Calling all ISB Applicants - (2016 Intake) Class of 2017

ISB is giving feedbacks starting June this year.

You can request for a feedback by following the link below:
https://pgpapp.isb.edu/PGP2015/User/FeedbackRequest.aspx

You have a very solid onsite experience. That can be a huge differentiator in ISB, so I will suggest you to highlight as much as possible along with leadership.

I have 9 years and I have 760. My ISB interview was descent and I got a reject. So be realistic and do apply for IIMA/IIMB/IIMC. With your experience, you will be a great fit there in those institutions if you are looking for India only. If not, do increase your options and go where your experience is valued.

All the best.

P.S. I got reject from IIMA with my earlier score of 680.

All about Recommendations


When should I ask my Recommender to start filling the form?
The first thing to be done after starting your application is to find people who can be your recommenders and send them the recommendation form.
You should give them as much time as possible to craft a well thought and effective Letter of Recommendation.
The ideal time to be given should be a month at least. The more the merrier.

After sending the recommendation forms to the recommender, your work does not end. In fact now the real part starts.
Sit with your recommender and discuss about each question in the form. Convey what do you want them to highlight and make sure the strengths you put on your application match with those in your letter of recommendations. A good brain storming session will give your recommender food for thought and s/he will be able to write a solid and effective letter of recommendation for you.

Who should I choose as my Recommender?
The person you choose as your recommender should satisfy the following criteria:

1. S/he should be senior to you in designation (may or may not be in age)
2. S/he should have worked with you directly.
3. Your work should impact the performance of your recommender in the organization.

If the people you choose satisfy these criteria, you have done a good job

I know the CEO of my company. Can I take her/his recommendation?
OR
Does the designation of the recommender matters?
In case, you have worked with your CEO directly and s/he is in a position to judge your strengths and weaknesses, go ahead and take the recommendation.
Just because the CEO is a family friend, do not take the recommendation if you have not directly worked with the person. The person will not have many examples and stories of your hard and smart work to share.

So, the designation does not matter if the recommender do not have substantial things to talk about you.

What choices do I have in choosing the recommender and how effective their recommendations would be?
You can choose your recommender in the following order of their effectiveness:

1. Client
2. Current Manager
3. Previous Manager
4. Senior person in your organization.

If you want to take a recommendation from somebody with whom you have worked only for sometime (Ex: The president of the NGO you have worked for)
Ask this question to yourself: Will this person be able to tell my strengths in a better way than my Manager at my organization?
You can decide to choose the recommender based on the answer you get.
Once again, do not just take the recommendation because of the position of the person.

I do not want my current manager to know about my application to B-School as it might affect my career
It is a question which pops up in the mind of many applicants.
In this situation, the best thing to do would be to talk to your manager upfront and tell him about your plans for the future.
If that is not at all an option and can get you fired , then you can take a recommendation from your previous manager.
And if you do not have a previous manager, you can go and ask it from a senior person who can keep your case confidential.


I hope this should cover most of the queries, still if you all have any other question, feel free to ask.
And yes, please let me know if I have missed anything here.

All the best!

Thank you for your kind words Deepak. This forum is only for ISB though. We would certainly like to help you with all your queries and choosing the right path ahead. Please get in touch with us directly by clicking here and leaving a message.

ISB to get good competition this year with IIM-B reducing its EPGP (the 1-yr full time program) eligibility to 4yrs of professional experience and introducing 2 application deadlines instead of just one deadline traditionally. It is also for the first time in several years that IIM-B is conducting info sessions - the first one on Sunday (24th May) at the IIM-B campus. A win-win for both IIM-B and applicants with 4+ yrs workex looking for interesting options in India.

All the Best!

'ISBmantra / EssaySunday Consulting'

https://www.essaysunday.com

https://www.isbmantra.com

Can someone evaluate my profile for ISB

Below is the snapshot of my profile:

Xth - 84% (State Board)

XIIth - 89% (State Board)

Graduation - 81% (B.E CSE)

Having a total work experience of 5 years, currently working with Citi Corp Services India Ltd (Citigroup) for about 6 months as a Manager, My current role involves managing the projects for the EMEA region and vendor management.

Previously worked for Deloitte Consulting and Infosys.

