ISB MBA Program Guide 2026

Since I belong to defence forces, most of my questions were centered around the experiences and chal... Read More

Since I belong to defence forces, most of my questions were centered around the experiences and challenges in my military life that I had mentioned in my essays. Also, there were expected qns such as: ->Why MBA/ISB? -> Any alternate strategy if not selected at ISB? -> Why a switch from defence to corporate ? Overall the interview environment was very conductive and smooth. It was more of the nature of a constructive discussion with the industry seniors. Read Less

I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the exceptional support provided by my admissions c... Read More

I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the exceptional support provided by my admissions counsellor, Mrs. Shreekala from CrackVerbal, during my application and interview journey for the Indian School of Business. Her expertise, dedication, and personal guidance significantly enhanced my overall application experience. Right from our first meeting, she worked meticulously with me to align my goals and experiences with ISB's values and selection criteria. She helped me identify the most compelling elements of my profile and guided me in crafting cohesive, impactful essays that effectively highlighted my leadership potential and professional achievements. Her interview preparation was particularly invaluable. She anticipated the kinds of questions I might encounter and offered targeted strategies to showcase my strengths clearly and confidently. Each practice session was tailored to my specific needs; her constructive critiques and positive reinforcement allowed me to refine my responses and approach the actual interview with a calm, assured mindset. Beyond her technical expertise, I also appreciated her unwavering support and patience. She always made herself available to clarify doubts, provide thoughtful feedback, and keep me motivated. Her balanced blend of honest evaluation and encouragement helped me grow not only as a candidate but also as a professional. Overall, working with Mrs. Shreekala was an inspiring and enlightening experience. I am truly grateful for her guidance in navigating the nuances of the ISB application and interview process. Her personalized approach, combined with her deep knowledge of ISB’s expectations, helped me present my best self to the admissions committee. If you want help with your applications, I highly recommend CrackVerbal, do reach out at +91 9008166800 Read Less

Give a brief description of who you are professionally, academically, personally. • Describe the ... Read More

Give a brief description of who you are professionally, academically, personally. • Describe the details of the project where you mentioned that you were responsible for a turnaround • Referring to the previous question, why do you think the initial team assigned for the project was not succeeding • How will you approach the situation differently if the same scenario happens again in future • Asked about a startup I had founded and wanted to know why I didn’t pursue it full time and why I had to close it eventually. • Had mentioned about a medical condition in my application. Wanted to know the current status and how I coped with it • Asked me to explain how my leadership style has evolved as I transitioned from a software developer to a project manager Read Less

2 hours max between entering and exiting the interview location. There was a problem with my laptop... Read More

2 hours max between entering and exiting the interview location. There was a problem with my laptop during the on-the-spot essays so my entire process got delayed by at least an hour. My interview location was Mumbai, India and they had a very helpful support staff team to guide everyone through the entire process on the designated floor of the hotel. There was a dedicated room to accommodate any bags/luggage, another one with tables, chairs, and notepads dedicated for the spot essays where you'd sit and sign in using your laptop to complete the written assessment, and various other neighboring rooms on the same floor with the different interview panels. Spot Essays 1. During a case competition you come across the company's competitor's business model and your teammates urge you to use it to get an edge. What would you base your decision on and how would you navigate this situation? 2. During a group presentation project there is apparent acrimony between your whole team and a particular member who has been raising his voice to express disagreement with certain presentation strategies. Your team members expect you to lead - how would you deal with this situation and revive the team spirit? Personal Interview The panel consisted of 4 alums (3M, 1F) from the 2011, 2015, 2017, and 2020 batches. Hour-long interview, pretty decent experience. Comforted and reassured me that it's not going to be stress interview, that they just want to get to know me better, and all of them introduced themselves first. Questions revolved mostly around a startup venture that I had mentioned, a couple of achievements, my work experience, motivations for MBA, and how ISB fits into the whole story. Considerable number of follow-up questions, trying to poke holes, and digging deeper into the thought process behind all my life decisions. 1. Tell us a bit about yourself - your personal and professional journey so far. 2. What is ShopMakhana.com and how did it come to be? 3. What is your specific role in the company you founded and your startup? What is the contribution of your partners? 4. Is this venture a side project for your partners as well? 5. Can your target problem not be solved using the existing networks of your partners? What is the need for a new company or platform? 6. When and how is the platform set to launch and what is the plan after that? 7. Given the recent interest of this Impact Investment Firm in your model, if you bag major funding and your venture takes off, how will it affect your career goals and MBA aspirations? 8. Will your MBA plans not affect your contribution to this venture and the development of the platform, or the other way around? 9. What is your opinion on the Indian Budget 2025 provisions for foxnuts? 10. What is your opinion on the global market and demand for foxnuts? 11. What are your career goals? 12. Why consulting? 13. What specific gaps in your business toolkit do you want to address and how will ISB help? 14. What will you do if you don't get into consulting? 15. Why not pursue your long-term goal of entrepreneurship in the Fintech product space right away? 16. How and why trading after mechanical engineering? 17. How and when did you develop an inclination towards finance or trading? 18. Why engineering? 19. Why mechanical engineering? 20. Why did you opt for science and not a Bachelor's in commerce or finance? 21. Why not CFA or FRM? 22. What is your role and day-to-day like at your current organization? 23. Describe the shift from an individual contributor role at your previous proprietary trading firm to a multi-faceted and team-oriented role at the current one, and how has the experience been for you? 24. Why did you move from a 500-trader large company to a niche prop trading firm, from the financial hub of India to your current city? Is it a family business? 25. Tell us about a tough time during your trading journey and how did you navigate it? 26. Describe your relationship with your recommender. Why did you choose him as your recommender? 27. What kind of feedback have you gotten from your recommender (ex-manager) through your trading journey at your previous company? Has he assisted you in any way with your ISB application? 28. Which form of Karate have you learned, and do you still practice? Which level of Black Belt do you have? 29. What kind of National Spelling Bee competitions take place in India? Tell us about the various levels you qualified to achieve your national rank. 30. Any questions for us? Read Less

