Investing in Your Future, and Yourself (Financing Your MBA)

I’ve just returned to the cold New York City winter, after two weeks of hosting INSEAD events in the lovely South American sunshine. I don’t spend as much time as I would like in our neighbouring continent to the South, so I was especially happy to have such a long visit and to cover so much ground – four cities in three countries in just 10 days – wow! As you may already know, our third application round for the class beginning in September 2009 has just passed. That means one more round for the September class, and we look forward to January. (For more information on our dates and deadlines visit our website at: http://www.insead.edu/mba/admissions/dates.cfm). As is common this late in the application cycle, many of the people I met at our recent events had either already applied, or were about to hit the send button. So, I found myself answering fewer questions about our admissions criteria and more on financing options. And on my flight back, it occurred to me that if the people I met in Argentina, and Brazil and Chile had financing on their minds, then probably, so did many of you. So, I’ve decided to devote this entry to Financing your MBA, or perhaps more accurately, to Investing in Your Future, and Yourself….

There is no doubt that having a world-class MBA can change the trajectory of your career, and your life. Doors previously locked will open. Once narrow horizons will broaden. The unlikeliest of friendships will be made. This is why we call your INSEAD MBA an ‘investment’. The returns are vast, and last a lifetime. But, like all investments, an initial outlay must be made.

INSEAD’s fees and living expenses are particularly competitive largely because of our accelerated format. With only one year out of the job market, you forgo less income than on longer programmes and have fewer living expenses to cover while you are not working. In fact, most INSEAD graduates pay back their MBA loans in less than three years.

Still, we know that €51,000 for tuition and €2000 per month we advise you to budget for your living expenses is no small sum. And for many – particularly those from developing countries or who work in the non-profit sector – the prospect of funding the entire amount on their own can seem overwhelming at best, impossible at worst. The good is, we are here to help.

Once admitted, our MBA Financing Office will work with you to plan how you can meet your financing needs. But, because its best to begin your financial planning early, here are some steps you can begin taking now to identify the opportunities which may be available to you:

1: Consider INSEAD Scholarships:

Each year, INSEAD gives nearly €2.5 million in scholarships to our MBA participants. Awards vary in size and criteria, but you can see a comprehensive list of all of them at http://www.insead.edu/mba/schlmgmt/index.cfm?fuseaction=dsp_list_schl. All of our scholarships have an additional application process, and some of them have early deadlines, so it’s best to review the portfolio as soon as possible. Identify the scholarships for which you are eligible and then begin thinking about the essay question. Like admission, competition for each award is tough, so the more prepared you are the better.

2. Research local sources of funding

Many applicants have attractive scholarship and loan opportunities in their resident country or countries. You may be one of them! Often deadlines for local scholarships will be even earlier than those of INSEAD scholarships, so again, the earlier you get started, the better. We have compiled a list of scholarship and loan opportunities known to us, which we have compiled by country (http://www.insead.edu/mba/financing/financing_funding.cfm). Our list is a good place to start, but it is by no means exhaustive. Make sure you research all funding sources that may be available to you – exhaust your options!

3. Save

Depending in where you live, and in which industry you work, saving money can be difficult, and very un-fun. (Trust me – I know). But having your own savings to put towards your MBA is likely to assist you in more ways than one. Not only will you have to take out less money in loans, depending on where you live, you may also find that putting some of your own capital towards your MBA can make it easier for you to obtain a loan, and could assist in securing a lower interest rate.

4. Take a note from those who have already done it

If you’re struggling to understand how you might be able to meet your financial needs, know that you are not the first, and you are not alone. For inspiration (and ideas!) read first hand testimonials from our MBA participants on how they financed their INSEAD MBA at: http://www.insead.edu/mba/admissions/Financingquotations.cfm

Dean Frank Brown on Business Schools and the Financial Crisis

In one way or another, all of my latest posts have been related to the financial crisis. Frank Brown, Dean of INSEAD, recently wrote a piece of his own on the topic, which I thought you might find interesting. So, I've posted his article here, and you can also view a view of him being interviewed about his thoughts on Business Schools and the Financial Crisis on the INSEAD Knowledge website.

