Welcome 2024-2025 ISB Applicants Welcome, all ISB class of 2026 hopefuls. Let's use this platform to know each other, exchange ideas, and discuss app strategies? Who all are applying? Let us know by commenting below. Follow the thread and bookmark this post. https://gmatclub.com/forum/download/file.php?id=71511 https://gmatclub.com/forum/download/file.php?id=71421 https://gmatclub.com/forum/schools/photo/ISB.jpg ISB MBA Deadlines 2024-25 Round Application Deadline Decisions Released Round 1 Sep 15, 2024 November 2024 Round 2 TBA February 2025 Round 3 TBA March 2025 ISB MBA Essays 2024-25 Essay 1 https://gmatclub.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/transparent100-1.gif Provide an honest portrayal of yourself, emphasizing your strengths and weaknesses. Highlight the key elements that have shaped your personal journey. Give relevant illustrations as needed. (400 words) Essay 2 Contemplate two distinct situations—one where you experienced success and another where you faced failure. Delve into the personal and interpersonal lessons you learned from these instances. (400 words max) Essay 3 Given your previous experience and future aspirations, how do you plan to use the PGP at ISB to fulfil your professional goals? Note: It is not necessary for you to write this essay. Please use this space only if there is something really significant that you would like us to know.(250 words max) ISB MBA Admission Stats 2024-25 Average GMAT 716 Average GRE 330 Work Exp. 49 months View the full ISB Class Profile --> https://www.isb.edu/en/study-isb/post-graduate-programmes/pgp-management.html View the full ISB Employment Report --> https://www.isb.edu/en/study-isb/post-graduate-programmes/pgp-management/career-services.html

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Calling all ISB PGP Applicants: 2025 Intake Class of 2026

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Arjun9933

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28 Nov 2024, 22:54

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ancientxyz

Thank you for the offer SarthakCareerEdge but the money isn’t as important as doing right by the process is.

Just hope you understand the gravity of the work that you do, given how so many aspirations and dreams hinge upon admits from top bschools

Thanks for mentioning this. Infact one of my friends who took application services from his got rejected too. He has a good profile and above average score. Throughout the process the feedback he was getting from Sarthak was “Looks Good”. He got an interview call and it went well too. But at last he got rejected. As we both are coapplicants, we didn’t try to look at each others application/essays. Thankfully I got in. After his rejection, when I tried to understand where he went wrong his resume itself was poor. It is so generic and vague. Felt bad that a deserving candidate missed it

People get attracted to their services because it’s considering cheaper and Sarthak is an ISB alum himself.

But the feedback I understood after speaking to my friend is- his videos and LinkedIn posts are good. But he is not a good admissions consultant. Probably he takes many candidates onboard or what not sure, but the quality is below average. Also he is bad at taking criticism although he acts sweet. Sorry for being harsh, but I hope other candidates do not face this.
THIS IS NOT A FAKE OR SPAM POST. THIS IS GENUINE AND I DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING AGAINST HIM.

SBH005

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29 Nov 2024, 00:29

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After going throw the harrowing process of applications and rejections multiple times, all I can say is the college should atleast provide a honest feedback to reapplicants. I understand due to the volume of applications its difficult to provide individual feedback but every year, I feel there is so much randomness in this whole process and it seems to be a black hole for people getting rejected. Plus there is genuinely no one clear answer as to what they look for. Really, the college should realise and appreciate the time people put into writing these essays and getting the LORs. And sometimes I feel the narrative or story doesnt even matter, they say its holistic but no one knows how the evaluation is really done. Its high time someone questions the randomness factor in this entire process cause its plain unfair.

nitish2610

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29 Nov 2024, 00:31

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I think ISB does that. Just that it happens at the end of all the rounds.
If anyone can confirm or decline this

Krishnahelps

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29 Nov 2024, 00:33

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nitish2610

I think ISB does that. Just that it happens at the end of all the rounds.
If anyone can confirm or decline this

Yes, I had asked for a feedback the last time and ISB had scheduled a call with me

moat

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29 Nov 2024, 00:34

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I have taken Sarthak’s services and was more than satisfied. I don’t generally post on public platforms, but as we are sharing our experiences, it is only fair to state the other side.

Krishnahelps

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29 Nov 2024, 00:39

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moat

I have taken Sarthak’s services and was more than satisfied. I don’t generally post on public platforms, but as we are sharing our experiences, it is only fair to state the other side.

