We had a little cocktails for scholarship recipients the other day. In the intimate atmosphere of a large empty cafeteria - the few of us were awkwardly gathered around two solitary and sad-looking tables, set side by side, and decorated with a combination of tiger-zebra inspired cloth.

The Dean of the campus realized 10 min into his speech that he had gathered his little value chain: Admissions, scholarship, Director of MBA Program, Career Management Services and Alumni Association/Relation.
Bottom line for us was: do remember to send us a check when you graduate. Law of reciprocation in action.

Seriously, the availability of scholarships is bitterly missing from the INSEAD package. One of the reasons is that INSEAD is a young school and there is only a limited pool of alumni to draw from. Another reason is that this type of donations and school affiliation is not as powerfully engrained in other parts of the world, as it is in the US. There might be something linked to limited resources that would go around potential sponsors. Perhaps an opportunity to partner up with MBA Marketing. In any case, clearly a point that they could improve upon - or at least try to work out better deals with banks. Some of the loans that they were offering were deals worse that what students could get without using the name of the school as a solid backup.

All in all - the school has clearly indicated its priority: international aspect is present. Two integrated and fully-functional campuses and global presence is there. Excellence of faculty, teaching, variety of program, contacts in the industry, diversity of participants, it's all there. Career Management Services is rapidly improving and certainly more than willing to assist (and one can go a loooooooonnnng way with goodwill and a bit of energy) but not quite yet what I would expect from a top tier institution. Most firms I contacted though replied taht they knew about the school and had a high expectation regarding the quality of its graduates. Brand Management, fund raising, etc...might still need a little bit of effort.

Oh, and next time, it would be nice to have red wine too at this kind of cocktail.