Business schools and the crisis

---- by Frank Brown, Dean of INSEAD ---- I have heard from a lot of people in the past month. Many of them ask me about the job market for our MBAs, our endowment, our executive education business and about our alumni whose jobs are at risk. But there are some who ask what are you doing about this? What is your role now and in the future as a business school? I don't presume or pretend to have all the answers, but I do have some thoughts. Firstly, I believe a lot of today’s troubles have been driven not just by greed, but by a lack of confidence. I think the average employee, maybe a business school graduate, lacks the confidence to ask the tough questions. We saw it in Enron when fast-talking finance chief Andrew Fastow got his way and no one challenged him. We saw it at WorldCom as well. That past era of trouble is all too recent I might add. Now we have seen it with structured products that most people didn't understand. Where, I ask, were the bright, well-educated and especially confident young employees who should have been challenging the logic of this stuff? They were not confident enough, I say. It is uncomfortable to ask for an explanation of an acronym like CDO. What does it mean? What is its real value? Is it sustainable? These are tough questions because they expose the questioner to the smirk of the all-knowing creator of the product. Someone like Fastow maybe. The other problem I see is one of self-perpetuation of leaders. When we look at the credit crisis, many of the firms now in trouble were led by people who had been in place for many years. They had built great teams perhaps, but were they too cosy to challenge each other -- or challenge the person at the top? I said I don't have all of the answers. The one thing I do know is that as business schools, we need to teach the basics, but we also need to convince our students to be sceptical and to challenge conventional thinking. MBAs need to have the confidence to ask the tough questions and not be satisfied with the answers until they get the facts. We also need to instill a confidence that makes people eager to do new things and not just hang on to a job because it pays well. The confidence to reinvent oneself periodically creates opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship, and ensures that teams don't become too entrenched. There are lessons as well here for boards of directors. How many boards accepted valuations and management assurances without really asking the tough questions and understanding the answers? How many boards allowed leaders to remain in place without much of a succession plan? Well, when the dust settles, and I hope it does, there will be lots of blame to go around. I am sure I will continue to get some of the same tough questions. As for me, I intend to focus on the future and make sure our students learn from the past. There is too much to ignore. Frank Brown’s book ‘The Global Business Leader’ is published by Palgrave Macmillan. FB 11/08

Cassandra's Top Three Application Tips for a Tough Admissions Year... (or any year, really)

Hello everyone! Bonjour tout le monde! 大家好!

I know we've been quiet for a while, but we're back from our summer holidays now and have headed full swing into our 2008 - 2009 recruiting season. And what a season it is! I've been on the road for the last month, attending fairs and hosting information sessions. It seems that conversations have picked up right where we left off: we're all still talking about the financial crisis. Before the summer break, I wrote an entry called Surviving Subprime: INSEAD Style. In that entry I discussed the interconnectivity of the world's financial markets and the global economy. Here's an excerpt:

There might be something slightly concerning about the fact that Manhattan bankers can threaten the financial security of teachers in Norway, but the upside is that prosperity and growth in one country can also serve to boast economies on the other side of the globe. If our problems are global, so are our solutions. And it will be leaders who have not only a sound knowledge in business fundamentals and managerial competence, but who have also developed the knowledge and sensitivity to operate anywhere in the world who will achieve them.

Welcome to INSEAD.

Today, I'd like to take the conversation to a more personal level. Over the last month, one of the most common questions I've been asked is, 'How will the state of the economy impact my chances for MBA admission'. So, let's get straight to it:

There's no question that applications are up. Not just at INSEAD, but colleagues I have spoken with at other business schools also report an increase. Put simply, this *is* going to be a more competitive year for MBA admissions. So, what can you do to make your application stand out in this competitive year? Here are my top three tips:

1.) Know Your Audience

Its important for you to know how, and by what criteria your application will be assessed. At INSEAD, we evaluate every application against four central criteria - and four only. But, each one carries equal weight, meaning you must be strong in all four to present a strong application. They are: Academic Capacity, Leadership Potential, International Motivation, and Ability to Contribute to the INSEAD experience. You can learn more about each one by visiting the Admissions Requirements page on our website.

