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标题: [分享]INSEAD申请经验分享 [打印本页]

作者: cherichu 时间: 2008-11-1 20:58
标题: [分享]INSEAD申请经验分享

我是现在INSEAD的学生,一年前与大家一样在申请,我想或许可以分享我的INSEAD申请经验,给对INSEAD有兴趣的朋友。

Male, 28 申请学校:INSEAD only

总共工作经验:
两年consulting in London
两年consulting in Taipei
一些intern, part-time, consulting经验 in the US
一年八个月的空军军官

Education:
台湾大学
美国伊利诺大学
一些Wharton的证照

推荐信: 某公司大中华区Managing Director与台湾总经理
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心得:

GMAT:
第 一次考GMAT 准备了五周:前两周熟读official guide，后三周练习真题。原以为够用就好，但在学校给我interviewer info的隔天，
admission manager打来要我重考。我吓到，说:680没那么糟吧? 阿姨说他们看的是个别M与V成绩，最好都有70%。
因为就著经验，verbal没70%的学生上课会比较辛苦，接著说65%就考虑，70%就ok。又说 INSEAD是不看AWA的 (校友也这么说)。
我赶紧报名两周后的GMAT，把送出去的书与垫桌脚的练习题再拿来K，顺便在这段期间完成了两场alum interviews。

ESSAYS:
花了两个多月慢慢熬，找了六位朋友轮流看(其中有两位alum与一位current student)。
写的方式是: 清楚学校想要的特质 → 用合适的例子与文字展现出那些特质。
INSEAD想要的特质是International, Entrepreneurship, Teamwork and quick to get to the point。
为啥呢?我想前两项是INSEAD经营MBA的基本定位，后两项则攸关你能否成功的在一年内搞定别人两年的课程。
因此我扯了一些玩股票赔钱 (risk taking  ) 、专案管理(teamwork) 、四年远距恋爱与跨国求婚的故事
(entrepreneurship, teamwork, creativity, risk taking... whatever) ，透过故事表现出人格特质。
工作/生活的比例约一半一半。字数听说在+-10%就ok。尽量简单扼要，避免复杂或琐碎的描述。很多我自认不错的片段后来都砍了，
因为有意思的故事不一定能展现出adcom想见的特质。

INTERVIEW PRACTICE:
我大致上把过去(丰功伟业、团队合作、教育背景)、现在(工作职责)与未来 (career goal, why MBA/INSEAD, why now)等问题想清楚，
正经的讲个两遍就差不多了。
另一部分则是把自己的essay再好好的读过，想清楚。
mock interview是很好的练习，不仅是为著admission，更是为著往后找工作而准备。我抓了两位在伦敦的alum练习。
其中一位认为拿到 interview invitation的人拿admission机会应该有70%以上。心脏强的人不妨架摄影机拍自己面试的模样，
我帮人家玩过，是帖猛药。

INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE:
很想回台湾interview ，认为有相对优势，但想想留在伦敦也不一定铁挂，就拼了。

第 一个interviewer在一家bulge bracket bank当 head of investment banking。我Google一下，他老爸是个公爵，
自己是保守党党魁在伊顿与牛津的死党，曾代表保守党竞选国会议员。这个英国-法国人毕业16年了。他只花十五分钟问问题，
如动机目的等。接著说因为学校要求，他必须问些制式问题，便开始问团队合作的经验。接著咱们便开始聊天。
他认为INSEAD很多学生是privileged child (well,你也是吧?) 他说谁能年纪轻轻就游走各国? 多半是外交官或跨国经理人的小孩。
不过这毕竟是16年前的体会，现在国际经验比以前容易取得… 接著他说这样的学生背景使得INSEAD并非真的那么entrepreneur-oriented. 
家境富裕的校友创业，很多是为著享受生活的，如:经营休闲旅游业、时尚业或干到中型公司的CEO就满意了。我说那你算努力型的喔?
他笑说:当然! 我一定是前10%打拼工作的! 聊了差不多后，他说会推荐我,并祝我一切顺利。共花45分钟。

