awareness by revealing this flaw. In fact, by demonstrating these qualities in addition to the requested weakness that he was working on, the applicant actually enhanced his chances of acceptance with his response. 

Don’t write about “weakness in pitching new ideas in meetings” as your weakness just because you read it here It will become like the swine flu of MBA essays — an epidemic. However, you all have weakness. Now just be thoughtful enough and honest enough to reveal yours.

2. Describe what you believe to be your two most substantial accomplishments to date, explaining why you view them as such. (400 words approx.)

Try to take accomplishments from different arenas of your life. (But don’t go back to high school and earlier to do so.) The accomplishments should show impact, contribution, and for INSEAD at least one should have a multi-cultural flavor. 

3. Describe a situation taken from school, business, civil or military life, where you did not meet your personal objectives, and discuss briefly the effect. (250 words approx.)

In choosing the situation, here’s a case when you can go back in time a little — let’s say 2-5 years. You can illustrate how you learned from this situation and were able to meet similar objectives next time around. 

4. Discuss your career goals. What skills do you expect to gain from studying at INSEAD and how will
they contribute to your professional career. (500 words approx.)

This is a forward-looking career goals question. Use the past just enough to set context for your future and show that your goals are anchored in experience. Then explain how INSEAD with its intense, one-year, general management program and strong international focus will help you achieve your goals.

Not the specific focus on “skills” that you anticipate acquiring.  What do you anticipate learning and how will it help you achieve your professional goals.

5. Please choose one of the following two essay topics:
 

a) Have you ever experienced culture shock? What did it mean to you? (250 words approx.),

or
 

b) What would you say to a foreigner moving to your home country? (250 words approx.)

These two have been part of the INSEAD repertoire for several years. Choose the one that is easiest for you to answer and allows you to bring out a facet of your experience not found in the other essays. Keep it short, real short.

6. (Optional) Is there anything that you have not mentioned in the above essays that you would like the Admissions Committee to know? (200 words approx.)

Take advantage of the optional essay to give them one more reason to admit you. DON’T use it for a grand summary, a restatement of your other essays, or something similarly boring, superficial, and repetitive. Write a tight, focused essay highlighting something you haven’t yet discussed.

7. (Reapplicant) Your essay should state any new aspects of professional, international, academic, or personal development since your last application. We would also like you to explain your motivation for re-applying to INSEAD. (400 words)

Historically, INSEAD was tough on reapplicants. Hopefully this questions signals a greater openness to reapplication.

How are you a better applicant now than you were last time? What’s changed? INSEAD adds a twist by asking you to explain why you are re-applying. Why do you think you will get accepted this time if you didn’t last time? The answer had better not be that you’re counting on a decline in application volume to help you squeak in the Fountainbleau door. Again, how are you “new and improved” and why do you still want INSEAD?

INSEAD Application Deadlines

Jan 2011 Application Deadlines:  10 March 2010; 9 June 2010; 28 July 2010

Sept 2011 Application Deadlines:  29 September 2010; 1 December 2010; 9 March 2011

Jan 2012 Application Deadlines:  30 March 2011; 15 June 2011; 3 August 2011

*To be included in a specific round, applications must be complete and submitted by midnight (23.59) Central European Time on the day of deadline.

If you would like help with your INSEAD MBA application, please consider Accepted’s MBA essay editing and admissions consulting or an INSEAD School Package, which provide essay editing, interview coaching, consultation, and a resume editing for the INSEAD MBA application.

By Linda Abraham, President and Founder of Accepted.com.

Read Full Post »

The INSEAD MBA program has released the essay prompts required for the September 2011 and January 2012 intakes. These questions can be found within the online application, which can be accessed here. Job-Related Essays 1. Please give a detailed description of your job, including nature of work, major responsibilities; and, where relevant, employees under your [...]

Read Full Post »

Thinking about a career in sustainable enterprise?  Each year the Aspen Institute ranks MBA programs in their Beyond Grey Pinstripes edition on the schools’ ability to provide curriculum, research and careers while looking at the triple bottom line.  This list continues to grow, but according to the 2010 rankings, candidates looking at MBA programs that embrace social enterprise and green initiatives should consider the following schools:

Top Ten Lists

Need assistance sorting through the schools?  My colleagues and I will help you narrow your list and create an essay that addresses your passion for sustainability.  Complete a service request and a qualified consultant will help contact you regarding your application needs.

