EssaySnark

  • about
  • contact
  • help
  • sign up
  • login
CLICK FOR MORE!
  • Essay Questions
    • Harvard
    • Stanford
    • Wharton
    • Chicago Booth
    • Kellogg
    • MIT Sloan
    • Tuck
    • NYU Stern
    • Columbia
    • Yale SOM
    • Berkeley Haas
    • UVA Darden
    • Duke Fuqua
    • Michigan Ross
    • UCLA Anderson
    • Cornell
  • Strategy Guides
    • MBA Reapplicant Guide
    • Pitching Entrepreneurship as Your Post-MBA Career
    • Applying to European Business Schools
    • School-Specific MBA Application Guides
      • Harvard 2022 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Stanford 2022 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Wharton 2022 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Kellogg 2022 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Chicago Booth 2022 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Columbia 2022 MBA Strategy Guide
      • *MORE SCHOOL-SPECIFIC GUIDES HERE*
  • MBA Consulting
    • Free essay reviews
    • What stage are you in?
    • Military MBA
    • BIPOC Program
    • Testimonials & Reviews
    • Guest Posts
  • My SnarkCenter
    • My Strategy Guides
    • My Favorite Posts
    • Discounts & Offers

Adcoms that we love: INSEAD. For being open-minded.

July 10, 2013 by EssaySnark - Discusses INSEAD 2 Comments

This post has been marked as OLD. EssaySnark's advice and strategies for winning MBA applications don't change from year to year, but some of the school-specific admissions policies, essay questions, or other information covered in this article may be outdated.

You may already be aware that EssaySnark are fanboys of certain schools. Michigan Ross comes up a lot on this blahg. We tell everyone who will listen about how awesome Tuck is. We really like how transparent the Chicago Booth adcom is. One we haven’t been mentioning much lately, but should be, is INSEAD.

The thread that runs through these different schools is that in our experience, they are incredibly fair in the admissions process. That’s not to say that other schools are not, or that these are the only schools in this category. Instead, it’s just a comment on how attainable an admission can be to one of these great MBA programs, for the Brave Supplicant who does her homework and puts in the effort.

One driving factor behind this is the reality that these schools don’t get bombarded with applications. There’s varying reasons for it (which we likely exhausted all of your patience in exploring several months back). What this amounts to for the applicants, though, is often an admissions office that is willing to accommodate.

A great example of this is the fact that INSEAD does not ask for an undergraduate degree as a pre-requisite for admission.

Here’s what they say about it in their application FAQ1:

I don’t have an undergraduate degree. Can I still be considered for admission?
Yes. While the vast majority of our participants have undergraduate and/or advanced degrees, this is not compulsory for admission. Candidates who do not hold an undergraduate degree, but who have an excellent career record and GMAT score are also welcome to apply.

There’s a few other programs out there who also don’t have a strict requirement for a bachelor’s degree. We don’t know of a single Top 20 U.S. school that is flexible on this – certainly the other schools that we’re fanboys of are not. They will need to see that completed undergrad transcript as part of your app.

Michigan is even more restrictive in another aspect, in that they won’t let you apply without some work experience. So policies do vary radically, and a school can be hardnosed about certain things and still be fair. In fact, Michigan’s work-experience-required policy seems to us to be more fair than any other school – other schools will let you apply (and gladly take your app fee) even when they know there’s almost no chance that they’ll accept you. Michigan seems more real about this. They put a stake in the ground, there’s no ambiguity.

We’re calling out this INSEAD policy not because we think that there are scores of BSers without college degrees looking to get into business school. Instead, we feel that this policy is indicative of the overall open-mindedness in play at INSEAD. While they are uncompromising in their standards – they really do need to see evidence of leadership and contribution in your app – they are also very practical. They know that people take many paths to get to success, and they don’t want to be black-and-white in their thinking. If you’re coming at this from a non-traditional angle, you definitely have a chance to be considered here.

That being said… your essays better be damn good.

There’s a Round 3 deadline coming up for INSEAD’s January intake. Round 3 is a no-go at many schools but not the case here (unless you’re an Indian candidate, in which case we recommend you sit tight for Round 1 instead – we covered this in a recent answer on GMAT Club if you want to read more ).

 


Shameless plug: There’s a QuickSnark Guidelette for INSEAD available if you want help with their MBA essays. replaced by our guide for Applying to European Business Schools

 
 
 

1 On 1-15-17 the now-dead link to the INSEAD FAQ (previously at http://mba.insead.edu/faq/) was removed in the text above.