第二个interviewer比较正式，这个约旦-英国人先请我自我介绍，再仔细的走过我的履历。如我所料，他问了许多团队合作的问题:
如何领导project 、管理客户与同事，以及在INSEAD若遇到组员摆烂，要如何搞定等状况题 (我说讲不通就吵架吧!他说exactly!) 
另外也问了未来的career planning等基本款。

后来他分享了一些INSEAD的经验: 那一年是他一生最怀念的日子，大家带著职场的成熟与学生的疯狂来到INSEAD，他交了二三十个真正的好友。
而他最大的收获之一，则是学会聆听别人。当一群各方好汉聚在一起时，有时太急於表达甚至辩论，而忽略了倾听的艺术。
整体而言我自认ok，他口风很紧，没给啥feedback 。共花了一小时。

WHY INSEAD?
我老妈从来没正确念对INSEAD过，还问是不是野鸡大学?
基於以下几个原因，我没申请离我住处15分钟的LBS，而独钟INSEAD:
1. Short/long-term career match:
INSEAD 在consulting, entrepreneurship and general management的训练最符合我的career planning。
进了INSEAD我想有很大的机会进去top management consulting。如果一个人不执著於美国的就业市场，
INSEAD可以提供许多在亚洲与欧洲的绝佳机会。

2. Cost: 10个月 + 五万欧元tuition + 一万欧元生活杂费:
其实INSEAD学费已很接近top US program了，最主要的差别是时间成本:少一年的生活费，多一年的收入，会差很多。
从ROI角度看，INSEAD与IMD是我唯二能接受的。MBA是教育，更是种投资，若都能达到目的，何不选择最划算的?

3. Geographical match:
已呆过美国，觉得Asia比较适合我，希望在法国(离老婆近)与新加坡(离台湾近)体验小镇与都市生活，也考虑去华顿晃晃。

4. Culture fit:
INSEAD work hard play harder的气氛我很喜欢，颇像我回忆的高中生活。
七十个国家的学生与三十国家的老师来到法国小镇/东南亚小岛，没多久又飞往五十个国家工作，跟机场没两样。
重点是十个月与各国菁英相处，可以让你知道这个星球真的很大，没有任何文化是主流，你对许多国家的刻板印象会在此瓦解，
且你的人脉也随之伸展至各国。

OVERALL THOUGHT:
第 一次申请出国时，赫然发现自己的许多经验对申请助益不大，以致履历表没啥卖相，我才体会到学经历不像GRE、GMAT是一蹴可及的。
出国后便常 提醒自己要为下一个五年作准备。这个教训对於申请MBA很有帮助，因为累积工作/生活上的经验与credit, 
international experience, 甚至作了许多volunteer work，当下看没什么，但回头看很有价值，且这些经验是量化成绩很难比的。
申请时材料都有了，只要漂亮的呈现即可。

另外的体会是学校与自己的match :
从 一开始精读official brochure到后来与校友的networking，INSEAD已不只是排名/工作/offer/薪水等数字，
而是一个活灵活现人的组合。我相信对於 adcom以及校友而言，每间学校都是独一无二的。他们希望applicant有认定与感情
(好歹也要在essay与interview表达出来) 。如我所说INSEAD是很unique的，愈认识校友与学生，愈欣赏这间学校的独特。
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My INSEAD blog
http://baiching.blogspot.com

[此贴子已经被作者于2008-11-1 21:09:22编辑过]

作者: zack_wong 时间: 2008-11-1 22:50
厉害,顶一个

作者: bolococo 时间: 2008-11-2 12:29

强帖，顶一个。请问楼主第二次GMAT考了多少？

作者: Extremelight 时间: 2008-11-3 09:25
顶一下。。。

作者: cherichu 时间: 2008-11-3 16:50
I got 720 the second time. Enough for INSEAD.

