呼!幸好有上…INSEAD申請經驗分享

[baichingchen]

小弟收到剛出爐的INSEAD admission (September 08 intake, R2)

鑑於過去幾個intake都各有一篇經驗分享，我決定接著Asung, Jay, 小智, Lunar916, Yimmiwan寫下我的心得，希望對之後的申請者有所幫助。



Male, 28 申請學校:INSEAD only



Experience:

現於倫敦從事human resources consulting. 總共經驗:

兩年consulting in London

兩年consulting in Taipei

一些intern, part-time, asabulu經驗 in the US

一年八個月的空軍政戰爽官 in the heaven



Education:

台大外文系 3.6

UIUC, Master in Human Resources and Industrial Relations 4.0

some certifications from Wharton School



Recommendation: 公司大中華區Managing Director與台灣的General Manager



TOEFL waived, GMAT: 680 [M50 V29(56%)] ->學校要求重考 -> 710 [M51 V34 (70%)]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

以下是很瑣碎的心得:



GMAT:

第一次考GMAT 準備了五週:前兩週熟讀official guide，後三週練習真題。原以為夠用就好，但在學校給我interviewer info的隔天，admission manager打來要我重考。我嚇到，說:680沒那麼糟吧? 阿姨說他們看的是個別M與V成績，最好都有70%。因為就著經驗，verbal沒70%的學生上課會比較辛苦，接著說65%就考慮，70%就ok。又說INSEAD是不看AWA的 (校友也這麼說)。



我說如果報名都滿了怎麼辦? 也許考完時 admission都送光了，可不可以先賞個conditional offer? 她說學校無此前例。我又說這個schedule可能會耽誤我申請獎學金耶 (PS. INSEAD是拿到admission才在指定window內申請€) 她說還是可以申請獎學金，只是我的application會hold住，直到收到GMAT成績。

眼看ㄠ不了，我只得接受，並寫了封信謝謝她，至少她還給我機會補救，不是直接把我ding掉，讓我死的不明不白。我趕緊報名兩週後的GMAT，把送出去的書與墊桌腳的練習題再拿來K，順便在這段期間完成了兩場alum interviews。



ESSAYS:

花了兩個多月慢慢熬，找了六位朋友輪流看(其中有兩位alum與一位current student)。

寫的方式是: 清楚學校想要的特質 → 用合適的例子與文字展現出那些特質。

INSEAD想要的特質是International, Entrepreneurship, Teamwork and quick to get to the point。

為啥呢?我想前兩項是INSEAD經營MBA的基本定位，後兩項則攸關你能否成功的在一年內搞定別人兩年的課程。

因此我扯了一些玩股票斷頭(risk taking) 、專案管理(teamwork) 、遠距戀愛與跨國求婚的故事(entrepreneurship, teamwork, creativity, risk taking... whatever) ，透過故事表現出人格特質。工作/生活的比例約一半一半。字數聽說在+-10%就ok。盡量簡單扼要，避免複雜或瑣碎的描述。很多我自認不錯的片段後來都砍了，因為有意思的故事不一定能展現出adcom想見的特質。



我也找了Essayedge，但成果不如預期，他們的editing比較是停留在wording階段，而非我想要的content修改與建議。事實上朋友們給的建議遠比Essayedge有幫助。不過這只是我的個案。



INTERVIEW PRACTICE:

我大致上把過去(豐功偉業、團隊合作、教育背景)、現在(工作職責)與未來 (career goal, why MBA/INSEAD, why now)等問題想清楚，正經的講個兩遍就差不多了。

另一部分則是把自己的essay再好好的讀過，想清楚。

mock interview是很好的練習，不僅是為著admission，更是為著往後找工作而準備。我抓了兩位在倫敦的alum練習。其中一位認為拿到interview invitation的人拿admission機會應該有60%以上。



INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE:

很想回台灣interview ，認為有相對優勢，但想想留在倫敦也不一定鐵掛，就拼了。



第一個interviewer在一家bulge bracket bank當 head of investment banking。這個英國-法國人畢業16年了。他只花十五分鐘問問題，如動機目的等。接著說因為學校要求，他必須問些制式問題，便開始問團隊合作的經驗。接著咱們便開始抬槓。

