Dear MBA Applicants,
I wanted to write this email as I have experienced a great influx for the INSEAD Applications(for the January Intake). The schools admission deadline is almost there.
A couple of things
- January Intake: I will strongly recommend January Intake( with the March Deadline) as this intake gives you an opportunity to do an internship. For every other business school, I will encourage you to join the August cycle. However, for INSEAD, start in the January cycle.
- Showcasing your accomplishments on the essay: You will have to write deep meaningful essays with the right context. I am writing to share one of the most common mistakes that you will too commit, and I get to see these year after year. The mistake is the inability of the applicants in expressing their most significant accomplishment.
CREATING THE POWER OF CONTEXT: Let us see what can go wrong in your expression, and in your accomplishment( Imagine you are writing the INSEAD's accomplishment essay)
An Example
 Collaborated with "MY ORGANIZATION's" shared services and conceived ways to counter a strong competing bid. Won the deal and generated additional yearly revenue of $5.5 MM for "MY ORGANIZATION's" by signing a 10 year contract with the client. Obtained UK based utility client, generating extra revenue and retaining business. Brought in $5.5 million of additional revenue
HOW WILL YOU ASSESS THE CHALLENGE? Do you feel this is challenging enough? Will you look at the $5.5 MM value, convert it into INR, compare it with your spending capacity, and assess if this is a big deal? Under what circumstances will this bullet or an essay around this be taken for a pinch of salt?
A. The writer fails to mention how big or large is $5.5 MM for the organization he works with
B. Writer does not clearly showcase "Why was it challenging enough?". What are the odds that whatever you are writing is VERY SMALL as compared with the previous essay that the reader went through?
C. The writer fails to mention what were the skill sets required to accomplish whatever was accomplished. Think about it this way: If you express something that is not transferrable or if the reader cannot understand how will it bring value to MBA class, he will not give you an A+ on your essay.
D. The READER misses the "YOU" in the response. You narrated an accomplishment but did not walk the reader through your angle. He did not get why is this accomplishment a big deal for the candidate.
E. "Why do you view it as such?" YOU HAVE TOLD THEM THAT THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENT BUT DID YOU ALSO TELL THEM WHY DO YOU VIEW IT AS SUCH?
You will very soon be working on crafting stories of your most Significant accomplishments, and building strong narratives to project your achievements. And these most significant accomplishments will range from a 2 digit IIT JEE Rank to 3 promotions in two years or a multimillion dollar deal that you may have worked on.
Remember
"¢ Accomplishments show your ability to succeed at the school and thereafter
"¢ Accomplishments also show your ability to contribute to your peers
"¢ Everyone has had accomplishments in life, hence comparisons between the applicants can easily be made
"¢ The accomplishments that you choose to write about should show your judgement capabilities and your self awareness
Ask yourself: Is your accomplishment something that can only be learnt about from this essay and not elsewhere? (If the answer is "NO" then try to think of a different accomplishment)"
The other way of finding out whether the accomplishment holds significance for the essay, would be to check whether it is something unique and not an obvious and matter-of-fact revelation that can be easily found from your transcript or resume. For instance, stating that you were exceptional in accounting, being a CPA, is not a revelation or a unique accomplishment- hence, not really worth writing about in the essay. On the other hand, it is important to demonstrate something that shows beyond the facts mentioned in your application.
Keep the following in mind: I WILL BE REPETITIVE
 They are not interested in your accomplishment as much as they are interested in your reasons and your view.
 They are not interested in your accomplishment as much as they are interested in your reasons and your view.
 They are not interested in your accomplishment as much as they are interested in your reasons and your view.
 They are not interested in your accomplishment as much as they are interested in your reasons and your view.
I wanted to write this email as I have experienced a great influx for the INSEAD Applications(for the January Intake). The schools admission deadline is almost there.
A couple of things
- January Intake: I will strongly recommend January Intake( with the March Deadline) as this intake gives you an opportunity to do an internship. For every other business school, I will encourage you to join the August cycle. However, for INSEAD, start in the January cycle.
- Showcasing your accomplishments on the essay: You will have to write deep meaningful essays with the right context. I am writing to share one of the most common mistakes that you will too commit, and I get to see these year after year. The mistake is the inability of the applicants in expressing their most significant accomplishment.
CREATING THE POWER OF CONTEXT: Let us see what can go wrong in your expression, and in your accomplishment( Imagine you are writing the INSEAD's accomplishment essay)
An Example
 Collaborated with "MY ORGANIZATION's" shared services and conceived ways to counter a strong competing bid. Won the deal and generated additional yearly revenue of $5.5 MM for "MY ORGANIZATION's" by signing a 10 year contract with the client. Obtained UK based utility client, generating extra revenue and retaining business. Brought in $5.5 million of additional revenue
HOW WILL YOU ASSESS THE CHALLENGE? Do you feel this is challenging enough? Will you look at the $5.5 MM value, convert it into INR, compare it with your spending capacity, and assess if this is a big deal? Under what circumstances will this bullet or an essay around this be taken for a pinch of salt?
A. The writer fails to mention how big or large is $5.5 MM for the organization he works with
B. Writer does not clearly showcase "Why was it challenging enough?". What are the odds that whatever you are writing is VERY SMALL as compared with the previous essay that the reader went through?
C. The writer fails to mention what were the skill sets required to accomplish whatever was accomplished. Think about it this way: If you express something that is not transferrable or if the reader cannot understand how will it bring value to MBA class, he will not give you an A+ on your essay.
D. The READER misses the "YOU" in the response. You narrated an accomplishment but did not walk the reader through your angle. He did not get why is this accomplishment a big deal for the candidate.
E. "Why do you view it as such?" YOU HAVE TOLD THEM THAT THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENT BUT DID YOU ALSO TELL THEM WHY DO YOU VIEW IT AS SUCH?
You will very soon be working on crafting stories of your most Significant accomplishments, and building strong narratives to project your achievements. And these most significant accomplishments will range from a 2 digit IIT JEE Rank to 3 promotions in two years or a multimillion dollar deal that you may have worked on.
Remember
"¢ Accomplishments show your ability to succeed at the school and thereafter
"¢ Accomplishments also show your ability to contribute to your peers
"¢ Everyone has had accomplishments in life, hence comparisons between the applicants can easily be made
"¢ The accomplishments that you choose to write about should show your judgement capabilities and your self awareness
Ask yourself: Is your accomplishment something that can only be learnt about from this essay and not elsewhere? (If the answer is "NO" then try to think of a different accomplishment)"
The other way of finding out whether the accomplishment holds significance for the essay, would be to check whether it is something unique and not an obvious and matter-of-fact revelation that can be easily found from your transcript or resume. For instance, stating that you were exceptional in accounting, being a CPA, is not a revelation or a unique accomplishment- hence, not really worth writing about in the essay. On the other hand, it is important to demonstrate something that shows beyond the facts mentioned in your application.
Keep the following in mind: I WILL BE REPETITIVE
 They are not interested in your accomplishment as much as they are interested in your reasons and your view.
 They are not interested in your accomplishment as much as they are interested in your reasons and your view.
 They are not interested in your accomplishment as much as they are interested in your reasons and your view.
 They are not interested in your accomplishment as much as they are interested in your reasons and your view.
