Latest Changes on INSEAD Essay questions

INSEAD, being one of the top global business schools, has a very competitive acceptance rate. The INSEAD essay questions are especially important among the various elements of the application. These essays offer the admissions committee a deeper understanding of each applicant beyond test scores and professional achievements. Candidates can showcase their unique experiences, perspectives, and aspirations through these essays.

Unlike most schools, INSEAD follows a general structure for the essay questions. Recently, INSEAD has made changes to its essay questions, which reflect shifts in the school’s admissions priorities. In this blog, we will look into these changes and offer tips for crafting responses that align with INSEAD’s expectations.

Overview of New INSEAD Essay Structure

For the 2024-2025 admissions cycle, INSEAD has made some adjustments to its essay questions. The most significant update is reducing the number of required essays from seven to six and lowering the overall word count from 2,700 to 2,300 words. “It’s an interesting change,” says Praveg, one of our INSEAD consultants. INSEAD divides its essays into two sections-

1. Career/ Job Essays

• Current Job Description: Briefly summarise your current (or most recent) job, including the nature of work, major responsibilities, and, where relevant, employees under your supervision, size of budget, clients/products, and results achieved. (200 words maximum)
• Next Position: What would be your next step in terms of position if you were to remain in the same company instead of going to business school? (200 words maximum)
• Career Path: Please give a full description of your career since graduating from university. Describe your career path with the rationale behind your choices. (300 words, maximum)
• Goals: Discuss your short and long-term career aspirations with an MBA from INSEAD. (100 words, maximum)
• Optional: If you are currently not working or plan to leave your current employer more than two months before the program starts, please explain your activities and occupations between leaving your job and the start of the program.

2. Motivational Essays

• Self-Description: Give a candid description of yourself (who you are as a person), stressing the personal characteristics you feel to be your strengths and weaknesses and the main factors that have influenced your personal development, giving examples when necessary (maximum 500 words)
• Failure Essay: Consider a situation where you failed to achieve your objective(s). How did you handle failure? What did you learn about yourself and/or your interactions with others from this situation? (maximum 400 words)
• Career Aspirations: Discuss your short- and long-term career goals with or without an MBA from INSEAD. (100 words max)
• Optional: Is there anything else that was not covered in your application that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee? (maximum 300 words)

These are the essay prompts asked by INSEAD as a part of its application process. However, certain changes were made to the above essays. As a candidate, it is important for you to know the changes so that you have a better understanding of the essay prompts.

Latest Changes to INSEAD Essay Questions

Initially, INSEAD asked for your achievements in the ‘Failure’ essays (Motivational Essay no: 2). The structure would be an ‘Achievement + Failure essay,’ but now it is only about failures. This compels the candidates to be a little more creative because you would want to highlight your achievements in any part of your application.

The second major change is that INSEAD removed extracurricular essays completely. More or less, you may be asked about your extracurriculars directly in your Kira interview. But, if you are not asked about that, it is advisable to subtly incorporate this information in one of the three Kira questions asked.

Experts’ Tips to Tackle New INSEAD Essay Questions

1. Be Authentic and Reflective

When describing yourself in the first Motivation Essay, avoid generic responses. Focus on personal anecdotes that highlight your unique characteristics. Structure your response with keywords that align with INSEAD’s core values.

2. Use the Failure Essay to Demonstrate Resilience

In the second Motivation Essay, pick a meaningful failure in which you were deeply invested. The admissions committee wants to see how you handled the setback, what you learned, and how it impacted your life. Avoid turning this into a sympathy-gaining success story.

3. Structure Your INSEAD Essay Questions’ Responses

With word limits decreasing this year, it is important to stay to the point. Make every sentence count by focusing on specific examples rather than long narratives. Structure your essays in such a way that you are still providing them the same information you would have provided had they not changed the essays

Our expert consultant, Praveg, advises: “It’s advisable to plug in your extracurriculars in the personal question section of the Kira interviews. Focus less on what activities you are involved in; focus more on why you are involved in them. For example, if you say yoga as your extracurricular activity, ad-coms would want to know your reason for choosing it and how it enriches and adds value to your life.”

Conclusion

Applying to INSEAD is a rigorous process, but you can craft a compelling application with the right preparation and understanding of their expectations. The recent changes in the essay questions reflect INSEAD’s ongoing focus on leadership potential, personal growth, and adaptability. You can stand out in this highly competitive pool of candidates by presenting your authentic self.

We understand that going to business school entails much more than just writing an essay and paying an application fee. We are here to assist you with every concern, major or minor. 

There is still a way to strengthen your application and demonstrate to the admissions committee that you are an outstanding applicant for their school.

Finally, if you want to apply but aren’t sure how to pitch your story, schedule a free consultation with us to drive you in the right direction. We are always there for you!