Same, I was also satisfied with Sarthak’s services. I had a GMAT score on the lower side. I had reached out to Piyush Ranjan and team first and they stopped replying to me after they got to know my score and they were not ready to work with me. They just work with high scorers to just publish their numbers in the end on LinkedIn.

But Sarthak trusted in me and actually helped me sort my application and plan on the narrative. He was very prompt in his response and helped me out thoroughly with multiple iterations.

I made it to ISB this year and I would credit Sarthak for helping me out with my application

kaushiks129

Joined: 17 Mar 2020

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29 Nov 2024, 00:44

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Anyone received separate mail for scholarship?

sssinha

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29 Nov 2024, 00:53

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kaushiks129

Anyone received separate mail for scholarship?

Yes, for need cum merit scholarship

kaushiks129

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29 Nov 2024, 00:54

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sssinha

Yes, for need cum merit scholarship

How many get this. Any idea?

ancientxyz

Joined: 19 Nov 2024

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29 Nov 2024, 00:57

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Krishnahelps

moat

I have taken Sarthak’s services and was more than satisfied. I don’t generally post on public platforms, but as we are sharing our experiences, it is only fair to state the other side.

Glad you guys had a good experience with Sarthak. I didn't. At all.

In fact, 2 of his mentees reached out to me agreeing with what my post mentions.

Sharing this without going into detail to help other take informed decisions.

guptaparth1998

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29 Nov 2024, 01:08

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Guys another honest feedback supporting what @ancient.. is saying.. Sarthak can be good no one is saying anything to that we all are just sharing our own experience here. I too thought he had a very casual attitude regarding the whole process did not provide any specific feedback on the resume like the other person mentioned too and with the essays too he only reworked the first essay and did not made any change to the other two essays at all.. not trying to paint a bad picture here just sharing what I felt.

smruthi.sm

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29 Nov 2024, 01:20

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ancientxyz

I truly believe all the applicants need to have more honest and open conversations about our experience with different MBA consultants. I had an extremely disappointing experience and felt like I needed to share it with other applicants to help them take informed decisions about their own MBA journey.

I would strongly urge other applicants to share their experience with MBA consultants as well. This may not be the appropriate thread for such a discussion but reach is extremely important for this discussion to be beneficial and this thread has a lot of active visitors.

While I believe that the outcome of the application process depends on many factors, and that one’s success or failure shouldn’t be solely attributed to the competency of a consultant, I agree that it’s important to have an open conversation about this.
I too went through a similar experience and completely agree with the points you’ve made. I initially gave this consultant the benefit of the doubt, especially since I didn’t have a conventional background and assumed that could explain the quality of feedback I received. However, upon reflection, this isn’t justified. Simply saying “looks good” is not meaningful feedback. I was also told that my essays had been reviewed by two other alums, but nothing like that happened.

This raises questions about the validity of some of the claims made by consultants when they are marketing their services to prospective applicants. I know of five people, including myself, who were rejected, despite the consultant’s claim that only five people out of all those he assisted were rejected. From this forum, it seems there are more rejections than what was claimed.

I want to make it clear that this is not a reaction to my rejection from ISB, but rather to my overall experience. This unfortunately has made me apprehensive seeking assistance from admissions consultants for other colleges in the future.

namasahith

Joined: 29 Jul 2023

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29 Nov 2024, 02:33

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guptaparth1998

Exactly same experience for me too..

namasahith

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29 Nov 2024, 02:39

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smruthi.sm

ancientxyz

So true! I had the exact same experience and messages from him. After the first essay, I could see that he was least interested for the rest of the process. He just messages saying it looks good, told me that he got it reviewed by other alumni, for which I specifically asked a feedback and changes, he replied by saying they said it's good so no changes are required. I did not push him further or question him then and there and in retrospect I think I should have expressed my disappointment earlier.

NinjaGRE1900

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29 Nov 2024, 03:01

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This is going to be detailed, as I want to share my experience and vent about Sarthak. To all future aspirants: please, please, please do not choose him. I genuinely believe I would have made it to ISB last year if it hadn’t been for Sarthak.

Since everyone is opening up, let me share my story. I enrolled with Sarthak last year. As seems to be his usual tactic, he offered me a ₹5,000 discount and sent a voice message asking me not to mention the discount to anyone. He also compared himself to other consultants, claiming he was the cheapest option while offering personalized "handholding"—which turned out to be a complete bluff.

