MBA Admissions Essays and Deadlines for 2016-17 are slowly rolling out

It may seem to some that this time of year is far removed from any approaching deadlines. And essay topics for the graduating class of 2019? A long ways off..  Well neither is true. Not only that but in particular, this year deadlines and essays are being released quickly. Here's some that are already out:

Harvard deadlines and essays
Columbia deadlines and essays
UNC Kenan-Flagler deadlines and essays

Stanford deadlines
Dartmouth Tuck deadlines
Indiana Kelley deadlines
HEC Paris (1/17 entry) deadlines
INSEAD (9/17, 1/18 entry) deadlines

So now you're caught up as far as I can tell. I source ClearAdmit on the majority of these, but I do also check the admissions websites of major MBA programs this time of year just to make sure I am on top of what is going on. I'd suggest that if you want to stay on top of the deadlines and essay topics for your top choice schools you subscribe to the ClearAdmit blog and/or bookmark the admissions site of your top schools to make sure you are getting the latest news.

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

Interview with current INSEAD MBA Student

I am pleased to offer the following interview with a current student at INSEAD.

1. After you were admitted, looking back on the way you prepared for the MBA in the spring and summer, is there anything you would change? Anything you would have done more of or less of?

I could have been more open to other options including options outside MBA, although I believe INSEAD is a great choice for me. What really matters should be life after MBA and MBA should not be the only option for most people to move you forward. 

2. What's a typical day in the life of an MBA student in your program?

It depends on periods. For the first four months, students spend time in attending core courses, working with a study group in the daytime, and having parties (doing networking) at night. On weekends, most people travel together to countries nearby (across Asia and Europe). The schedule is really intense during these periods. After that, class schedule becomes more relaxing and students become more serious about life after INSEAD. Some people spend time in starting up their own companies and testing their business, while others spend time on networking for careers and interview preparation. Since we have huge diversity, it completely depends on each student.

3. Can you write a bit about a course that you would recommend future students take?

“Creative Thinking” is the course I personally loved most. There are design students coming from Art Center in California and we develop new product and service ideas together. Please note that this elective is one of few electives only held in the Singapore campus. “Identifying New Business Model” is the also fantastic elective that teaches how to brainstorm/select new ideas from scratch and how to test those ideas. INSEAD is strong in entrepreneurship and students here can take a bunch of great courses that leads them to real entrepreneurship.

4. Have you had the time to get involved in any extra-curricular activities? If so, what ones and what are you doing in them?

There are a lot of things going on, for example I started a consulting project for a social enterprise in Singapore in a team of four students from the consulting club. We discussed their problems with the CEO and conducted some surveys to identify growth opportunities for them. Recently, I am more focusing on getting a job after INSEAD.

5. What have your experiences been like in learning/project teams? 

At INSEAD, a study group for the first four months is assigned from the school and the nationalities and career backgrounds in each team are all different. It is really a valuable experience: some teams would face difficulty in managing team activities because of the diversity and learn a lot from such experiences. In my case, all four other team members are super nice and helpful, and it was always fun to work with them. 

6. Can you share your plans for the summer?

I am just finishing off my MBA (since it is a 10-month program) and might have a summer vacation before going back to the world of business.

7. Looking back, what has been most surprising to you about your MBA life, compared to your original expectations before you enrolled?

Diversity. It was quite difficult to imagine how life goes with friends from over 70 countries. When you talk in a small group, most of time you realise that the nationalities and backgrounds are all different. Since all students understand we are quite different in nature, all of them respect each other and their culture. This is really an amazing culture of INSEAD. 

Thanks for your time and answers to my questions! 

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

INSEAD Application Deadlines for the September 2014 Intake

INSEAD has updated their admissions website to reflect deadlines for those aiming to enter their program in September 2014.

Round 1 - 
Deadline: 10/2/2013
Interview Decision Notification: 11/8/2013
Final Decision Notification: 12/20/2013

Round 2 - 

Deadline: 11/27/2013
Interview Decision Notification: 1/10/2014
Final Decision Notification: 2/21/2014


Round 3 - 

Deadline: 3/5/2014
Interview Decision Notification: 4/11/2014
Final Decision Notification: 5/23/2014


Please verify all deadlines directly at their admissions website.

