I love having the power of connecting people and seeing that there’s potential for a new friendship, a new business idea, or even a future job opportunity. When it comes to the virtual world, it gets a bit trickier and even more so when instead of introducing one person, you have to introduce an entire class! But here we go.
Every class is special. In the Admissions Team, we spend a lot of time meeting thousands of people every year and guiding them through the admission process. Sometimes this relationship lasts longer, since for some, it can take up to two to three years to make the application decision.
I like imagining my job as that of a craftsman, where we take people from different backgrounds, nationalities, beliefs, values, and skills, put them together and form a very special class. Each class is unique and you can’t really say that one year is better than another. I guess it’s similar to winegrowing: you put a lot of effort into nurturing the vines, collecting the grapes…and depending on the weather conditions, the soil, etc., you get a great harvest.
Of course every class is special, which is why our admissions process is so rigorous. However, the Class of 2016 is exceptional since it forms part of a milestone in IESE’s history: our Jubilee Anniversary. The incoming cohort has a record number of students—290—and it’s more international than ever, with a student body that is 85% international (compared to 80% the previous year). Students come from 57 different countries: 23% from Asia, 39% from Europe, 19% from Latin America, 12% from North America, and 2% from Africa and the rest of the World.
Countries such as Spain, United States, Japan, Brazil and Central European countries have the greatest representation of students. The country that has increased its representation significantly this year is Brazil, with 24 students. The number of Chinese students has also doubled, from five to 10 students.
For those of you who like the “hard numbers”, here are some stats:
- Average GMAT score: 680
- Average years of work experience: 4
- Average age: 28
- Women in class: 64. Yes, still a low number and we would love to see this number rise!
Previous experience (this is a bit more detailed compared to what we usually publish):
| Consulting | 22% |
| Sales & Business Development | 14% |
| Finance | 12% |
| Marketing | 9% |
| Investment Banking | 9% |
| General Management | 8% |
| Operations, IT & Logistics | 6% |
| Project Management | 5% |
| R&D | 5% |
| Legal Advice | 4% |
| Planning & Accounting | 3% |
| Entrepreneurship | 3% |
