Why INSEAD?

When I was looking at business schools to target, I had a clear approach. I pulled out the latest FT Rankings, and researched each of the top 15 schools. Of course you can argue if FT is reliable or not or if ranking really matters. My view is that each one of us during our professional years develop some sort of loyalty to any particular business publication. It could be Business Week, Financial News, FT etc. Whatever it is, your loyalty will create a sense of reliability and that will influence your approach. I have been loyal to FT for years and therefore looked up only FT and nothing else. I am not saying it is the best one out there, but it serves me well. As for rankings, yes it does matter when creating your initial targets.

I knew what I wanted from my target school:

- Short program, starting sooner than later.
- A school where my Asian experience could be leveraged well.
- Strong orientation towards my target industry.
- Truly global program.
- Certain degree of intensity in both academics and social set up. (aka. work hard play hard)
- And, within my budget.

INSEAD and IMD fit my requirements very well. Both are great schools and because INSEAD scored better on my parameters, I decided to apply only to INSEAD in the calendar year. I was also a bit younger for IMD and another year would not have hurt my chances.

School selection needs significant efforts. Dont go about random applications as it will take you no where. You should know what you expect from your school and then do your research to identify suitable schools. I spoke to a number of graduates, recruiters and also met INSEAD representatives at an MBA fair.

The more efforts you put in your school selection, the stronger will be your essays/ interview performance. Each school is positioned strongly for certain industries, geographic regions, nature of recruitment etc. And when you are risking a fortune for an MBA it is but obvious that you do your homework.