Amaka Ndubisi, an Associate Director of IESE’s MBA Admissions Office, explains the essential qualities IESE seeks in an MBA candidate. Gain insider tips on scholarship applications and understand the importance IESE places on leadership potential, cultural awareness, and a global impact mindset.
If you are considering applying to an MBA program, IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain, should be on your radar. With a global reputation for producing impactful business leaders, IESE’s MBA is a sought-after opportunity for aspiring change-makers.
Want to find out what it takes to become an ideal IESE MBA candidate? We spoke with Amaka Ndubisi, a graduate of the MBA program and the current Associate Director of IESE’s MBA Admissions Office for Africa, the UK, and Ireland. Amaka told us the essential characteristics IESE looks for in their MBA candidates and provided insider tips on securing a scholarship.
An ideal candidate should possess academic and professional accomplishments. However, their views should also align with IESE’s core values: professional excellence, integrity, and a spirit of service.
As Amaka explains, “It’s not sufficient to just have a great GMAT or a great GRE and be working in a big-name company if you don’t think that the things we think are important are important.” (01:34)
With a multicultural class representing over 65 nationalities, understanding different communication styles and adapting to a diverse environment is crucial. IESE seeks candidates who can read the room, understand their peers, and effectively communicate with them. That is why candidates must be culturally aware, open-minded, and driven by a desire to make a global impact.
In the words of Amaka, “This is something that is very ingrained in every aspect of IESE. That makes people care about helping other people, helping the world, helping make an impact in their society, in their organizations.” (03:08)
All in all, diversity at IESE is a philosophy lived and breathed by the entire community.
Outstanding leadership skills aren’t necessarily captured in formal titles. Rather than focusing on past leadership roles, the emphasis is on MBA candidates’ potential for leadership growth.
As Amaka explains, “One thing that we try to deliver is creating good leaders. Having what I would call the ingredients that make for a good leader is what we are looking for, much more than having already formed leadership attributes. So what would those be? It would be an openness to learning, having good or multi-cultural awareness, and understanding the very multi-faceted aspects of leadership.” (05:53)
IESE values candidates who can demonstrate effective leadership in diverse settings. This involves working effectively in teams, articulating ideas clearly, and showing high self-awareness.
IESE aims to cultivate leaders skilled in multicultural teamwork and driving positive change. Their MBA program employs a case method approach, which emphasizes real-world problem-solving.
Groups of eight students engage in discussions, enriching them with their diverse professional and cultural perspectives. This allows them to hone skills like active listening, critical thinking, and effective communication.
“It is a peer-to-peer type of learning, very interactive,” Amaka says. “Where you are drawing from the experiences of your classmates that are coming from very different professional and cultural backgrounds.” (04:08)
This learning methodology, originally developed by Harvard, is particularly enriching at IESE due to its highly diverse student body.
“Having a class full of people from just finance or consulting doesn’t quite add much. But when you throw in someone with an entrepreneurial background, or throw in someone from the medical field, or a veteran, then the conversation gets really interesting. Then you can see how things that are seemingly unrelated can actually come together to give you new insight and new perspectives, which is something you’d always want from every MBA program,” Amaka explains. (05:08)
Through this methodology, IESE focuses on developing decision-making, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills, which are essential for nurturing effective leadership.
Joining an MBA program requires a significant financial investment, which some qualified applicants can’t afford to make. Thankfully, IESE MBA candidates can apply for financial aid to get support financing their MBA. IESE offers scholarships based on both need and merit.
Need-based scholarships consider macro-level factors like a candidate’s country of origin and its economic situation, with those from emerging countries often qualifying.
Merit-based aid focuses on professional accomplishments, where candidates should highlight their career growth, learning experiences, and distinctions among peers.
Amaka advises applicants to clearly articulate their fit for “need,” “merit,” or both in their essays. It also helps to apply early, as scholarship funds are more abundant in earlier application rounds. Amaka likens the scholarship budget to a “cookie jar” that depletes over time. (10:52)
Additionally, candidates for certain regions may have access to government-related financial aid, which isn’t always publicly advertised on IESE’s website. That’s why Amaka suggests getting in touch with the admissions personnel at IESE. They can inform you about the available scholarship options in your region.
IESE typically considers candidates with three to ten years of work experience for their MBA program. Younger applicants with less than three years of experience may be guided toward the Young Talent Program, a pre-MBA boot camp that prepares them for a full-time MBA. On the other hand, applicants with over ten years of experience might find the Executive MBA program more suitable.
That said, don’t self-exclude without contacting the admissions office first for personalized guidance. If the MBA program doesn’t suit you, IESE might offer another program that better fits your needs. Make sure to explore all your options.
If you share IESE’s core values and demonstrate the qualities of an effective leader, you might be the next MBA candidate they’re looking for.
