2. 3 Life Lessons from My MBA Application Journey

    While there are already many wonderful and life-saving posts on tips to get into top business schools, this isn't one of them. I had embarked on the MBA application process not knowing what to expect and took it one step at a time. Along the way, I was surprised by a number of developments, and drew some life lessons that I wanted to share. In fact, the journey was so valuable in and of itself that even if I hadn't gotten admitted, it would have still been worth the time, effort and cost of fulfilling all the requirements. I've distilled these thoughts below.

  4. Business Foundations Programme and Getting to Know Singapore

    Dear All, I joined the Business Foundation Programme in December 2018, prior the beginning of the school in January 2019. This programme is designed for those who are not yet familiar with finance and accounting. With an engineering background, I thought that it would be better for me to enhance my knowledge, and to "catch up" with my classmates who already did business-related work before joining INSEAD.

  5. Study Groups: Truths & Myths, Do’s & Don’ts

    Before starting your INSEAD journey, everybody is very excited and curious about an awful lot of things. One of these are the study groups: a group of five to six people that will work together during all the courses of P1 and P2. Who will I be grouped with? Where are they from? How much smarter are they than me? How many consultants are in the group? After completing P2, I can share some insights about the reality of study groups and tips on how to make the most of the experience. Let’s focus first on some truths and myths…

  6. Why Only INSEAD

    I am from Guilin, a city in Southern China famous for its limestone karst hills. In my childhood, I wondered what was beyond the town’s scenic view. My father is a worker at China Railway, and most of my friends from childhood are workers in China Railway just like their fathers. I studied Computer Science, therefore most of my college classmates are software developers. However, I am different. I am a sales manager at a telecom provider and I have lived in Southeast Asia for the last four years.

  8. The Finale

    I found him sitting down on some small stairs on the rooftop part of the building, looking at the city night view. Beer can in his hand. It would be dawn in several hours, the time when the sky should be the darkest. But it is never truly dark in a Singapore night, as the lights of the millions of souls living in the city brighten up the eternally starless night sky. “That was one hell of a party,” I said, sitting down on one stair above him. “Well, it’s one hell of a year.” He took a sip from his can.

  10. A Kinder, Gentler Admissions Process

    Greetings, Readers!  I’ve volunteered to be one of the INSEAD 19D student bloggers, so let me take a moment to introduce myself.  I’m Nadine, a former diplomat and career public servant, probably not your typical MBA candidate. I'm American at heart, and also Canadian on paper. I grew up in Texas and have also lived in Washington, Jakarta, and Brussels. The stars aligned, and now I’m about to embark on my MBA journey at INSEAD as a 19D admit. In a previous guest post, I explained many of the factors that led me to choose INSEAD over other MBA programmes in the US and Europe. Today, I’ll tal