One of the best courses I've taken at INSEAD is called International Political Analysis. The content was just okay, but the professor who taught it - Vinnie Aggarwal - a visiting professor from Haas just rocked the show.
The entire class felt like a story of countries, their manipulations and struggles. Just plain amazing..
Saturday, February 21, 2009
INSEAD vs IMD
I recently met a friend of mine in a Parisian Cafe. He's getting his MBA at IMD. I have to admit that I felt a little jealous about their program. While the overall prestige and reputation of INSEAD is greater than IMD, there are a few very cool things about IMD
1. Very small class size. Total class < 100, compared to 450+ for INSEAD
2. Average age is 31+, which means you have a more powerful network (powerful is debatable ofcourse)
3. Intense focus on group work - Everything gets done in a group. INSEAD does a lot of group work too, but we keep rotating groups quite a bit.
If I were to do it again, I'd do INSEAD all over for it's own strengths. But depending on your background, choosing IMD can be a good option..
1. Very small class size. Total class < 100, compared to 450+ for INSEAD
2. Average age is 31+, which means you have a more powerful network (powerful is debatable ofcourse)
3. Intense focus on group work - Everything gets done in a group. INSEAD does a lot of group work too, but we keep rotating groups quite a bit.
If I were to do it again, I'd do INSEAD all over for it's own strengths. But depending on your background, choosing IMD can be a good option..
Moving to Singapore
I'm out of Fonty and on to Singapore for P4,P5.
Why am I doing this?
I want to look for jobs in Singapore, HongKong & India. And despite what everyone states P4 must be spent where you're looking for a job.
Reading the FT or WSJ, you hear that Singapore is pretty much F#c@ed. Well, that goes with the rest of the world. For now, I'm hoping that a more urban environment atleast simplifies networking.
Finally, the insider view is that Singapore is the 'more fun' place to be at. The environment is supposedly more relaxed, people more friendlier etc etc. I honestly don't get how that could be, but I guess I'll just learn.
P3 exams are about to start in a few days now. The nice thing about P3 and forward is that there are very few exams and instead the focus is on in class participation and group work. It's more work in class but the learning experience is much better...
Why am I doing this?
I want to look for jobs in Singapore, HongKong & India. And despite what everyone states P4 must be spent where you're looking for a job.
Reading the FT or WSJ, you hear that Singapore is pretty much F#c@ed. Well, that goes with the rest of the world. For now, I'm hoping that a more urban environment atleast simplifies networking.
Finally, the insider view is that Singapore is the 'more fun' place to be at. The environment is supposedly more relaxed, people more friendlier etc etc. I honestly don't get how that could be, but I guess I'll just learn.
P3 exams are about to start in a few days now. The nice thing about P3 and forward is that there are very few exams and instead the focus is on in class participation and group work. It's more work in class but the learning experience is much better...
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Essay Writing
I got a few requests for tips on INSEAD essays. I had written about this when I started apping. Here's an easy link: http://inseadapp.blogspot.com/2008/02/insead-essays.html
The bottom line is to think of INSEAD like a business. Imagine, you're running a school. Think about how the school makes money and how you play a role in it (Hint: Your tuition is just a small part of the whole story). Feel free to brainstorm on the comments and I can share my insight.
The bottom line is to think of INSEAD like a business. Imagine, you're running a school. Think about how the school makes money and how you play a role in it (Hint: Your tuition is just a small part of the whole story). Feel free to brainstorm on the comments and I can share my insight.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Is INSEAD that good?
Ranked 5th on FT. Higher than Stanford. Is the school that good or are these rankings busted?
Here's my take
Stanford is a better school than INSEAD. I have friends studying there and the kind of doors it opens are way way superior than INSEAD. Now, with the exception of Stanford, I think I agree with the FT Rankings. However, there's another element to interpreting rankings viz. who you are. So, we'll take a few parameters and assign some points
1. Your age
2. Your current experience
3. Your target industry
4. Your desired geographic location
Age:
If you're under 26, Assign 0
If you're between 26 - 29, Assign 50
If you're over 29, Assign 100
Experience
If you've got 0-2 years experience, Assign 0
If you've got 3-5 years experience, Assign 50
If you've got more than 5 years experience, Assign 100
Target Industry
If your target industry is completely different from your current, Assign 0
If your target industry is similar or closely related to your current, Assign 100
Geographic Location
If your target location is Europe, Assign 100
If your target location is USA, Assign 0
If your target location is Asia, Assign 50
Add up your scores. The closer you're to 400, the better INSEAD is for you and the more sense the rankings make. If you're young, have very less experience and are trying to make a career change, then INSEAD's the wrong school for you. If on the other hand, you're trying to nail a top notch job in Europe or Asia and are trying to make a transition from a promising manager to an executive, INSEAD gives you a lot of propeller fuel..