2.) Address Your Weaknesses

We all have strengths and weaknesses. You need to be honest with yourself about what yours are. And then you need to take it to the next level and do what you can to genuinely address your weakness. In this competitive environment, you'll want to avoid being borderline anything if you can, so exhaust all avenues to strengthen your application. If you did more poorly than you would have liked during your undergraduate studies, for example, you'll want to be sure to present your strongest possible score on the GMAT. (Remember, that in order to be competitive at INSEAD, you should aim to achieve a score in the 70 - 75 percentiles in both the quantitative and verbal sections of the test). If you haven't had much experience leading people, teams or projects, you might want to considering engaging in some voluntary work which will give you the opportunity to do so.

3.) Be Authentic

In this competitive environment, you might be tempted to simply tell us what you think we want to hear. RESIST THE TEMPTATION. I can't emphasis this enough. We're looking for people who shine off paper as well as on. Now, more than ever, it is important for you to distinguish yourself from the crowd. Your uniqueness will be your strength, so be yourself, and tell us about who you are, not just the work you want to do.

Do you love yoga? Great. Maybe you'll organise yoga classes after exams. Are you a great salsa dancer? Fantastic. You can help us bring home the Cup in the MBA Olympics. Perhaps you can help us organise the Latin American week too! Are you truly passionate about making a positive impact on the world? Amazing. You could be elected to lead our Student Organisation for Social Impact (INDEVOR) or the Energy Club.

We're looking for people who shine off paper as well as on. Whatever they may be, telling us about your passions help you stand out from everyone else with your similar career and academic profiles.

Want more?

The best way to learn more about the programme, what we're looking for, and if INSEAD is the right school for you is to connect with us in person on campus or at one of the hundred + events we host and attend worldwide throughout the year. You can also post your questions on this blog, or email us at mba.info@insead.edu

Surviving Subprime, INSEAD style

I spent the better part of April crossing from one side of North America to the other. In four weeks, we hosted ten events in six cities. It was a busy month. But whether I was talking to prospects, incoming students, recruiters, or just the guy next to me on the airplane, one topic seemed to dominate all conversations: the state of the economy.

If you’re living in the U.S., I guess you’d have to be hiding under a rock to have not engaged in one way or another in the current economic situation. You can’t open a paper or tune into any news programme without noticing mention of that dreaded “R” word. And, while the talk I hear in Europe is slightly less severe, there’s no question that an economic slowdown is on everyone’s mind.

Now, I am neither an economist nor a financial expert, but, I do know this: while it was largely Wall Street decisions makers that got us into this mess, the problem has gone global. In February, the Guardian ran an interesting article on the global effects of the U.S. sub-prime crisis. The opening line read, “Finance chiefs from the G7 group of rich countries have warned that the global economy faces a period of slower growth as a result of the US mortgage crisis and projected the levels of the size of the sub-prime losses could be as high as $400bn (£200bn)."[1]

If ever we needed an example of just how truly interconnected and interdependent we all are, this is it.

From cable news pundits to business journals, the belief that economies are increasingly complex, multi-connected, and inter-reliant is something you can hear a lot about now. Even the great Jack Welsh has weighed in.

“The Jack Welch of the future cannot be me. I spent my entire career in the United States. The next head of General Electric will be somebody who spent time in Bombay, in Hong Kong, in Buenos Aires. We have to send our best and brightest overseas and make sure they have the training that will allow them to be the global leaders who will make GE flourish in the future.”[2]

It seems like business schools are starting to take notice. More and more, top U.S. schools are trying to position themselves as global. Some have added classes with an international spin, others have made more of an effort to recruit international participants, some have even launched, or enhanced, MBA concentrations in international business. I have no doubt that their efforts are genuine, but with their primarily U.S. networks, ties to the business community dominated by those in North America, and largely homogeneous classes (in even your most diverse programmes, U.S. nationals will typically make up around 70%), I do wonder if most will struggle to truly add value to the careers and lives of their MBAs in the aspect.

