Calling all ISB PGP Applicants: 2026 Intake Class of 2027

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Hello adiVS,

Your low GPA will prove to be a red flag; a high GMAT score may help offset this to a large extent. In our opinion, a score in excess of 695 will be a good aim to set for yourself.

All the best!

Hello Avantika1765#,

The profile looks differentiated in some senses and the Bain experience will be prove to be beneficial.

While a lot depends on how you portray your strengths and tie your profile with your proposed career goals, a score in excess of 665 will give you a good chance of getting an interview call.

All the best!

Hello shubhamsomani020,

Unfortunately, the details shared by you are not enough to assess your profile in detail.

Very broadly speaking, a score in excess of 685 is what you should target for ISB. This will give you a competitive advantage.

All the best!

Profile Evaluation Request and Score suggestion for ISB (planning to apply in R2)

Education
• CFA Charter Holder : +90 percentile in all the three levels
• Institute and Faculties of Actuaries, UK
○ CT1 - 82 (P)
○ CT5 - 85 (P)
• Under graduation
○ B.Com (hons) from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata - 7.5 CGPA (lower as I was focusing on other professional courses in college but appreciate this is not a valid excuse)
• High School
○ St. Lawrence High School, Kolkata - 95%
• Secondary School
○ Nalanda English Day High School - 90%

Work Experience (June 2019 - present)
• M&G Investments, Mumbai (Sep 2021-present)
○ Part of Catalyst, a global impact PE mandate to deploy $5bn in sustainable assets across various sectors and regions.
○ Have led, evaluated and closed multiple deals across regions (US, EMEA and APAC) in various sectors (Space Economy, Semiconductors, Data Centres, Energy Management, Fintech, etc.)
○ Joined as a Senior Analyst and then promoted to the position of Manager
○ Also managed a few interns in the last few years
• Hinduja Renewables, Mumbai (Oct 2020 - Sep 2021)
○ Clean energy arm of Hinduja group
○ Joined as an investment analyst in the Business Development team and evaluated multiple investment opportunities across various clean energy projects in India
○ Worked very closely with Shom Hinduja across various group projects of the conglomerate
• TresVista Financial Services, Mumbai (June 2019 - Oct 2020)
○ Joined as a Financial Analyst in the Investment Banking Team
○ Have worked with multiple DFIs in Sub-Saharan Africa
○ Went through an extensive 4-week investment banking training program

Extra-curricular activities
1. Part of the Corporate Cricket Team (Leather Ball) at M&G. Played Inter-corporate cricket tournaments in Mumbai.
a. Have also represented my club at the Cricket Association of Bengal (U-16)
2. Also did a few CSR projects in College

Career Goal: Continue to develop and grow in the Asset Management Industry. You might notice that I switched roles in the earlier part of my career but that is majorly because I wanted to get into the asset management industry. I joined TresVista through college campus placement but switched to a buy side role at Hinduja. Since the focus was very narrow (only clean energy infra investments) at Hinduja, I joined M&G which very well aligned with my long term career objectives. I am planning to do an MBA out of the realization (based on actual industry feedback sourced from my network) that MBA is necessary in this space for career progression.

GMAT experience : Started studying two weeks back and took my first mock (GMAT club) yesterday. Managed to score 645 (Q81, V82, DI83)

Would be keen to hear yours views regarding my profile strength and any potential areas of improvement? Also if you could guide me towards a score range that I should be targeting that would be very useful? Thanks!

Please take an official mock test. That would provide you the best baseline.
--
Ashish.

I am assuming you mean to convey that 40 lakhs fees is your investment in MBA.

This is an incorrect way of calculating the total investment. You should also add one year of opportunity cost.

For instance, if your salary is Rs.25 lakhs per year, then the total cost of one year MBA to you would be Rs.65 lakhs (40+25).
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Ashish.

Thanks Ashish. Any views on the profile?

40 lakhs, are you investing it in MBA or Yourself. first clarify that. your doubt is, will you be able to extract 40lh worth of value after investing money and 2 years time? well thats totally up to you. you know your worth, and you should be one to decide if its safe to invest 40 lh in yourself.

