INSEAD MIM Admit Shares Application Process + Tips (includes personal background and resources)
INSEAD, the business school for the world, has recently established the Master in Management (MIM), a new master's business degree that targets young professionals with only 0 to 2 years of work experience. This year, I was lucky enough to get admitted to this top-ranked business school of its MIM program with an achievement scholarship of 12,000 euros. Today, I would love to share my application journey and tips with potential future applicants!
In this article, I will share:
- My Personal Background & Application Timeline
- Why choose INSEAD?
- Tips for Application Essay Questions
- Kira Interview
- Alumni Interview
A. My Personal Background & Application Timeline
Personal Background: Taiwanese, studied Bachelor of Business Administration (Entrepreneurship major) at Hong Kong Baptist University, graduated with first-class honor. International Exposure: Cultural exchange activities at Peking University, China; Summer exchange program at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Cast member at Walt Disney World; Startup Semester Program at UC Berkeley; Exchange program at Babson College, the U.S. Extracurriculars: AIESEC in HKBU Branding and Marketing Officer; HKBU Business School Student Ambassador; Hong Kong X Foundation Campus Ambassador Assistant; Volunteer teacher in rural China and Myanmar; Entrepreneurship Bootcamp participant at Stanford GSB; London International Model United Nations Delegate. Internships: GOGOX, Hong Kong Startup Unicorn GOGOX; BIGO, Southeast Asian Livestream Tech Giant; Co-founder of WYS Brand Strategy Group, an entrepreneurial brand consulting firm. Standardized score: GPA: 3.45/4.0 (Top 10%); GMAT: 680; IELTS: 7.5
Application Timeline: 2020.2.25, complete taking the GMAT→ 2020.8, start researching schools → 2020.10, start drafting application essays →11.7, complete taking IELTS → 12.6, submit the application (Deadline: 12.9) → 12.9, complete the Kira Interview → 2020.12.22, receive interview invitation with an alumni → 2020.12.29, complete alumni interview → 2021.2.2, receive the offer call & confirmation email
B. Why Choose INSEAD?
It can be seen from my background that my standardized score does not really stand out, but my advantage lies in my rich international experiences. To highlight my strength, I thus chose schools that put high values on students’ diversity and international motivation. To do that, I particularly looked into each school’s international students ratio and common traits that the school is looking for in its candidates. Many top business schools attach great importance to students’ international exposure, but INSEAD, as “the Business School for the World”, looks more into whether the candidate has international mobility and cultural intelligence. I suggest that when shortlisting your schools, besides world rankings, you should also look into each school’s preference in selecting its students. For example, LSE loves students with high GPAs; LBS pays more attention to students’ past internship/work experiences; INSEAD loves students who are community-oriented and driven by a multicultural environment. Since the application process is a two-way selection, doing enough school research beforehand will do you a favor to find schools that are most suitable for you, save you application fees, and avoid time wastes!
C. Tips for Application Essay Questions
INSEAD MIM application requires you to answer five essay questions. For most of the questions, the maximum word limit is 200 words, so it is advised that you give forward precise and direct answers. On INSEAD MIM’s website, it points out three important criteria for selecting a candidate: 1. Academic Performance 2. Ability to Contribute 3. International Motivation. Since your academic performance has been reflected in your GPA and standardized test score, I suggest that you specifically incorporate concrete examples that demonstrate your second and third criteria in your essays.
1. How would you describe yourself? (Maximum 200 words) *
The first questions gives you flexibility to demonstrate your personality traits. I myself used three adjectives to describe myself and then with each adjective, I used a concrete example to illustrate further. For example, when I said I was a resilient person, I raised example that I had actively participated in competitions like sports, business, etc. Even though I was not the top player in each competition, my constant drive to push myself has enhanced my ability to overcome adversity.
2. Describe all types of extra CV activities in which you have been or are still involved for a significant amount of time (clubs, sports, music, arts, etc.). How are you enriched by these activities? (Maximum 200 words) *
For this question, you need to talk about extracurriculars that are not already mentioned on your CV. Therefore, before writing, you need to consider comprehensively which content to put in your CV and which to put in the essay. In this essay, I write specific examples that illustrate my ability of cross-cultural communication and strong passion to contribute to the community, including my participation in the equestrian club when I was an exchange student in the U.S, through which I developed a deeper understanding of local culture through horse riding, and voluntary services that I involved in Hong Kong which aroused my thinking on social issues.
3. Tell us what you have been doing since graduating from secondary education and what motivated your choices? (Maximum 200 words) *
This question is the most important one in my opinion. It is a bit similar to the condensed version of your personal statement, which is usually required by other schools. You need to extract the key parts and major turning points of your past (childhood enlightenment, major selection, unforgettable internship experience, etc.) and string them into a reasonable storyline. The so-called “reasonable” refers to the logical cause and effect of the story, which makes the Admissions Committee understand “how your brain works” as well as “what your passion is”.