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

INSEAD EMBA to Host Masterclass and Information Session in Tokyo on October 31, 2012

The INSEAD EMBA program will be hosting a Masterclass and Information Session in Tokyo on Wednesday, October 31 2012 at 7pm. To register and/or get more information about this event start by clicking here.

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

Evaluating the new GMAT Integrated Reasoning Section

GMAT's new Integrated Reasoning section is now a regular pat of the GMAT test. How will MBA programs evaluate your result?  The consensus seems to be that school admissions officers will continue relying on what they know well - the verbal, quantitative and AWA sections, to determine your academic potential, although by no means is every school disregarding the new section.  Read on through a short series of links to see what exactly schools are saying about the integrated reasoning section.

First, courtesy of ClearAdmit.com, a short refresher on what the test is and how it is scored:

GMAT Tips - Getting Ready for Integrated Reasoning: The Scoring

Now - how will schools be evaluating this new IR section?

The Stanford GSB admissions team wrote pretty directly that they will see the IR score, but will focus on the verbal, quant and AWA sections as they evaluate your candidacy.  After reviewing IR scores throughout this admissions year, they'll consider how to evaluate it for the next year:

Why You Shouldn't Worry about GMAT Integrated Reasoning

Poets&Quants, a portal to MBA applicants that provides high-level interviews, trends, analyses and information, recently offered this article on the Integrated Reasoning Section noting that several other school seems to be echoing Stanford's stance:

School to Ignore New GMAT Section

In the article, INSEAD and Kellogg are mentioned.  Here's what each has to say about the GMAT IR.

In INSEAD's admissions pages, they summarized the changes to the GMAT, and then in a series of FAQs noted that they will not be using IR scores until they are able to benchmark a candidate's score against a meaningful pool of applicants:

INSEAD: Changes to the GMAT Exam

Kellogg notes that while the IR section will provide an additional number, the numbers which provide them with a more consistent evaluation are the other sections of the GMAT:

Kellogg FAQ: How will your school use the Integrated Reasoning Section..

On a counterpoint, at The GMAT Project, they have summarized a GMAC (GMAT maker) twitter chat with admissions staff from both Wharton and the London School of Business.  According to the article, both schools will consider the IR section, though they won't consider it more important that any other part of the application:

Integrated Reasoning Section: Live Twitter Chat with Wharton and London Business School

Summary and Conclusions:

As you may anticipate, do your best on this new section.  Some schools state they will consider the numbers, and others don't, but the one thing we do know is that every school to which you apply will have your IR section score. So, as with anything else in your application, make sure it is as good as possible to help your chances of getting admitted to your top choice program.

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

INSEAD 2012-13 MBA Admissions Essays

INSEAD has released their application for the 2012-13 admissions season, and with it their essay question for this year as well.  The essay question appear below, and can be confirmed in INSEAD's official admissions pages.

Job Description Essays:

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)

2. Please give 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 maximum)

3. If you are currently not working, what are you doing and what do you plan to do until you start the MBA programme if applicable? (250 words maximum)

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. (600 words maximum)

2. Describe what you believe to be your two most substantial accomplishments to date (if possible specify one personal and one professional), explaining why you view them as such. (400 words maximum)

3. Describe a situation taken from your personal or professional life where you failed. Discuss what you learned. (400 words maximum)

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)

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) 

      b) Describe the ways in which a foreigner in your country might experience culture shock. (250 words maximum)

6. Is there anything that you have not mentioned in your application that you would like the Admissions Committee to know? (350 words maximum) This section is optional.

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)

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

INSEAD Deadlines for January 2014 Intake

Here are the application deadlines for the January 2014 intake at INSEAD:


Round 1:

Deadline - 4/3/2013
Interview Notification - 5/17/2013
Decision - 6/28/2013

Round 2:

Deadline - 6/12/2013
Interview Notification - 7/19/2013
Decision - 9/6/2013


Round 3:

Deadline - 8/7/2013
Interview Notification - 9/13/2013
Decision - 10/25/2013

Completed applications are due by 11:59pm (23:59) Central European Time on the day of the deadline.

