ISB Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Hello mauliksadhwani,

Your work experience looks impressive and if you can highlight your managerial and leadership aspects in your application, it be will helpful. However, one concern I have is your motivation for a business school degree. Looks like you are progressing well in your career? So what's driving you to consider going back to school? You should address this clearly in the essays.

The experience you gained in UK will also be valuable, so definitely showcase your learnings and development.

Re: GMAT, I'd suggest a score of 700+. The competition at IIMs and ISB is fierce! I recently helped a student from the US with his ISB and IIMs application. He had 710 and got admitted to IIM-A, his top choice

You might like to read: Applying this year? Do these five things NOW

If you need help with your applications, feel free to Sign up for a Free Consultation

Wish you good luck with your GMAT.

Hi sanks85,

Your international experience will be a good differentiator, so don't worry about not having experience in India

I'm sure you have thought this through, but your reason(s) to pursue business studies in India will be a critical factor. It won't suffice to say you want to move back and build your career in India. There must be strong reasons and motivations. A huge number of students from abroad apply to ISB and the IIM Executive programs and at times, they miss how important it is to convince the adcom about their intentions and career plans.

Although a higher GMAT would help you, it is not unusual for students with scores similar to yours get admitted to ISB. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I helped a student with his ISB application and he got admitted with 650. It is critical that you make a strong impression with other parts of your application

On the other hand, I'd say 670 is on the lower side for schools in Singapore. Several students have informed me that NUS discourages Indian students with scores less than 700 to even apply to the program. So you might want to reconsider taking GMAT if you are very keen on S'pore.

If you have more questions, I'd be happy to answer. Please Sign up for a Free Consultation

Good luck!

Hello There,

I would like to get a feedback on my profile..

Job Profile : Technical Analyst

Around 7 years of IT Experience with Infosys and CSC –Application development and maintenance, integration with related products and service Delivery for US Insurance market.

6 months work ex in US for business meetings and discussions with client over Insurance market needs and approach to design products

Current Role: Team lead managing 6 people on the same

Major Achievements :
Have been awarded three times with quarterly awards for exceptional delivery quality.
Received an yearly award from CIO of client for smooth implementation of their product.
Received an yearly award from CEO of my organization as MVP for the year.
Have been published as a success story saving recurring yearly cost of $120K for an Insurance client.

Academic History :-
SSC - 67%
HSC - 78 %
BTECH ECE - 71%

co curricular:
Successful completion of 6 week embedded system course from IIT, Roorkee with a medium scale project design.
Paper presentation and publication on Hyper-LAN in national level IEEE conference.
Won first prize at college level in various collage events.
Won number of events in Kabaddi and shot-put throw at various levels.
Working with an NGO for last 2 years providing small scale machinery to interested folks to start business, also providing education and scholarships to girl child.
My poetry and articles have been published in many of my organizational blogs and forums.

Hobbies:
Poetry Writing
Reding astronomy and aviation
Cooking

GMAT: 700 (Q:49,V:35,IR:8,AWA:5)

If you can suggest a chance for my profile. Planning to apply in IIMs, ISB and XLRI.

Also if you can suggest around 5-10 international business schools (preferably listed among top 30 or so) where my profile has a real chance to make it..

Thanks in advance

Hello mrana10,

You come from an overrepresented pool of candidates, so it will be very important to differentiate yourself and present a strong application.

A few ways to do it:

In the Essays:
1. Be clear about your career goals and demonstrate a strong link between your aspirations and how PGP will help you.
2. Be visionary in your goals, go beyond the roles/title and wow the adcom with your dreams about the future.
3. Bring out your strengths in your experiences, perspectives, travels, extracurriculars- esp. poetry and writing.

Additionally, talk to your recommenders to highlight your interpersonal skills and leadership potential in the letters of recommendation.

If you need more insights or help on your application, feel free to reach out to me at mail@vibranture.com

You might like to read:
Applying this year? Do these five things NOW

Good luck!

Hi ramblersm

Your acads and experience seem pretty good. The GMAT is about average, but even this GMAT score might very well work for you, given your overall profile and the companies you work for/have worked for. Would like to know a bit more about your work in IT Consulting at Microsoft and the kind of projects/clients you work on to have a deeper perspective there. On the ECA front, Placement Coordinator and hobbies are good. If you can raise your GMAT to above 700, do that, but even if you do not, you will still have a decent chance. You might also like to read these posts: ISB with 660 GMAT, and ISB with 670 GMAT.

Hi mrana10,

You come from an over-represented applicant pool for ISB (software developers/IT professionals), and so the differentiation that you can show in your ISB essays will be critical. You should strive to highlight your expertise in service delivery management and your understanding of the insurance process. Your GMAT at 700 is fine, and your ECA are pretty strong.

On other schools, XLRI, IIMC (PGPEX), and IIMB (EPGP) may be good fits, while IIMA PGPX may not be. Cannot comment on other schools on this forum, also without knowing what your selection criteria are. Feel free to contact us directly on that, if needed.

Your work ex is decent and adding a new extra curricular in a month of two may not be feasible. GMAT score improvement is visible and will be best return on invested time. In our opinion, if you want to spend time on making the candidature better focus on GMAT and nothing else. Otherwise it is fine with apply with 680. Utilize the time saved on crafting good essays.

Apphelp Team

Hi
Kindly evaluate my profile and provide feedback. Target institutes: ISB, XLSRI, IIMs and S P Jain Institute of management.

29 year old female.
Class 10 (ICSE) 90.4%
Class 12 (ISC) 91.6%
B. Pharm and M. Pharm from Jadavpur University
5 years of work experience in pharma industry
GMAT score: 700 (Q48, V38)

Hobby: cooking
I do not have any achievement or certificates to show regarding my hobby: cooking. Will that matter?

