Meet INSEAD’s Incoming Class of 2016

Sneha Shrestha

INSEAD 

Hometown: Kathmandu, Nepal

Undergraduate School and Major: Swarthmore College, Economics Major; Film and Media Studies Minor

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

• Samriddha Pahad – Fundraising, Communication, Monitoring & Evaluation Manager (Nepal)

(Samriddha Pahad is a UK-based social impact company working towards facilitating financing access to remote areas of Nepal)

• Treacy and Company – Analyst (USA)

(Boutique management consulting firm focusing on growth and innovation advisory in the US)

Recalling your own experience, what advice do you have for applicants who are preparing for either the GMAT or the GRE?When preparing for the GMAT/GRE, it’s important to stay focused and allocate quality time to prepare for the exams. Even if you start preparation early on, if you don’t allow quality time for test preparation, the effort won’t be efficiently utilized.

It’s important to plan ahead and complete the GMAT/GRE prior to starting the rigorous application essays. I was planning to apply to business schools after my wedding. Therefore, I took the GMAT a few months prior to my wedding – in the midst of massive wedding preparations!

Based on your own selection process, what advice do you have for applicants who are trying to draw up a list of target schools to which to apply? Depending on what stage of your life you are at, various factors matter when drawing up a list of target schools. Being recently married, discussing with my husband and narrowing down schools based on course duration, geographical location, reputation and diversity of the MBA program was important to me.

What advice do you have for applicants in actually applying to a school, writing essays, doing admission interviews, and getting recommenders to write letters on your behalf?  The entire application with the essays, interviews, recommendations, is a package that must tell a cohesive and compelling story about you to the admissions committee. Prior to starting the application process, it is important to reflect on your purpose for doing an MBA, your strengths, weaknesses, and what you want to achieve after the MBA. It is vital to make optimal use of the essays, recommendations and interviews to highlight various aspects of yourself through stories and experiences.

It is also important to reach out to recommenders early during the application process so that they have ample time to write a thoughtful and apt recommendation.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? I was looking for a 1-year MBA, preferably in Asia, at a top-tier school and INSEAD seemed to be the perfect fit. The analytical rigor of the classes taught by renowned experts in their respective fields, coupled with the diverse pool of students I would be learning from, led me to choose INSEAD.

What would you ultimately like to achieve before you graduate? I hope to eventually start a business in Nepal that bridges my interests in business and development. I hope INSEAD will help me develop a coherent strategy to refine my business ideas. I also hope to develop a solid foundation to lead in the entrepreneurial field as a woman.