S995 wrote:
Hello GyanOne!
I have been following your blogs and posts for some time now, and find them super useful. Kudos, and thank you!
I am considering applying to ISB via the Early Entry Option this year and would be grateful if you could spare some time to evaluate my profile and offer some feedback.
The basics:
Indian female, non-IT (I am a graphic designer), 23 years old
Education:
10th ICSE- 91.25% from one of Bangalore's reputed schools
12th (ISC Arts)- 96.25% from the same school, school topper
Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication and Strategic Branding from Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology CGPA- 8.42/10
GRE: 312 in first attempt (Q 150- 38% and V 162- 87%)
I haven't studied Math in 7 years now, hence the poor Quant score.
Currently enrolled in GRE Coaching and working towards a better score.
Work Experience and Industry Exposure:
2 college internships at communications/creative agencies. Both in Mumbai. Worked on Dabur, Viber Film Festival, Mahindra Auto, Loreal at the first.
Second internship I was hired to work exclusively on the HUL account for their fashion and lifestyle products. If I remember correctly, this account was the largest retainer in the industry at the time.
Have freelanced consistently right from the first year of college, working for small/medium sized companies designing for social media, branding and marketing communications. Clients have been from a range of industries- a legal firm, content writers, home automation services, Japanese product design magazine, etc.
Presently have 11 months of work ex under my belt working in design and brand management at a small/medium sized executive education services company. Secured a promotion within 9 months of being here. Was promoted to leading Communications for the Data Science domain. Have led small teams, and worked across functions right from the start. Have successfully organized 2 events for 200+ people each. Tried my hand at Sales and realized I was decent at it. Have regularly interviewed senior managers, technical managers at Fortune 500s and interacted with leading CxOs while on the job. Worked with the press and media and basic PR exercises.
Leadership:
- Was Research, Marketing and Communications Student Head for a leading college project that received prominent media and press coverage
- History of leadership in School: School Cultural Secretary (12th grade), House Vice Captain, Sr. Prefect, Jr. Prefect
- Girl Guides (in School): Company Leader, and Asst. Company Leader and Patrol Leader before that
Extra Curriculars:
- Presently digital volunteer for CRY (Communications Design)
- Passionate about working with children: Recently co-conducted a civic awareness walk for 15 international school students, volunteered as teaching assistant at Spastic Society of Karnataka for one month last year
- Consistently been a part of the college's PR, Marketing and Logistics teams for a range of key annual events
- Pro Bono Design Projects in the past for NGOs and non profits (right through college): AIESEC, Nehru Bal Sangh, Storybook Me (encouraging reading among children in rural India), Project Pragati (transgender community emancipation)
- Well travelled, having visited a number of countries and leading cities
- Fitness and Yoga enthusiast
- Caricatures and Cartooning
- Fine Arts (charcoal portraits and watercolour nature studies) and Tanjore Painting
- Girl Guides (active member and leader for 6 years, from grade 7 to 12 in school)
- Member of the School Editorial Committee, House Council, House Props Committee (Head)
Achievements:
- School topper (ISC Arts)- secured 10 academic awards including special annual awards sponsored by alumni.
- Rashtrapati Girl Guide- National Award, the highest level of girl guiding attainable in the country and awarded by the President of India
- Participated in State Level Girl Guiding events, led the troupe in their march past at the Annual Republic Day Celebrations and received the salute from the then Chief Minister of Karnataka
- Recipient the School's first ever Best Girl Guide Award
- Co-organized the School's first MUN
- Organized several large scale School events
Strengths- Excellent command over English and very strong oral and written communication skills.
Post MBA- Brand Management, ideally FMCG. Ultimately want to hold a senior Marketing position
Hi S995,
Thank you for posting and welcome to the GyanOne thread.
We are glad you go through and enjoy our blog posts. We have literally dozens of posts now on success stories for top schools, including those for ISB, where our success rate continues to be close to 100% (with 100% for the EEO option still), though ISB admissions were a lot more competitive last year.
The Early Entry Option that you are applying to is a great opportunity. As applicants taking this option don't have much work experience, leadership and extra-curricular achievements begin to play a significant role, and both are areas you are strong in. However, please keep in mind that EEO admissions are more competitive in general than regular PGP admissions, so a strong test score is a must. As of now, your test score (312 on the GRE) is insufficient; you should be looking at a 10+ point increase.
Your graphic design background will be a huge plus for you, if you can use it in the right way. The communications/creative aspects that you have worked, and the industry exposure you have gained will be positives in your app. Working on the data aspect is positive and a differentiator as well, though it will need to be seen which context the data was deployed in. Organizing events doesn't count for much (not to be focused on), and while the Sales exposure is good, be wary of claiming expertise across too many things in too little time. It could make you seem like a dilettante. Again, can fully comment only after going through each activity in detail - providing general advice here.
Your academics are strong, but your GRE needs fixing. Leadership and ECA are very strong and will act as differentiators. Please note that one activity/achievement can be used at only one place, i.e. as a leadership achievement or as an award etc - resist the temptation to use at more than one place.
At this point, your priorities must be clear - work on the app asap once it opens to build an early advantage (the deadlines this year have been brought forward - Sep 15 is the first one and the one you should be looking at) and enhance the GRE score. If you can do that, you certainly have the potential to excel and find yourself at ISB in the future.
Hope this helps. Feel free to come back with more queries as needed.
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