Hi
Impressive profile there! You tick many of the checkboxes that ISB looks for. Let us go through your profile in some detail. ISB ( and most premier B-schools) look for a combination of the below traits -
1. Academic potential - There are two components to this, your GMAT score and your academic record so far. Your academic record is excellent! Get a GMAT score of 720+ and you'll set yourself up at a definite advantage. Mind you, there are people with scores in the range 650-700 who get through..in fact, there are even a rare few with sub-650 scores. However, the higher the score you get, the less likely you are to be beaten by competing candidates with very similar profiles.
2. Leadership potential - With the information you have provided, we do not see any obvious instances of leadership ( except the London Olympics example and possibly point 3 in extracurriculars). If these are good, meaty stories, you should definitely try and work them into your essays. Can you get any assignment at work in the next few months where you can display leadership? If you'd like a few ideas to jog your mind, read our article on 40 ways to improve your profile -
https://applications.crackverbal.com/40- ... l-profile/3. Diversity - Though there will be a lot of candidates from an IT background, we think you ought to be able to differential yourself with the other aspects of your profile, i.e, your extracurriculars. It is pretty clear that you are not a one-trick pony
With a multi-faceted profile like yours, all you need to ensure is that these aspects are clearly articulated in your application.
Specific questions you have asked -
1. GMAT score - Like we said, try for a 720+,to max your chances.
2. NGO experience - Do not worry about this being a disadvantage. If you have started only recently, it will not be a huge advantage. And it is not likely to differentiate you, since a lot of candidates have this on their profile. But it won't hurt your chances. We'd say, continue doing it, because volunteerism always looks good on your resume ( whether for B-school or otherwise), because it also feels good, and because you never know what good may come out of it - you may get valuable experience in running projects and leading people in the NGO sector, much sooner than you would at work.
3. Improving your profile - Your EC and acads are already very good, and the leadership aspect could be improved upon by picking more high-impact projects. One more thing that is very important - OWN your future goals. By this, we mean, make sure you do a lot of research about the post-MBA goal you have chosen, so that you have complete clarity about what to expect.
Overall, in our opinion, your chances of cracking an admit are pretty good! All the best
If you'd like help framing your application, we'd be glad to help. We have helped hundreds of ISB applicants in the past few years, and know very well what it takes to get to ISB. Just email us at
enquiry@crackverbal.com.
07 May 2016, 01:30
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