作者: RickZhen 时间: 2008-11-4 10:11
谢谢楼主分享，不知可否讲讲找工作的事情吧。。大家都很担心呢，不知道形式坏到怎样了。。金融肯定是没太多机会了，咨询希望影响不要太大。其他行业就不知道了。。

作者: shapeofheart 时间: 2008-11-4 15:41

你是不是BRIAN？我是31号晚上在学校拉住你问了半天的mm，正打算给你写邮件呢。

谢谢这么好的经验分享。

作者: 小花一朵 时间: 2008-11-4 20:03
这里还有TW同学哦....呵呵

作者: cherichu 时间: 2008-11-5 08:40
找工作分三个indutry来说:
banking:还是有工作,只是少了很多,也非常竞争.有experienced banker都很难了,别说是career switcher.

consulting:供给变少,需求大增.不少consulting去年招太多人了.但从另一个角度看就是生意不够好,available position少很多.
许多banker-wanna-be都以consulting为plan B,所以申请的人增加很多.去年INSEAD有106个到McKinsey,今年会少一些.

industry:稍微好一点,还是继续招人.

地理上来看,Greater China是最需要人的地方.以上三个产业Greater China或亚洲都招募比较多人.
很多老外也想到中国工作,但老实说,中国人有语言与local knowledge的优势,还是比较吃香.
就连McKinsey second round的面试都是用中文.

作者: RickZhen 时间: 2008-11-5 23:24
多谢分享！很有帮助。跟想象的大概以致，banking影响最大，consulting其次，industry暂时还好，不知道明年会是什么样子。祝楼主好运！

McKinsey用中文面试还是挺新鲜的。。看来要有针对性地准备一下。

作者: Lullaby 时间: 2008-11-6 21:12

Thanks for sharing. Very interesting background.

Why did u registere as a female?

作者: cherichu 时间: 2008-11-7 14:40

I used my friend's account - a she.

Maybe share more career information:

One classmate went to the final round McKinsey interview. He performed well and didn't get dinged "yet". However, the final decision just hang there...

The McKinsey recruiter told him that in Greater China they will choose one out of 40 from the final round worldwide. It's difficult enough to be selected for interview, succeed in PST, round 1 and 2. But even if you make to the final round, you still have 1/40 chance only, a figure way lower than previous years.

For banking, Standard Chartered cancel some originally available positions. Some classmates were invited to the final round but were told no need to go anymore. Not becuase their performance, just because they don't need to hire for certain positions anymore.

These 2 are not special cases. They reflect the current market

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My MBA blog http://baiching.blogspot.com

[此贴子已经被作者于2008-11-7 14:41:44编辑过]

作者: Zoolantz 时间: 2008-11-9 09:11

I believe INSEAD and I are good match as well. I also believe I have the qualities INSEAD is looking for in its applicants. I'm a Chinese-Canadian with extensive multinational work experience and a 750 GMAT. Unfortunately, I just received the rejection letter and I was not even selected for the interview round. Among the three schools I applied, I was most confident about INSEAD, but.... I guess this year's fierce competition cannot be underestimated. I also realize, from reading the blog, that I probably shouldn't state in my essays that my short term goal is to go into consulting and long term goal is entrepreneurship. Just to share my failure story with you guys who intend to apply to INSEAD in the later rounds and with the similar goals, you might want to reconsider your application strategy. Best of luck!

作者: mengtingw 时间: 2008-11-9 19:04

Zoolantz，thanks for sharing. do you mind further elaborating why you think putting your short-term goal as consulting and long-term as entrepreneurship is the main development point in your application? Is there any other things that you think you could have done better?

I might be on a similar boat on you, if not any worse - 4-country working xp + 20 plus countries business experiences with a medium GMAT. Will really appreciate it if you could talk me through more tips and hints. Many thanks, buddy and wish you the best...

