IMD MBA招生负责人Lisa Piguet谈申请变化以及给中国学生的建议

catmice

可能大家已经注意到，这两年的申请essay questions有较大变化，从往年的6个减少为三个（具体问题附后）。为了给今年考虑申请的同学一些参考，笔者联系了IMD的Associate Director MBA Admissions & Marketing，Lisa Piguet，向她了解了一些最新的情况，并请她给中国同学一些建议, 得到Lisa非常热情地快速回复。为了准确性，没有翻译成中文，相信准备申请MBA的同学阅读不会有任何障碍。另外，IMD MBA program director, Professor Ralf Boscheck也就今年application essay questions的变化做了评论，一并分享给大家

这篇博文分为下面几个部分：
1. 今年的essay questions 和MBA program director, Professor Ralf Boscheck的评论。
2. Lisa今年2月和国外的一位Admission Consultant, Adam Markus做的专访。这篇专访非常全面，很具参考价值。因为笔者不想再让Lisa回答一遍同样的问题，也因为Adam Markus的网站在国内经常打不开，所以在这里转给大家。(http://www.adammarkus.com/an-int ... application-essays/)
3. Lisa专门给中国同学的建议，包括申请动机，学业挑战，就业思考，和招生推广活动的安排。
欢迎同学们评论或者提出本文没有涵盖的问题，我们会转给Lisa和Professor Ralf Boscheck, 并在这里贴出回复。

marcox

mark

xiaomimm

thanks for sharing

oeasy

蛮有用的一些建议呢!~

catmice

Part III Lisa’s advice for Chinese candidates
For Chinese candidates, what do you see are the biggest challenges they face studying at IMD? What could they do better?
I think the biggest challenge is the language and the fact that a lot of Chinese would like to stay in Europe when they don’t have previous international work experience. This is not a “deal breaker” but it just means they have to be very clear on where they want to go and work very hard in order to get to their goal.                                
What could they do better: Be clear about where they want to go and why they want to come to IMD. Are they wanting to work on themselves? Do they want a challenge? Do they like industry?

What should Chinese candidates consider before applying to IMD?
I think they need to really look at what the program has to offer and make sure it suits their goals and needs. As you know, we are quite different than most B-schools. They have to be prepared to work very hard and be challenged on a daily basis.
                                       
What are the events you plan to hold in China this year?
We are in the planning process as we speak. We will have some alumni hosted events this Spring and then Ralf will be travelling to China in the Fall for fairs and master classes. Please keep checking the website for details. We will also be conducting interviews in Singapore in August for the Asian community. If you want to be interviewed there, you must apply by April 1, or the June 1 deadline.

What's your advice to Chinese candidates regarding the application and interview process?  
Bring out your achievements (the more quantifiable the better). Make sure your career goal is realistic and you can talk through it. Bring out as much international experience as you can. Even if you’ve only had business trips-bring them out! We cannot guess that you’ve had them. Regarding the interview process-my advice is to contact recent alums. I cannot comment a lot on the process but they can tell you exactly what happens. What I can tell you is to try and be yourself. If you are too nervous, unfortunately we cannot get much information from you.

catmice

Part II  Q&A with IMD’s Lisa Piguet, by Adam Markus
In this post, Lisa and I first discuss the changes to the MBA curriculum introduced for the Class of 2014, which are specifically designed to enhance the job opportunities for students by “making IMD MBA’s a product.”  We then discuss the MBA admissions essays that will be used for Rounds 2-5 (April 1, June 1, August 1 and September 1) for the Class of 2015.
This interview was conducted by phone on February 7 and subsequently revised by both Lisa and me prior to posting.
ADAM: Could you explain the changes that have been made to the curriculum for the Class of 2014?
LISA:  IMD has always been known for leadership, which runs throughout the program. While the program is still roughly the same, our new MBA Program Director, Professor Ralf Boscheck, has conceptualized the program as built on three pillars:
Technical competence: Students will take Business Fundamentals, which runs for the first six months and is a return to the way the program was structured prior to the Class of 2012.  Our MBA Program Director, Professor Ralf Boscheck, wants the students to be as prepared as possible for the projects that occur in the second half of the year.
Self-Awareness:  Throughout the program, from the first day to last day, building leadership through personal development is critical. To that end, 95% of students take an elective, which includes 20 sessions with a licensed psychoanalyst to maximize their self-awareness and leadership development throughout the program.
Moral Values: By setting up situations in the program, mostly electives at the end of the program, MBAs can focus on morals and different values orientations.
Building on these pillars, Professor Boscheck, a longstanding and popular member of the faculty, has altered the overall structure of the program to give our students enhanced opportunities to gain exposure to potential employers.

