How the ISB admission process worksWritten by Sameer KamatWhat are the chances that your ISB application will be shortlisted for an interview? What happens inside the ISB admissions office after you submit your ISB essays, recommendations? Will the ISB admissions officer reject your application purely because of a low GMAT score?
V.K. Menon, senior director of admissions, financial aid and careers offers some insight into all these questions in an interview with John Byrne from Poets & Quants. We bring to you the important points from Mr Menon’s interview as he dissects the ISB admission process for the benefit of applicants. Though these inputs are for ISB, you’ll find that the approach would be quite similar for the other top schools as well. So read on.
The most important message Mr Menon has for Indian applicants (who are used to entrance exams like JEE & CAT dominating the admissions process) is the fact that the GMAT isn’t the whole-and-sole deciding factor within your ISB application. The GMAT gets a 30% weight in the ISB admissions process, which is quite a bit.
But, like our political parties, it’s not enough to gain an independent majority. You have to work towards building a successful coalition – across the other application components.
Though a high GMAT score is desirable, those will scores as low as 600 also have a chance of being considered seriously.
If you don’t believe it, here’s the story of Sudhir Nemani who got into ISB with a low GMAT score of 600!
But the ISB admission process is a lot more complex that you’d imagine. With thousands of applicants with varying degrees of skills, expertise and potential, it can become pretty confusing. Almost like comparing Adam’s apple to Steve Jobs’ Apple.
So the ISB admissions team devised a structure to categorise each applicant based on their profile.
How does the ISB admission process work?
If you are applying to ISB and wondering about your chances of getting into ISB Mohali campus or Hyderabad, it would help you to understand how the Adcom will slot you into P1, P2, P3 and P4.
The coding scheme might give you the impression that the odds increase or decrease along with the numbers. But that’s not how it works. Here’s a lowdown on each of them, in a jumbled up order (for a reason).
Category P3:
This is the dream profile for ISB. Elite undergrad college (like IIT), very high GMAT score (770-780), excellent accomplishments in all spheres, impressive extracurriculars.
Unless you’ve really messed up in one of the key areas (described in the next section) you can be confident of getting interviewed by ISB admissions officer.
Category P1:
This is where the diversity candidates will be pooled together. Despite being the top B-school in India, ISB doesn’t have the same cultural diversity that European or American or even other Asian bschools (like NUS) offer.
The next best thing they can do is to look for differentiated backgrounds from unconventional professions. If you have a sports, NGO, military, creative background, good for you.
Back it up with a strong GMAT and some strong ISB essays and you can expect an interview call.
Category P2:
All you IT Male Engineers working in technology and software companies, this is where you’ll be housed. The good news is that you are still in the race. The bad news is that you have lots of company.
If you read the resume of any random competitor from the P2 group, you might feel like he copied your CV. Tough life!
Can you narrate a story that’s different from all the other applicants who also have your background? That’s the only way to make an impact.
Category P4:
This is the only category where the number signifies the position in the category listing. Applicants with a very low GMAT score who also have nothing special to write home about would be ‘dumped’ into (one step before the politely worded formal rejection goes out).
If you happen to be in this pool, the odds of getting dinged are very high. The only hope is if you can pull out a rabbit from your hat and convince the MBA admissions committee that you deserve a seat despite the lacklustre application.
What the ISB Admissions Committee looks for
Irrespective of the category you fall in, you will be judged on 3 aspects:
Academics: This covers the familiar territory of undergrad performance (GPA, percentage) and MBA entrance exams like GMAT.
Leadership: Here’s where your professional accomplishments along with all that you’ve done outside work (extra-curriculars) will get evaluated.
Interview: ISB wants to see if all the facts and figures you submitted is backed by an effective and impressive personality as well.
Here’s how ISB’s 4 P’s (inspired by the 4P model of marketing?) stack up against each other:
Your odds of getting into ISB are as follows:
P3 > P1 > P2 > P4
In terms of the number of applicants, the order changes:
P2 (2000) > P3 (1000) > P1 (500) > P4 (300)
Here is the link to the official post:
https://www.mbacrystalball.com/blog/2014 ... n-process/ I've read this before. I still can't figure out which P I'd belong to!