ENTER CHAT ROOM

MBA programs outside of the U.S. have always stood apart. Each year, INSEAD (No. 1 in BusinessWeek's 2002 B-school rankings outside of the U.S.), enrolls close to 900 MBAs from 65 to 75 countries. And no single country dominates the class roster, which prompts graduates to approach business problems with cultural sensitivities in mind. Compare this to top-ranked U.S. schools that fill around 70% of their MBA seats with American students.

INSEAD MBAs need to speak at least three languages, including English, by the time they graduate. Experience working or living abroad also impresses the application committee. For more tips on making the cut at INSEAD, join BusinessWeek Online in a chat with Johanna Hellborg, associate director of admissions at INSEAD, on Wednesday, Oct. 20, from 10:00 a.m to 11:00 a.m EST.

Hellborg screens the thousands of applications that arrive at the Fontainebleau, France, campus each year, and she accepts about one-quarter of those applicants. She has been reading INSEAD applications since 1999 and has managed the admissions department since September, 2002. Hellborg earned degrees in occupational psychology and human resources, and has held recruiting and career-counseling jobs.

Your co-hosts for this event will be Jack Dierdorff (BWJack), consulting editor of BusinessWeek Online and former managing editor of the magazine, and Mica Schneider (MicaBW), BW Online's reporter covering management education.

Hope to see you there!

BusinessWeek Online rotates chat days and times so that everyone has a chance to tune in. If you can't attend a live event, you can send Mica Schneider questions for the guest in advance, and she'll try pose as many as she can. Please use the subject line "INSEAD Chat". Or, you may simply read the transcript that we post afterward.