ISB applicants - Ask GyanOne!!

Hello, I am Mohit (Age-32). Kindly review my profile for ISB Application.
I got 690 Score( Q-50, V-33) in GMAT (second attempt). I have 7 years of work experience in Production Planning and Control department in Steel industry. I am M TECH in chemical Engineering from IIT Bombay (CGPA - 8.3) & B E in Chemical Engg. from VNSGU, Surat (65% aggregate). 12th - 64% & 10th - 84.5%.
Have founded a start up in K-12 Education system which provides practical learning approach to children (involved with job in the venture for 4 years).

Hello GYANONE

I am applying for isb Ylp and have to fill in for round 2.

1. my profile is as follows.
gmat 680 ( q50, v30) IR 6 AWA 5.5
12th 97%
b.com hons avg 8.95 grade

internships: 1) executive trainee internship at AIS Glass ltd for 1 month in HR dept
2) Marketing internship at social media platform CAMPUS DRIFT

Certifications:
NSE CERTIFICATION in investment analysis and portfolio management.

kindly review my profile.

also let me know whom should i prefer for evaluation college professor or manager at my internship

Hi askul2389

Thanks for posting. At the outset, we would set your fears to rest and say that you definitely have what it takes to target ISB.
- Your GMAT history is a bit sketchy but it is the highest score that counts, and in your case that is a 710 - well within the decent range for ISB. The 2 on the IR is a bit below par, but should not trouble you in ISB admissions just by itself.
- Your academic performance would be considered about average. 67% is good when considered in the context of your college, but ISB will be considering it with respect to the general pool of applicants, not just your college.
- Your work experience is the part that definitely differentiates you. Your work and the recognition it has garnered at L&T is excellent. Although there is a higher number of oil and gas applicants for top MBA programs (given dipping profitability in the industry) nowadays, you should still be able to leverage your work diversity. Your work, though, is highly technical (that is why you were selected at L&T, as you say), and this can be a slight double-edged sword for ISB's first essay. Still, if you dig deep, you should have enough in your profile to talk about how you are a good candidate for selection.
- Do you have any international experience? How about the level of business exposure? It would be interesting to delve into these.
- Your NGO work is great and truly impactful. Most people dont have achievements to show on that side (only participation), and so you work there will speak well for you.
- Energy consulting is a good area to aim for, but do your homework there. Sometimes, it can be considered too niche/small. That said, many applicants with interests in that area have made it in the past. More than just stating the objective, try and delve on why you choose it and what you hope to accomplish.
- Overall, you are well set, and your focus now must be on creating a solid application for ISB.

Hope this helps. Feel free to come back with more queries as needed.

Hi Mohit

Thanks for posting.
- 690 on the GMAT may well be enough given your background and profile. You have a Master's (from IIT) as well, that certainly helps further.
- The startup is definitely a feather in your cap, but it might also raise questions. Where do your future goals lie? Education/social work/manufacturing?
- It seems you may have a couple of gap years in your profile. Is that the case? What were reasons for these?
- Your core work should be interesting. Please provide more details on your daily responsibilities and key achievements so we can comment in more detail there.

Hi smanujahrc,

- Your GMAT is on the slightly lower side for the YLP. Are you planning a retake? Not saying that you cannot get through without it, but if you can get a slightly higher score, you would help your cause. YLP admissions are generally more GMAT-centric.
- Your academic profile is solid so if you can do a good job on your essays you should be able to make it to the interviews.
- On the choice of recommender, can't really comment unless you provide details on the length and level of interactions you have had with each. Will be happy to help once you provide these brief details.

Hope this helps. Feel free to come back with more queries as needed.

Thank You Gyanone

i am not planning to retake my GMAT.
I am working hard on my essays currently.

Regarding the evaluation i spent one month at my internship working under the talent acquisition head in HR department. She did like my work as i was quick and was able to achieve the given targets on time.
Other choice is one of my professor of TAX at my college. Though i have not worked directly under his supervision on any project but he did taught us for fairly around 2 semesters. I have heard from seniors that he is quite preferred by many candidates from college to do the evaluation. So i am bit doubtful about him writing a unique recommendation for me but overall i was able to connect to him more as i have spent more time in college attending his classes and developing a connection with him.

any suggestion which could help me make my decision would be appreciated.

Hi smanujahrc,

- The uniqueness of your recommendation is not a factor. To help your professor along, you can meet him and discuss points that you felt were your key achievements in college. It is then up to him to finally take those points, but if you do discuss, it increases the chances that he will use some examples from there.
- Overall, your professor has spent much more time observing you, and can also comment on your performance basis others by looking at how well you did in his subjects. Given that your overall GPA is quite good, your performance in all likelihood would have been great here too. That only gives him a reason to say good things about you.
- Your supervisor at your one-month internship had very little time to really observe you in depth. As a result, his/her recommendation may end up being a bit shallow, even if it is overall positive, and this might hurt your candidature.