I fell for his persuasive voice messages and enrolled. However, every time I asked him a question, his response was dismissive, along the lines of, "Pay the money first, and then we’ll talk." While I understand that consultants need to ensure payment, his approach made it abundantly clear that money was his sole priority. Reluctantly, I enrolled, and that’s when my ordeal began.

His essay services were far below par. He used the same narrative style for everyone and followed a generic template for all stories. I suspect even his editing process was random and lacked effort, marked with what seemed like superficial green highlights. The silver lining was that I realized early on how poor the essays were and sought help from another consultant. She didn’t mince words—she told me outright that my essays weren’t even close to acceptable. Her exact words were: "This isn’t even an essay, just a random mix of fancy words that feel artificial and lack authenticity." I had to rewrite everything myself and start over.

Another instance of negligence was when I filled out the employment details section of my application. I am a software engineer, and my roles and responsibilities were highly technical—complex enough that even another engineer might have struggled to understand them. When I asked Sarthak to review this section, all he said was, "Looks good." This year, looking back, I cringe at how poorly that section was written, and I blame myself for trusting his judgment.

Despite my setbacks, I managed to get an interview call thanks to my strong profile and the help of another consultant. However, this led to yet another disaster. Since my new consultant was unavailable in December, I had no choice but to take interview tips from Sarthak. To this day, I regret that decision. My interview performance was so bad that, in hindsight, I would have rejected myself if I were the interviewer. Sarthak, however, told me it was "amazing."

After my consultant returned, she conducted a mock interview and tore my performance apart. She said my answers were robotic, uninspired, and lacked depth—everything Sarthak had told me was “great.” He didn’t bother correcting me, instead scrolling through his phone during our preparation sessions. I was unaware of my mistakes because he made no effort to provide constructive feedback. I’ll forever appreciate the ISB alumni for rejecting me that year because, honestly, I didn’t deserve to get in with such a poor interview performance.

P.S. If anyone still wants to work with Sarthak, feel free to DM me. I’ll share a recording of my interview (thanks to his idea of recording everything), and you can see for yourself how bad it was and how indifferent his response was. If you’re considering enrolling with him, give me a call—I’ll gladly share every detail of my experience.

"The cost of trying to save ₹5,000 could cost you an entire year of your time. Be mindful."

SarthakCareerEdge

No worries, @ancientxyz. I understand your concern, and really appreciate your constructive feedback. Will really help us in ensuring better services for our mentees in the future. If it’s comfortable with you, kindly reach out to us on WhatsApp. Happy to refund the mentorship fee you paid to us. All the best, and rooting for you always.

@Sarthak, you might as well refund his money, but how will you ever give him back the year or the opportunity he lost? I genuinely feel sorry for him. I should have posted this last year because what happened to him was unacceptable. Another year of his life is wasted, and countless others who don’t come forward to share their stories will likely face the same fate.

And let’s be clear—you never take criticism. Don’t even try to act like you’re someone who can handle feedback, because you clearly can’t. The moment someone speaks against you, you get defensive and angry. Consider this a warning, not a threat—I have no problem exposing your poor-quality services, including the interview video and those ridiculous voice messages, right here for everyone to see.

You may have managed to secure a good number of clients so far, but let me tell you—this won’t last if you continue delivering such pathetic quality. Your reputation is bound to catch up with you.

MBAACCOUNT2025

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29 Nov 2024, 03:13

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This is not the correct place to share your experiences.

NinjaGRE1900

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29 Nov 2024, 03:16

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MBAACCOUNT2025

This is not the correct place to share your experiences.

Can you suggest a better platform? I’d be more than happy to share my experience there!

Aryaa03

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29 Nov 2024, 03:19

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MBAACCOUNT2025

This is not the correct place to share your experiences.

In that case even the appreciation posts should also not be posted here. Can we frame some guidelines @bb?

NinjaGRE1900

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29 Nov 2024, 03:26

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MBAACCOUNT2025

This is not the correct place to share your experiences.

In that case, this isn’t the right place to advertise your services. I’m not sure why some people feel insecure when someone shares their genuine experiences. Guys, Please feel free to share your own experiences as well—it will help inform people applying in Round 2. I’ll also be happy to make an appreciation post for my current consultant to highlight the difference in quality.