As I have been doing since 2008, I wanted to provide my Global Top 100 MBA Rankings for 2012. The rankings below should hopefully be of value for both those engaged in initial school application selection and for admitted applicants who have been accepted to multiple programs and need to determine where to go. Programs are ranked in many ways, so certainly look at other rankings lists. There is no one objective measure of an MBA programs' value and no ranking that can account for an individual student's positive or negative return on their investment of time and money for a graduate business education.
Justification #1: Whatever they pay you when you graduate is the market value of your degree, all other factors are mere conjecture.
Justification #2: One may very well value an MBA beyond mere salary calculations, but salary will certainly be a factor for almost everyone.
Justification #3: Since each school reports its own data, assuming that data is good, the ranking is based on objective criteria that all programs have in common.
Disclaimer #1: I could use some other accumulation of salaries for this same purpose, but FT's list is global, so I decided to use it. If your school is not included on this list of the top 100, please don’t be offended. If FT ranked more programs, so would I.
Disclaimer #2: Actual market value will very much depend on your situation. The numbers below are only averages.
Disclaimer #3: Salary is but one measure of ROI. This survey does not account for relative increase in salary, opportunity costs, or other less tangible, but important factors.
Disclaimer #4: These rankings in no way measure the value of the educational experience at any of these programs, merely the likely post-MBA salary outcome.
School Selection Strategy for Those Admitted to Multiple Programs: Go to the highest salary ranked program if you want to obtain the most market value. School Application Selection Strategy Based on Salary Approach: Simply compare salaries to rates of admission which are available for all US programs listed in BusinessWeek and US News and World Report and for some non-US programs. 1. Apply to the highest ranked programs you think you can get it into.
2. Find bargains: Schools with a high salary and a high rate of admission.
3. Avoid application to schools with a relatively low admissions rates and lower salaries.
4. Caveat emptor. Don't assume schools are necessarily reporting data with 100% accuracy.
School Selection Strategy for Those Considering Staying Local versus Going for a Globally Recognized Brand: If you are deciding between going to your local MBA program instead of moving to a new city and/or country, look closely at the expected post-MBA salary rates to determine which programs are worth moving for.
1. If you are planning on studying in the US and/or Europe and are a non-resident, assume the real possibility, based on present economic circumstances, that you will likely need to return to your home country because of tightened visa restrictions and limited job opportunities.
2. If your objective is stay in your present locality, closely scrutinize whether the higher-ranked, but non-local option will actually prove to be of significant benefit to you in the future. For example, an MBA alumni network that consists of a large number of local graduates may be worth significantly more to you than association with a prestigious internationally brand.
3. If your professional objectives are global, you will likely benefit much more from an MBA with global brand value rather than a program with local brand value even if the post-MBA salaries are not significantly different.
The Top 100 Global MBA Programs
(Detailed table in JPEG format follows. Getting Blogger to make a nice table is beyond me!)
Rank School Name Weighted salary (US$) 1 Stanford Graduate School of Business 192179 2 Harvard Business School 178249 3 Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) 175076 4 University of Pennsylvania: Wharton 172353 5 Columbia Business School 166497 6 MIT: Sloan 157337 7 IE Business School 156658 8 London Business School 152981 9 University of Chicago: Booth 152585 10 Dartmouth College: Tuck 151182 11 University of California at Berkeley: Haas 146811 12 Northwestern University: Kellogg 145834 13 INSEAD 144355 14 IMD 144045 15 Yale School of Management 142455 16 Cornell University: Johnson 141727 17 University of Cape Town GSB 141490 18 Duke University: Fuqua 139405 19 UCLA: Anderson 136331 20 University of Virginia: Darden 134936 21 University of Oxford: Saïd 134805 22 New York University: Stern 134093 23 IESE Business School 133888 24 University of Cambridge: Judge 132758 25 Carnegie Mellon: Tepper 132325 26 University of Michigan: Ross 129649 27 Indian School of Business 129512 28 Hong Kong UST Business School 127600 29 Cranfield School of Management 125196 30 Emory University: Goizueta 124832 31 Georgetown University: McDonough 123290 32 CEIBS 123058 33 University of Texas at Austin: McComb 