Quite decent overall. Obviously you cannot mention the following as the reason for MBA:)

MBA is necessary in this space for career progression.

A good GMAT score is important in order to compensate for your slightly modest undergrad score.
--
Ashish.

Hi,

Your St. Xaviers College - Bcom hons and CFA (all three levels) is a strong academic profile, a 645 on the GMAT mock is a good sign, even if you score that much in the actual exam it would be fine, provided you present a strong story in the application.

Having said that, there's still 2 months (atleast) in hand to prepare for the test. A good enough score could be anywhere between 655 to 665 or upwards.

Areas to work on now - a strong application strategy to present your work exp and extra curriculars optimally, how do you differentiate amongst the stronger pool, work on the application and the GMAT.

All the best!

Can anyone review my profile for ISB? Any other suggestions or comments are also welcome.

PROFILE:

Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech), Computer Science Engineering
IIIT Vadodara, 2024
CGPA: 8.48 / 10 (84.8%) – Top 10 in Batch

Class 12 - CBSE
Scored 92.4% - Top 5 in Class

Class 10 – CBSE
Scored 90.4% – Top 5 in Class

Professional Experience: NONE (Took a drop year to prepare for CAT but was not able to get to a top institute, waitlisted in XLRI but I don't expect it to convert)

I just joined a startup as a Software Development Engineer this month. I am currently working on an application to assist elderly people in using their mobile devices by connecting them digitally and remotely to a third person (their children or family).

Working with the backend team to develop the whole application infrastructure from scratch using Firebase and Flutter.

GMAT: 650 on my first attempt. I did not prepare for the exam at all and just gave it based on my CAT preparations.

Question: Is the 716 average class score based on FE score or the original GMAT score?

Original GMAT score. FE average is 669.
--
Ashish.

Hi,
ISB has recently updated the GMAT focus edition averages for ISB PGP.
You can check them here: https://www.isb.edu/programmes/post-gra ... ss-profile

Referencing the table from isb.edu as of today below:

[color=#192890]GMAT Focus Scores[/color]
All Scores
Verbal Range	74 - 90
Quantitative Range	77 - 90
DI Range	71 - 90
Total Range	555 - 765
Middle 80% of scores
Verbal Range	80 - 86
Quantitative Range	81 - 90
DI Range	78 - 84
Total Range	625 - 715
Median Scores
Verbal	83
Quantitative	86
DI	81
Total	675

Are you planning to apply to ISB PGP or ISB PGP YL? The above score averages are for ISB PGP, it will work differently for ISB PGP YL though.

If its PGP YL that you are targeting and you are also preparing for the CAT as well, then the CAT score would be equally acceptable for the ISB PGP YL program. You don't need to write the GMAT for that mandatorily.

Hope this helps!

GMAT Focus edition scores are going up YOY so the percentile is what everyone should focus on.

While the rankings are governed by the absolute score, there’s a good chance that if you take exam in a later year, you might be in the 94th percentile. While the person at 92nd percentile, who may have taken test in the previous year, might have the same score as you.

Everyone’s more on a wait and watch right now to see what class profiles will look like with the new FE scores reported

This is brilliant.

Hi All
My name is Jogender, and I am almost 31 years old. After completing my 10th grade, I pursued a diploma in Instrumentation and Control Engineering, in which I scored 62%. Following that, I completed a B Tech in Electrical and Electronics Engineering with a score of 68%.

After graduating in 2015, I played professional football for three months in Kolkata. Unfortunately, I got injured and had to return home. I then started preparing for government jobs and eventually secured a position as a Sub-Inspector in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). I joined CISF in January 2018.

During my basic training, I completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Security and Law from NALSAR University. Since then, I have been serving in various capacities as a Sub-Inspector in the CISF.

Given my background and experience, I would like to know whether the GMAT and an Executive MBA would be a good option for me.

Yes, definitely. Here's some inspiration for you. Sharing the journey of IIMA PGPX and IIMB EPGP admit with a very similar profile as yours.

All the best!