Admissions Tips from INSEAD

MBA Admissions Director Caroline Diarte Edwards talks about the advantages of the globally diverse program, and what it takes to make the cut

While so many schools in the U.S. are scrambling to become more international, INSEAD (INSEAD Full-Time MBA Profile) is way ahead of the global game. No more than one-tenth of any class hails from a single country. The school structure itself boasts linguistic diversity: INSEAD has a strictly French name (which stands for Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires) and an English-only curriculum.

With one campus in rural France, one in urban Singapore, and one virtually identical curriculum between the two, INSEAD has no trouble fluidly crossing borders. And the school has the students to match. By graduation, each student must demonstrate proficiency in three languages. In 2008, INSEAD ranked third among BusinessWeek's top international business schools. In an interview with BusinessWeek's Mandy Oaklander, Caroline Diarte Edwards, director of MBA admissions, marketing, and financial aid, explains why students should commit to one realistic application deadline, prepare for two interviews, and start deciding which third language they've always wanted to learn. Below is an edited portion of the conversation.

How are the application numbers looking this year?

There is a growth in the market across the board. We've been seeing growth in applications for several years, but in the past 12 months growth has been in the double digits. We also have two modular Executive MBA programs. They have seen growth in applications as well.

Your applicant pool is growing, but the demand for MBAs in the recruitment market is not. How do you reconcile those two?

It's like what you typically see with a market downturn—there's a boom in applications to business school, but at the same time, clearly it's much more challenging for the recruitment market. It's not an uncommon phenomenon.

What are you looking for in an applicant?

There are four key criteria: academic capacity, professional experience and leadership potential, international motivation, and fit with INSEAD. In academics, we're looking at the academic track record: previous studies, quality of institution attended, grades achieved, and the GMAT.

In the professional evaluation we're looking at if the applicant has had a fast-track career, if they've progressed, and if they have had significant achievements in their professional life. We see if they have the qualities we believe will enable them to become a leader in the future.

INSEAD is a very international environment. We have over 80 nationalities in the program, and no nationality represents more than 10% of the class. We're really looking for people who are attracted to being in that type of environment and who have some international experience, whether it be through work or study. We see if they have a strong motivation to work in an international environment in the future.

Then there's the fit with INSEAD, and that's more about the personality [of the student.] Is it someone who's going to get really involved in classroom debate and student activities outside of the classroom? [We want] someone who really participates as a student while they're at INSEAD and then also as an alumnus when they graduate.

Is there anyone who wouldn't be a good fit for INSEAD?

There's no one element. We're always looking at the overall picture, so we're not going to rule someone out entirely because their GMAT is not outstanding, for example. But if they have a weakness across a number of the dimensions that I've mentioned, then they probably wouldn't be right for INSEAD.

Have there been any changes to the program recently?

We're constantly updating the electives that are available. We have over 80 electives.

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