Although I'm only senior in college right now and my plans more than likely will change....my #1 choice for business school at the moment is INSEAD. I know that the school requires knowledge of a second language and you have to pass a certain level of some test, but does anyone know just how good you have to be at the second language to meet this requirement?
I learned Hebrew from preschool through high school, but I am far from fluent. I can get across most of what I want to say, and I know most of the grammatical rules, but I have a hard time understanding what other people say to me, and I definitely can't read much past the elementary or grade school level. I tested into the 200 level course at college (and that was 3 yrs ago when I was fresh off of taking high school courses -- did not enroll in the course in college).
Would aiming towards INSEAD be pointless for me?
Interested as well.
See the document at the following link:
https://mba-aol.insead.edu/documents/languages/language_policy.pdf
I'd say if you can't improve your level significantly prior to applying, then yes. You ought to be able to comfortably hold a conversation on a variety of topics. If you can't understand somebody, you can't do this.
Note: I've done a lot of research into INSEAD and Wharton / Lauder's language requirements, so I'm not just some random guy pulling this out of nowhere! Lauder has what is called the OPI test. Dig around the website for the OPI guidelines -- they give great descriptions as to what is required for each level.
You should take into account that Insead more or less admits only candidates who have had international work exposure. Often they will reject some applicants telling them to pass a couple of years in another country and then try again. So if I were you I'd think what kind of international work experience you can do, and think about the language as a secondary problem.
ametista, I'm interested in your comment. Do you have any evidence to support your claim (I'm not saying it is wrong -- it is just the first I've heard of that)? I'm considering applying to INSEAD as a backup (my stats are significantly above their averages) if my other schools don't work out, though I've never actually worked abroad, just study abroad and completed a couple of two week work projects that took me to Europe and Asia.
My Strategy professor holds an MBA from Insead, and I asked him about admissions since I'm interested in the school as well; he told me that insead places tremendous value in international exposure and what I said in the above post.
On top of that the school states this attitude in a promotional video I've seen some months ago on youtube, if I recall correctly. I'm tired and about to go to bed right now, but tomorrow if you want I'll take a look and see if I find the video.
As far as international experience goes...my analyst stint will be in NY. I would love to work abroad after that before business school, but obviously it's not the easiest thing to do. I did study abroad in London and in Hong Kong.
Then regarding the link above, it still seems a little unclear as to how I'd stand. Looks like I could prove proficiency through final secondary school exam or I'm assuming the ACTFL test (pg 14) for Hebrew. I'm not sure if final secondary school exam would work, cause I didn't have any exams besides regular high school exams, and I don't have any record of those. For the ACTFL, it says I'd need to score at least "intermediate mid." I'd be inclined to say I'm borderline between intermediate mid and intermediate low. It would be a close call.
Btw, they ask you to start a third language when you join the program and to make real improvements by the end of the academic year.
I don't know why they ask all these requirements, maybe to exclude a part of the US / UK applicants and so in favor of Continental European applicants who usually command 3 or 4 languages
Yeah, I've heard that.
I'm starting French in my last semester of college. Mainly just for fun, but if I ended up going to INSEAD 4/5 yrs down the line, at least I may have a little bit of a base. I think you just have to get to a basic level for the 3rd language, which I would love to do anyway.
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