INSEAD MBA Essay Tips + Analysis 2011-2012

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writing+editing support review+edit evaluation brainstorming mock interview recos mba resume First get the basic principles of mba essay writing right and then move on to the INSEAD MBA 2011-2012 essay tips. INSEAD has banked on a set of detailed and wide ranging essays for a long time. This year they have made some cosmetic changes to some of the essays, have added one essay (Job Essay 3) possibly in keeping with the economic downturn and have unambiguously focused on culture shock in the choice questions. These varied and segmented application essays give you ample scope for expounding on your work and life, and to present a well-rounded candidate. A definite shift in attitude is the "maximum" word limits instead of the "approx." limits offered all these years by INSEAD: so please be disciplined with the essay lengths. Do you best! INSEAD Job 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. (250 words maximum) INSEAD Job Essay 1 Tips This INSEAD application question is clear enough and the space short enough for you to create a simple, strong essay. Concisely answering all SEVEN parts of the question will be a challenge. If you have a highly technical job profile please try to specify what the job means in a larger context. If possible, bring in your people management responsibilities and (briefly) your achievements thereof. "Results achieved" should be a key ingredient of this INSEAD essay. Highlight instances when you performed superlatively in your current role. If you present your job achievements convincingly you are on the road to a good INSEAD essay. INSEAD Job Essay 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) INSEAD Job Essay 2 Tips Your objective in this INSEAD essay can be to discern and showcase a logical progression in your career path. On the other hand you can simply use this essay as a straight job profiles essay and leave the logical career progression approach to Personal Essay 4. Either way do not forget to mention the basic component-set for each of your jobs - designation, company, period, responsibilities, achievements. INSEAD Essays Review INSEAD Essays Review+Edit INSEAD Essays Writing Support INSEAD Job Essay 3 If you are currently not working, what are you doing and what do you plan to do until you start the MBA programme? (250 words maximum) INSEAD Job Essay 3 Tips Of course this applies only to a few candidates and is a possible overreaction to the current economic situation or a considered move looking at their past applicant profile. Either way, if this question applies to you, your concentration should be on presenting a picture how you are fruitfully using your time and preparing for your future (including possibly INSEAD). Continuous or new learning, advanced certification and/or involvement in any activity that furthers your professional life (since this is the "Job Description" section personal aspects might be less welcome) will fit in snugly here. INSEAD Personal Essay 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) INSEAD Personal Essay 1 Tips You can use this INSEAD application essay like an introduction plus life story essay ("personal development"), or a strengths and weaknesses encapsulation or an anecdotes driven development and success story. There are umpteen approaches to this essay - choose the one that suits you best. Whichever route you take, the essay should touch upon definite strength areas that you want the INSEAD admissions committee to notice you for and definite weakness areas that, while not debilitating, are not superfluous either. Clearly the person most qualified to give you clues to this INSEAD essay is the one you see in the mirror. Ask yourself what you consider to be your main strengths and weaknesses. Look at personal and professional situations and unearth those characteristics or qualities which you most obviously exhibit (or lack). You could refer past performance-appraisal forms for developing your own personal characteristics chart. Weaknesses: Generally stick to weaknesses you can eradicate or improve upon - after all the purpose of mentioning weaknesses is not to convince the INSEAD admissions committee that you are thoroughly unfit to be a part of the institution! Finally, study each point in this essay in relation to the rest of the essays in your INSEAD application. Your application should be a single unified package - there is absolutely no room for internal contradictions. INSEAD Essays Review INSEAD Essays Review+Edit INSEAD Essays Writing Support INSEAD Personal Essay 2 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) INSEAD Personal Essay 2 Tips INSEAD gives you the opportunity of choosing any two achievement stories that shine out from your work-in-progress biography. The choice should be made based on the general importance of the achievement, the extent of your contribution to its success and what the story illustrates about you. Your leadership skills, initiative and teamwork are three obvious qualities that the incidents could reflect on. The stories can be from professional, academic or personal spheres of life. The second part of the INSEAD question "why you view them as such" is actually where you must start from; if you do that competently you will automatically arrive at the first part. The stories could be professional or personal - however as indicated "if possible specify one personal and one professional". INSEAD Personal Essay 3 Describe a situation taken from your personal or professional life where you failed. Discuss what you learned. (400 words maximum) INSEAD Personal Essay 3 Tips This is a simpler, longer and more meaningful realignment of the earlier essay prompt "Describe a situation taken from school, business, civil or military life, where you did not meet your personal objectives, and discuss briefly the effect.". Once more begin your thought process from the second part of the question and the first will be made much easier for you. This is a "failure" essay - and as in all failure essays the objective is to demonstrate how you learned, adapted and improved yourself through this experience. Once you identify a substantial learning you can go to press with the story. A failure - and learning - that has created a marked difference in your thought process, behavior or value system will make for a greater impact. While the story can go back in time, a non-pre-historical incident is definitely preferable. I repeat: the INSEAD failure essay is in reality meant to be a success story where you learnt, improved and readied yourself for a future success. Let that show. INSEAD Essays Review INSEAD Essays Review+Edit INSEAD Essays Writing Support INSEAD Personal Essay 4 a) Discuss your short and long term career goals. (300 words maximum) b) How will studying at INSEAD help you achieve your vision? (250 words maximum) INSEAD Personal Essay 4 Tips A simple goals essay with separate goals and "why INSEAD" sections, this is a rephrasing of the standard INSEAD essay for many years "Discuss your career goals. What skills do you expect to gain from studying at INSEAD and how will they contribute to your