About INSEAD
“The Business School for the World” is how INSEAD positions itself, and it lives up to the promise with on average 80+ nationalities its MBA program, and an equally diverse faculty and alumni network. International diversity has been part of the school’s DNA since its inception (1957), when it pioneered the one-year MBA. Today the school has the largest MBA program in the world, with more than 1,000 students per year, spread across two intakes (one class starts in January and another in September) and across two campuses (Fontainebleau, a small town 70km from Paris, and Singapore). MBAs also have the option of taking electives on the school’s Abu Dhabi campus, and in exchange visits to top US schools. The school is also proud of providing an international platform for recruitment, with graduates taking up positions in over 50 countries around the world each year.
The program is very much a general management degree, but has a strong menu of elective offerings, enabling students to deepen their knowledge in a wide range of areas. Entrepreneurship is a particularly popular academic area, with on average 80% of students taking at least one entrepreneurship elective and on average 5% starting an entrepreneurial venture upon graduation. INSEAD has also strengthened their programme focus on sustainability where they offer 14 core curriculum courses in sustainability and promote themselves as leading the way in sustainable and socially responsible business education as a “force for good”.
Strengths And Specializations
General management, finance, strategy, impact investing, energy, sustainability, and entrepreneurship including family business with their Wendel International Centre for Family Enterprise
Incoming Class
MBA Class Size: 1,094
Course Length: 1 year
Tuition: €98,500
Post-MBA Careers
Sector: Consulting 53%; Technology, Media & Telecommunications 22%; Corporate Sectors 13%; Finance 12%; Starting Own Business 4%
Top Recruiters: McKinsey, BCG, Bain & Co., Amazon, Strategy&, Accenture, Kearney, L.E.K. Consulting, Roland Berger, EY-Parthenon, Google, Samsung, Oliver Wyman, Danaher Corporation, Morgan Stanley
Avg Base Salary: $113,700
Salary Increase: 111%
Employment in 3 months: 94%
INSEAD Rankings
Admissions
Avg. Age: 29
Avg. GMAT: 710
International Students: 95%
Female Students: 37%
January 2024 intake Deadlines (class of December 2024): R1 – Mar 07, 2023; R2 – Apr 18, 2023; R3 – June 27, 2023; R4 – Aug 08, 2023
August 2024 intake Deadlines (class of July 2025): R1 – Sept 12, 2023; R2 – Nov 7, 2023; R3 – Jan 16, 2024; R4 – Mar 05, 2024
Sources: INSEAD, BusinessWeek, Financial Times, US News
Essays
Career Questions:
Essay 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. (200 words)
Essay 2. What would be your next step in terms of position if you were to remain in the same company? (200 words)
Essay 3. Please give a full description of your career since graduating from university. Describe your career path with the rationale behind your choices. (300 words)
Essay 4. Discuss your short and long-term career aspirations with or without an MBA from INSEAD. (100 words)
Essay 5. (Optional) If you are currently not working or if you plan to leave your current employer more than 2 months before the program starts, please explain your activities and occupations between leaving your job and the start of the program.
Motivation Essays:
Essay 1. Give a candid description of yourself (who are you as a person), 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. (500 words)
Essay 2. Describe the achievement of which you are most proud and explain why. In addition, describe a situation where you failed. How did these experiences impact your relationships with others? Comment on what you learned. (400 words)
Essay 3. Describe all types of extra-professional activities in which you have been or are still involved for a significant amount of time (clubs, sports, music, arts, politics, etc). How are you enriched by these activities? (300 words)
Essay 4. (Optional) Is there anything else that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee?
Video Essays:
INSEAD requires candidates to complete a video component (4 random questions where candidates have 60 seconds to respond) to be submitted within 48 hours of the application deadline.
Fortuna Tips & Advice
INSEAD Essays: Tips & Strategy for Conquering All 7 Prompts
Advice for 6 Common Profiles Applying to INSEAD
Everything You Need to Know About the INSEAD MBA Interview (video)
For more stats & insights, request your free copy of our Insider Tips Report for Applying to INSEAD.