121170 34 HEC Paris 121061 35 University of Southern California: Marshall 121060 36 University of North Carolina: Kenan-Flagler 118959 37 Australian School of Business: AGSM 118943 38 Rice University: Jones 118617 39 Warwick Business School 118151 40 Manchester Business School 117016 41 Esade Business School 114988 42 Vanderbilt University: Owen 114265 43 Indiana University: Kelley 113217 44 University of Rochester: Simon 112992 45 City University: Cass 111552 46 Melbourne Business School 110701 47 Georgia Institute of Technology 110118 48 Coppead 110103 49 Boston College: Carroll 109440 50 University of Maryland: Smith 109375 51 Pennsylvania State University: Smeal 109114 52 University of Washington: Foster 109088 53 University of Minnesota: Carlson 108994 54 Wisconsin School of Business 108990 55 Wake Forest University: Babcock 108737 56 Texas A&M University: Mays 108606 57 Boston University School of Management 106762 58 University of Hong Kong 106720 59 Washington University: Olin 106668 60 Babson College: Olin 106506 61 University of Notre Dame: Mendoza 106171 62 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 105726 63 Ohio State University: Fisher 105426 64 George Washington University 104814 65 Imperial College Business School 104619 66 Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University 103628 67 Purdue University: Krannert 103304 68 SDA Bocconi 102854 69 Nanyang Business School 102350 70 University College Dublin: Smurfit 102026 71 SMU: Cox 101286 72 Brigham Young University: Marriott 101189 73 Thunderbird School of Global Management 100803 74 Sungkyunkwan University SKK GSB 100779 75 University of Western Ontario: Ivey 100738 76 Hult International Business School 100631 77 Chinese University of Hong Kong 100408 78 University of California at Irvine: Merage 99333 79 Michigan State University: Broad 98784 80 University of Edinburgh Business School 97733 81 National University of Singapore School of Business 97625 82 Lancaster University Management School 97124 83 Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School 94661 84 University of Toronto: Rotman 94255 85 Northeastern University 93824 86 University of South Carolina: Moore 93053 87 University of Iowa: Tippie 92978 88 Durham Business School 91718 89 Universität St.Gallen 91106 90 Ipade 90900 91 McGill University: Desautels 89623 92 University of Pittsburgh: Katz 88783 93 York University: Schulich 88283 94 Birmingham Business School 87274 95 Bradford University School of Management 87228 96 Incae Business School 84411 97 Aston Business School 83286 98 University of British Columbia: Sauder 80898 99 Peking University: Guanghua 79914 100 SP Jain Center of Management 79809
Detailed Table Including FT Ranking Data
One advantage of a salary-based list of programs worldwide is that it helps to see the rising global market value of MBA programs. It also means that those of us who help applicants considering worldwide application, start to pay more attention to such national leaders and not just to dominant US and European programs.
For those with a US MBA bias, this ranking should be humbling because so many of what are usually ranked quite highly in the US, don't, at least at the salary level, look as attractive as rankings might suggest.
From a school selection perspective, I think looking at the stark reality of the expected financial outcome is critical. Looking at this solely helps to put the outcome into focus. "The 100" is only one possible way of doing this.
I am well aware that applicants don't simply make selection choices on the basis of salary, but I think evaluating programs on this basis is one important consideration.
Finally, I would like to thank "my team" at FT for doing all of the hard work. They have this nifty way of generating excel documents that really reduced my work by hours.
-Adam Markus
I am a graduate admissions consultant who works with clients worldwide. If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. Please note that initial consultations are not offered when I have reached full capacity or when I determine that I am not a good fit with an applicant.
The interview reports found at clearadmit.com and accepted.com make it clear that you need to know your resume completely as you will be asked about content in it ("Walk me through your resume"). Review it carefully and consider what your interviewer might ask you to explain more thoroughly. If it is on your resume, it is fair game.
My colleagues Steve Green and Jessica King have compiled and organized the following list of common Haas MBA questions based on publicly available reports.
WHY MBA/HAAS
-Tell me about yourself / Take me through your resume (be prepared to explain why/how you changed jobs)
-Why an MBA?
-Why part-time?
-Career goals?
-Why now?
-What will you contribute to Haas?
-Are there any clubs/activities that do not exist that you would like to start?
BEHAVIORAL QUESTIONS (For my advice on behavioral questions, see my post on MIT.)
