The INSEAD MBA: A Top Ranked 10-Month MBA Program

This past week MBA Podcaster attended INSEAD’s MBA Admission Information Session at the swanky SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. Among champagne and brunch, INSEAD delivered a thorough overview of their MBA program, a session with alumni and time for Q&A. INSEAD did a fantastic job of covering all aspects of their program. Their info sessions are must-attend events for applicants potentially interested in an INSEAD MBA.

Cassandra Pittman, Assistant Director of Marketing for INSEAD’s North American Office, kicked off the morning with an introduction to INSEAD's admission criteria and how each criteria weighs in your application. According to Cassandra there are 4 admission criteria and each counts approximately 25%.

1. Academic Capacity

§         GMAT Score and a balance percentile between Verbal and Quant section

§         Bachelor's degree and the competitiveness of the academic institution you attended

2. Leadership Potential and Professional Experience

§         Promotions at work and management experience are important attributes. You don’t want to hold a position for 6 years with no promotion, although this could vary from country to country.

§         Ability to demonstrate your potential as a leader

§         Quality of your accomplishments

3. International Outlook

§         Cross-cultural sensitivity and an international outlook

4. Ability to Contribute to the INSEAD Experience

§         You need to be clear about your passions and how they have influenced your work and life.

§         INSEAD is looking for people with diversity; unique people with different backgrounds and interests 

Cassandra also explained how the INSEAD 10-month MBA program works. The program is divided into 5 periods of roughly 2 months each. For the first 2 periods you will be divided to groups of approx 5 students, from 5 completely different professional backgrounds, and 5 completely different parts of the world. According Cassandra they will never have more than one person of the same nationality, and never more than 2 people with the same native language in any study group. The groups work together throughout the core curriculum to produce work as a group, which is graded as a group.

Cassandra went on to discuss student life on campus and living in Fontainebleau. A group of alumni then took over and moderated a panel and Q&A session. What stood out to me among the various dialogues was the description of student life in Fontainebleau. In your 10 months on campus you are involved in all kinds of team activities, projects and social events. It is period of intense work and intense socialization/networking. You should expect to put 70 to 80 hrs of work for your course work and maybe more if your quantitative skills are rusty but at the same time you are socializing with your classmates and building relationships that will last you a lifetime.

Our take-away: INSEAD is a great choice for applicants looking for a top-ranked MBA program, a 1 year curriculum and an active student body.

PS: Take a look at these videos to get a taste for life at INSEAD: http://mba.insead.edu/video_vault/