Filed Under: GPA and grades, school reviews & insights Bschools: INSEAD

« Previous: Duke Early Action and scholarship money
Next: ($) essay critique: Columbia “Why are you pursuing an MBA?” »

So who the heck is EssaySnark, anyway?!

We're the snarky experts in MBA admissions!

Sometimes amused and often appalled by what candidates write in their MBA applications to top bschools, EssaySnark created this little blahg to share common mistakes. Learn from them and avoid making admissions directors laugh (or want to hurl) when they read your essays. If you are hoping to have your essay reviewed anonymously on the blahg for free, submit it for consideration.

Want EssaySnark's personal assistance with your MBA applications? Start with our menu of consulting services and please read the Help FAQ to learn how we operate. Still have questions after doing all that? Email Team EssaySnark at gethelpnow at essaysnark dot com.

Good luck on your apps, Brave Supplicant!

Here's what others have said about this:

  1. sarah says

    July 10, 2013 at 6:14 pm

    UCLA’s essay questions are out. Just one question! I guess that question is enough for most schools.

    Reply
    • essaysnark says

      July 10, 2013 at 6:20 pm

      Thanks (it’s been out for weeks – the star symbol next to a school name on the Essay Questions menu at the top of the screen tells you).

      Reply

Tell us what you think. Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign up for the 'Snark via email

Enter your address to get weekday blahg posts by email.

UPCOMING MBA APP DEADLINES

  • INSEAD Rd 1: Sept. 6
    in 4 weeks
  • Harvard Round 1: Sept. 7
    in 4 weeks
  • Wharton Rd 1: Sept. 7
    in 4 weeks
  • Duke Early Action: Sept. 7
    in 4 weeks
  • Darden Early Action: Sept. 8
    in 4 weeks
   
   

CLASS OF 2025 MBA APPLICATION STRATEGY GUIDES

From a former BSer:
"love the guide books!"




    The 2022 Stanford MBA Application Guide - for "what matters most" in your MBA application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Stanford GSB for the Class of 2025
   
    The 2022 Harvard MBA Application Guide - updated for the Class of 2025!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Harvard Business School!
   
  The 2022 Wharton MBA Application Guide - even more advice on how to get to a win with those essays!
SnarkStrategies Guide for The Wharton School - with clear guidance for the 2022 essays!
   
  The 2022-2023 Columbia MBA Application Guide
SnarkStrategies Guide for Columbia Business School for 2022-2023 applications
   
    The 2022 MIT Essay Guide covers the org chart, the cover letter and 'introduce yourself' video, plus the new optional short-answer question on "the world you come from" -- and everything else you need to know!
SnarkStrategies Guide for MIT Sloan MBA - totally revised for the Class of 2025!
   
    The 2022 Kellogg Essay Guide - with a full methodology to identify your 'lasting impact' and your 'values'
SnarkStrategies Guide for Kellogg MBA - revised for 2022!
   
    The 2022 UVA Darden MBA Application Guide gives insights on the essays, Early Action, the possibility of a test waiver, and everything else going on here!
SnarkStrategies Guide for the Darden MBA - updated for the Class of 2025 requirements!
   
   
The Yale SOM MBA Application Guide for Class of 2025 candidates!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Yale SOM - updated for 2022
   
    The 2022-2023 NYU Stern MBA Application Guide that covers the essays, the EQ Endorsement and test strategies!
SnarkStrategies Guide for NYU - discusses your requirements for the Class of 2025 essays!
       
   

Brave Supplicants' latest reviews on The 'Snark


2020-21 r1 candidate
Apr 19, 2021
 by 2020-21 r1 candidate on Waitlist Assist
Please get this if you have the resources!

I would recommend EssaySnark to every waitlisted candidate! I was waitlisted by one of HSW in R1 this... Read more

hopeful
Feb 11, 2021
 by hopeful on MBA Interview Prep: Custom Practice Questions
Helpful

Just wanted to say thank you for these questions! A lot of them were really tailored to my profile, ... Read more

George
Apr 10, 2020
 by George on EssaySnark
Great Starting Point

I thought getting over the GRE/GMAT hurdle was fairly straightforward--disciplined study then test execution... Read more






Not sure where to begin with EssaySnark?
Our Snark Selector
will tell you!



   
Get started now - without doing any work! The Comprehensive Profile Review will help you start your strategy for your MBA applications.


EssaySnark® is a registered trademark. All content copyright © 2010–2022 Snarkolicious Press · Privacy Policy

Where should you start with EssaySnark?

Which EssaySnark service is right for you? Answer a few questions to find out!

This field must be set to Everyone - then in the Settings -> HTML -> After Fields screen there's JavaScript to hide it.
Sending