How to Get into INSEAD
- INSEAD Program Overview
- INSEAD Curriculum
- INSEAD Statistics
- Application Requirements for INSEAD
- Extracurriculars at INSEAD
- Tips for Your INSEAD 2025-2026 Application Essays
- INSEAD FAQ
INSEAD Program Overview
An international powerhouse, INSEAD has built its reputation by attracting students from all around the world—a typical incoming class features more than 75 nationalities!—and by opening campuses in three vastly different areas: picturesque Fontainebleau, France, the school’s original campus, about an hour’s drive from Paris; Singapore, near the financial district; and the city center in Abu Dhabi. In addition, INSEAD opened its San Francisco Hub for Business Innovation in 2020 to provide a place for local startups to collaborate with the school’s leaders and alumni.
INSEAD requires entering students to be fluent in English and to have at least a B1 level knowledge of a language beyond English. Students also must reach the A2 level in a third language before the end of their studies. INSEAD is consistently ranked one of the top business schools in the world—Financial Times named INSEAD the top program in Europe and second overall in the publication’s 2024 Global MBA Ranking.
Though a shorter program of ten months compared to the traditional two-year MBA that most US-based business schools offer, INSEAD provides a comprehensive learning experience during its five periods of study. Courses are intense; INSEAD’s curriculum is regarded as 80% of a typical two-year MBA crammed into one year. The core curriculum is divided into three periods, consisting of 14 courses in total. The last two periods are dedicated to electives and the capstone course, in which students work in teams to solve realistic business challenges and present their findings to INSEAD alumni.
With more than 69,000 alumni in nearly 200 countries, INSEAD offers students opportunities to work with businesses on intense independent projects, solving real-world business problems and presenting their findings to senior management. More than 40 student clubs are available on campus, ranging in focus from sports and social to business. Many student-run INSEAD conferences are hosted alternately on the Europe, Asia, and Middle East campuses, including the INSEAD Americas Conference and the Asian Private Equity and Venture Capital Conference. Students at INSEAD’s three campuses also stay connected by maintaining the school’s traditions. The annual DASH event, for example, started in 2001 when students in Singapore set up an informal race from housing to campus to make it to class on time. Today, DASH has turned into an annual costumed event and takes place on all campuses annually.
INSEAD Curriculum
INSEAD students start their studies in either August or January. The January intake provides an opportunity for an internship mid-way through the program. The core curriculum for both intakes is broken down into five periods, in addition to a pre-MBA introductory period. Period 1 (P1) features six core courses, including “Prices and Markets” and “Financial Accounting,” as does P2, which includes such courses as “Managing Customer Value” and “Leadership Communication Foundations.” P3 features two core courses, “Business and Society” and “Macroeconomics in the Global Economy.”
P4 and P5 consist of solely electives, in addition to the capstone course that takes place at the end of P5. Language studies are an integral part of the INSEAD experience—students must be fluent in English and speak a second language at a B1 (“practical”) level at the time of matriculation, and they are expected to reach at least an A2 level of proficiency in a third language before graduation.
Elective courses cover a range of topics, from Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise to Finance, Marketing, and Technology and Operations Management. For some electives, students are placed in real businesses solving cases and present their findings and analysis to senior management. Other electives have country-specific modules related to doing business in China or the Middle East, for example. In these courses, students travel to the country and visit local businesses with the goal of understanding the area’s culture.
The INSEAD capstone course takes place at the end of Period 5 and allows students to work in teams to solve realistic management challenges and present their findings to school alumni. Members of the alumni pool also play various roles, such as government officials or possible investors, throughout the challenge. Students are expected to put what they have learned to action and present the fictional company with solutions, for which they will receive feedback and a final grade.
INSEAD Statistics
Typical Class Profile
- Class Size: Approximately 1,000 (includes two intakes)
- Average Age: 29
- Average Age Range: 23–35
- Average Work Experience Range: 3–8 years
- Women: 38%
- Countries Represented: 75
- Nationalities: 110+
Career Placement (Class of 2023)
- Management Consulting: 61%
- Corporate Services: 16%
- Financial Services: 14%
- Technology, Media, and Telecommunications: 9%
Geographical Placement (Class of 2023)
- Western/Northern Europe: 36%
- Asia-Pacific: 22%
- Africa/Middle East: 18%
- North America: 9%
- Southern Europe: 9%
- South America (including Mexico): 5%
- Eastern Europe: 2%
Application Requirements for INSEAD
Bachelor’s degree and transcripts
INSEAD requires all applicants to have completed a four-year bachelor’s degree (or its equivalent if the applicant graduated outside of the United States) and to provide official academic transcripts with their application.
Resume
All INSEAD applicants must submit a resume with their application. The school notes on its website that although applicants typically have an average of five years of work experience, “more important than the length of [applicants’] experience, is the quality of [their] accomplishments. Younger applicants who demonstrate exceptional maturity and outstanding leadership through their professional and personal experiences are encouraged to apply.”
