> what part of getting an MBA filters for "possessing soft skills, being personable, ready to meet with clients or manage people and probably well-connected"?

> what part of getting an MBA filters for "possessing soft skills, being personable, ready to meet with clients or manage people and probably well-connected"? MBAs at the top schools demand intense team work. Without it, you won't pass. My MBA experience was INSEAD, in France. For the first 3 terms (of 5), all work was done in teams of 5. The school chose the teams explicitly to maximise the chance of conflict (by maximising differences in background, nationality, prior education, work experience, age and gender). The professors then threw tons of work on us. A well-functioning team could just about cope. Totally impossible if working individually. So we had no option but figure out how to work together, maximise the combined value of each person's skills, and rely fully on each other. A few teams exploded spectacularly. But most of us learned how to work as a team and succeed under intense pressure.