All You Need To Know About INSEAD’s Global EMBA (GEMBA)

INSEAD is looking for experienced executives (average of 13 years work experience and at least 3 years in a management role) who can demonstrate their potential as leaders. When assessing EMBA candidates, our MBA coaches will mostly look at their CVs to carefully review their professional experience and past performance. In other words, other aspects of a typical MBA application such as your extracurricular activities and past academic performance, albeit not irrelevant, are less important. For instance, having an undergraduate degree is preferred and you will need to take an entry test (the GMAC Executive Assessment (EA), GMAT or the INSEAD Assessment).

Another important aspect of your application is your international outlook. INSEAD is best known as “the business school for the world” and prides itself as the world’s most international business school. As a result, they look for applicants with cross-cultural sensitivity and an international outlook. Have lived, worked, or studied abroad or working on an international level with clients, suppliers or other stakeholders is a crucial aspect of one’s application. Similarly, because of the nature of an MBA program, it would be important to display your ability to contribute. The claim of elite business schools, that you learn more from your classmates than from faculty is not a stereotypic marketing vocabular. This works because participants proactively contribute and share the insights they have gained throughout their professional and personal experience.

There is one GEMBA intake per year, divided into three regional sections and the admissions process is the same for all GEMBA applicants, whether they apply for the Asia, the Middle East or the Europe section. However, application deadlines are different as the sections start at different dates.

Importantly, there are several ways to apply to the program. As per of the admissions process, you must take either the INSEAD Assessment, the GMAC Executive Assessment (EA), or the GMAT. Those 3 tests evaluate your academic aptitude, including quantitative and verbal skills. The application process will vary slightly depending on which test you choose. And while they all offer pros and cons, there will always be a preferred option based on our candidate profile.

But first, let’s look at the impact of the test you choose on your admissions process.

INSEAD Assessment

If you’d like to take the INSEAD Assessment, you should submit your EMBA application first. The Pre-selection committee will then invite selected candidates for the INSEAD Assessment Day (which includes the INSEAD Assessment, the Admissions Panel, a Case Study and a Motivational Interview).

If you elect to take the INSEAD Assessment, it is important to note that you will only have one chance to pass the exam. In the event your test performance was not going to be satisfactory, you will be rejected, without the option to submit an EA or GMAT score and will need to wait another year to re-apply.

GMAC Executive Assessment (EA) and GMAT

If you’d like to take the EA or the GMAT, you should take the test first and submit your EMBA application together with your test score. The Pre-selection committee will then invite selected candidates for an Admissions Interview conducted by EMBA alumni.

The advantages of taking the EA or the GMAT is that you have more control on your test performance. Because you can take those test multiple times (2 times for the EA and up to 8 times for the GMAT), you have the option to submit a higher score if your first attempt didn’t work out. Importantly, you have more visibility by the time you submit your application as you will know whether you have met the minimum threshold.

Though the EA and GMAT route seems to offer valuable advantages, it is not necessarily the preferred route for everyone. As a matter of fact, more than 70% of our INSEAD GEMBA applicants prefer to take the INSEAD Test (with none having failed it till date). We broke down below the reasons why you should elect a specific test over the other.

You should take the INSEAD Test if

You want to maximize your admissions process timeline. On average, our applicants prepare their INSEAD Test in 6 weeks (in comparison to 3+ months for the EA and 4+ months for the GMAT). The test was designed by Prep Zone’s academic team in collaboration with the INSEAD faculty with the main goal to reduce the preparation time in mind. Though all 3 tests will look at your quantitative and verbal aptitudes, the INSEAD Test mostly assess your data analysis, data interpretation, communication analysis, critical thinking, plus business-scenario presentation skills and there is no non-applied mathematics or English grammar.

You should take the EA if

You are not fully confident in your test taking abilities and easily stress when taking a test. Because there is no retake when it comes to the INSEAD Test, some applicants tend to prefer the EA. However, because the EA takes longer to prepare, it is important that you start your admissions process earlier and no later than by April. In the event your EA scores don’t meet INSEAD minimum threshold, you would still have the option to take the INSEAD Test and the knowledge and skills you would have acquired during your EA prep would easily be transferred.

You should take the GMAT if and only if

You do not hold an undergraduate degree or if you have less than 10 years work experience. For every other candidates, the GMAT should not even be considered as it is the most arduous test to prepare for and does not provide you with any competitive edge.

With a team of seasoned MBA consultants and GMAT trainers, Prep Zone Academy is here to help you gain admittance to the INSEAD’s Global EMBA program.

Sign-up for a free consultation with us today regarding your GEMBA application process – simply fill in the following form and our consultants will get in touch to propose a suitable slot.

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