CEIBS MBA
Rankings | Class Profile | Employment Report | Sample Essays | Interview Questions
China Europe International Business School also known as CEIBS was established in 1994 by Chinese government and the European Union. It has China’s largest and most prestigious business school alumni network with over 20,000 alumni all over the world.
CEIBS MBA programme is a full-time English programme which has been ranked as No 8 globally and top 1 in Asia by Financial times. The duration is 18 months (with 12-month option), including internship and an international exchange programme with around 30 of the world’s leading business schools. Following a unique positioning of China Depth, Global Breadth, CEIBS offers the richest China expertise available from top-tier international business schools worldwide, while also providing the broadest global perspective from among all China-based business schools. For more details Click Here..
| Class Profile Summary | |
| Class Size | 157 |
| Average GMAT Score | 667 |
| Average Work Experience (yrs.) | 5.9 years |
| Average Age (yrs.) | 26 years |
| Employment Summary | |
| Average Salary | RMB 490,000 |
| Average Bonus | |
| % placed within 3 months | 91% |
| Tuition Fees Summary | |
| Total Tuition | RMB 438,000 |
| Living Cost | RMB 54,000 |
| Total Cost | RMB 492,000 |
CEIBS MBA Class Profile 2022 (Click Here)
CEIBS MBA Employment report 2020 (Download Here)
CEIBS MBA Application Tips
Essay 1: Discuss your post – MBA career aspirations (short term and long term) and explain how you plan to achieve them (400 words)
Quick essay Tips – To write career essays for the CEIBS MBA program, a very simple structure to follow is
- Explain your current position and work experience → 2. State your short and long-term goals → 3. Skillsets you have acquired throughout your career so far → 4. Explain what you currently lack to attain your short and long-term goals → 5. Show how an MBA from a school like CEIBS can help you bridge the gap in your skills to achieve your short-term goal.
Detailed Essay Writing Tips – The best and an easy approach to write this CEIBS application essay is to break it into two parts:
- First Half – explain “what are your goals and why you need an MBA”
- Second Half – establish ”Why or how the CEIBS MBA program is the perfect fit for you?”
First Half – Goals and why MBA?
Start with a strong introductory paragraph on who you are and what are your desired goals from an MBA.
Eg: “I am an engineer with four years of experience in the IT sector leading projects for clients across multiple countries. In the short term, i want to transition from a software developer role to a product manager role”
For the main body, start on a strong note, show what skills you already have. B-schools in general prefer to see strong academic track record, progress in professional career, client management exposure, leadership and international experiences. Highlight some of your key achievements with numbers or awards that you may have received. Show your outstanding performance via the promotions or opportunities to lead or international deputation.
After establishing the strengths of your profile, move on to show how the limitation of your current role and skills are hindering your future career progress or desired transitions. Establish the need for upskilling yourself which can only be done via an MBA at this stage of your career. Talk about how an MBA can enhance your business acumen, leadership skills, soft skills for communication and presentation or provide you the network to grow your career or business.
This sets the context for your “Why MBA” argument. The first half of the essay explains what you already have and what you lack to grow in your career. Lastly how an MBA can unlock opportunities for you to grow.
Second Half – Why CEIBS MBA?
To answer the – “why CEIBS MBA” part of the essay, build your argument on 3-4 points which helps you fulfill the gaps in your skillset and achieve your goals. Reasons to choose the CEIBS MBA program should align with your reason to do an MBA as mentioned in the first half of the essay.
Ensure your reasons portray a holistic approach to how you intend to gain/upskill from the MBA program. An easy way to structure can be to break it down across three buckets –
- Inside the class – what excites you the most about the CEIBS MBA program in regards to the academic curriculum? Is it a particular specialization? Range of Electives? Quality of Professor? Feel free to name drop a few.
- Outside the class – outside of the academics, how do you plan to make the most of the opportunities available at CEIBS? Clubs? Networking event? International exchanges? Leadership seminar? Speak with Alum, current students and find specifics that perfectly aligns with your needs to achieve your goals in a particular industry or function.
- Outside of campus – show how the overall school brand, alumni network which you would carry and be a part of long after your campus stint can help you build a successful career in the long term.
Closing argument
Summarize your entire essay in 3-4 lines and confidently portray how you believe the CEIBS MBA program is the perfect next step or logical step for you to achieve your career goals and how you would be a great fit and valuable addition to the class if selected.
For CEIBS MBA essay samples, you can also read some of the great essays written by our clients here on the sample essays page.
Essay 2:Question 2(a) and 2(b), you only need to answer one of the two questions.
Essay 2(a).CEIBS is situated in Shanghai – a truly global city, and the economic center of the world’s soon to be largest economy. Given its unique location, how do you anticipate that Shanghai will differentiate your MBA experience and contribute to your goals? (400 words).