Leadership
-A challenging leadership/teamwork experience.
-A time you led a group.
-A time when you were a humble leader.
Teamwork
-A time you failed/were on a team that failed.
-A time you displayed good teamwork.
-A time a team member was not pulling his/her own weight
Interpersonal skills
-A
time when you met resistance/faced a conflict in a professional
setting, either with a team or a person. How did you deal with it?
-A time you faced an interpersonal challenge.
-A time you received constructive feedback and how you responded.
Berkeley-esque questions
-A time you advocated for change/going in a different direction.
-A time you took a risk.
-A time you did something really innovative.
-A time you made an impact at the office.
-Something you wish you could have done differently.
GENERAL QUESTIONS
Professional
-How would you describe your management/leadership style?
-How do you define “leadership?” Give an example.
-How would your boss, co-workers, subordinates describe you? Friends? (give both strengths and weaknesses)
-3 strengths? 3 weaknesses?
Personal
-What book are you currently reading?
-Putting
aside your professional life, tell me about your personal life and the
activities that define you (he honed in on the "other interests" section
of the resume right from the start)
-Tell
me about your process for self-reflection. How do you define/measure
success and then evaluate whether you've been successful in a particular
situation?
-Tell me something about yourself that’s not on your resume.
-What do people like about you?
As you can see from the above, you need to be prepared to answer routine MBA questions, some of which might be asked in a behavioral style. It is important that you be prepared to show your fit to Haas and be well prepared to answer the above Berkeley-esque questions. Remember BILD!
I see no reports and have not been told about any trick questions really. Be prepared to ask questions about the program. If you have an alum interview, be prepared to have a number of questions.
Interviewers (students, adcom, or alumni) are usually friendly and consistently try to create a very relaxed interview atmosphere. Most interviews are conducted with students on-campus or alumni off-campus. I did read some reports of relatively weak student interviewers, so don't be surprised if this should happen. Regardless of how your interviewer performs, just be relaxed and positive. This is an interview about fit and your own potential, so make sure you can explain in depth why you want to attend Haas, how you will contribute to it, and what you intend to do afterwords. Previous contact with alum, visits to campus, and/or intensive school research are all great ways to prepare.
Campus interviews are scheduled for 30 minutes and usually last 30-45 minutes. Alum interviews seems to last about 45 minutes to an hour.
Click here to find out about my interview preparation services.
-Adam Markus
I am a graduate admissions consultant who works with clients worldwide. If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. Please note that initial consultations are not offered when I have reached full capacity or when I determine that I am not a good fit with an applicant.
Here
I discuss INSEAD's essays for
September (Class of July 2013) 2012 intake and the January (Class of December 2013) 2013 intake. The questions are taken
from the PDF. INSEAD changed the essays for the first time in many years. In
2011, INSEAD changed the essays for the first time in many years. The
deadlines for September 2012 and January 2013, can be found here. As of January 30, 2012, the deadlines for the September 2013 intake are not yet on the INSEAD website.
Over
the years, I have had an opportunity to work with a large number of
clients admitted to INSEAD. I have had 5 client admitted for 2012 so
far, 6 clients admitted for 2011, 3 for 2010, 2 for 2009, and 2 for
2008. Testimonials from clients admitted to INSEAD can also be found here.
In September 2011, I visited the Singapore campus. My report can be found here.
The
INSEAD application, which a PDF based thing is a bit different from
most other business school's online applications. No resume is required,
so providing as complete an answer to all application form questions is
especially important.
"ADAM:
Regarding professional experience, what to do you look for in younger
(very early twenties) and older (late twenties or thirties) applicants?
DEBORAH:
For all applicants we want to see a track record of professional
accomplishments that sets them apart from their peers. For those with
only 1-2 years of professional experience, they must demonstrate
something distinctive in their profile, perhaps they have started their
own company. I would suggest, it is in the benefit of all younger
applicants to work for a minimum of two years before applying to
business school as they will get more out of the programme if they have
experiences to reflect back on. For older applicants, we are looking
for a strong professional track record and clear goals toward career
change or advancement. If an older applicant has been in the same role
for five years that might not demonstrate potential for growth, overall
ambition or success relative to his/her peers."