professional career?". The detached questions will help you devote focused attention to each part (and for the Admissions Committee to evaluate it). The simplicity and length of this essay prompt is deceptive: this might be the most important INSEAD essay you write. a) As a first step reflect deeply (if you have not already) on your post-INSEAD short term and long term goals. Treat this "career goals" question with moderation and be totally realistic while detailing your goals. Be specific, preferably both about the industry and the role you are seeking, and why. If your goals are more than ordinarily ambitious write credibly about those qualities/skills that qualify you to make those goals a reality. INSEAD places great import on your work experience and desires to understand how you envision your career. Identifying and expressing a logical, credible link between your career thus far (and the skills, experience, knowledge gained) and your goals is an unasked question. Ensure that this part of the essay meshes with the earlier essays (especially the Job Descriptions essays) as well as with part-b of this essay. While credibility, logic and realism are critical the magic element that will transform your essay from a statement into a pledge would be - passion. Go for it! b) This part of the essay seeks answers to these questions: How serious are you about seeking admission to INSEAD? How will INSEAD be able to aid you in your career - thus ensuring a worthy example to tom-tom about in the future. Try to establish a perfect fit between your goals and INSEAD. Think about why you are taking all this trouble applying to INSEAD in the first place. Detail what skills, knowledge, relations, thoughts or anything else you expect to gain from INSEAD that will aid you in pursuing your goals. Take steps to learn as much as possible about INSEAD using online and offline modes - websites, current INSEAD students, alumni, INSEAD fairs/receptions. The objective is to implicitly or explicitly demonstrate that your application is a reflection of your serious and specific interest in INSEAD. INSEAD Personal Essay 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) INSEAD Personal Essay 5 Tips Before you even start thinking about this essay be clear about what culture shock means. Culture shock is basically your difficulty in adjusting to a new culture that might include different languages, different values, different dressing, different settings, different food, different religions, different taboos and expectations - a different environment. INSEAD has a strong international student mix and has a keen international focus. Whichever question you choose, your outlook and maturity in cross-cultural interactions forms the core of this INSEAD application essay. Both questions are now explicitly about "culture shock" except that you need to look at the issue from different perspectives. Good natured humor is very much welcome in both essays. a) Choose a situation (preferably international) where you experienced culture shock, and explain what you learnt and gained from the exposure. Typically, this would make for a better choice since here you can offer stories and situations that you have personally experienced, and also explicitly write about your international outlook, learning skills, adaptability and inclusive nature. Please veer away from approaches and remarks that hint at Xenophobia - even if it is in an earlier "ignorant" phase. b) What about your country do foreigners typically balk at? Beyond the typical, what have you personally observed to be culture shocks that foreigners have or might experience in your country. A personal perspective that looks at these barriers with maturity will be welcomed. Apart from your own exposure travel advice sites might be your best guidance to how foreigners experience culture shock in your country. For this choice Indian applicants might find these links useful: whiteindianhousewife (entertaining, educational but long), about (clear, concise but impersonal). Go for it! INSEAD Essays Review INSEAD Essays Review+Edit INSEAD Essays Writing Support INSEAD Optional Essay Is there anything that you have not mentioned in your application that you would like the Admissions Committee to know? (350 words maximum) INSEAD Optional Essay Tips As usual an optional essay requires effort even if you don’t write it. The main question in any optional essay is to decide whether you need to write it at all. Attempt the INSEAD optional essay only if you feel that it will improve the factual and material strength of your application. Do not submit your INSEAD optional essay as an addendum to any of your essays. Do not submit your optional essay because you feel that the quality of your earlier essays is improvable – in that case simply redouble your efforts in those essays and leave the optional essay alone. Use the INSEAD optional essay to explain shortfalls in your application which you feel are truly detrimental to your candidature. Areas of underperformance (academic or professional or GMAT) or events which stick out (gaps in your resumes or a previous MBA) can be commented on if you have an explanation that is intelligent, interesting and credible. One other situation when the INSEAD optional essay is acceptable is when you need to describe at length an extraordinarily positive information that CANNOT be accommodated in the other INSEAD essays. If you are certain that this new essay is a robust constructive addition to your candidacy, start working on the INSEAD optional essay. INSEAD Reapplicant Essay 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) INSEAD Reapplicant Essay Tips INSEAD's position is blunt but clear. We rejected you last time; so what has changed? The aim is to present the professional, academic and personal improvements in you that make you a stronger candidate for an INSEAD admission than in your last application. State compelling reasons why you deserve a second chance. What steps have you taken to strengthen your INSEAD application. Stronger work experience, professional achievements, better GMAT, international exposure or academic accomplishments can all find place in the INSEAD reapplicant essay. Proactive INSEAD-specific steps taken by you, perhaps based on direct or indirect feedback from INSEAD, might prove a trump card. Go for it! AIM Anderson UCLA Australian AGSM Babcock Wake Forest Babson Berkeley Haas Carlson CEIBS Chicago Booth Columbia Cornell Johnson Cranfield Darden Virginia Duke Fuqua Emory Goizueta Erasmus Rotterdam RSM ESADE FMS Fisher Ohio Garvin Thunderbird Harvard HEC Paris HKUST HEC Montreal IESE IIMA-PGPX IIMC-PGPEX IMD INSEAD Instituto de Empresa ISB PGP ISB PGPMAX ISB YLP Ivey Judge Cambridge Kelley Indiana Kellogg Kenan-Flagler Krannert Purdue LBS Macquarie Manchester Marshall McCombs Texas McDonough Georgetown McGill Melbourne Mendoza Notre Dame Nanyang NUS Olin Washington Owen Vanderbilt Queens Ross Michigan Rotman Said Oxford Schulich York SDA Bocconi Simon Rochester Sloan MIT Smith Maryland Stanford Stern NYU Tepper CMU Tuck Dartmouth Warwick Wharton Yale writing+editing support review+edit evaluation brainstorming mock interview recos mba resume contact