I wanted to pass along a few contributions from successful applicants who were not my clients, but part of my INSEAD thread on GMAT Club. I think you will find at least one or two things helpful!

Successful Applicant 1

I expect that I was chosen due to a unique background (scientific education, highly entrepreneurial environments, finance experience), very strong GMAT, and very strong essays. Despite no direct international experience, I made up for it through passing high level CEFR language exams (satisfying my language requirements before even applying), working with international clients, and really communicating my international outlook/ambitions through my essays.

Essays also focused on personal growth, showing some vulnerability and weakness as well as a high level of self awareness. Everyone who reviewed my essays for me told me that they really felt that they knew who I was as a person after reading them, even the reviewers that hardly knew me before.

My recommendations:
1. Dominate your GMAT, 730+. At least this way you know its not your GMAT that got you dinged. Consider it the cover charge just to get looked at.

2. Talk to alumni. I spoke to ~15 alumni before even applying. I found them on Linkedin, an INSEAD event in my city, by talking about my goals at a random party (yes, really, I met 4 alumni while out at a party). The more you know about their experience the more it will show in your essays that you know what you’re getting into, and it will help you better understand the culture of the program, which in turn will enable you to write better essays and touch on key subjects.

3. Have several people chop up your essays and ask the hard questions. Get some people who know you and some people who don’t. The ones who don’t know you will be more valuable. Make sure your essays tell a story–there’s a reason INSEAD gives you so much essay space compared to other programs. They clearly want you to paint a 360 degree picture of who you’ve been, who you are, and who you will be. Read them out loud. Rewrite them. Read them out loud again. Rinse. Repeat. In a highly international environment such as that of INSEAD, good communication is key to success. If you can’t communicate well through the essays, there may be doubts over your ability to handle the environment.

Successful Applicant 2

Sorry for my late reply, I was on leave and I celebrated my admissions properly. A bit about myself. I am Spanish living in London. I am an engineer working for an engineering company. I believe my reasons to be admitted were as follows:
a.) Good GMAT. I scored 720.
b.) Be myself. On the essays, I explained everything I did and why I did it. You need to be clear and you need to know where you want to go. Also, you need to know yourself. Put realistic achievements and realistic weaknesses. 
c.) They type of work I do. Although I am an pure engineer, I also do business development and I had other managerial respectabilities. 
d.) Know your story really well on the interviews. 

Successful Applicant 3

Well actually I was touching wood for a few days just in case they had called the wrong applicant haha.
In all seriousness, my GMAT score was pretty average. I would suggest future applicants read “65 Successful Harvard B-School Application Essays” before embarking on their own essays… I think it made all the difference. 

Hello, it’s been a long while since my last blog. For those of you who have not yet obtained interviews to your dream schools, I encourage you to reach out for a ding analysis to get a different result from Round 2. 

My clients have been doing great and interviewing at all the schools to which they applied with one exception – reapplications. So that has been interesting to experience. I’m now a bit sour on reapplications, especially those submitted the following year after a ding, without a sizeable GMAT boost.

Gearing Up for Round 2

Seven short weeks to JANUARY 2.

NOW IS THE TIME to start working on your applications if you haven’t already! At this point, the best way you can increase your chances to get admitted is to give yourself 2 full months for the applications.

Please don’t underestimate the complexity of this process and shoot yourself in the foot. My process with clients is interviewing, brainstorming, outlining, drafting and editing. Then doing this across your CV, essays, recommendation talking points and application boxes. Also, you need to turn your LinkedIn profile into a sharp marketing tool.

If you are looking for a proven partner in this process, fill out my prospective client form and send over your CV to start the conversation.

Application Box Tips

Great way to create quick momentum.

What should these look like? Yummy little candies for the adcom. Sweet and succinct.

• Distills valuable information about you clearly and succinctly. Elevator pitch.
• Everything illustrates qualities that business schools value – strategic thinking, results orientation, etc.
• Employment section gives the reader a clear, succinct understanding of the experience you’ve gained, employing simple, universal language.
• The activities and awards point to the overall brand that you set forth in other aspects of the application.

Recommendation Talking Points

Think through specific anecdotes you would like them to discuss and outline those for them.

Choose anecdotes where they have observed you model the qualities that business schools are seeking! Leadership, teamwork, etc.

Review each of the recommendation questions for each school.

Pondering the GMAT Question

If your GMAT is “good enough” please do not try to PACK IN another GMAT sitting to score an extra 20 points at the cost of the quality of your applications. That is too risky and unlikely to be the best way to invest your time 7 weeks from deadlines.

You need time to do this right, especially considering you will be faced with multiple deadlines on the same day. That said, it does not make sense to apply to schools without a GMAT (or GRE) 

To Your Continued Success! Wishing You All My Best!