 By Natalie Grinblatt Epstein, former Admissions Dean/Director at 3 top business schools

Read Full Post »

MBA programs in Asia have gained clout, and traction, as they ramp up efforts to lure Western professors and students to their burgeoning B-schools. Wall Street Journal examined the phenomenon in two articles last week, finding that Asia’s top schools are using the prospect of doing leading research work to entice U.S. professors, which strengthens [...]

Read Full Post »

Here’s what’s been going on in the world of MBA and medical school admissions news:

• An Israeli news source (Globes.co.il) reports that top b-schools in the U.S. have begun recruiting seriously in Israel. This year, more than 150 Israeli students will attend MBA programs in the U.S., including the first ever Israeli-Ethiopian student will be studying at Brandeis as a Fulbright scholar. Duke Fuqua recently established a scholarship especially for Israeli students, and decided that Tel Aviv will soon become an anchor city for holding admissions interviews, putting it in a class with Beijing, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. Army experience (which in Israel is mandatory) is always an impressive point when adcoms are reviewing student profiles.
• Top business schools in the U.S. are adding social media courses to their curricula to keep up with the growing corporate demand for social media-savvy employees, reports a Businessweek article, “B-Schools All A-Twitter Over Social Media.” Companies like Panasonic, AT&T, and Citigroup all hire social media directors to “develop and manage marketing strategies that address the nuances of the online world.” If b-school graduates want to be considered for competitive positions in marketing and development, they’ll need to make sure that their technological social media skills are current. (Only 84% of 2009 b-school graduates placed jobs straight out of school, compared to 2007’s 98%.) Columbia offers four internet marketing courses, including “Media and Technology” and “Social Media.” Harvard offers “Competing with Social Networks.” Other top international b-schools that offer courses in social media include London Business School, Insead, and HEC Paris.
• An AAMC study examines med student interest in practicing in underserved areas at the time of matriculation, and how that interest changes by the time they graduate. Student race and ethnicity are also factored into the data. Results show that intent to serve the underserved populations diminishes over the course of med students’ studies. Those who were undecided at the time of matriculation were more likely to change their intentions to “no.” However, among Latino and African American students, the switch to “yes” from “undecided” was more prevalent.

Does an international MBA pique your interest? Find out more about the international MBA scene when you download Internationalizing the MBA, a new Accepted.com special report.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Read Full Post »

Do you consider yourself “in the know” when it comes to social media? If so, that knowledge just may provide an all-important edge when the time comes to parlay your MBA into a stellar job offer. B-Schools such as Harvard, Columbia, London Business School, INSEAD and HEC Paris have begun adding courses on social media [...]

Read Full Post »

How important is location when choosing a business school? The internationalization of management education has made it possible for anyone to find a great program at home or abroad. A recent piece in The Economist online looks at the significance of location when it comes to choosing where to study an MBA, since we’re all [...]

Read Full Post »

Word has it that Dipak Jain, former dean of Kellogg, is tipped to become the next dean of INSEAD. According to a recent Financial Times article, Dipak Jain is the front-runner for the position and is awaiting approval from the INSEAD board and faculty from both the French and Singapore campuses. (INSEAD has another, smaller campus in Abu Dhabi.)

A little about Prof. Dipak Jain:

• Prof. Jain was born in Assam, India.
• He is 53 years old, making him one of the youngest business school deans on the international scene.
• While the vast majority of his teaching experience has been in the U.S., he has also taught in India and has been known to have a “vision of developments in Asia”—one of the qualities that appealed to the Insead board.
• He was dean of Northwestern Kellogg for eight years, until he stepped down in 2009.
• He is a prolific marketing scholar.
• He was responsible (according to Jain himself) for altering the Kellogg culture from being an individual-driven program, as it was when Don Jacobs (his predecessor) was dean, to an institution-driven program, “with multiple associate deans and devolved responsibilities.”
• Prof. Jain is “a thoroughbred academic,” in contrast to INSEAD’s current dean Frank Brown, who is more of a business professional. INSEAD, London Business School, and IMD, top international business schools, all hired non-academic deans in the recent past, and are all now—after deeming that strategy a mistake—replacing them with academic deans.

The appointment process should be completed in the next few weeks.