Virtual interview with 2 Alumni Spot essay was situation based. 2 questions were there - 1. A situ... Read More

Virtual interview with 2 Alumni Spot essay was situation based. 2 questions were there - 1. A situation in which one of the team member is not satisfied with presentation strategy and is raising their voice. How would you handle the situation 2. A new case comptetion is coming up and the team is interested in taking part in that by compromising a little on current ongoing project. As a leader how would you handle the situation This is just the essence of the question. Actual question was a bit elaborate Interview - 1. How has been your morning? 2. TMAY 3. Why MBA? 4. About a situation where I faced a challenge in implementing a project (from my resume). What did you ACTUALLY do to tackle the situation? 5. Why MBA now when you already have an integrated MBA? 6. About my experience of working at a start-up. KPIs? Learnings? How did I end up there? 7. What do you do in your free time 8. An ethical dilemma in my workplace (picked up from essay) 9. Why Consulting? What courses/certifications you have taken to improve your skills for consulting? 10. Any questions that you have from us? Overall it was a very candid conversation with 2 Alumni and they were very supportive and relaxed. Did not grill at all. Read Less

Hey Folks! I have been selected for ISB R1 admissions! A huge thanks to Arijit from @CrackAdmission... Read More

Hey Folks! I have been selected for ISB R1 admissions! A huge thanks to Arijit from @CrackAdmission. I reached out to him with very little time left for interview prep, and he really came through. We did a mock interview where he pointed out a bunch of areas I could improve. Honestly, I was all over the place, but Arijit helped me craft a solid narrative for my goals, and it all came together perfectly. In the end, about 60% of the final interview was based on what we had worked on in those mock sessions, so it made a huge difference! If anyone here is looking for help with their application or interview prep, I highly recommend reaching out to Arijit/@CrackAdmission. It could be a total game-changer! Contact: 9701215544 (Arijit), https://www.crackadmission.com/ PS: He is an ISB alum himself. Read Less

ISB interview script The interview was very long 1 hours 15 min but very chill like 4 friends having... Read More

ISB interview script The interview was very long 1 hours 15 min but very chill like 4 friends having conversion. I dont remeber question as alot of it was conversation. There was some grilling questions that i remember. There were 3 panellist- alums. P1 - So how was your day how are? P1- give us a brief about yourself. Lets us know who you are? P2 - You are doing what you love. Why MBA? P2-Why consulting? P2 - Why ISB? P3 - what you exactly work at Airbus? -Explained with the help of a paper plane. P3- Your work is really good with good opportunity. why Consulting? P1-What does consultant do? P3- What are your failures? P1- Syed your resume is very good it looks like a resume of a consultant. P2 What was the pitch In the initiative you took at airbus? P3-What is happening with boeing? P3-If a non engg CEO in Boeing was the reason for Its fall why you want to be a consultant? Its not good in your field. P3- What if you didnt make through this time? P1- You mentioned shadow a CEO. You father is almost a CEO why not shadow him? P1- Giving Feed back. Syed “It will hurt me more thn my first breakup if you leave airbus”. P3 - Do you know about the “SPIKES” in resume you need to get a shortlist in Consulting? What are yours? P1 - Do you know how difficult it is to be in top of cohort ? How will you manage? P1 -ISB is a party school- how will manage with studies? P1- again giving feedback- I really like you, you are passionate you have done alot of quality work but their needs to a little more clarity on Why consulting. Also I am loving this interview I am learning alot. P3 - Do you have any questions? Read Less