他認為INSEAD很多學生是privileged child, 他說誰能年紀輕輕就遊走各國? 多半是外交官或跨國經理人的小孩。



不過我認為這畢竟是16年前的體會 (ps. 十幾年前的學生source多為歐美已發展國家，不像現在這麼多發展中國家)，現在國際經驗比以前容易取得… 接著他說這樣的學生背景使得INSEAD並非真的那麼entrepreneur-oriented (你扯學校後腿喔?) 家境富裕的校友創業，很多是為著享受生活的，如:經營休閒旅遊業、時尚業或幹到中型公司的CEO就滿意了。我說那你算努力型的喔?他笑說:當然! 我一定是前10%打拼工作的! 聊了差不多後，他說會推薦我 (:D) 並祝我一切順利。共花45分鐘。



第二個interviewer很神秘，只知道在一家顧了很多前MI6(英國的CIA)探員的spy firm工作。後來這位兄台沒空，因此學校又丟給我三號alum。



No. 3是個consulting firm的founder and CEO，專門作business development consulting。我連絡他一個禮拜音信全無，就向學校回報校友失蹤了，於是學校又塞給我四號alum，是個investment bank的director。後來No. 3突然冒出來，叫我幾天後去找他，我只好再請INSEAD cancel No. 4 interview。呼…幸好只申請一家，不然會被搞死。



與No. 1相比 No.3比較正式，這個約旦-英國人先請我自我介紹，再仔細的走過我的履歷。如我所料，他問了許多團隊合作的問題:如何領導project 、管理客戶與同事，以及在INSEAD若遇到組員擺爛，要如何搞定等狀況題 (我說講不通就吵架吧!他說exactly!) 另外也問了未來的career planning等基本款。



後來他分享了一些INSEAD的經驗: 那一年是他一生最懷念的日子，大家帶著職場的成熟與學生的瘋狂來到INSEAD，他交了二三十個真正的好友。而他最大的收穫之一，則是學會聆聽別人。當一群各方好漢聚在一起時，有時太急於表達甚至辯論，而忽略了傾聽的藝術。

整體而言我自認ok，他口風很緊，沒給啥feedback 。共花了一小時。



WHY INSEAD?

我老媽與岳母從來沒正確唸對INSEAD過，總唸的像台語的”硬死鴨”，還問是不是野鴨大學?

基於以下幾個原因，我沒申請離我住處15分鐘的LBS，而獨鍾INSEAD:

1. Short/long-term career match:

INSEAD在consulting, entrepreneurship and general management的訓練最符合我的career planning。進了INSEAD我想有很大的機會進去top management consulting。如果一個人不執著於美國的就業市場，INSEAD可以提供許多在亞洲與歐洲的絕佳機會。



2. Cost: 10個月 + 五萬歐元tuition + 一萬歐元生活雜費:

其實INSEAD學費已很接近top US program了，最主要的差別是時間成本:少一年的生活費，多一年的收入，會差很多。從ROI角度看，INSEAD與IMD是我唯二能接受的。MBA是教育，更是種投資，若都能達到目的，何不選擇最划算的?



3. Geographical match:

已呆過美國，覺得Asia比較適合我，希望在法國(離老婆近)與新加坡(離台灣近)體驗小鎮與都市生活，也考慮去華頓晃晃。



4. Culture fit:

老婆說我像在申請師大附中，我說INSEAD較像international airport。

INSEAD work hard play haaaaard的氣氛我很喜歡，頗像我回憶的高中生活。

七十個國家的學生與三十國家的老師來到法國小鎮/東南亞小島，沒多久又飛往五十個國家工作，跟機場沒兩樣。重點是十個月與各國菁英相處，可以讓你知道這個星球真的很大，沒有任何文化是主流，你對許多國家的刻板印象會在此瓦解，且你的人脈也隨之伸展至各國。



沒上的話…

決定申請一家時就有心理準備了，雞排攤已經準備好了。不過申請MBA反倒讓我體會到"沒有"MBA可以作什麼。MBA是捷徑，卻非唯一路徑，還是有很多事是不需要這三個英文字母的。


OVERALL THOUGHT:

第一次申請出國時，赫然發現自己的許多經驗對申請助益不大，以致履歷表沒啥賣相，我才體會到學經歷不像GRE、GMAT是一蹴可及的。出國後便常提醒自己要為下一個五年作準備。這個教訓對於申請MBA很有幫助，因為累積工作/生活上的經驗與credit, international experience, 甚至作了許多volunteer work，當下看沒什麼，但回頭看很有價值，且這些經驗是量化成績很難比的。申請時材料都有了，只要漂亮的呈現即可。