Before you start writing this essay, do your research. Learn about the trends in Shanghai that will benefit you. It could be that Shanghai has the right customer segment for your start-up idea, or some of your dream companies or jobs situated in this city, or could be a place where you have multiple opportunities and avenues to pursue your entrepreneurial dream such as VCs, start up incubators, access to tech clubs or even to avenues to pursue your passion.
Once you have identified 2-3 main reasons that Shanghai has to offer you then illustrate with examples what this means to you and how you are planning to utilize these resources to grow your career.
To illustrate examples, an easy method to follow is the STAR methodology. Situation → Task → Action → Result.
Start with describing the resources or trends in Shanghai with some facts to give a background to the reader. Explain what this resource specifically means to your career and goals. Explain what actions you would take to take advantage of these resources to enrich your MBA experience. Conclude by showing how Shanghai is the right place for you where you can maximize your MBA experience and grow your career.
Essay 2(b). Discuss a situation where you have demonstrated significant leadership ability. (400 words)
First of all, start jotting down all the successful experiences you had in life – big or small – whatever you think are significant achievements of your life. Most people fall back on professional experiences but it is strongly advised to go beyond professional stories. It may be easier to bucket and think across three areas – professional, extra-curricular, personal. You led a sports team as captain, found an NGO, led a team towards a great vision, anywhere where you feel you have demonstrated significant leadership.
Then pick one story that is impactful1 and the one that lets the reader know more about you than just the resume and the ones that portray a wholesome balanced picture of who you are.
When illustrating examples, an easy method to follow is the STAR methodology. Situation → Task → Action → Result.
Start with describing the situation or problem at hand to give a background to the reader. Explain what was expected out of you to do and the consequence of the task. Explain how this difficult situation drove you to take certain actions. It is important to show what the outcome of the action was and what are the results that you obtained. Conclude by showing how WHY you consider this as your great leadership experience? What this experience has taught you and how has this experience shaped you as a better leader?
Essay 3:Question 3(a) and 3(b), you only need to answer one of the two questions.
Essay 3(a). Many would argue that entrepreneurship is not necessarily a state of being, but a state of mind. Describe an entrepreneurial experience where you went against the grain or conventional way of thinking, to discover and create new value. (400 words)
Before jumping into writing the essays, you should introspect and come up with one strong example or situation in your life where you had an unconventional way of creating value. To compete at the highest level for application to schools like CEIBS, dig deeper than just challenges at your employer.
Everyone at CEIBS has 4-5 years of experience and everyone will have some sort of professional challenges they have overcome with an entrepreneurial mindset. How do you stand apart? Most people use examples primarily from professional experience. But it is much better if you can also showcase examples from social voluntary work, start-ups, your extracurriculars, or environmental challenges where you have driven an initiative.
When illustrating examples, an easy method to follow is the STAR methodology. Situation → Task → Action → Result.
Start with describing the situation or problem at hand to give a background to the reader. Explain what was expected out of you to do and the consequence of the task. Explain what you did differently and what drove you to take these certain unconventional actions. It is important to show what the outcome of the action was and what value you created.
Conclude by showing what you learned from this experience or situation. How has this made you a better person or a better leader? how these learnings will enhance your prospects of being a successful leader or prove you to be a good value addition to CEIBS’s MBA program.
Essay 3(b). Identify up to two trends, big or small, that you see unfolding in the next decade. Discuss how the(se) trend(s) might affect you and your career, and how you plan to address them during your MBA and/or after you graduate. (400 words)
It is important that you do your research before answering this question. Choose one trend from your target industry – marketing/ consulting / finance etc and also one trend from the Chinese economy that is relevant to your post MBA career.
Once you have chosen two trends you need to illustrate why it is important to your career and how you will benefit from the trend (if the trend is in your favor) or what will you do to prepare yourself to tackle the trend (if the trend is not in your favor). It is advised to pick the trends that are in favor of your post MBA goals and career plans.
To illustrate the trends with examples, an easy method to follow is the STAR methodology. Situation → Task → Action → Result.
Start with describing the trend with some facts to give a background to the reader. Explain what this trend means specifically to your career and goals. Explain what actions you would take to take advantage of the trend or to prepare yourself to work your way through the trend. Conclude by showing how this trend and the actions you plan to take will benefit your post MBA goals and also help your career
Optional Essay: Is there any other information that you believe would be helpful to the MBA Admission Committee in evaluating your application? (200 words).
Use the optional essays only for specific reasons. If you have a career gap or are currently unemployed or have a low GPA, for example, if you have a grade C in certain subjects, then consider explaining yourself in this essay.
Additionally, you can also use this essay to explain your choice of the recommender. It may so happen that you do not want to tell your current employer of your MBA plans and hence sought recommendations from others. You can explain this to the admission committee if this is the case.
One common pitfall candidates do is to elaborate on certain extracurriculars that they have already mentioned in other parts of the application. Please do not use optional essays to repeat whatever is already described in your application or resume.