[此贴子已经被作者于2008-11-9 19:08:10编辑过]

作者: kumamari 时间: 2008-11-10 16:30
进了LZ的BLOG看了看，关于INSEAD的申請，GMAT並不需要AWA，请问这是真的嗎？

作者: sinocheetah 时间: 2008-11-10 21:58

来消息散布挺广的。不过job market终归会好起来的，不必过于担心。今天粗略统计了一下，还有一个多月才毕业，我们D08这个promotion，中国同学至少有一半已经有offer了，大部分还是management consulting，industry的只有一个。不过后面会越来越多的。

[此贴子已经被作者于2008-11-13 17:50:19编辑过]

作者: mengtingw 时间: 2008-11-11 04:40

谢谢各位的分享！

作者: Zoolantz 时间: 2008-11-12 12:28
To mengtingw:

I felt I shouldn't use mgmt consulting as my short-term goal because of
two reasons. One, it's one of the areas getting hurt the most by
the recent economic downturn. For me, I should have stated in my essays that I want to pursue my risk management career in the industry as a director of internal control. Two, INSEAD already has way too many
applicants who came from the top consulting firms. Its employment report shows that detail. I will be at no
better position to compete against them in getting an offer from a top
consulting firm at graduation. Entrepreneurship is something most schools promote, but mainly, in my opinion, to attract ambitious applicants during slow years (meaning when economy is good and the volumn of applicants is down). Seriously, most successful entrepreneurs don't have a MBA. An MBA education's main objective to produce professional managers. During peak years such as right now, every top school is flooded with high quality candidates.

So why would INSEAD take me in when hundreds of other applicants hold an edge over me in getting an offer from a top mgmt consulting firm and the attainabililty of my long-term goal is questionable.

作者: mengtingw 时间: 2008-11-12 16:04

Many thanks for your kind advice. This is very helpful. Indeed INSEAD never struggles with candidates with a focus on consultancy. However, I do have a short-term goal of getting into MC, and stay there or set up my own business. What do you think I should put this forward in a more acceptable way?

Sorry, I was also wondering what else you think you would have done differently in your application? Many thanks for your patience and kind advice! All the best to you.

Mengting

作者: avalanche 时间: 2008-11-13 17:31
To Cherichu, in ur reply
"The McKinsey recruiter told him that in Greater China they will choose
one out of 40 from the final round worldwide. It's difficult enough to
be selected for interview, succeed in PST, round 1 and 2. But even if
you make to the final round, you still have 1/40 chance only, a figure
way lower than previous years. "
actually this is only applied for the candidates who apply for BTO in McKinsey (and only heard from HR...no official public information), not applied for others, such as generalist, leadership program or corporate finance yet.

作者: sinocheetah 时间: 2008-11-13 18:07
整体来说，industry今年来的公司要少一些，不过你提到的nokia, google之类的都来了，但是职位都是比较entry level的。你未必会满意。consulting基本大的小的都来了，因为INSEAD在management consulting行业中的江湖地位在那里摆着。FS今年比较惨淡，我们中国同学还没怎么消息。往年怎么也有几个去ib了。香港的话，你要会讲白话才行，另外你有没有local commitment也matter，去的基本是香港人。

作者: felix_zheng 时间: 2008-11-18 05:26
grazie mille~~~~~~~~`!

作者: gzeric 时间: 2008-12-11 11:13
Parli italiano?

作者: ESeraph 时间: 2008-12-11 23:07

很有用，谢谢

作者: felix_zheng 时间: 2008-12-12 00:56

以下是引用gzeric在2008-12-11 11:13:00的发言：
Parli italiano?

Si, di Milano.

Sei interessato anche per SDA Bocconi? Possiamo parlare sulla scuola in personale.

Cya

[此贴子已经被作者于2008-12-12 0:57:57编辑过]

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