另外的體會是學校與自己的match :

從一開始精讀official brochure到後來與校友的networking，INSEAD已不只是排名/工作/offer/薪水等數字，而是一個活靈活現人的組合。我相信對於adcom以及校友而言，每間學校都是獨一無二的。他們希望applicant有認定與感情(好歹也要在essay與interview表達出來) 。如我所說INSEAD是很unique的，愈認識校友與學生，愈欣賞這間學校的獨特。



申請時很想知道別人的schedule如何，所以在此分享我的時間分配:

2007/6考GMAT 1 – 2007/9開始寫essay – 12/3 submit R2 – 2008/1/15 收到interview notification (original date: 1/18) – 1/24 收到interviewer info自己喬時間 – 1/25通知重考GMAT – 2/7 interview 1 – 2/11 interview 2 – 2/13 GMAT 2 – 2/21 Admission (original date: 2/29)



若有問題可以post ，我會盡量解答。

Good luck to future applicants! :laugh



Brian Chen
--------------------
My INSEAD blog

[imagenooks]

Good to see another passionate INSEAD 08 intake! I am anxiously waiting for a result from the school... I can see from BW forum that the admissions have being distributed from Europe. I am not sure when I will hear back from the school.

I am based in Taipei. It has been a very long two month of my life. By the way, Brian, i would assume that you are going to pick Fonty campus over Singapore's one, right?

[arthurzz]

family honor!! pround of you!!

Go GO GO!

[baichingchen]

I got the email notification yesterday (one day after the phone call). I believe you should be able to receive the notification soon.
It seems that most Taiwanese prefer starting at Fonty and finishing at Singapore. However, I will start from Singapore due to career reasons...

Brian

[lunar916]

恭喜你呀~~~
我覺得有些重點:

我扯了一些玩股票斷頭(risk taking) 、專案管理(teamwork) 、遠距戀愛與跨國求婚的故事(entrepreneurship, teamwork, creativity, risk taking... whatever) ，透過故事表現出人格特質。

很重要很重要~ 哈哈哈~
我們要努力宣導”硬死鴨”的唸法~ 呵呵~

[Derek Chang]

Hi Brian,

Congratulation again !! Really appreciate that you shared this great story with other applicants.
Welcome to INSEAD family !!

Derek

[Derek Chang]

btw,

One thing I need to clarify. Multi-cultural experience is a plus for INSEAD application but NOT necessary.
However, there are many 2006/2007 Alumni do not have extensive oversea experience. (9 out of 15 have Taiwan passport only)

Actually, this weakness may become "good story" for applicant to illustrate your motivation for INSEAD.

Derek

[imagenooks]

Hi guys,

Any good suggestion or recommendation on what / how I should act when i am placed on a waitlist for INSEAD...

[Yimmiwan]

You are the 3rd person I know being placed on waitlisted (all known from here actually...never met in person)

I think the things you need to do just follow the similar waitlist procedure like to other schools. However, historically INSEAD doesn't announce waitlist acceptance quite late, sometimes even 2-3 weeks before the program starts, which highly limit one's ability to get visa, transportation, housing arrangement. Just keep this in mind.

[imagenooks]

Hi Yimmiwan,

Well, so would you suggest people withdrawing the current application and reapply for the next immiedate intake? In this case, withdraw Sept08 intake and apply Jan09 intake even there's no significant change in my application.

What's the odd of getting admitted given that the ad comm is the same and nothing being changed signifcantly in my application?
Just a thought, what do you say?

[baichingchen]

Hi, Imagenooks,

Although the fate of the waitlisted is decided by the acceptance rate of the admits, you could still do something:
1. There is an INSEAD Waitlist Chat with Admission Director and Manager:
On Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 9:00 AM PT/12:00 PM ET/5:00 PM GMT Accepted.com will host an online admissions chat with Caroline Diarte Edwards, INSEAD's Director of Admissions, and Virginie Fougea, INSEAD's MBA Admissions Manager.
http://www.accepted.com/chat/schedule.aspx#mba12

2. I don't suggest re-application. It is a long shot. INSEAD doesn't encourage re-application unless there are some significant changes in your qualification, which I assume is not the case for you. In my opinion, what you could do is:
A. Read the waitlist letter and find out the hints of deficiency in your profile. Try to improve it and provide evidence to the Adcom.
B. Send them any new material that might improve your chances.
C. Express your willing to provide additional information requested by INSEAD.
D. Visit the school and meet them face-to-face. There is a on-campus event on March 28 in S'pore. After the visit, reinforce to them how you fit INSEAD.