Hi Sreerupa,

Certificates are not really needed for hobbies.
Prima facie IIMA,B, C may be tough given that you will be at the lowest rung of work ex. GMAT score is also average ( but not bad) for IIMs.
But, please share details about your work ex. details for us to comment better.

Apphelp Team

You are decently placed for ISB, considering that you have a Master's, and that you come from a less represented professional background. Would like to know more about your work in the pharma industry to understand that aspect of your profile better. Your GMAT score is fine as well. On the ECA front, you do not need to show certificates for your hobbies, but you do need to list out different hobbies and activities.

In terms of schools, ISB, XLRI, IIMC (PGPEX), and IIMB (EPGP) are fair targets. SP Jain should be relatively safe school for you. IIMA might be somewhat harder.

Hi,

Working as Assistant Sales Manager for Godrej & Boyce in New Delhi handling key accounts on PAN India basis
Previously worked as a Sales Engineer for an automtive ancillary handling key accounts valuing one fourth of the total annual turnover
Total work ex as on 31st Mar'17 would be 40 months

Mechanical & Automation Engineering; Guru Goind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi; Batch 2009-13
Diploma in product design and analysis

* Graduation- 75.4%
* Twelfth- 83.2%
* Tenth- 86.6%

* Engineered an all-terrain vehicle and Formula-1 car chassis with static & dynamic condition analysis for national level projects leading teams of 25 and 15 students at Bangalore and Pune respectively in each project
* Founder and trainer of an automotive engineering club in college
* Voted as Chairperson of college literary society; represented school and college at various literary events
* Active participant in dramatic events and member of society
* State level Taekwondo player, school head boy, school football team captain
* Played football and volleyball at zonal levels and university sports tournaments

Future plan- consulting for initial 3-4 years and then a start up food chain

Request you to suggest a good GMAT score for securing a seat at ISB and min score/ credentials one would need for scholarships (100% tuition fee waiver)

Thanks
Piyush Chauhan

Hi Piyush

Your profile looks solid from all parameters. Very good quality and the right quantity of work experience, strong extra curricular achievements, and a good, consistent career goal. The only thing that is a bit out of sync here is your food chain story - if you are planning to state that as a long-term goal in your essays, you should be able to explain it and draw a relationship to your work so far.

If you are looking for scholarships, aim as high above 700 as you can. For only the admissions perspective, a 700+ will work for you.

All the best and feel free to come back with further queries as needed.

Hi SREERUPABISWAS,

I also believe you have good potential of getting admitted to ISB. My most recent ISB client was also a B. Pharm grad with Pharmaceutical industry experience and he was well received by the ISB adcom.

Having said that, a significant part of your chances will depend on making a compelling case about why ISB/PGP is the right bridge for your short and long-term career goals. Unfortunately, ISB has further reduced the number of essays, so the significance of this essay becomes even higher.

Do your best in writing impressive essays highlighting your differentiation and interpersonal skills and you would be set. See our ISB essay analysis and tips for 2016-17 application.

If you would like me to look at your profile in greater detail, feel free to sign up for a Free Consultation

Good luck!

Hi piyushhchauhan007

I would like to see more remarkable aspects in your profile. Currently, I see a nice potential for highlighting good client facing experience in the application essays and employment section of your profile. You can also use recommendation letters for the same.

However, there are a couple of things:

1. I don't see any international experience?
2. Your extracurriculars are mostly from your college. Anything more recent/ current?
3. Your work experience - even at 40months, would be lesser than average. So your achievements need to be presented very well.

Given the overall context of your background, I'd say, aim for >720 on your GMAT.

Here are the three parameters on which ISB will evaluate your profile. Think about how you can shine in each aspect.

1. Leadership potential: Have you consistently stretched yourself and tried to take initiatives to make an impact in your career and your organization? ISB finds this in your career progress as well as what you recommenders say about you
2. Diversity: What diverse background, viewpoints, perspectives, experiences can you bring to ISB that will enrich their community. This is reflected in your professional experience and your essays.
3. Academic ability: One year MBA is a rigorous academic program and ISB needs to know that you will be able to handle the intensity of the program and come out successful. They gauge this through your academic and GMAT scores

If you want to talk more, email me at mail@vibranture.com

You might also like to read
Applying this year? Do these five things NOW

Good luck with the GMAT!

You have everything going for you. A very good and consistent academic record, a great undergrad-college and some of the top notch companies in the technology world as your employers. Even your experience is in exactly the right bracket that ISB looks for!

Amidst all these positive however, there is a negative that is sticking out like a sore thumb: Your GMAT score is currently very average, to make you differentiate in the highly competitive pool that applies to ISB. Since there is still some time before R1 closes, my advice would be to work towards your GMAT and look for at least a 30 point improvement.

Looking at your score breakup, there is clearly work that needs to be done on verbal.

A very differentiated profile, great academics, and distinct work-experience are all factors that would work for you. Moreover, you have a decent GMAT score and the years of work-experience is also in the ideal bracket that ISB looks for.

In fact, a lot of Pharma Companies generally recruit from ISB, and hence your Pharma background would significantly enhance your candidature.

All good so far! Make sure now that your essays are immaculate and relect an extremely clear thought process vis-a-vis your future goals.

You have not mentioned whether you are still working in Wipro or are you full-time in your family business. Needless to say that your GMAT score is brilliant and the extra-curricular activities are also decent.

On the flip side, your total work experience (2 years) is on the lower side. However, we have seen over the years that ISB is quite open to taking students with lesser than 3 years of work-experience as well, provided that their application is able to reflect good potential for the future.

If you are full-time into family business then you might want to keep an answer ready for the question (in the interview stage) as to why you feel that MFAB would not be more suited to you.