Here's my take
Stanford is a better school than INSEAD. I have friends studying there and the kind of doors it opens are way way superior than INSEAD. Now, with the exception of Stanford, I think I agree with the FT Rankings. However, there's another element to interpreting rankings viz. who you are. So, we'll take a few parameters and assign some points
1. Your age
2. Your current experience
3. Your target industry
4. Your desired geographic location
Age:
If you're under 26, Assign 0
If you're between 26 - 29, Assign 50
If you're over 29, Assign 100
Experience
If you've got 0-2 years experience, Assign 0
If you've got 3-5 years experience, Assign 50
If you've got more than 5 years experience, Assign 100
Target Industry
If your target industry is completely different from your current, Assign 0
If your target industry is similar or closely related to your current, Assign 100
Geographic Location
If your target location is Europe, Assign 100
If your target location is USA, Assign 0
If your target location is Asia, Assign 50
Add up your scores. The closer you're to 400, the better INSEAD is for you and the more sense the rankings make. If you're young, have very less experience and are trying to make a career change, then INSEAD's the wrong school for you. If on the other hand, you're trying to nail a top notch job in Europe or Asia and are trying to make a transition from a promising manager to an executive, INSEAD gives you a lot of propeller fuel..
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The Economy & Other stuff
I had the financial crisis explained to me real nice in my P3 Macro-economics course. The only reaction I had to it was, WTF! I understand that things look real simple in retrospect, but the sheer volume of greed that realtors and bankers engaged in just shocked me. I seriously began to question some of the principles of the capitalistic system we live in. I started reading some Marx just to get some hope that there may be alternate ideologies that are rooted in something more substantial.
Am I saying that an MBA is a waste? I am not sure. However, I feel that there are definitely some lessons towards learning how to make tradeoffs between pure financial gain and long term sustenance.
Am I saying that an MBA is a waste? I am not sure. However, I feel that there are definitely some lessons towards learning how to make tradeoffs between pure financial gain and long term sustenance.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Rental Refund (a.k.a. CAF)
If you're renting in Fonty and are not a EU resident, then you're entitled to get a refund of the property tax paid by your landlord if your income is really low. If you're Indian, Chinese or one of the others from developing countries, then you're qualify for this. Here's how you get the refund
1. Visit: https://www.caf.fr/. It's all in French, so you'll need #2 onwards..
2. Select on the left pane, "Etudiants'
3. Then on the same pane, Select "Aide Au Logement" Faire une demande
4. Scroll down all the way. Click Pursuivre
5. Fill up the form. Use bablefish or translator to make sense of the form. It's not too complicated. One note is to keep your salary equivalents less than 20,000 Euros
6. Print the resultant form, sign it yourself and ask your landlord to fill out a fields.. Landlord if french, should know what to fill out.
If you're in a fancy place paying 1000 - 1200, then you can get refunds up to 300 euros. The only catch is that you can only apply after you get Carte De Sejour. but nothing stops you from starting the paperwork upfront.
1. Visit: https://www.caf.fr/. It's all in French, so you'll need #2 onwards..
2. Select on the left pane, "Etudiants'
3. Then on the same pane, Select "Aide Au Logement" Faire une demande
4. Scroll down all the way. Click Pursuivre
5. Fill up the form. Use bablefish or translator to make sense of the form. It's not too complicated. One note is to keep your salary equivalents less than 20,000 Euros
6. Print the resultant form, sign it yourself and ask your landlord to fill out a fields.. Landlord if french, should know what to fill out.
If you're in a fancy place paying 1000 - 1200, then you can get refunds up to 300 euros. The only catch is that you can only apply after you get Carte De Sejour. but nothing stops you from starting the paperwork upfront.
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