Of course, long before it was fashionable, INSEAD was ahead of the curve. Our first MBA Class (1960) had 52 participants from 14 different countries – unprecedented in its time. Now, we have more than 900 MBA participants per year from over 70 different countries, with no single nationality constituting a majority. No other top business school even comes close.

More than just the class make up, with our completely unique two-campus structure (France and Singapore), Research and Executive Education Centres in Israel and Abu Dhabi, and office in New York, even the physical presence of INSEAD is international and interconnected. And, of course, there’s the global INSEAD network of more than 37,000 alumni in over 150 different countries, across all continents. Perhaps even more telling is the number of countries in which there is a solid and sizable network of MBA alumni, which we define as at least 100 – currently 37, compared to an average of less than 10 for top U.S. b-schools, and an average of less than 5 for top b-schools in Europe.

Every thing about INSEAD is global. You’ll find our International Outlook embedded in every one of classes and programmes; in our research and our recruiting practices; in our conversations with one another and the people we meet. Its simply part of our DNA.

And, okay, I know that sounds like a plug. What can I say? It’s all true!

But, you don’t have to take it from me. A current MBA participant sent me an email recently, which said this:

“Last night, I witnessed the following event: A Hungarian guy living in France called a Kiwi girl having dinner at a restaurant in Singapore, asking if she knew where to find a mutual friend, an Indian guy, to talk about a trip to Hungary. Of course, he was right next to her. Only at INSEAD.”

There might be something slightly concerning about the fact that Manhattan bankers can threaten the financial security of teachers in Norway, but the upside is that prosperity and growth in one country can also serve to boast economies on the other side of the globe. If our problems are global, so are our solutions. And it will be leaders who have not only a sound knowledge in business fundamentals and managerial competence, but who have also developed the knowledge and sensitivity to operate anywhere in the world who will achieve them.

Welcome to INSEAD.

[1] You can find several articles, videos and podcasts with our faculty weighing in on the current situation on INSEAD Kowledge

[2] Cited in Javidan and House (2001) “Cultural Acumen for the Global Manager: Lessons from Project GLOBE.” Organizational Dynamics, Vol 29:289

Investing in Yourself

I recently conducted INSEAD Information Sessions in KL and Jakarta. Both attracted large crowds of high potential MBA prospects, and I was pleased to see such strong turnout. Malaysia and Indonesia are two countries with enormous potential, and we are eager to see more applicants from both. But, no matter where I go in the world, the most common questions after a session are centered on financing, loans and scholarships. Hearing these questions again and again has made me really start to think about how daunting paying for the degree may seem. Investing in yourself and your future so substantially may not be the easiest decision you will make. It will likely be one of your biggest challenges.

An MBA asks a lot of you in terms of both time and money - two very precious assets. INSEAD does offer the degree in far less time than most – only ten months vs. two years! The accelerated format definitely lowers the opportunity cost, your overall tuition fees, and it increases your return on investment. Still, 50,000 Euros is hardly pocket change. After all, if everyone could simply write a check for tuition and living expenses without a whim, you probably wouldn’t be looking for an MBA in the first place. The decision of whether or not to pursue an MBA often hinges on finding access to funding and having the ability (and guts/confidence) to take time off from earning a salary. So, if you are concerned about how you are going to make this work, you are not alone. We understand!

Roughly 20% of our participants each year receive INSEAD scholarships. Of the rest, 7% are company sponsored, and the the remaining 73% fund programme through a combination of savings, loans and external scholarships. What I would like to stress is that there are a variety of scholarship opportunities available through INSEAD directly, and you can apply for more than one. I would not recommend applying for all that INSEAD has to offer; each scholarship has very specific (and often conflicting) qualifications. You have to do your homework here.

Your essay is also the key to being considered. Even those that are based purely on financial need – what you say and how you say it to the scholarship committee matters more than you may imagine. It's not just about numbers, but your numbers and your words. For INSEAD to invest in you, you need to show us that you've (at least) invested in the time to write your best essay for each scholarship. Prepare something meaningful and accurate, or don't bother applying at all. You should also be careful in assuming that you have the most challenging financial situation of those you are competing against - leave that for the committee to decide.