Hope this helps. Feel free to come back with more queries as needed.

Hey

I got your point thanks.
I just want to know one thing in YLP ISB evaluation does the evaluator has to write essays for me or there are some specific questions. I tried to Google what is included in the evaluation i found that there are some questions but i am not sure whether that information is 100% correct.
Do you have any idea about that??
As knowing what is included in evaluation could be of great help in deciding the perfect evaluator.

There are specific questions that your recommender needs to answer. Beyond that, you should coordinate with your recommender because the questions and their responses by the recommender are supposed to be confidential.

ISB ESSAYS 2017 (2018 INTAKE / CLASS OF 2019): DETAILED ANALYSIS


The ISB essays 2017 (for the class entering in 2018 and graduating in 2019) have been released. While the essay topics themselves are not very different from the essay topics for last year (2016-2017 application), there are a number of important changes that ISB has introduced in its application process for this year.



What is expected in the ISB essays 2017 – 2018?
Word limit changes apart, the theme for the ISB essays remains pretty much the same as the one for last year. Without really restricting applicants to a theme chosen by the school, ISB presents an open canvas....ISB Essays 2017

This post was first shared on the GyanOne Blog

Hi Gyanone.. got a reject in R2, March. Requested a feedback from ISB and they replied with below pointers:

1. You need to work on articulation of your ideas before considering to re-apply.
2. You were not able to convey your strengths during the interview.

I infer that from point 1 that they are asking to improve on essays and from point 2 that i need to communicate well.
Any different insights on this? Would really appreciate your point of views.

Thanks

Hey GyanOne,
Please evaluate my profile for ISB/NUS/NTU

Shubham Chauhan
City, Country: Rayong, Thailand
GMAT - 680
Schooling
• 10th and 12th Grades: 93% (CBSE, District level Merit Holder) , 88% (MP Board) respectively
• Extracurricular activities: Cricket and Photography
College (Graduation)
• College name: Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar
• Degree: B. Tech [Mechanical]
• Grades: 8.15/10
• Notable projects undertaken: Generation of Hot Spots in Photovoltaic cell at Underwriters Laboratory, Chicago, USA
Professional Experience
I have worked in three locations of same company. Total Experience ~ 4.3 Years( Till Date)
1.
 Polyplex Corporation Limited
 Role- Management Trainee
 Location- Noida India
 Tenure- 6months [June’13-Nov’13]
2.
 Polyplex Europa
 Role- Management Trainee
 Location- Çorlu, Turkey
 Tenure- 6months [Dec’13-May’14]

3.
 Polyplex Thailand Public Company Limited
 Role- Production Analyst (Manager) reporting to General Manager (Head-Operations) and Now working as Process Manager (Production) since May’16
 Location- Rayong, Thailand
 Tenure- 38 months [June’14- Till date]

Professional Experience:-
Job Profile – I am the youngest person in the company to have been hired at the post of Manager in the company’s history of 30+ years.
Polyplex Group is the 4th Largest manufacturer of Polyester Film in the world with locations in India, Turkey, Thailand and USA and distribution offices in Poland, China, Netherlands, Singapore etc.

Operational Analyst
For 2 years, I worked under Head-Operations (General Manager) of company as operational Analyst. In this profile, my work catered to the data analysis on various aspects for the plant improvement. I have been involved in high decision making body for the turn-around of the company. For this I worked with Managing Director of the company. I was completely responsible for CAPEX proposal, MIS Generation. One of my proposals accepted by top management resulted in annual saving of USD 1 million. I got a fair exposure of general management of the company including the financial aspects. In this role, I got a fair view of all areas of running a business, right from Inventory management to product manufacturing to Manpower Management along with the sales strategy of the company. I have been part of all CEO Review meetings, which gave me an amazing experience of how top management deals with problems and how does senior management perceive things.

Process Manager
Looking into the good performance, I have been shifted to the core operations as process Manager (Industrial Film Division), independently handling the operations of 2000MT/Month production capacity polyester film plant. Plant is $100 Million facility, with state of the art setup
I am responsible for all process related trouble shooting and all new product development related activities, handling day-to-day operational activities involved in Production.

50 Thai personnel report me directly (Production Department).

Experience of working outside India in Non English Speaking Country-

Living abroad in countries such as Turkey and Thailand, where the native language is not English, has been a challenging but my life’s most interesting experience. You will have to adapt to a new culture and a new way of life. Immersing in foreign environment required flexibility and determination. That was not easy at the beginning but it has been a great life lesson. I found myself becoming more independent and more outspoken person. Taking decision to go abroad opened my mind and opportunities. I met people that don’t necessarily think and live like i did. This has called me into question what I’ve believed in so far and gave me opportunity to grow from this experience. Working and Hanging out with localities of Thailand gave me chance to live in this amazing culture and experience more closely.
Extracurricular Activities & Achievements
 In College
o Received Dean’s List Award for excellent academic performance in IIT in last four semesters (consecutively)
o Won College Competition organized among all IIT Gandhinagar Students. Got opportunity for Internship in Underwriters Laboratory, Chicago, USA. Received an award of $1000 as part of competition win.
o Part of College Cricket Team , which represented Inter-IIT Sports Meet Organized in IIT Delhi
o Marketing Manager of IIT-GN Technical Annual Summit. Had at team of 15 young students. Footfall of Summit increased threefold

Hi GyanOne,

Please review my profile. I am applying in R1 and my GMAT is 710 (Dec 2015).

