A few weeks back I was asked to give my opinion about the school at an MBA Open Day. I could jot this all down for everyone else to benefit.

INSEAD is really one school and two campuses. One is close to the beach and one is close to Paris. Both offer good food. One is not about Mainly Busy Academically and the other not only about Mostly Beach Activities. It is sometimes difficult to pinpoint Fontainebleau on a map – and Singapore counts among the smallest countries in the world, yet if you are finding yourself in a place where it is difficult to pronounce or spell the names of the majority of your classmates, you must be at Insead.

In fact, Insead is like this airport that has only a business lounge full of international frequent travelers. You can nearly imagine the call for class: “Your attention please. This is the final boarding call for the Strategy Class. All participants please proceed to amphi R and have your badge ready for inspection”

Participants – all Insead participants are active, serious – and do not wear suits to school every day. The school if fully of people making fun of their own stereotype like this Irish guy who once admitted to class that Irish do not just drink Guiness. They also drink whiskey, wine, vodka, etc… It is unlikely that you can assume anything about the history of any Insead participant. When you dig a little bit into their past, you’ll find out that the guy with this perfect Brooklyn accent has a Turkish mother, a Belgian father, lived in Malaysia for the past 3 years but would love to work in South Africa upon graduation. Then he might add that he has already sailed around the world and was an Olympic swimmer in his younger years. Whatever story you bring with you to Insead, be prepared to share it and discover many more stories that are just so extraordinary.

For instance – before Insead, I was living in a country where people pride themselves on being monolingual. With three languages, I thought that I was in a cool situation. No one to talk to but still, cool. After a couple of weeks, I discovered that I was belittled by my neighbor in the amphi who could speak seven languages, including all three that I was already fluent in.

What professors do not tell you because they could not justify their high salary – and Insead would have a hard time legitimizing their tuition fee increase on a matchmaking business model - is that you learn probably more from the participants than from the faculty. You will receive as much or more than what you give to others. My advice to you is to give with no limit.

The faculty is equally brilliant – and I believe that I have already said that at some point in this journal. At Insead, you will probably tackle problems that are critical to the world’s survival. For instance in our statistics classes, in P1, we found ourselves verifying the claim that there was 10% of green M&Ms in each little bag. I thought that the idea was brilliant and since we were in France, I tried to argue in favor of testing the hypothesis that most famous Bordeaux claimed 12.4% alcohol in their cru. Unfortunately, the curriculum sucks and my negotiation class was not to begin until P4 so I got fried on the spot and never got my proposal through.

Even though I know that some respectable members of the Insead grading community reads this journal on a continuous basis, I will talk about social activities, thus asking them to come to terms with the fact that MBAs do not concern themselves only with earthly academic matters but elevate their souls in the vapors of parties and build up a strong physical resistance through sports.
Work hard – play hard is the motto. Just don’t drink-drive.

Each school is different. There are loads of very good programs out there. Try to be clear about what you want while you are at school and afterwards. Bring to Insead what you have and expect to see your seed multiplied by all the others who will accompany you on your journey.

Board now.