Bring on the EMAILS!

A few days after getting accepted into INSEAD one of the R1 (round 1) admits started a Google Group and an email chain with it.

And then came the emails.

First it was a few hey - how are you type emails. Introductions and so on.

Then came the questions about visas & financing - probably the two most-discussed questions for any students attending INSEAD - a lot of us are not eligible for good interest rates in our countries of residence or citizenship since our lives/travels have taken us elsewhere. (e.g. I was born in India, grew up in Thailand, and currently in USA -I hardly qualify for loans here in USA).

Then there's the banks to work with - BNP Paribas in Fontainebleau and HSBC France in Melun - the two top choices due to proximity to Fontainebleau. Both banks also offer great rates for INSEAD students.

Other emails were around laptops to purchase, renting cars versus bikes, pre-reading, and running groups.

But my favorite so far has been two of the following:

1. One student modified Google Maps to include all the living options in reference to INSEAD, banks, groceries, etc... I used this map to decide on where to live! Finding a place to live, securing it in time by placing deposits with your landlord, and meeting your future housemates is one of the most important things to get done when deciding to attend any school outside your country of residence! Remember that! And there are many tools to help INSEAD students (will list them here soon).

2. Travel blogs - where people were going around the world - I mean it - around the world between getting accepted and starting in January. No continent was left unexplored. In fact, if I could, I would like to create a world map (seriously thinking about this) for future classes in MBA Connect where students can list their locations from the date of acceptance until starting in Fontainebleau or Singapore so that, at any time, anyone visiting a particular city could look at the map and see dots indicating students - "hey - x,y,z is/will be there, then!"

In fact, if you could see that map now and play it, like a video graph, you would see a living organism.

Cells converging in certain locations, achieving critical mass during Open Days (or various meet-ups in cities with high density of accepted students), followed by erratic movements from consultants during their final months on the job, admits wanting to use up their vacation time, and many heading home to see respective families - then a convergence of all the dots forming two pulsing masses in Singapore & Fontainebleau - 11D buckling down for P1 and P2...