Be sure to confirm all deadlines at INSEAD's official admissions site.  Other deadlines, including the deadline for applying to the program starting in the fall of 2013, and are available here.  

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

INSEAD September 2013 Intake Deadline Dates Announced

INSEAD has announced its application deadlines for potential members of its class entering in the fall of 2013:


Round #       Application Deadline:   Interview Notification by:    Final Decision:
1st                10/3/2012                     11/9/2012                            12/21/2012
2nd               12/5/2012                     1/18/2013                            3/1/2013
3rd                3/13/2013                     4/19/2013                            5/31/2013

The INSEAD dates and deadlines page mentions that in order to "be included in a specific round, applications must be complete and submitted by midnight (23:59) Central European Time on the day of the deadline".

Take care to understand thoroughly their admissions criteria, including the language requirements for entry to the program, the application checklist and the admissions FAQ for the school.

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

1-year Full-time US-based MBA options

**Note: I have edited this article below to include the Thunderbird 11-month Accelerated MBA.**

While the 2-year full-time MBA remains the standard for a lot of applicants, more and more people are looking for viable 1-year full-time options for their MBA as they place a higher emphasis on the opportunity cost (i.e. foregone salary) of going to b-school. 

Europe has typically been the home of the 1-year MBA, with options such as INSEAD, IMD, Cambridge, Oxford, ESADE, IE, RSM, Cranfield, Warwick, the LBS Sloan Masters in Leadership and Strategy and many others attracting the majority of applications. 

There are some options worth looking into in the USA as well, and they are increasing in popularity. Here is a starting point for those interested in researching 1-year US-based MBA options.  Many of these programs are designed to attract older applicants who have more focused interests and less need for career-changing educational experiences. So, I have divided the list into 1-year programs aimed towards more experienced applicants, and 1-year programs aimed towards applicants of the traditional MBA age.

for more experienced applicants:

MIT Sloan Fellows Program

working experience: 10-years is required to apply

class size: about 100

Stanford Sloan Master's Program

(technically an MS in Management rather than an MBA)

working experience: 8 years is required to apply, and the average is 12 years

class size: about 80

USC IBEAR

working experience: the average is 10 years

class size: about 55-60

for MBA-aged applicants:

One thing that is stressed with most of these 1-year programs below is that you need to have clearly defined academic and/or professional goals. 

1-year students also sometimes miss out on key 2-year student experience, such as the summer internship. For instance, at Kellogg, 1-year students spend their summer on campus. 

In addition, Goizueta notes here than the ideal candidate for the 1-year MBA has earned an undergraduate degree in business or economics or has strong quantitative background in majors such as engineering or mathematics.

Cornell Johnson Accelerated (1-year) MBA

working experience: 4 years (median)

class size: 45 (here is a link to the class profile)

Northwestern Kellogg One-Year (1Y) Program

working experience: the current class ranges in age from 23 to 35

class size: 80-90 (they expect to double or triple this number, read more at a Poets&Quants article here)

Emory Goizueta 1-Year MBA Program

working experience: an average of 5+ years (compared to an average of 5 years for the 2-year program)

class size: 39

Babson One-Year MBA Program

working experience: average of 5 years (the same for the 2-year MBA)

class size: 78

11-Month Accelerated Full-Time Thunderbird MBA

working experience: "To be eligible for the Full-time MBA accelerated program, you must have an undergraduate major or minor in business, have completed courses in accounting, data analysis/statistics, finance and management, or have at least five years work experience including a year or more managing a budget and staff." (refer here).  "Either a degree in business or more than five years of work experience, one in management, is required for entry into the Accelerated program. Consideration on the quant portion of the GRE Revised Test (taken after August 1, 2011) or GMAT will also be weighed heavily in making selections for this program." (refer here)

class size: not given (the MBA GM program overall has 548 students, as per this source)

More reading:

The Top MBA Programs if You're in a Hurry (WSJ.com)

U.S. Schools Increase One-Year Programs (ClearAdmit.com)

Have you Ever Considered an Accelerated MBA Program? (ClearAdmit.com)

If any readers would like to suggest other programs, put them in the comments!

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com