Here's a rough debrief of the written test and the interview. ***Spot essays*** 1) You are a team ... Read More

Here's a rough debrief of the written test and the interview. ***Spot essays*** 1) You are a team lead...working in a project..have to submit before the deadline well in advance because of some competition prep..team members came up with short cut solutions..however may have issues in the project later...what are the challenges...what would you do? 2) You are having a group presentation...a classmate had problem with the approach & expresses it during the presentation..team wants you to pitch in & handle the situation..how would you do it without compromising integrity? ***Interview*** <Panel consisted of 3 alumni> 1) Introduce yourself, work, likes.. 2) Asked about each role in my career progression..what is that role & what exactly did you do in that role? 3) Suddenly about extracurricular..learnings from it? 4) What do you bring to the table at ISB? 5) Biggest challenge I faced? 6) Why your short term goals? 7) Why product management? 8) Why MBA & why ISB? 9) Did you discuss with your manager if you can become one without an MBA? 10) After 20 years, what would you have achieved? 11) Why do you think you got so & so promotion? 12) What would you do if you graduate from ISB & can't make it to your desired industry? 13) What did you most like in one of the extracurriculars? 14) Few more follow up questions based on the answers i gave to above questions 15) How would you contribute to alumni after graduating? 16) Any questions you have for us? Overall, the interview was conversational and I received the admit. ISB interviews are always filled with follow-up questions, making it unpredictable & highly dependent on the panelists. While the traditional advice of knowing your application & resume inside out still holds true, my short advice is to be ready for follow-up questions on everything you say. Most of the questions I faced didn’t come from a predefined list. They were entirely based on my responses during the conversation. So, if you're hit with a curveball question, take a few seconds to think before responding. Trust me, pausing for 4–5 seconds(Don't take too much time though :)) to gather your thoughts is far better than blurting out the first thing that comes to mind, especially since you "will" face follow-up questions. You can DM me for any assistance. I will try to respond whenever i find time. Hope this helps. All the best!! Read Less

Profile - 95% in 10th (topper), 95.6% in 12th (second topper), 8.81 (fourth topper) in Electronics... Read More

Profile - 95% in 10th (topper), 95.6% in 12th (second topper), 8.81 (fourth topper) in Electronics & Comm from a Tier-I Engg college (IIT). Strong PoRs in college - Head of International Relations Cell, Head of Department Society, Head of Socio-cultural fest Work Ex (Analytics) - 1.5 years at ZS 1.5 years at a crypto Indian startup 1.5 years at a stock broking Indian startup. Became a team lead here. Involved in 0-1 product building. Spot Essays 1. A Helpful and respected team member is asking for confidential data from my prior company to complete a project. What will my actions be? 2. ⁠A Key team member made an error in a project which can affect my grade. Prof asks me to replace the team member. What will my actions be? How will ensure project completion? Interviews (no specific order) : 1. Personal and professional journey 2. Picked a point from my LoR. You struggled with Stakeholder Management initially. What was the conflict? How did you improve? 3. ⁠What type of company do you think suits you the best post PGP given your diverse professional experiences? 4. ⁠Picked a point from my essay - elaborate on your weakness and your self awareness journey. 5. ⁠how does a day at your workplace look like for you in the conext of leading the analytics team in a startup? 6. ⁠Imagine you’re a PM at your workplace. What initiatives will you take? 7. ⁠Given that you’re already a quasi-PM, why PGP from ISB for product management? 8. ⁠Any questions for the panel. Read Less

*Interview* (in no particular order) - Tell me about yourself - What is your long-term goal? (Lot of... Read More

*Interview* (in no particular order) - Tell me about yourself - What is your long-term goal? (Lot of cross questioning on the specifics of it.) - What are your strengths and weaknesses? (Cross-questioned here) - What activities / clubs will you participate in at ISB? - What courses will you take at ISB? - Provide details on a project you worked on recently. - A time when you faced conflict at work. - Why ISB? - What other schools have you applied to? - What if you don’t get to go to ISB this year? - What do you like to do outside of work? - Anything else you want to share that we have not covered? - Any questions for us? Read Less