Based
on my experience with INSEAD applicants, the above statement from
Deborah is completely accurate. INSEAD is relatively forgiving of
those with limited (1-2 years) of professional experience as long as
there is something distinctive about their background, but for most
applicants, INSEAD is expecting to see a clear pattern of career
growth. While INSEAD can actually be quite flexible about the level of
international experience that an applicant has, when it comes to those
with 3-10+ years of experience, career growth really matters.
Deborah's comment about applicants in the same position for five years
is also really telling as it points to the fact that INSEAD is looking
for applicants who are not complacent. Keep in mind that an INSEAD
admission committee consists of faculty and alumni and the later, in
particular, are likely to have clear expectations of what good career
growth looks like.
I
think it is also important to keep in mind that a business background
is not a necessity for admission to INSEAD, but that good professional
experience is. See here.
Based on my experience working with clients coming from a variety of
professions, I can say that having a non-business, but solid
professional career, can be a real advantage.
As
I already mentioned, keep in mind that INSEAD does not require a CV or
resume. Therefore these job essays below are critical pieces of the
application. As you will see, the INSEAD application has relatively
limited space to discuss your past experience in typical resume style.
You should consider that these essays will really provide INSEAD with
their primary interpretation of your career.
1.
Briefly
summarise 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.
(250 words maximum)
This
is a very straightforward question for most applicants. For those who
are unemployed, I suggest you write about your last position held.
You want to focus on both major responsibilities and major results. Since
results (accomplishments) are likely to be specifically connected to
responsibilities, I would prioritize them in your description. I
think for many applicants, the easiest way to organize this essay will
be in terms of discussing their 2-4 most important results and/or
responsibilities. Here is one possible organizational scheme.
1. Brief introduction indicating the nature of the position and employer. 50 words.
2. Most important responsibility that lead to a result. 50-100 words.
The
Details: If you don't have employees working during under your
supervision, you should still indicate any project-based and/or
team-based leadership. As with a resume or CV include any numbers that
will help INSEAD understand the extent of your results or
responsibilities. Even approximate quantification is better than no
quantification if it helps to positively showcase your career.
Keep
in mind that you should be focused on your job, not on your
personality. Interpret your job, don't just summarize it. Explain why
the work you do is significant.
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)
This essay should be a growth story.
If it is not a story that shows how your career has positively
evolved, it is unlikely to be very effective. You might be unemployed
at the moment, but what has been the trajectory so far? Did you take a
big risk along the way? Point that out. We each have our career ups
and downs, especially anyone who has taken risks. Don't shy away from
discussing the risks, but the overall focus of this essay should be
positive. In my experience, INSEAD rewards those who take risks and
does not look kindly on those that stay in the same position for five
years or more. Change or become boring! If you have been working in
the same position for five years or more, you will need to really show
how you have demonstrated growth in terms of results or
responsibilities, which would have been primarily discussed in Job
Essay 1.
In
terms of organizing this essay, think about the key turning points in
your career. Help INSEAD understand how you have evolved
professionally. Assume that you are being judged critically and
consider how to both effectively and honestly present your career.
The
final part of this question is what I would call an "opportunity cost"
question, in other words, by going to INSEAD, you will be sacrificing
the opportunity to take the next step at your current employer. If you
are unemployed, the way to handle this question is to discuss the kind
of position you would obtain if you were not seeking an MBA. For
everyone else, I think you should be realistic, but also present the
best possible version of your next position, which will show that you
are seeking an MBA to move beyond what would follow without it. A bad
answer to this question would involve identifying a next step that is
the same as the short term goal you discuss later in Essay 4 because
this would undermine much of the value of obtaining an MBA. I think
INSEAD asks this question not only to determine whether you have a clear
sense of your career trajectory, but also to confirm that you have
thought deeply about what you are sacrificing by pursuing an MBA. Given
the need to analyze your entire career development, for most
applicants, I would suggest providing a brief (50 words or less) answer
to this part of the question.
3.
If you are currently not working, what are you doing and what do you
plan to do until you start the MBA programme? (250 words maximum)
This
is the only completely new question on the INSEAD application. It is a
good addition as there was no place other than optional essay for
applicants who are not working to discuss their situation. I think it
is critical to provide a honest answer to the question and one that
hopefully shows that you are using your time well. Possible topics to
discuss:
1. Learning activities (NOT APPLICATION PREP PLEASE! That would be really weak)
2. Language learning
3. Internships
4. Volunteer activities
5. Travel
The Essays
THE WORD COUNTS ARE NOW LISTED WITH MAXIMUMS. This a change from prior years were approximate counts were given.