Received an award for "excellent customer service" in a consulting project

Received a SPOT award for timely deliverable of the project.

Knowledge management anchor for the projects worked.

Extra-Curricular:

1. Received an award from the Infosys senior management for an initiative at work.

2. Organized a couple of cricket tournaments in Infosys, for which I don't have any certificates.

Planning to take GMAT by July End

Hi Manoj,

I believe we have interacted sometime last year, when you were still employed with Deloitte.
You have a nice profile for ISB - you have good academic grades, fall in the sweet spot (4-6 years) of work experience at ISB, and have also accumulated some global exposure on account of working with the EMEA teams

Having a 700+ GMAT score will only boost your chances for an admit. Also, a well strategized application will definitely lead to an interview call.

Hello,

I am planning to apply for R1 of ISB, need some inputs on my profile,
Profile:
XII : 89% Maharashtra Board
Grad: 8.43/10 (B.tech Electronics)
Work Ex: 42 months on Apr 16, Company:Infosys, part of R&D unit called Mobility Center of excellence(worked on an established products and part of core team of a nascent product).
GMAT: 720(Q:49, V:38), IR:7, AWA:5
Extra-curricular: been president of a college club, helped my college department arrange national level conference.

can R&D experience be diffrentiated from typical IT experience?
should I reappear for GMAT and try to get higher score before applying?
is my profile good enough to get an admit even with higher GMAT score??
also, what are my chances for SP Jain, Mumbai.?

Kindly help.

I don't think that you need a GMAT retake for ISB, however, I would like to know more elements in your profile that will make you stand out.

What has the work trajectory been like? What are your work related achievements? What impact have you made?

Hello Namita ,

Thank you for your quick reply.

About My work ex:
Joined as trainee, stood 2nd in the batch of 500 students hense was chosen for R&D unit.
Was promoted to senoir system engineer in within 1 year.
Expecting next promotion this october before applying to ISB

I have worked on a messaging system product which is used across Infosys to reduce time to market for other products.
Here my responsiblities were quick proof of concepts and then actual implementation.

I worked as lead engineer on a demo for an infy tech symposium which has attacted few clients. I conceptualized, designed and coded the major part of demo.
I am currently working on a POC which is direct consequence of that demo.

I work on all the latest technologies such as google glass, healthbands as part of small core team and have regular interactions with higher management and take part in design discussion for the product POC.

sadly I don't have any internal awards. will this experience help me differentiate my profile?
if not what is missing?

kindly help.

Can someone throw light on IIMA's PGPX vs IIMB's EPGP vs ISB's PGP. Am very keen on ISB's PGP, however, would like to know what differentiates each of these schools.

IIMA PGPX -> Average work is 9.5 years
IIMB EPGP -> 7-8 years
ISB PGP -> 4.5 years till last year

So it depends upon your work ex and what you want to achieve post MBA? in IIMA and IIMB is more of career advancement and ISB there might a little shift into consulting, marketing and finance.

Shazam,

BTW, is your GMAT Club handle anything to do with that brilliant app which helps you discover song names?

So, I see some good work you have done at Infy! Two promotions in 3.5 years is not bad at all. You have worked on a lot of cutting edge technology - you will have to make this relevant in your essays- link this to you initiation / innovation/ willingness to learn streak. Emphasize how these personal qualities have made you an integral part of the discussion.

So to sum up, I don't think you are missing anything per se. But competition is tough for you dude! You are still an Infy guy. Submitting a very strong application is still going to be the key to success.

Play your cards well and reach out if you want help

Hello Namita,

Thanks a lot for your advice.

I know with my IT background and average GMAT score of 720, its P3 bucket(a.k.a Davy Jones Locker) for me.
I thought a super duper GMAT score(750+) might help me get into P1 bucket, which is why I asked about retaking the GMAT.
will take your advice and try to put strong application rest is as they say "deo volente".

P.S. Shazam is a reference to DC comic superhero Shazam and not the app.

Thank you!!!

Scores are not the only thing.

ISB Ding with 760

Hi,

I have scored 670 (Q49, V31) on GMAT and aiming for ISB 2016 intake.
I have close to 7 years of work ex in IT and a GPA of 4.0
Can someone guide me whether I should go ahead with this score or consider retaking GMAT?

Shilpa