Is INSEAD the right school for you?
INSEAD has been ranked first in Poets&Quants’ Top International MBA Programs for years. Nearly 51% of INSEAD’s prospective students scored between 710 to 750 in their GMAT in 2020. On top of this, 92% of INSEAD MBA graduates become employed within 3 months after their graduation averaging a salary of $105,900. Not bad, right?
So, how do you know if you are right for INSEAD? And what are the things INSEAD is looking for in their prospective MBA students? Paul Lanzillotti, founder and Principal of the Amerasia Consulting Group, breaks this down into four different criteria.
1. Language requirements
You must know two languages when entering the school, and three languages upon exiting. Don’t simply see this as a formality, see this as the multicultural check that it is: a deeper signaling device about the program. The key is, to understand that INSEAD is looking for adaptability and flexibility in multicultural environments.
2. Narrow internship options
You have to be “hyper-ready” for the MBA at INSEAD. For both the January and September intakes, the internship period is only six weeks long. Therefore, there is not a lot of time for retraining, learning or “figuring things out.” Even though the program at INSEAD has made great efforts to help candidates who seek career switches, are novices at a particular skill or international students who need work visas. These candidates are still going to have a harder time than someone who is already “plugged in” and ready to go.
3. Consulting focus
You better be interested in management consulting! This is not really the program for you if you want to jump start a career in finance. One of the reasons behind this is that top recruiting firms at INSEAD are consulting firms such as McKinsey, Bain, BCG, and Booze. This would be the perfect school for you if you want to graduate and move into a highly international strategy consulting practice.
4. Post-MBA location
Where do you want to work after you graduate? If you’re planning on graduating from INSEAD, your answer should probably be Western Europe. This is not a hard rule, of course, but the common pattern is to work somewhere in Europe afterwards. Approximately, a third of students entering INSEAD come from Europe, where two thirds end up working in Europe upon graduation. On the contrary, you can certainly migrate in some way. But as a general rule, according to Lanzillotti, strongly consider another school if you don’t want to work in Europe.