R1 alum interview, off-campus in-person, ran about an hour. Very conversational and felt more like a chat than an evaluation.
It was resume-based, and felt that he clearly read mine. Opened with Tell me about yourself, then moved through Why MBA/Why Now, Why INSEAD, short- and long-term goals, strengths/weaknesses, and what I’d contribute to the class. Two behavioral questions: Tell me about a time I had to face failure and asked me to share an instance in which I lead a team/tough situations.
What surprised most was the question about why I was applying from Vietnam as an Indian national. He was genuinely curious about profile and wanted to know about my trajectory. Felt like he was getting to know me rather than stress-testing. He also asked openly about the other schools on my list, including US ones, and I was straightforward about it.
He gave me 5-7 minutes at the end for my own questions and was generous with his own experience.
Advice: know your story, but don’t over-rehearse. The alum will follow threads that interest them, so be ready to go deeper on anything in your essays or resume. And come with real questions about the program, as I felt he noticed.
I was admitted with a €20K scholarship. Ended up going elsewhere, but INSEAD was the smoothest part of my cycle.