4. Please give us all the information about your activities and occupation from now until the start of the program. (Maximum 40 words) *
If you are applying in Round1 or Round2, you will still have months before the program starts when you get admitted, how will you use this time wisely? Although this question accounts for only 40 words, the Admissions Committee would like to see whether you can properly allocate your time and make corresponding preparations before you study. Because I want to transfer to the FMCG industry after business school, I specifically wrote out the company and the position that I plan to intern in and how this internship will help in my future job hunt.
5. Share your short and long-term career aspirations with a MIM from INSEAD. (Maximum 100 words) *
The goal of a business school is to ensure you find a good job after graduation. Thus, Admissions Committee wants you to have a clear career roadmap already on how you would like to see yourself shortly after graduation and in 10 years' time, and specifically, how a degree from INSEAD can help you achieve these aspirations. The answer to this question needs to be very specific, detailing your target industry, specific companies, and positions. Therefore, a lot of research into target companies and school resources needs to be done before drafting your answer. The career planning question will also be asked again during the interview, so bear in mind you need to have a more in-depth answer in your pocket.
D. Kira Interview
You will receive an invitation to complete a Kira Interview right after you submit your application, and you have to complete it within 48 hours after the application deadline. I actually submitted the application 3 days before the deadline to leave more time to prepare for the Kira interview. There is a total of five questions in INSEAD’s Kira interview, and in each question, you have 45 seconds to prepare and 1 minute to respond. Kira interview consists of mostly behavioral questions, and the admission committee looks into your character, ability to work in teams, and fluency of English. Because 1 minute time for response is quite short, I suggest that when you practice, you should consistently train your brain to think of three different points of view in 30 seconds and time your response so as to familiarize yourself with the interview format.
Below are the questions that I encountered:
1. Describe a time you feel stressed?
2.What do you do outside the classroom?
3. Who do you admire the most as a leader, and why?
4. The most valuable thing about your undergraduate education?
5. What would you do if you encounter someone you dislike in the team?
F. Alumni Interview
The alumni interview is invitation-only. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive an email notification 2–3 weeks after you complete the Kira interview. What’s special about INSEAD’s interview is that, instead of the admission officer managing an interview for you, you are asked to arrange the interview with the MBA alumni on your own. You will receive the alumni’s contact information in the email, and you have to send him/her a message and arrange a mutually-agreed timeslot for the interview. Usually, the Admissions Commitee will arrange you with alumni that shares similar geographic or work experience. I was matched with an MBA alumni who was originated from Philipines and currently doing marketing consulting at McKinsey in Japan. I suggest that after you receive your interviewer’s information, try searching more of his/her background on Linkedin for interview preparation so that during Q&As, you can ask him/her more detailed and customized questions.
Below are the questions that I encountered:
1. Self-introduction
2. Why Insead and why you are a good fit?
3. Your short-term and long-term career goal, and how INSEAD can help you reach these goals?
4. INSEAD MIM lasts for only 10 months, how will you make use of your time at INSEAD?
5. You will be put into learning teams. If you encounter any conflict in the team, how will you solve them?
It can be seen that the main focus of the interview is to know more about your motivation to INSEAD, your career plan, and your cross-cultural experiences. Usually the interviewer would indicate in the beginning that they want this to be more like a conversation, so even though you have a scripted answer in your mind, you should not sound like you are reading a script. My tips for alumni interview is to tell stories and draw down the logical structure of your answer with a mindmap. The reason for that is stories can make your response more engaging and make the interviewer easier to relate to your experience. The logical structure can remind you what you have to say next during the interview with details in your own words. Therefore, all of my responses (including self-introduction) are all delivered with stories, coupled with my learnings and reflections.
My interview lasted for 45 minutes. Like many other INSEAD interview debriefs shared on forums, the interview was very conversational and the alumni had also shared with me a lot of her personal INSEAD experiences and gave me suggestions on what resources I should look for in INSEAD to fulfill my career aspiration. Also, it is worth noticing that the alumni is not the one who decides whether you will be admitted or not. After the interview, the alumni will be asked to write feedback to the Admissions Committee on whether you are a good fit at INSEAD community. And then the Admissions Committee will make the final decision based on all your application materials and the alumni’s feedback. I thus highly recommend you write a thank you letter to the interviewer after the interview to summarize the conversation and once again show your passion to join the INSEAD family.
Last but not least, finding a program that suits you the best is the most important thing. A rejection from a school does not mean that you are not outstanding, but may simply because the schools’ atmosphere does not fit you. Thus, doing solid school research before you apply is the key to your success in your application journey.
Finally, I wish you all the best during the application season! If you have any questions regarding INSEAD MIM application, feel free to contact me via Linkedin.
