I didn’t realize how much my first interview would impact my future. It wasn’t a meeting with a recruiter or Fortune 500 CEO. I was 6 years old, sitting across from the international baccalaureate (IB) school’s admissions counselor. “Would you like to proceed in English or Spanish?” she asked. “English!” I said, surprising my mother. We had arrived in the US from Chile less than a year earlier when my father was transferred to lead his firm’s new telecommunications subsidiary. I was new to English but eager to dive in. Mama initiated my interest in languages as she had been educated at Universidad de Chile, and understood the value of global education. Together, these interests motivated me to enroll in IB’s French immersion program, to be surrounded by classmates from many cultures and nationalities, which enriched my learning dramatically.
As an immigrant, I also understood the value of hard work from an early age. In high school that meant balancing my long study hours with working up to 20 hours/week at the Mexican restaurant my family started in Tampa Bay following Papa leaving the corporate world (after building the subsidiary to 600+ employees prior to its sale). Resilience has become another cherished value. For example, when I failed to gain preadmission to UNC’s Kenan-Flagler business school, I committed to putting in the work to make this happen during regular admissions, and succeeded, completing my last two years of college at the b-school.
Throughout life, I’ve sought growth from enriching global experiences. Immediately after college, I backpacked across five Latin American countries, ending with a two-month internship in Chile. I was elated to practice my Portuguese in Brazil and connect with new people, whether sharing a meal with a stranger at a train station in Boa Vista or couch-surfing through Uruguayan beach towns. My travels have pushed me out of my comfort zone, boosted my resourcefulness, reminded me of my privilege, and highlighted how much more I have to learn. My experience has also motivated me to make a difference for others. At UNC, I joined EASE (Easing Abroad Students Entry) to mentor incoming study-abroad students. For instance, I helped Andres from Spain navigate campus and Chapel Hill, and brought him into my friend group to enjoy outings at restaurants and events like the UNC-Duke game.
Now, having worked in Canada, China, Mexico, and countless U.S. states, I am eager to make a global impact while working closely with ambitious colleagues (see Career Vision essay). To do that I’ll harness my ambition but also continue ameliorating my shortcomings, like how I learned to manage my past tendency to rely on “brute force.” As a Senior Analyst, I failed to leverage the available knowledge at my firm for some challenging client work-streams, forcing me to restart from scratch to succeed. I’ve come a long way from that IB interview at age 6, learning and growing from each new experience. Now I’m excited to share and build on all of my values at INSEAD.
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Analysis:
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The student does an outstanding job of offering a candid description of themselves, using vivid examples to emphasize the main factors that influenced their personal development. By framing the essay around their experience immigrating to the U.S. from Chile at age 6, their IB education, their fluency in multiple languages (Spanish, English, French, and Portuguese) and their ability to navigate various cultural settings (having worked & traveled in the U.S., Canada, China, Mexico, and five additional Latin American countries), they both explicitly and implicitly communicate to the admissions committee not only that they are a competent and experienced business professional but also that they are aligned with INSEAD’s “business school for the world” mission. By using language like “Mama” and “Papa” rather than Mother and Father, the student’s essay feels relatable and authentic.
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The essay prompt requests that applicants mention the personal characteristics they feel to be their strengths and weaknesses. The student weaves mentions of their strengths throughout, both implicitly and explicitly. In this single sentence the student does a remarkable job of clearly, concisely, and cleverly leveraging their self-awareness to coherently detail some of the strengths they have gained through their experiences:
“My travels have pushed me out of my comfort zone, boosted my resourcefulness, reminded me of my privilege, and highlighted how much more I have to learn.”
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Only in the last paragraph do they
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