Academics-
10th - 82%
12th - 93%
B.Tech (Mechanical engg) - JNTU - 78%
M.Tech (Mechanical engg) - IIT Guwahati - 9.6/10
PG Diploma in Marketing management (1 yr part time weekend, 2016-2017) - SIBM pune - 8.24/10


Work experience - 3 years
Manager - New product development, Passenger cars at TATA Motors Ltd
Representing R&D in new product development team to create product configurations and concepts for 2019-2023.
Worked in liaison with finance, marketing, manufacturing and design teams
Coordinated with R&D teams across Europe and India to drive project delivery as per timelines.

Part time work ex of 1 year in family business (SME manufacturing) during under graduate.
Worked to reduce production costs and acquire new clients.


Extra curricular-
Placement coordinator at IIT Guwahati
Organized fests and events during under graduate
Squash player (amateur)
Tata Motors CSR volunteer


Post MBA I wish to work in Strategy/Business development.

I got a reject 2 years back for EEO. Should I mention it as a re-applicant.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Samcom

Thanks for posting. Here is our assessment:
- First up, please provide more insight into your profile. How much experience do you have/GMAT score/brief on ECA.
- The feedback seems to be a bit generic. Reason: if the articulation of your ideas was the issue, why would they interview you? Not saying that your essays were perfect, but it seems unlikely that they were the sole reason.
- The interview is a bit difficult to comment on, unless you provide some points on how it went. Was there a lot of questioning around your goals? Was skepticism expressed over your achievements? Were you questioned over the rationale for an MBA? By the way, the feedback in point 2 may not be that you failed to communicate well, but that you failed to defend your objectives to the extent they would have liked.
- We would suggest you review your goals, the strength of your essays, and create a better fit with ISB for this year. This year, there is no reapplicant essay, so your strengths need to shine through in the two main essays.

Do also go through the following links. They are directly relevant for you:
https://www.gyanone.com/blog/isb-application-feedback/
https://www.gyanone.com/blog/isb-admissi ... s-round-2/
https://www.gyanone.com/blog/isb-reapplicant-chances/

Hope this helps. Feel free to come back with more queries as needed.

Hi team,
Need review of my profile for ISB
GMAT: 650
Academics: BE- IT (64%)
MBA MARKETING(2 yr) CGPA 5.94/7
(consecutively among top 1% class)
12th: 74, 10th: 86
MBA EVENT MANAGEMENT(1 yr course)

Work ex: Total 4.9 yrs
Cognizant: 9 months as a programmer
Infosys: 3 yrs in Data analytics consulting
1 yr as a freelancer event manager

Extra curricular:
1. Published 4 research papers in leading journals across India
2. Leadership excellence award during MBA
3. Digital marketing certified
4. Leadership Positions on student bodies throughout BE and MBA
5. Multiple events organized and worked as freelancer across all categories like music, corporate, sports,etc.
6. Winner and finalist in many national level case study competitions.

Do let me know my chances.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

Hello GyanOne Team, could you please review my profile for ISB?

10th: 94%, ICSE
12th: 85%
B.Tech and M.Tech Computer Science from IIIT (Bangalore). GPA: 3.61/4 (Dean's List). Graduated in 2017.

GMAT: 710(Q49, V38, IR: 8, AWA: 5)

Work experience:

9 months internship with Swiss construction firm as a software developer.
Joining them as a data scientist at their Kuala Lumpur office this August.

3 month internship at RMIT university, Melbourne with a paper accepted in an IEEE journal.

3 month internship at Yatra(Indian travel start-up)

Achievements: Won 1 international coding competition and multiple coding competitions at national level.

Extra Curriculars:

Founding member of E-Cell, IIIT
Actively working with two NGOs associated with my college
Lead Organiser at the college fest
Organised a few workshops in my college

Thanks in advance :-D

Hi Abhijay

Looks pretty good overall. Strong academics, decent GMAT, and good work experience. Some inputs:
- As you do not have 2 years of experience, you will need to apply through the EEO.
- Your internships are a bit diverse (i.e. not focused on one industry) and this means that you will need to carefully select learning and achievements from them to showcase.
- Your work as a data scientist will also be valuable. ISB values that background, so be sure to mention it. You might not have too much actual work to show in that role though, if you are applying now, but still mentioning what you have done so far will be good. You can also correlate your coding experiences with this.
- The international experience you have so far will add to your candidature. Be sure to mention that.

Hope this helps. Feel free to come back with more queries as needed.