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. (600 words maximum)
With
a question like this I think it is important to understand that you
are actually being asked to think about your strengths and weaknesses
in terms of your overall personality and development. What is
important here is provide both an analysis about specific
characteristics of yourself and to help admissions understand who you are. YOU NEED TO TELL A COMPELLING STORY ABOUT WHO YOU ARE AS A PERSON! I put this in bold because I get far too many essays from my clients that end up focusing on professional content, that don't focus on personality and personal background, or are otherwise not really effective portraits. When I get such initial drafts, I usually either write really long comments or have a conversation with my client restating my analysis here. Think of this essay as a highly focused portrait of yourself that will give admissions great insight into your life story and your characteristics (strengths and weaknesses). The most effective answers here consistently combine revealing parts of the applicant's personality and background while discussing strengths and weaknesses.
Obviously the strengths and weaknesses should be ones that relate to
your character, not to a skill set. Given the word count, I suggest
focusing on no more than about two strengths and two weaknesses. I
would try to give fairly equal consideration to both weaknesses and
strengths.
EMBRACE WEAKNESS!
I find that many applicants resist writing about their own weaknesses,
yet to do so reveals self-awareness and maturity. While I think it
is necessary to practice good judgment when writing about weakness, I
think it is also important that you provide something beyond the
routine.
One standard defensive strategy that many applicants seem drawn to is
to write about knowledge or skill areas where they are weak, but this
is not suitable for INSEAD's question because they want you to stress
personal characteristics.
STRENGTHS
Compared to weaknesses, strengths are easier for most people to write
about. Given the limited space here, you might find it helpful to
write about a strength here that is discussed in greater detail in
another essay. In other words, you might discuss the origins of one your key strengths and trace its connection to your personal or professional accomplishments.
IS IT A GOOD STRENGTH OR WEAKNESS?
Some questions to ask yourself:
1. Does the strength demonstrate one's potential for future academic
and/or professional success? If so it is a probably a good topic. If
not, why does INSEAD need to know about it?
2. Is a weakness fixable? If you are writing about a weakness that
cannot be improved upon through your program at INSEAD, why do they
need to know about it?
3. If your strength or weakness is not related to leadership, why does INSEAD need to know about it?
Finally, if you are having difficulty thinking about your strengths
and weaknesses in relation to your future academic and professional
goals, please see my analysis of Essay 4 because in it I discuss how
to think about strengths and weaknesses in relation to goals.
2. Describe what you believe to be your two most substantial accomplishments (if possible specify one personal and one professional, to date, explaining whyyou view them as such. (400 words maximum) Since
INSEAD is now asking that, if possible, you make one of your
accomplishments one personal and one professional, I strongly advise
that you do that.
Some key things to keep in mind when answering this question:
-Accomplishments reveal your potential to succeed at INSEAD and afterwords.
-Accomplishments reveal your potential for contributing to your classmates.
-Everyone has had accomplishments, so it is easy to compare applicants.
-What you consider to be an accomplishment are real tests of your self-awareness and judgment.
The following grid is the kind I have used successfully with applicants preparing this question:
(CLICK TO ENLARGE. )
How to use this grid for outlining your answer to Question 1:
Row 1: "Stories." The first thing you need to do is think of the
accomplishments. These will eventually take the form of stories, so
that is what I call them.A few things to keep in mind:
Your accomplishments maybe personal, professional, or academic.
While it is very important that your accomplishments be distinct so
as to reveal different things about you, there is no single formula
for what their content must be. It is quite possible that you might
have three professional accomplishments or one personal/one
professional/one academic or two academic/one personal. It will really
depend on your background.
The key consideration is that each accomplishment must be substantial and that you can explain why that is the case.
Row 2: "What skill, value, or unique experience is being showcased?"
Your accomplishments need to reveal valuable things about you. Some
will call these selling points, but more specifically they consist of
skills, values, or unique experiences. One might use a specific
accomplishment to emphasize one's leadership skills, another to show
one's ethical values, and another to explain a significant barrier
that was overcome. The point is that each accomplishment must at its
core reveal something key to understanding who you are.
