I just got admitted to IE Business School in Madrid, and plan to accept. Anybody joining me?

Congrats Sally!! That's great news

Hi sally,

Congratualtions for your selection for IE Business School!!!

Where are you goin to join your MBA?

Thanks

Shilendra

Hi Sally,

I am applying for international MBA at IE Madrid.

Could you please share your experience about IE test and interview?

Let me know more about IE test? How difficult to qualify it? What topics are needed to prepare? I don't prepare for GMAT so how much preparation is required for this test?

Looking to hear from you.
Thanks

Shilendra

The IE interview is very short and painless... only takes about half an hour and the interviewer just asks basic questions about why you want an MBA, why now, why at IE, etc. She also wanted to know about short and long term career goals. These are things you've certainly already thought about when writing your essays.

As for the Admission Test, it mainly tests your capacity for logical analysis ... grammar isn't tested, so that is an advantage to those who are not native English speakers, I would think.

There are two sections to the test that alternate back and forth. One, you are given a data and written passage, and are asked to answer several quetions based on that information. Second, you are given a "cause and effect" puzzle to solve.

For the first part, you are given a set of data. For example, you are given information about the GDP for every country in Europe, and the changes over the past four years. You are also given a passage analyzing the data and what it means... it might talk about the history behind different regions of Europe and factors that affect the GDP of each.

Then you are given a page of questions. Some of the questions ask you about assumptions you can draw from the written passage. This is much like the "critical reasoning" and "reading comprehension" type questions in the GMAT. Then, interspersed are math questions based on the data in the passage. I found that this math very rarely required algebraic equations and could be done with simple arithmatic. Much of the problems had to do with percents and ratios.

You would finish one series of these types of questions based on the one data set and passage. The, on the next page, you would be given a funky chart with a bunch of symbols on it.

Basically you would be given a series of shapes, then you have a symbol that represents an operation. Based on effect each symbol has on the "before" and "after" of the shape, you're asked to indentify the operation of each symbol. This is like a brian teaser, but I actually thought it was the easiest part of the test. Others said they had trouble with it, though. So, I guess it just depends on how your mind works.

This sounds confusing, but the test administrator will explain everything to you in detail before the test. This test would be pretty hard to prepare for... you might just want to brush up on your basic math concepts. I did not specficially study for this test, but I had studied for the GMAT recently, so it might have helped.

Anyway, I think it's a good choice to take the Admission Test, since it shows you're really interested in the school. Plus, if you submit the test instead of the GMAT it means they won't be thinking about how your GMAT will impact their rankings when thinking about admitting you.. I'm not sure if it really has much impact on their decision , but I think it might have a little.

I cannot compare the IE test to the EADA test, as I did not take the EADA test (I submitted my GMAT). However, I found the IE Interview to be much less nerve-wracking than the EADA one.

Hey,

I also got an admit from IE and planning to join...


Cheers,
Rakesh.

Excellent! Are you joining in November as well? It was so much work to get to this point, I can't believe it's over :) Now... just have to be patient for the next 10 months!

Hi Rakesh,

Could you please share your IE test and interview expereice? Where you have appeared for test?

Also share your profile.

Thanks
Shilendra

Hi Sally,

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

I am again sharing my profile:

My Profile:
==========
Location: India
PG-Diploma in advanced computing (75.89%)
Bachelor of Engineering in computer Sceince (76.33%)
12th from UP Board (66.20%)
10th from UP Board (63.00%)
Exp: Presently more than 5 yrs of exp as a software developper. (more than 6 years by the time MBA will start)

Could you please evalaute my candidature for IE MBA?
What are my chances to get into this programme?

Thanks
Shilendra

This isn't really enough information to judge. Your undergraduate stats and your work experience seem to be sufficient. I'm not familiar with the grading system in India... but if you're grades were above average, that would help you. If you're undergraduate grades are below average, but you have substanstial professional accomplishments that could make up for it. Also, scoring well on the Admission Test will help (although IE doesn't give you the grade until after you are either accepted or denied.)

Here's a repost of something I wrote to someone who had a similar question.

"There is a reason MBA applicaitons are more than one page! Based on the info you provided here, there's nothing that stands out as a reason why you wouldn't be admitted to one of those schools. However, there will be tons of people with profiles just like yours applying. If you want to be among those who gets in, you have to make your application stand out! Make sure you're able to articulate well why you're the best person for their program. Provide examples of your most impressive accomplishments. Show that you're someone with personality and drive! If you do that, I think you have a very good shot at all of those schools. "

Anybody planning to start their IMBA at IE in November 2010 should join this Facebook group! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=231361317563

I think you have to be logged into Facebook for that link to work. If it doesn't for some reason just search Facebook for a group called "IE MBA November 2010 intake."

You have to be approved by an admin to join, but it will be quick, I promise!

Hi Sally,
I am also joining IMBA at IE in Nov 2010 and sent a request for joining the Facebook account. Thanks for the tip!

Excellent! The group is small right now, but I'm expecting it will grow a lot as more people make their final decisions :)

Hi,

I am thinking of applying for the Online MBA from IE. Does anyone have experience with this?

Thanks. V.

I know a little bit about it, since I went to a presentation where all of the MBA programs were described. What do you want to know?

I know that the interface they use for the online classes is the same one they use for their "virtual information sessions." So, if you attend one of those you can get an idea of what a class is like. It uses live video feeds, chat, and power point displays.

Hi Sally,

Could you please advice me for below question:
Have you applied to any other schools? If so, please state which ones.

This question is the part of MBA application.

Thanks

On mine I said that I said something like this:

In addition to IE, I plan to apply to other top Spanish business schools IESE, ESADE, and EADA. It is important to me to study in Spain because I would like to be immersed in the Spanish language while getting a world class business education. IE is my top choice because of its focus on entrepreneurship, its non-traditional approach and its location in Madrid, the business capital of Spain.

I would mention any schools you've already been admitted to or plan to apply to. I wouldn't include any that you've been dinged by. I don't think you are required to provide a reasoning, but I thought it was a good place to also explain why I thought IE was a good fit for me. It's also a chance to highlight some things you know about the school that differentiate it from others that you're applying to.

Thank you Sally

Hi Sally,

I am bothering you again.

I contacted the IE's Indian represntative. I got the following reply regarding the documents that I need to send to the school:

"Your documents have to be sent by post to Madrid. Your marksheets and degrees must be certified by the respective college or university. No notary attestations will be accepted.

You will also need a singature sheet. This sheet is generated after you complete your online form. It must be signed and sent with your application."


I am worried to get the documents certified by respectinve college or university. The cities - where I am presently working, from where I did PG-Dimploma and from where I did Engineering, all are different and located very far from each other.

Can't I send the scanned copies of the original documents by e-mail? In the application, it is mentioned - send documents either by post or e-mail.

Thanks

Hmmm I am not sure how Indian universities handle transcripts. But IE's request is a pretty common one, so your university should have some kind of system in place for providing this information to the schools. Usually, you would just call or e-mail your undergraduate university and ask them to send an official copy of your transcript directly to IE. I went to a very large university, so they actually had an online form you could just fill out on their Web site and imput all the addresses you wanted your transcript sent to.

You could also have the schools send you additional copies of your official transcripts and then you can send it to IE yourself without opening the envelope.

I am not sure about the e-mail thing. You might ask them about that. I sent mine in the mail.

Also, on the scholarship question I am not sure what you are asking. Which scholarship are you applying for?