Moreover, not every scholarship is based solely on your ability to pay. Many are based on your ability to compose a well thought-out essay with a convincing argument for why you deserve it most. L’Oreal, for example, offers a scholarship based on creativity. Syngenta offers one based on your ability to communicate a time when you did something innovative and the impact of that initiative. [What is also interesting to note that CEOs of both companies are INSEAD alumni!] There are many other scholarships as well. For more information and details, read carefully through our website here: http://www.insead.edu/mba/schlmgmt/index.cfm?fuseaction=dsp_list_schl.

Finally, no matter which one(s) you choose, write a unique essay for each - no cutting an pasting! Repeating yourself again and again will only hurt your chances. Ultimately, if you put your best foot forward, INSEAD will do its best to reward you for doing so.

A New Year: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

As I finalized my calendar for our upcoming events in Asia-Pacific, I am still amazed by the places on my list. Since I moved to Singapore from Boston last June, I have been to: Shanghai (twice), Beijing (twice), Tokyo (twice), Seoul (twice), Hong Kong, Taipei, Manila, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Sydney, Melbourne, and Kuala Lumpur. I’ve also been able to visit the Fontainebleau campus twice. In the upcoming six months, I will visit: Jakarta, Mumbai, New Delhi, Tokyo, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Tel Aviv and Fontainebleau again. Yet, I am only one in a team of six INSEAD staff, constantly traveling the globe, looking to recruit the best and brightest from each continent.

My “slice” of the world fascinates me. Each of these cities that I’ve visited becomes marked in my memory by vast differences in culture, ways of life, standards of living, languages, geographies and politics. Sometimes this last point can hit a little too close to home though; for example, when I turned on the BBC one morning to find the hotel where I stayed in Manila (only weeks before) surrounded and smashed in by tanks, completely under siege, due to a coup attempt (which luckily failed). My five colleagues likely have similar stories – we really are all over the planet, and you really never know what can happen. Our team’s collective dispersion only becomes more apparent when the six of us want to get together for a meeting…but I digress.

On a mission from INSEAD, we each have a number of important messages to get out to prospective candidates, but one which I find the most difficult to really do justice is our diversity. Before I continue (and before you roll your eyes), I must say: I understand, you’ve heard this word used so many times in the context of higher education that you have become numb to it. But the word diversity, when coupled with INSEAD, takes on a whole new meaning. When you compare INSEAD with other programmes, what you will find may surprise you. Well, I was certainly surprised. It took me awhile to really understand both the depth and thus the power of this diversity. Aside from the UN, I know of no other institution as international as INSEAD. Many of our participants brandish not one, but two, sometimes three passports.

My favorite slide in the presentation I give while on the road shows not only that we have typically 70+ nationalities in our classes, but that there is never more than 14% of any one nationality, meaning: everyone is a minority. The pie chart on the screen showing the different nationalities in our programme has so many slices, so many small slices and no large ones – no other school can match us. Plus, INSEAD is not a European school, it is not a French school, nor is it a Singaporean school. INSEAD belongs to no country, yet it seeks to attract candidates from all.

This leads me to a fundamental misunderstanding of how INSEAD compares to other programmes which is quite common among prospects. I am invariably asked, “What is INSEAD’s percentage of international students?” To be honest, I equate this to asking Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, “What is the UN’s percentage of international members?” The answer: 100%. But our diversity goes beyond the 70+ nationalities and gets deeper and richer when you look at the professional backgrounds of our participants, as we call them. Last year, we had a female Olympic swimmer, an Opera singer, a fashion model (actually two now in one year), not to mention all of the doctors, lawyers, PhD’s, artists, entrepreneurs and journalists that have come here through the years. This afternoon I am interviewing an Israeli woman who was a professional ballerina (and an Air Force officer) before taking on a marketing and sales role with HP (prior to her current stint at INSEAD).

This rich diversity translates into the kind of education that opens your mind, gives you a broader perspective, enhances your interpersonal skills and arms you with more sophisticated diplomatic sensibilities. And as the world gets smaller and geographic boundaries blur, this becomes increasingly important if you want to become a successful global leader. Actually, I’d have to say it’s essential if you are someone who wants to stand out and make an impact on a global stage. As you will find out, INSEAD graduates definitely do.