Row 3: "What potential for success in the MBA program or afterwords is demonstrated?" You may or may not be directly statingthis
in the essay, but you should think about what each accomplishment
reveals in terms of your potential. INSEAD Adcom will most certainly
be considering how your accomplishments demonstrate your potential to
succeed at INSEAD and afterwords, so you should as well. One key way
of thinking about the MBA application process is to see it as a test
of potential. Potential itself can
mean different things at different schools and so you must keep in
mind differences between schools and in particular must pay close
attention to what schools say really matters when they assess
applicants. Please click here to read about what INSEAD values in applicants. Please keep in mind that
a core part of your own application strategy should be determining
which parts of you to emphasize both overall and for a particular
school.
Row 4: "Will this be a contribution to others in the MBA program? How?"
Just as with potential, think about whether your accomplishments
demonstrate your ability to add value to other students at INSEAD. Given
space limitations, it is not likely that you will be explaining how
one or more of your accomplishments will be contribution, but rather
this is a strategic consideration. The dynamic nature of study
groups at INSEAD is very much based on what each student
contributes. Think about whether any of your accomplishments
demonstrate how you will likely add value to other students INSEAD
experience. Not all substantial accomplishments will have this
quality, but many will.
Row 5: "Why does Adcom need to know about this?"
If your accomplishment has made it this far, chances are it is
substantial. That said, I have two simple tests for determining
whether an accomplishment really belongs in this essay. The first is
whether INSEAD really needs to know about this accomplishment. After
all, you might consider getting the love of your life to marry you to be
one of your most substantial accomplishments, but will Adcom care?
If an accomplishment does not reveal (whether stated or implied)
potential and/or contribution, chances are likely that it is not
significant enough.
Row 6: "Is this something Adcom could learn about you elsewhere? (If "YES," find another accomplishment)" The
second and final simple test I have for determining whether an
accomplishment really belongs in this essay is based on the idea that
something that is totally obvious about you to anyone looking at your
resume and transcript is probably not worth mentioning. If you were a
CPA, having an accomplishment that merely demonstrated you were good
at accounting would not be worth writing about. Instead it would be
important to show something more specific that reveals something that
is not obvious by a mere examination of the basic facts of your
application.
Finally,
as I mentioned above what you include here is a real test of your
judgment, so don't just write about your obvious accomplishments.
Think deeply and come up with a set of unique accomplishments that
reveal distinct, interesting, and the most important things about you
that will compel admissions to want to interview you.
3. Describe
a situation taken from your personal or professional life where you
failed. Discuss what you learned (400 words maximum)
This is a fairly standard failure question. It is important to
remember that you might very well succeed from the perspective of
others, but fail from your own perspective. It is critical that you learned something meaningful about yourself.
The basic components of an answer:
1. Clearly state what the failure was.
2. Clearly state your role.
3. Clearly state the result.
4. Explain the effect in terms of what you learned and perhaps also how you applied what you learned.
If possible, show how you applied what you learned to a new situation
because the application of abstract learning to a new situation is a
key indicator of real learning.
4. a)
Discuss your short and long term career goals. (300 words maximum) and
b) How will studying at INSEAD help you achieve your vision? (250 words
maximum)
THESE ARE FUTURE DIRECTED QUESTIONS
Unlike some other "Why MBA" questions, INSEAD is not asking about the
past. You will write about that in the other essays. Instead focus on
your goals and the skills that you will obtain at INSEAD that will
help you accomplish those goals. You
must offer both a short term-plan and long-term vision for your
intended future. Given the short length of the INSEAD program, it
really is quite important that you give them a clear future post-MBA
plan. a) Discuss your short and long term career goals. (300 words maximum)
Given
the intensive nature of the INSEAD experience, you need to go into the
program with a clear idea of what you want to do after your MBA. Of
course, this might change, but given the program length and the reality
that you will need to begin recruiting/internship hunting soon after
entry, you will need a clear plan for your future. If you are having
difficulty articulating such a plan, I suggest you go through the
following formal analysis:
You can use my GAP, SWOT, AND ROI TABLE FOR FORMULATING GRADUATE DEGREE GOALSfor this purpose (see below). I think Gap, SWOT, and ROIanalysis are great ways for understanding what your goals are, why you want a degree, and how you will use it. (Click here for a GMAC report on MBA ROI.)
