INSEAD 14 by Raymond Chenon licensed under CC BY 2.0

Q: What more can be said about a business school that provides eight essay opportunities to qualify candidates as ideal fits with their MBA program?

A: They don’t require that you sweat the details on your resume.

In addition to providing applicants with two opportunities to talk about their to-date career progression and job responsibilities, INSEAD allows potential MBA applicants to more than scratch the surface of who they are, what makes them tick, identify areas for improvement, talk about global perspectives, and just about anything else they might be compelled to tell them.

While INSEAD’s array of essay questions provides ample room to paint the portrait of an ideal candidate, it also requires that applicants pay close attention to ensuring their admissions packet remains cohesive.

INSEAD MBA ESSAY QUESTIONS 2015

Job Description 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. What would be your next step in terms of position if you were to remain in the same company? (350 words max.)

Job Description 2.

Please give a full description of your career since graduating from university. It should be written as if you were talking to someone at a social gathering detailing your career path with the rationale behind your choices. Discuss your short and long term career aspirations. (350 words max.)

If you are currently not working or if you plan to leave your current employer more than 2 months before the programme starts, please explain your activities and occupations between leaving your job and the start of the programme.

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. (600 words max.)

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 max.)

Tell us about an experience where you were significantly impacted by cultural diversity, in a positive or negative way. (300 words max.)

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 max.)

Is there anything else that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? (300 words max.)