Answer: 

HELL TO THE NO. It’s very difficult to build up momentum for an application you might not be qualified to submit. For this reason, I do not work with applicants who have not yet sorted their GRE/GMAT. 

Also, this will give you more time to strive for 700+. To maximize ROI for this whole process it’s best to go in with good stats and aim for top schools. 

Take the GMAT so many times that you are sure there IS NOT ONE MORE POINT LEFT IN YOU. 
Leave nothing on the table. If you want to stay in Singapore, INSEAD is the best school and you want 700+

Regardless of your GMAT score, you will need to do a quality job on your applications. 
This requires researching yourself, your goals and your schools to do a good job on this. 
It takes time. You cant slap some crap together the night before here and make any headway believe me. 

This is a long journey – and you want to do your absolute best at every stage to get a good chance of achieving an acceptance. 

​​INSEAD is a huge application in particular – give yourself 2 months to complete it and more if you work a lot of hours or plan to submit a lot of other apps in R2. 

Selection

Hello everyone! First, please review my letter of recommendation tips below. When considering the “stories” you have to share, some are best shared by your recommenders and others, by you. In general, my clients craft outlines of anecdotes for their recommenders. These anecdotes should demonstrate how you model qualities such as teamwork, leadership and problem-solving.

Essays vs. Recommendations

​​When it comes to the essays, with most applications, you want to give them a PERSONAL dimension. NO WORKIE. NO. Work is for the rest of the application. 

This is one of the biggest mistakes I see: wasting an opportunity for the adcom to get to know you as a person by plugging yet another work story. Even worse, one that might already be in another area of your application.

Let me let you in on a little secret. You want the reader to feel an EMOTIONAL CONNECTION to the person on this piece of paper. EMOTIONAL. And this is best done by tapping into the universal-type stuff.

Take the adcom to the movie of your life for a moment.

Do this now

Even if certain application essay topics are not out yet, it will undoubtedly be a good use of your time to map out your Why MBA response in tandem with your short-term and long-term goals.

Research your career goals through networking online and offline. Research each school the same way. and then write out how their offerings and your goals fit LOCK AND KEY.

Essay Checklist

• The essays use anecdotes and examples that are written in chronological order. The reader can mentally see the story unfold.

• The story is told in brief sentences in universal non-jargony language.

• Each essay shows a different side of you, yet all of them feel authentic, sincere, and accessible.

• They demonstrate self-awareness, personal growth, leadership and results-orientation.

• You reach the reader on both an analytical and emotional level.

If you are seeking a coach to guide you on the journey, the first step is to fill out my prospective client form.

Cheers To Your Continued Success!

​​Hello! Some of you might be busy working R3 applications for INSEAD and others, gearing up for round 1. Either way, the time to act is now! Implement, implement, implement.

Even if certain recommendation forms are not out yet, now is the time to start reflecting on the questions common to all forms: areas of strength as compared to your peers, and a story about receiving constructive criticism. 

Figure out the stories you want to share and outline them; then add other anecdotes/outlines later for any remaining questions. It is very unusual for schools to make major changes in this area of the application, aside from the fact that more and more schools are gravitating towards the Common Letter of Recommendation. 

If you are seeking a coach to guide you on the journey, the first step is to fill out my prospective client form. 

SELECTION TIPS 

1) You want a recommender who has witnessed you demonstrate the attributes business schools care about: teamwork, leadership and problem solving, among others. This is far more important than their status at the company. 

2) Speak with a few select people you have in mind regarding your plans to attend business school and gauge their reaction. If they elicit enthusiasm, keep the conversation going. If you decide someone is right for the job – make sure to ask them about work travel and vacation plans. It’s best to be in close contact around the application due date. 

3) Do not work with recommenders who are unwilling to work openly. You have invested a lot of time and money into this process and need to stay in control of the content. I’ve seen disasterious results from this. 

4.) Business schools pressure you for that manager recommendation, but it is not required and I have worked with clients who got into elite MBA programs with scholarships – and never shared their MBA plans with their managers. 

EXECUTION TIPS: SHOW, DON’T TELL

1.) Each question narrates a SPECIFIC incident or moment in time.

2.) Stories are narrated in STAR format or, if that doesn’t fit, at least have a beginning, middle and end. 

3.) These stories show how you MODEL teamwork, leadership, problem-solving, innovation, persuasion, strategic thinking; things b-schools care about. 

4.) Each recommender really champions you; they see the uniqueness of you – and articulate that artfully in whatever language they speak (you can translate.)

5.) The reader is moved by the content and wants to champion you to other members of the adcom. 

For more tips like these, follow me on social media. I post daily. 
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