(To best view the following table, click on it. )
How to use this table:
Step 1. Begin by analyzing your "Present Situation." What job(s) have you held? What was/is your functional role(s)? What was/are your responsibilities?
Next,
analyze your present strengths and weaknesses for succeeding in your
present career. REMEMBER: WHEN YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT YOUR STRENGTHS AND
WEAKNESS DON'T ONLY THINK ABOUT WORK, THINK ABOUT OTHER ASPECTS OF YOUR
LIFE. In particular, some of your greatest strengths may have been
demonstrated outside of work, so make sure you are accounting for them. Strengths: What are you good at? Where do you add value? What are you praised for? What are you proud of? Weakness:What are you bad at? What are you criticized for? What do you try to avoid due to your own limitations? What do you fear?
Next, analyze the
environment you work in right now. What opportunities exist for your
growth and success? What threats could limit your career growth?
Step 2. Now, do the same thing in Step 1 for your "Post-Degree" future after you have earned your graduate degree. IF YOU CANNOT COMPLETE STEP 2, YOU HAVE NOT SUFFICIENTLY PLANNED FOR YOUR FUTURE and therefore you need to do more research and need to think more about it.
Step 3. If you could complete step 2, than you should see the "Gap" between
your present and your future. What skills, knowledge, and other
resources do you need to close the gap between your present and future
responsibilities, strengths, and opportunities?
Step 4. After
completing Step 3, you now need to determine how an MBA will add value
to you. It is possible that an increased salary as a result of job
change will be sufficient "ROI" for
the degree to justify itself, but you should show how a degree will
allow you to reach your career goals. How will the degree enhance your
skills and opportunities and help you overcome your weaknesses and
external threats? If you can complete Step 4, then you should be ready
to explain what your goals are, why you want a degree, and the
relationship between your past and future career, as well as your
strengths and weaknesses. If you know about INSEAD, you are ready to
write about your goals, whether in Question 3-4 or elsewhere in the
essay set.
The above table will also help you answer such common interview questions as: Where
do you want to work after you finish your degree? Why do you want an
MBA (or other degree)? What are you strengths? What are your weaknesses?
What are your goals?
b) How will studying at INSEAD help you achieve your vision? (250 words maximum)
As
with other schools, I strongly recommend becoming informed about
INSEAD. Attending admission events, meeting alum, and making full use of
INSEAD's online resources is critical for making the strongest
possible case for why your goals require an INSEAD education. You
should most certainly look at INSEAD KNOWLEDGE and listen to some INSEAD Knowledgecasts. Finally,
keep in mind that INSEAD is a fun school, so express your personality
in terms of why you want to attend it. Perhaps this video will inspire
you:
5. Please choose one of the following two essay topics:a) Have you ever experienced culture shock? What insights did you gain? (250 words maximum), orb) Describe the ways in which a foreigner in your country might experience culture shock (250 words maximum)
One
core characteristic of those who are admitted to INSEAD is that they
are international in their perspective and experience:
I
have found that it is usually those with extensive international
experience that have the greatest likelihood for admission. That
said, in my interview with Deborah Riger, I asked her about this issue:
"ADAM: Is it possible to be accepted to INSEAD without having international experience?
DEBORAH:
Yes, it is possible to be admitted without significant experience
outside of your home country. While it is important for all applicants
to show their international motivations in their essays, it is
especially critical for those who lack international exposure to do so.
Applicants need to share how they are comfortable and confident in
their own culture, why they are seeking out the international exposure
in the MBA and sharing perhaps how the world has come to them at home."
Both options for Question 5 are really great ways for INSEAD to gauge your global perspective.
a) Have you ever experienced culture shock? What insights did you gain? This is a very standard question that frequently gets asked in
interviews and has appeared on a number of MBA applications. It is also
a question with significant room for saying something stupid and
potentially fatal to your application. Some topics to avoid:
1. Topics where you negatively stereotype another nation: Martians are argumentative, so I was surprised to learn that some of them are not.
