Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.....

Getting into Insead was a challenge that required countless hours of work, reviews, research, frustration, perseverance (not necessarily in that order) and luck.

Hopefully, in order to lessen the "admissions" related pains of the dear, benighted souls who read my ravings, I have summarised my advice below. Now, given my preference for gliding along on the warm air of success, I'm going to practice my management skills and delegate upwards.

I therefore suggest, dear reader, that you read the Insead MBA website thoroughly (for convenience, and by no means an attempt to insult your intelligence, the link is http://www.insead.edu/mba). This should be supplemented with this posting on my fellow future classmate's blog "Nomad" http://nomad-insead.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-to-get-into-insead_29.html. This is about as honest an analysis as you will get. Another useful blog is that of "Necromonger" (see top of page and the Admissions link on the left hand side of Necromonger's page).

However, in my experience, "management" do like to add their "voice of experience" (note I did not advise as to the standard of the aforementioned "management") and so I shall, reluctantly, follow suit.

You should note that the following is, and remains, only my opinion and should not in any way taken as constituting formal advice (yes I have dealt with lawyers). Furthermore, this is only based on my experience and through talking to fellow admits and alumni.

GMAT

This is purely a marker to see if you meet a basic standard in English and Numeracy. My belief is that you should aim to get a score of 700 or more. Why 700? Well, its purely a personal feeling that this crosses a psychological barrier and helps tick a mental box for the Admissions Officers.

It helps if the score is balanced i.e. not a strong numerical (above 90%) weak verbal (below 70%) or vice versa. Also, if your score is near 700 and balanced, I suggest that you accept the score and concentrate your efforts on the rest of the application. Insead itself does not stipulate a score but the majority of people I have met/spoken to/read advise that anything above 650 puts you into play.

In terms of how to prepare for GMAT, just do as many questions and tests as possible. It is that simple.

(ps personally, unlike Nomad, I would not ignore the essays - but its your choice.)

Essays

The key to making you a competitive candidate is the quality of your essays. You can obtain plenty of information about essay writing for MBAs from the internet and so, rather than waste your time attempting (and failing) to summarise the work of others, I shall make three observations.

a) make it personal (i.e. something that only you could write relating to your experience and your view of your experience - not generic waffle that anyone could write);

b) make it active (i.e. use examples that demonstrate what you did - do not just say this happened - try to explain your thoughts and the actions they triggered and the results achieved); and

c) make it pertinent (i.e. focus on the mantras of the school and demonstrate your fit to the school's goals though your essays).

Interviews

The interview is an opportunity for Insead to discover whether alumni would want you to be a fellow classmate and a fellow alumni. The "alumni" may not get you in but they can keep you out.

So, follow the rules of any interview and take onboard the advice offered by Nomad and Necromonger.

Anything else?

Finally, by reading this far, I believe I can assume that you have done your research and you know what Insead "specialises" in and, far more importantly, that you feel you will "fit" Insead.

The above may sound like emotional drivel, but if you are not committed the chances are that the Admissions Officers will see through the application......

In peace there's nothing so becomes a man,
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger:
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood.
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge....

(Shakespeare Henry V Part III)