Recommendations
INSEAD requires two recommendation letters. In business school applications, obtaining a recommendation from a direct supervisor or a manager is usually the best option. If you do not have a current direct supervisor or manager, consider past supervisors, colleagues, or clients, based on your work situation. Family members and friends are typically not suitable recommenders. INSEAD asks that applicants provide one recommendation from their current employer, preferably a supervisor or a manager. “The other recommendation should be from someone who has had a chance to evaluate you in a professional setting, for example, a client, a former supervisor or a colleague from your community service or extracurricular activities. Academic recommendations are acceptable but they are less likely to address our main interest, which is to assess your ability to work with and manage others as well as your potential for senior management,” the website states.
Test scores
INSEAD accepts the GMAT and the GRE to fulfill the test score requirement, and all applicants must provide a score. On its website, with regard to the GMAT, the school advises applicants to “aim for a score as close as possible or above 640.” Since the INSEAD program is conducted entirely in English, applicants whose native language is not English are also required to provide a TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE score. Applicants can also demonstrate fluency in English with a university degree from a school where all courses are taught in English.
Anything else?
An interview, a video interview, and three essays are also required of INSEAD applicants. In-person interviews are conducted on an invitation-only basis by INSEAD alumni. These are some of the questions that are commonly asked during INSEAD interviews:
- Walk me through your resume/tell me about yourself.
- What are three strengths/weaknesses, and how have you addressed the weaknesses?
- Tell me about your career achievements.
- Give examples of diversity in your experience and how you value diversity.
- What do you want to do after an MBA?
Extracurriculars at INSEAD
The numerous clubs available on campus at INSEAD often host company-sponsored events in addition to social gatherings. Career clubs are not exclusive; all students are invited to attend visits by high-visibility speakers from such companies as LVMH, Marvel, the World Health Organization, and Google. Clubs also compile industry-specific resume books that are shared with human resources contacts from a range of companies and arrange career treks to nearby cities.
Consulting is probably the only industry for which students do not need to make a conscious effort to be recruited, as more than enough consulting firms come to campus to actively recruit candidates. INSEAD is typically regarded as a notable recruitment channel for such consulting giants as McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain & Company.
On its website, the school describes the atmosphere on campus as “a cultural melting pot of experiences that triggers students to re-shape their perceived reality beyond the classroom; from sports activities to unforgettable travel experiences, or from cheerful parties to intimate heartfelt dinners.” On weekends, many students organize trips across Europe or Asia, which are a great way to get to know people from INSEAD’s other campuses.
The INSEAD Women in Business Club hosts various events throughout the academic year, the largest of which is the annual INSEAD Women in Business Conference. The 2023 event was hosted with the theme “Ambition in Action.” The conference featured panel discussions, networking opportunities, and workshops. In 2021, the club joined INSEAD to launch the Limitless 2.0 gender initiative, which brings together female leaders and school alumni.
Tips for Your INSEAD 2026–2026 Application Essays
Get ready to write! INSEAD has one of the longest sets of required essays of any top MBA program — they definitely demand that you put in the time to prove your interest in the program. Additionally, you’ll need to record three short videos and perform a live written assessment for the video component of the school’s application. So give yourself plenty of time to think about the stories you want to tell and the messages you want to convey across your Job Description and Motivation Essays, and make a plan so you can be sure to include them all.
Job Descriptions
- Job Description 1: Provide a summary of your career since graduating from university, explaining the rationale behind your key decisions and career progression. Include a description of your current (or most recent) role, covering the scope of your work, major responsibilities, employees under your supervision, budget size, clients/products, and any notable results achieved. (500 words)
- Job Description 2: Describe your short and long-term career aspirations, including your target geography, industry, and function. How do you plan to bridge the gap between your current position and these goals, and how will INSEAD help you achieve them? (300 words)
Motivation Essays
- Motivation Essay 1: Give a candid description of yourself as a person and a leader, emphasising the strengths and weaknesses you recognise in yourself. Explain how you are actively working on your development, sharing key experiences that have shaped you, providing specific examples where relevant. (500 words)
- Motivation Essay 2: Describe a highly stressful situation you faced and how you managed it. What did this experience teach you about yourself and your interactions with others? (400 words)
- Optional Motivation Essay: Is there anything else that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? (maximum 300 words)
Video Essay
- After submitting your online application, you will receive an email from Kira Talent with a unique link to complete a video and written assessment. You must complete this step within 48 hours of your application deadline.
- You will be asked four video questions. For each, you will have 45 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to respond. The final question is written, with five minutes to submit your answer. The full assessment takes approximately 15–20 minutes.
Click here to read our advice on INSEAD’s essay questions.
INSEAD FAQ
What is INSEAD best known for?
INSEAD is known as an international powerhouse, as is evident in the school’s motto, “The Business School for the World,” and the locations of its campuses worldwide: Europe, Asia, Middle East, and the United States. Diversity and entrepreneurship are at the heart of the INSEAD culture.
How much does tuition cost?
Estimated tuition for the INSEAD full-time MBA program is €99,500 for the August 2024 intake and €103,500 for the January 2025 intake. This includes program charges for three semesters and such fees as library access, language tuition, health insurance, and gym access.
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