2. Topics where you are the victim: The Martians lied to me and as a result I lost the contract to a local provider.
3. Topics where you don't actually learn anything: This situation taught me the importance of human communication.
Successful
versions of this topic almost always involve real learning. I
suppose it is possible for something to mean much to you without
learning something important, but I can't recall a successful version
of this essay that did that. After all to be shocked is to
experience something outside of your previous understanding. Getting
shocked teaches something important that changes your perspective.
This may lead to a new career decision, a new way of looking at
oneself, a new way of interacting with other people, or a myriad of
other possibilities.
b) Describe the ways in which a foreigner in your country might experience culture shock American Adam's bad answer: Those traveling to America might be shocked by the need to tip.
Why is that answer bad?
It certainly is useful to know how to tip. I can think of almost
nothing more annoying in the US than our system of tipping and how it
would be a bit of a culture shock to someone not used to doing it. Every
time I go back to the US, I am at a loss. Doesn't this make for a
good topic? NO, BECAUSE IT IS OBVIOUS, IS COVERED IN EVERY TRAVEL
GUIDE, AND WOULD GIVE ADMISSIONS NO REAL INSIGHT INTO YOUR ABILITY TO
HAVE INTERESTING AND USEFUL THINGS TO SAY ABOUT YOUR OWN COUNTRY.
Uppercase is used here in the hope that I don't have to read another
version of this essay where the writer says commonplace things about
their own country that any tourist would know and probably would not
be shocked by.
If you write on option b), think deeply about how your knowledge of your country will contribute to your fellow classmates at INSEAD.
INSEAD is a place were students really have the option of getting to
know (and drink with) people from all over the world. It is truly
international in a way that no American program could ever claim. This
question directly relates to your own self-consciousness about what
is different about your country. They will, to some extent, depend on
you for their knowledge of your home country. Don't tell them the
easy stuff they can get by flipping through the first few pages of a Lonely Planet travel guide to your country. Give them real insight. The kind of insight they could use if they were going to move there.
Now
while the question is not in regards to your classmates, I think it
is useful to think of it that way so that you focus on writing
something that would actually be interesting and useful to someone
who visits your country. You don't have to write on a business
related topic, but if you have a good one, do so. The following
questions should help you:
1. What kind of problems have you seen foreigners have when communicating with people in your country?
2. What do people say in your country about foreigners? Do they have a bias against them or even a bias for them?
3.
What most annoys you about your own country that would be something
that someone coming from outside of it is likely to experience?
4. What aspects of your country's culture seem hard for foreigners to handle (Not just the language as that is too obvious)?
6.
Is there anything that you have not mentioned in the above essays
that you would like the Admissions Committee to know? (350 words
maximum) This essay is optional.
While this question is
optional, I have every client write about something here. There has to
be an explanation for an application problem, extracurricular activity,
professional experience, personal experience, and/or other matter that
you can add here to provide another positive perspective about you.
This
is a completely open question. While you might very well need to
tell the Admissions Committee something negative, such as an
explanation for a low GPA, I would suggest using at least part of it to
tell them something positive about you. Feel free to write on any
topic that will add another dimension to Admissions' perception of who
you are. I would not treat it as optional unless you truly feel that
the rest of your essays have fully expressed everything you want
INSEAD to know about you. I don't suggest writing about something that
would be obvious from reviewing your application, instead tell
INSEAD that one or two additional key points that will give them
another reason to admit you.
7.
In case of reapplication, please provide an update on any new aspects
of your professional, international, academic or personal profile that
would not have been included in your previous application. Please also
explain your motivation for re-applying to INSEAD. (400 words maximum)
For
reapplicants, it is critical that you provide clearly stated updates
that show growth since the last application. Whatever form(s) this
growth takes, please provide a summary of it here, even if you have
addressed the topic elsewhere in the application. In addition, beyond
what you write about INSEAD in Essay 4b, please provide a clear
explanation of why INSEAD is your first choice. I think it is
especially useful to show what steps you have taken to learn more about
the program.
I am a graduate admissions consultant who works with clients worldwide. If you would like to arrange an initial consultation, please complete my intake form. Please don't email me any essays, other admissions consultant's intake forms, your life story, or any long email asking for a written profile assessment. The only profiles I assess are those with people who I offer initial consultations to. Please note that initial consultations are not offered when I have reached full capacity or when I determine that I am not a good fit with an applicant.
