Calling all ISB Applicants - (2014 Intake) Class of 2015

Hi Guys,

Do you think a low IR score in GMAT will seriously affect the chances?
My GMAT score is 710 but I got the IR score of 3.

Is this the post you are talking about?
Well i was trying to say that i my interview was pathetic and it was me myself who gave a very bad interview,
The interviewers were asking very normal questions.

All the questions were from the profile or the essays or from what you say. Nothing greek and Latin
Below is a snapshot of the interview:

I was the last one to be interviewed in the year. So the panel was chilled and greeted me very well. Made me confortable
The members:
ME, ADCOM (around 40), ALUM1 (28-29years), ALUM2(28-29 years)

1) Tell me something interesting about yourself which is not written any where
Me: Well i will tell you something very interesting
Not the primary reason, but one of the reason for me doing an MBA from ISB is that my fiancee wants to stay in the ISB campus :D
laughters all around.
ALUM1 says ... thats a pretty expensive marriage
Laughters all around, told to myself that i am on the right track

2) You are a quality assurance guy. What all will you look for before launching a tooth brush.
I asked the age group it was catering to, information gathering and told some points.
Was grilled too much(around 15 mins) on this and finally they were unconvinced.
ALUM 2 said, you have written about details all over your essay and you are making so broad test cases

3) ADCOM: What do you want to talk about.
ME: Extra curriculars
Told them everything about what i have done in MAD and teach for India
they said that its good what you have done, but how ISB will benefit from it.
Then i told the learning from all this.

4) What will you brig to ISB
Told my strengths in detail and how i got them. Linked them to professional and extra curricular.
How i was rejected by NMIMS last year and then i worked upon my weaknesses and converted it the following year.

5) Why ISB
Told that i did not join NMIMS as it was a two year program and i am looking for a one year program only.

6) Why MBA
Told them the future plan about becoming a consultant, but they were not at all convinced and said that you can achieve this by experience and some certification. they even gave me some websites for that

There were two questions which doomed my interview and both of them were very easy ones.
The ordeal lasted for about 35 40 minutes.

and it ended on this note

I knew the moment i came out that it was a goner ..
That's about it. Hope everyone is benefited from it. If any one has any particular query, he/she may shoot them

Hey,

I attended a chat session in which Prof. A.M. Kannan said that they will not consider the IR score as it is a very recent inclusion, so all the applicants will not have the IR score, hence they do not have a basis to compare that.
So do not worry about the IR score

And congrats for 710

-Ankur

Thanks Ankur for your reply.

Here in GMATClub, we thank in a different way (pressing the kudos button), which you must be aware about
Also i added ISB to you list of schools

All the best!!!

I'm aware and I had already done that.

That was really bad, u missed a golden chance........Questions were not too tough to be justified.....
No worries..I think u ll make it, this time around...


Archit

Thanks a lot for the kind words and all the best to you too

Where are the rest of the applicants?
Either they are very busy with their application or they are not applying to ISB

Have you guys started writing essays? Are you taking any admission consultants help or writing essays on your own?

Hey Abhi...

I am an Early Entry Option aspirant and my deadline is Jan 15th so I have plenty of time ...

I am planning on taking the help of an admission consultant but have to finalize which one to use.. After some preliminary research I have narrowed it down to Apphelp and Gyanone but I am stumped from there on...

Hey abhii,

I started writing the essays yesterday only and i will not be taking the help of any consultant, I have seen my friends and i do not find much of a benefit. My personal opinion though. I know many people who have taken the help of a consultant and have fared well.

I managed an interview call last year without any consultant, so thinking of writing the essays myself and take help from some of the seniors of ISB and some other colleges. Are you taking help of some consultant?