ADAM: Both in terms of students’ experience during the program and in terms of post-MBA outcomes, what kind of impact does IMD expect from these changes?
LISA:  We anticipate the students will be better prepared for ICP and the other projects by taking all the courses up front and therefore better exposed to key international job markets. The objective is that our MBAs have an even better network. We want to make the IMD MBA a product that will be even more attractive to future employers.
The following changes should especially give students an opportunity to demonstrate their competence and enhance their visibility to future employers:
- Our Discovery Trip this year will be to three key thriving markets for employment and consist of a mini-internship with different companies including consulting firms. Our 90 students will be divided into three groups, going to Singapore, Sao Paulo, or New York City.
- A completely new addition to the curriculum is the opportunity for our students to not just attend, but actively participate at our major executive training program, Orchestrating Winning Performance (OWP), which is held on-campus in June.  Our MBAs will present and teach executives enrolled in the program. The objective is to more actively expose students to executives in order to showcase them and give students additional networking and enhanced job opportunities.
-They will also participate in an executive conference to be held on the IMD Lausanne campus in November called “Navigating the Future”. They will be asked to present and showcase themselves an additional time.

ADAM: Does IMD plan further changes to the curriculum for 2015?
LISA: No, not for now. Ralf will continue to build on the changes he has implemented in 2014.

ADAM: Regarding the changes to the application essay questions, what is the overall intention of changing them so extensively?
LISA: We wanted greater concision in our essay set. Due to our interview process we can ask much more intensively and extensively about the applicant’s background.  What we want from the essays is to know who the person really is.  The essays should bring us closer to understanding the applicant.

ADAM: Should this be interpreted as a change in what IMD is looking for from applicants?
LISA: No, the same basic criteria apply.

ADAM: Do the changes in questions relate to other changes to the MBA program?
LISA: No, we just really wanted to revise our essay set.

ADAM: Regarding Essay Question 2, which I frankly love because it really requires a genuine response, it strikes me that beyond any considerations about an applicant’s ability to respond to total failure (A possible way of responding to the question), IMD is really asking about the resilience of the applicant.  Would you care to comment on my opinion?
LISA: What we are testing is resilience, coping skills, attitude and self-awareness.
The extent of the failure need not be catastrophic.  Above all, it has to be honest.
We want to know how the applicant overcame the situation.  What did they do about it?   How did they think about it?  How did they respond to it?

ADAM: Regarding Question 3, I was struck by the fact that IMD was now asking applicants to consider themselves in the long-term.  The long-term has long been absent from IMD’s written application process, though certainly common at most MBA programs.  Care to comment?
LISA: What we are looking for is how you project yourself into the future.  I would suggest considering the following when writing this:
- What mark do you want to leave on the planet?
- What would you tell your children/grand kids?
- What kind of person would you like to be?
- What kind of accomplishments would you like to make in the future?
- What do you want out of your life?
- Where are you going?
While surely focused on long-term vision, it is an achievement question in a way because it is testing drive, passion, and possibly altruism.

catmice

Part I  IMD MBA 2015 Application Essay Questions
Essay 1:
Describe yourself in two hundred words or less

Essay 2:
Give an example of a time when you were confronted with an unrecoverable event. How did it affect you and what were your greatest learnings?

Essay 3:
On your 75th birthday someone close to you presents your laudatio (tribute). It can be a friend, colleague, family member etc. Please describe in detail what this person would say about you and your life.

Professor Ralf Boscheck’s brief comments: We’ve noticed that the previous essay questions were not very practical, and it was easy to google for an answer or hire someone to write them for you. This year, we want you to really think hard and understand yourself better.  We want to know the real you.