(Source: Financial Times, “Dipak Jain Tipped for Insead“)

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Source: Dipak Jain tipped for Insead (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/43471b3c-8b43-11df-a4b4-00144feab49a,dwp_uuid=a9543bac-edcc-11db-8584-000b5df10621.html)
Related: B-School Zones (http://www.accepted.com/zones/bschools.aspx?utm_campaign=MBAContent&utm_medium=Blog&utm_source=BlogVisitors&utm_content=BSchoolZones)
Related: MBA Admissions News and a Little College, Too (http://blog.accepted.com/acceptedcom_blog/2010/7/11/mba-admissions-news-and-a-little-college-too.html?utm_campaign=MBAContent&utm_medium=blog&utm_source=BlogVisitors&utm_content=Roundup)

Read Full Post »

• Top European b-schools continue making the same mistake: First, in 2008 London Business School ousted their new dean, Robin Buchanan, for being too much of a businessman and not enough of an academic dean. Now IMD’s president, John Wells, is stepping down due to similar criticism. Finally, Frank Brown, Insead’s current dean, also plans to step down in 2011 because of similar accusations. Each of these three b-school leaders will have held their posts for just a few years. According to a Financial Times article on the subject, Professor Wells “ruffled faculty feathers at IMD from the start, principally by introducing an Anglo-American management team”—while there are several French or Belgian professors at IMD, none were appointed to any of the five senior positions. IMD and Insead were both hit hard by the economic crisis since both rely heavily on revenue earned through running short executive programs, which took a serious toll these last few years. IMD faces other challenges, including the fact that its former president, Peter Lorange, recently established another business school close by in Zurich. Like IMD, the Lorange Institute focuses on executive education.

• Another recent Financial Times article, “Shift to international standards happening, but slowly,” reports on some of the challenges b-schools have been facing in the area of global business harmonization, particularly with regards to accounting. The rules of accounting have traditionally varied by jurisdiction, yet the EU has been attempting to include accounting in its international financial reporting standards (IFRS) since 2005. The U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board, however, have confirmed that they will not meet the June 2011 deadline, creating educational limits for providers who are seeking to standardize and internationalize their accounting programs. Accounting professors must juggle both American and international standards until the two merge following what may be many more years of debate and planning. According to the FT article, soon, localized accountancy training will disappear with the “globalization of accounting practices and the eventual adoption of IFRS.”

• Big GMAT test prep books have gone the way of bulky dictionaries and encyclopedias—they’ve gone digital. Future MBA hopefuls will no longer need to tote oversized paper GMAT books, but will be able to download easily accessible GMAT apps for their smart phones, reports a Businessweek blog post. iPhone apps include Kaplan GMAT Flashcards, GMAT ToolKit, and the new GMAT Pill, a month-long study plan developed by GMAT high-scorer, Zeke Lee. The benefit of such programs—besides for the amount of space they’ll save in your bag—is that they implement more visual explanations through video tutorials. As Lee explains, “What’s special about these videos is they are really helping students change the way they think.” Android and BlackBerry users will also have GMAT options at their fingertips, for affordable, on-the-go GMAT prep.

• Rising college costs are a source of anxiety and anger for many students and their families. According to a recent Businessweek blog, tuition and fees for private nonprofit universities and colleges has increased by about 4.5%, about 0.2% greater an increase than last year. While these increases may wreck havoc on your bank account and retirement plans, it is interesting to note that these tuition hikes (last year’s and this year’s) are actually the two lowest increases since the 1972-1973 academic year. 4.5% may seem unmanageable, but it beats the pre-recession increase average of 6% per year. Another silver lining: Grant and scholarship programs received a 6.8% average increase this year.

Do you need help financing your future college or graduate school costs? Buy our featured ebook, Financing Your Future, by July 31, 2010 and receive 20% off when you use coupon code FUTURE20 at checkout.

Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

Read Full Post »

Thinking about applying to an international MBA program? Like the idea of having international experience on your resume, but don’t know much about your global options? Not sure if you should attend an internationally-run program or an American-based program transplanted to foreign soil? 

Internationalizing the MBA, a special report written by Accepted editor and international b-school expert, Tanis Kmetyk, will explore the pros and cons of joining the overseas MBA scene, helping you make your big decision—should you study for your MBA on home soil, or take the leap and head abroad to an international or American b-school in a foreign country?

Learn whether an international MBA is right for you by understanding the strengths and weaknesses of these different programs.

Download  Internationalizing the MBA.

By Linda Abraham, President and Founder of Accepted.com.

Read Full Post »