3. Some figures: I got access and registered to the INSEAD Intranet. As of 3 March, there are 334 registered users - the R1 admits who accept (pay the deposit) + R2 admits who registered already. 334/450 (numbers of students per intake) is around 75%. For some reasons, I personally believe that R1 accounts for 45% and R2 30% of the intake.

Hope this helps. I definitely want to see more Taiwanese joining the INSEAD club. So far we have 4 only (1 male / 3 female). Good luck!

[imagenooks]

2. I don't suggest re-application. It is a long shot. INSEAD doesn't encourage re-application unless there are some significant changes in your qualification, which I assume is not the case for you. In my opinion, what you could do is:
A. Read the waitlist letter and find out the hints of deficiency in your profile. Try to improve it and provide evidence to the Adcom.
B. Send them any new material that might improve your chances.
C. Express your willing to provide additional information requested by INSEAD.
D. Visit the school and meet them face-to-face. There is a on-campus event on March 28 in S'pore. After the visit, reinforce to them how you fit INSEAD.

3. Some figures: I got access and registered to the INSEAD Intranet. As of 3 March, there are 334 registered users - the R1 admits who accept (pay the deposit) + R2 admits who registered already. 334/450 (numbers of students per intake) is around 75%. For some reasons, I personally believe that R1 accounts for 45% and R2 30% of the intake.

Thanks! For your first two points, the re-application is not encouraged if you are denied. According to the admission coordinator, waitlist is a different story. INSEAD committee likes your application, yet not competative enough to be in the class.

Given the statistic you have provided and some I have gathered along my way.. It tells me that my chances of getting in is slim.

Say INSEAD's yield rate is 80% => so it will probably offers 560 admission in the end. Then given the stats you provided, 560 -334 = 226

226 seats, only maximum of 14% of Chinese (i suppose that includes people of mainland china) will be representing for the incoming class given that the 335 are equally proportional. At maximum another 32 Chinese students will be offered admission.

Also, I have already drafted my "waitlist" letter to the school. Not sure how much it will help, but I will give it a try. I will consider the chance of flying to Singapore to attend the event.

Anyways, thanks a lot.

[Yimmiwan]

Brian gave very good suggestions. One note on visiting. Since all applications are process in Fontainebleau, I am not sure there are any admission staff in Singapore. So if you want to improve your chance by visiting and talking to admission staff, you might need to take the long road and coming to France.

When I was applying, I saw people who were placed in waitlist taking either route - wait until the end or withdraw then re-apply. I don't have any statistic to back up the success/fail rate. All I can say is that you know the best how much you want to attend a MBA program now or later. If you have another school acceptance, will you feel strongly enough to reject the school as well for another chance in next INSEAD intake?

If you want to reapply, you probably need to improve the GMAT score (if you can) and get a new set of recommendations (hopefully ones that's even better than the ones you had). These are the only two things you can have full control.

[imagenooks]

When I was applying, I saw people who were placed in waitlist taking either route - wait until the end or withdraw then re-apply. I don't have any statistic to back up the success/fail rate. All I can say is that you know the best how much you want to attend a MBA program now or later. If you have another school acceptance, will you feel strongly enough to reject the school as well for another chance in next INSEAD intake?

If you want to reapply, you probably need to improve the GMAT score (if you can) and get a new set of recommendations (hopefully ones that's even better than the ones you had). These are the only two things you can have full control.

From the stats, you can see near half of the admission were offered in the R1. Hence, a marginial application like mine might have a better shot given that i can provide a passionate reason to back up my actions. This leads me to believe that I might have a better chance. Waiting until the last minute is not ideal as there are many other issues that I have to take care before I head to study.

At this moment, I won't be able to re-take GMAT. (Personally the amount of effort to study the GMAT all over again is not worth it at the moment.) I am not sure another recommendation will do me any good either. Hence, I am a bit hesitate to reapply.

In sum, I feel strong about the school, but with given stats, I have many doubts in mind yet I know there's no way to clear these anyway.

I will continue to wait even the odd is low. IF no admission by my personal deadline, then so be it.

thanks everyone for the comments. :)

[zephyr_h]

呼! 我也收到admission了,終於鬆了一口氣, 晚點來寫心得.