To find out when we are in your neighborhood, please check the following link, which is updated regularly: http://www.insead.edu/mba/meet_us/form/Offcampusevents.cfm

Defining ‘International Outlook’ in an Increasingly Globalised World

If you’ve been to an INSEAD Information Session, you’ll know that the final portion relates to our Admissions Criteria, and that one of those criteria is International Outlook[1]. It’s not uncommon for this portion of the presentation to solicit the most questions, and many people wonder about what exactly constitutes an International Outlook. Do they need to have worked abroad? Or to have spent years of their life outside their native country? Do undergraduate exchange programme count? What if they haven’t had the opportunity to travel as much as they would have liked? These are all common questions which I am asked all over the world. But, one of the attendees in our recent Information Session in Toronto presented one of the most interesting questions on the topic I’ve ever been asked.

‘If, as a Canadian’, he posed, ‘I’ve lived and worked in the U.S., does that count as “international”’?

Unsurprisingly, his question got a loud response of laugher from the rest of the group, and I laughed too. But, it also got me thinking of the question more broadly. Just a generation ago, travelling between Western and Eastern Europe, or the U.S. and just about anywhere was a major event. Oceans and walls divided us, both literally and figuratively. Now, former communist countries exchange freely with their European neighbours, not just in goods, but also in labour. And, I know people who will hop on a plane from New York to London for a weekend. I took a globalisation course at University and we called this phenomenon the ‘decompression of the time / space continuum’. Put simply, the world has gotten smaller. And, it begs the question: in a world where countries are closer, do we have to travel farther to become truly international?

When I think of my own experience, I have had three significant moves which have, without a doubt, altered my outlook on the world and myself. The first was my move from the U.S. to London. At 19, I was all bright-eyed, adventure seeking energy, and while my naiveté might have been charming to some, in retrospect it is clear that I had absolutely no idea what I was in for. Studying at a University in which Americans were a clear minority, I got my first real exposure to true Anti-Americanism. Coming into contact with new ideas and perspectives, I began to question both political policies and my own values which I had previously taken for granted. After a year of living there, my mind had been blown wide open. After two, I didn’t want to leave.

Seven years later I did leave, but not for home. Instead, I traded the grey skies of London for the lovely Singapore sunshine. My time in Asia was relatively short; I lived there for the first seven months of my contract with INSEAD, before moving to be based on our campus in France. Seven months obviously can’t compare with seven years, but as the country of Singapore is less than half the size of London, I didn’t need as much time to become familiar with the place. Though I’ve often heard Singapore referred to as ‘Asia light’, my time there certainly gave me my first exposure to Asian working and living culture, as well as some of the best sushi I’ve ever had.

My most recent move was, of course, to France. Though I enjoyed my time in Singapore, I have to admit that I was excited to come back to Europe. I missed good wine and good chocolate (there’s certainly no shortage of either here) and, while I love discovering new and different places, I looked forward to being somewhere a little more familiar. Strangely, though, I have never felt more like a foreigner than I do living in France. Though I love France for its charm, lifestyle and general opulence, there is no question that the culture is very different from my own. Every day, at nearly every turn, I am challenged to adapt to different norms, to communicate in a language and style I find unfamiliar, and to consider new points of view.

In fact, in many ways, Singapore felt closer the U.S. than anywhere else I’ve lived. Everything from the working culture to the consumer culture seemed to mirror the American. U.S. influence can be seen everywhere. It’s strange that somewhere 10,000 miles away from where you’re from can feel more like home than somewhere less than half that distance. But this is the world we now live in; culture divides us more than geography.

Having an International Outlook isn’t necessarily defined by the time you’ve spent abroad or the number of countries you’ve visited. These are just the potential products of a mindset. Distance is no longer measured in the space between one point and another, but in the space between one point of view and another. At INSEAD, we’re looking for people who want to walk that distance; people who will stand at the top of someone else’s peak and take in a new perspective. If you’re ready to rise to that challenge, then INSEAD is ready for you.

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[1] The other three, in case you were wondering, are: Academic Capacity, Leadership Potential and Overall Ability to Contribute to INSEAD.