Hello Everyone,

After being a silent observer in this wonderful community for few weeks now, i have finally decided to break my silence.
Attended a Webinar with Mr Kannan today and wanted to share with you guys a few key points he mentioned:
1. ISB usually gives 20-25 percent of weightage to the GMAT score, so i believe there is a lot more focus on your application. Although, he did not mention individual weights to different parts.
2. No difference between R1 and R2, please submit your application when you feel you are ready.
3. Break for studying for GMAT needs to be justified, he clearly mentioned in the pool that they get there will be applicants who are working as well as preparing for GMAT, then what is so special about you, they already have a upper hand, tough one here.
4. No difference in selection process total number of students selected 770.(Hyd and Mohali).
5. For your career goals and aspiration essay always focus more on immediate goals, they want to know what you want to do 2-5 years after your ISB degree, so all those entrepreneurial dreams/long term goals for a distant future should be mentioned but not detailed.
6. If you are someone who has an MBA from a tier 2(someone like me basically) and want to get in, don't get disheartened by sheer number of bright and fresh MBA aspirants. 5 % of the current class at ISB are people who are pursuing a second MBA degree at ISB and some from Tier 1 as well.
7. GMAT cut-off : he mentioned very clearly that anything below 600 is avoided and they have people with a 650 and strong background in their current batch.( One of the alumni told me he has friends who have scored a 750 and have been rejected at ISB.) don't get too disheartened by a low score, keep your wits for those applications/ if you are comfortable with a better score then retake(personally I would do that.)
8. Grammatical errors in your application don't matter so much, make sure the content is outstanding.
9. He mentioned something very good which got me thinking, everyone knows what they want from their bschool,( A consulting job, placement records, foreign exchange programs) but you should also know what you are bringing to ISB.(would love to hear your two cents on this guys). What will you be bringing to ISB?
10. Last but not the least for placements it doesn't matter which ISB(Mohali/Hyderabad). Since, ISB doesn't mention this to the companies coming for placement, last year they flew 400 students for first round of placements to Mohali and then again from Mohali to Hyderabad for second round.

Hope this information was somewhat helpful to you guys.
I am attending a session in Mumbai on 1st Sept will let you guys know if there are anymore updates.

A bit about my profile:
Academics : First Class throughout.
GMAT : Hopefully will be good enough
WorkEx : 3 years in retail industry(India and UAE).


Looking forward to interact with you guys more often.

Cheers
Farhan

Attitude, skills and knowledge differentiate people. Elaborate with two examples on how you would differentiate yourself(300 words max)


How have you people tackled this question?
Do we need to write about all the three characteristics or can we give some other traits also?

I think it will be better if we stick to these three skills. 100 words per skill
But what to write? I'm getting no idea. Guys pitch in some ideas.

The fundamental here is not to differentiate yourself on the basis of aforementioned point, but to give example. You can write in big statements about the never say die attitude/ immense knowledge you have acquired through a guru and even some unique skill that you have trained yourself with. But what the adcom will look for are the examples, use your real life situations to illustrate these. How u have used your traits to actually differentiate yourself frm others in real life.

Posted from my mobile device

I had written an analysis of this essay for another forum. I will post it here, and hope that it helps you guys.

Attitude, skills and knowledge differentiate people. Elaborate with two examples on how you would differentiate yourself from other applicants to the PGP. (300 words max)
A: ISB has been asking applicants a question on their differentiating factors for many years now. This year, they have added a slight twist to it. They have specifically asked applicants for differentiating attitudes, skills and knowledge, and unlike last year, when this question was an open field for the number of examples you could quote, this year there is a limit of two examples. We think it is justified, because in 300 words, you can do justice to only about two examples.
So what could these attitudes, skills or knowledge be?
Your attitude can be of sincerity, perseverance, creativity etc. Your skills could be related to communications, problem solving, organizational, networking etc. And you could be knowledgeable about anything under the sun (the context has to be relevant to your application)
How should you structure the essay?
Besides mentioning the two differentiating factors, talk about supporting incidences where you demonstrated these qualities. Roughly, these are the pointers you can include in your answer:
1. The situation.
2. What was your role in this situation?
3. What were the challenges?
4. How did you overcome them applying the mentioned attitudes/ skills / knowledge?
5. What was the end result?

MBA Decoder’s tip: Oftentimes applicants assume that their description of the situation is enough for the reader to decipher the attitudes/ skills / knowledge in question. However, this is not the case. Therefore, do not leave it for the reader to draw their inferences about takeaways from the story. Instead, categorically mention the attitude/ skill/knowledge that you are promoting.

Namita
www.mbadecoder.com

Hi Guys,

I am planning to apply to ISB this year..Would be great if you people can comment on my profile.

Total work ex: 8+ years ( 2005 BTech from a reputed institute )
- 5yrs with companies like Infy and RBS
- more than 3 yrs now ( as of july 2013) with analytics consulting start ups
-- so basically a profile with mix of both IT and analytics. The recent experience after I shifted is obviously analytics.
- leading team
- Client facing roles in the past
- worked in solving problems in Insurance, Telecom, healthcare domain.

But...

1) bad gpa
2) bad gmat score : 670 ( 49quant,31 verbal)

Think I can write good essays. All ears for u guys' comment.