ISB Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Hello NikhilST

Your work profile is certainly unique. You will get brownie points for that.
ISB is a school that values diversity (the essays explicitly state so).
However, one must also understand that only diversity (or any single factor for that matter) will not secure an admission.
Strong profiles are those which are balanced on Academics, Work Experience, Diversity and Fit of Career Goals. Reading here will help.
Yes, there are certain admits who might be weak in one area, but then most likely such candidates will more than make up in another area.
Coming back to your profile, while the work profile is diverse, not sure how strong your work experience is (since details are missing). Strength of work ex is measured by career progress, achievements and impact on the work of your organization. With your work ex, slightly below that of ISB's average, you should aim at showcasing more maturity.
Diversity also comes from extracurricular activities. No mention of that here.
Coming to acads, you past scores look decent. Though the GMAT is not the be all end all of admissions, a strong GMAT will definitely help in your case. Aim for a 700+. For schools abroad, as a thumb rule, aim higher.
Lastly, any profile (and the admissions process) is incomplete without clear and realistic career goals. This is where profiles that are diverse can suddenly become weak. A software engineer may find it difficult to get into ISB due to lack of diversity, but for such a person the reason to attend ISB is pretty clear (certain roles and industries are feeder for the MBA). And the jobs are also slightly easier to get. So difficult to get into ISB, but easy to graduate out of. On the other hand, someone with a very diverse profile may find it tough to justify why they need an MBA. Since I do not know your goals at this stage I'm not sure if you are thinking in the right direction or not. Reading here on career goals may help.
So to conclude, yes you have a diverse profile, but that is just one part of the bigger picture. GMAT, Depth of Work Ex, Career Goals will all play an equal (or more) importance in the admissions process. Back your strengths, but do not become complacent because of them.

Best
Varun Sharma
+919137133507
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
[email protected]

Hi I'm a female ca with 3 years work ex at a big 4 in tax...I have worked with the corporate and international tax team in a client service role where I used to handle tax issues of diverse industries such as airline music and shipping.. post that I transferred to the tax alerts and publications team within the same big 4 and now I handle alerts and publications which are released to more than 150000 clients worldwide...I'm a first attempt qualified ca...could you please tell me what chances I have at isb pgp?

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Hi Biswaray,
there is little you can do to strengthen your profile now. A really strong GMAT would be your best effort in this direction. Especially given that your GPA is nothing great.
The other thing that should be really strong is your application itself. You should be able to demonstrate your leadership skills and also explain why you need an MBA at this point in your life.
We have a whole lot of blogs written on how you can show a strong profile. Go through them here to get a wealth of information

Hi Nikhil,
That's a well differentiated work experience. Areas that I would consider while evaluation are:
1. length of work experience- sounds good
2. quality of work experience- difficult to assess as we don't have the details. However, your work sounds quite unique for an Indian applicant. working for youth development can give you some serious opportunities for making impact on the beneficiaries. This could be big, given that your coaching/ mentorship can help develop leaders, provide people with life-changing guidance. If you can come up with such stories of impact, it would be great. if you have been doing this for 3 years, this should not be a problem. Given that this is a full-time experience, I'd also expect to see the scale of your impact.
3. career goals- so while addressing points 1&2 will help you establish that you are a leader who has improved the lives of the youth, the career goals will be important to know how this experience has driven your desire towards your goals, and why is an MBA the best way to achieve them.
Answering both these questions will be extremely important in order to move forward in the application process. People with your work experience can write trite or fuzzy goals, so I am going to stress on thinking through this really deeply and coming up with realistic goals that do demand an MBA

4. As I guess your work does not involve the use of analytical skills, getting a good GMAT score, with a high quant percentile will be important as well.

Hi Sreemoyee,

your current role doesn't sound as compelling as your first role at the big four. Do share more info on this.
I guess you are only just taking your GMAT, but do share that status too.

Lastly, what are your career goals and why do they need an MBA?

Hello SreemoyeeGhose

Though your work profile seems interesting for ISB, and the brand on the CV helps, we would need further information to assess your profile in detail.
Info around expected GMAT, extracurricular activities and most importantly motivation to pursue an MBA is essential for a profile.
You may want to read here to know all the factors vital for your written application and here on career goals.

Best
Varun Sharma
+919137133507
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
[email protected]

Hi SreemoyeeGhose,

The information that you have shares about your profile is very limited.

Absence of clarity of Why MBA, post MBA goals makes it difficult to assess your chances at ISB.

However, the pool of aspirants from BIG 4 is huge at ISB, being from a non-IT and non-Engg background will definitely add to your application considering the diversity factor that you bring in.

I suggest to speak with someone from a similar background from/at ISB and that will surely help a lot to structure your thoughts and plan ahead.

All the Best !

Shweta Tandon

Hi NikhilST,

Your acads so far are decent enough, focus on ace-ing in your GMAT score.

Before applying to any MBA school in the world you should have clarity on following points as far as your profile is concerned:-

1. Clarity on the need for MBA
2. Post MBA Goals (short term and long term)
3. Shortlist the schools that align with your future goals
4. Research and connect with the b-school's alumni to understand the program better and what exactly can it offer to you.

Diversity plays a very important role in MBA applications, your experience will not only bring in a different pov but your learning from the diversity point of your profile will be a huge value add to the class and school (given it is presented correctly via essays and in interviews) .

Aim for a GMAT score of 720+

All the Best !

Shweta Tandon
Essay Pro

Hi biswaray

Your profile is decent and stands a good chance to make it to the class of ISB. Given that you are from a non-Engg and Non-IT background adds to the diversity factor of your profile.

Your extra curricular activities are good pointers and will spin a good essay point if presented properly.

You require recommendation ideally from "someone who had a chance to observe your work closely in the recent past".

Given that you have less time to R2 submission and you are yet to take your GMAT, doing something extra to boost your profile will be a bit distracting. Focus on GMAT score and your application (essay). Have a clarity on post mba goals and need for MBA.

Any score in above 700 is a good GMAT score and it all depends on your preparation level as of now.

All the Best !

Shweta Tandon
Essay Pro

GMAT : Planning to give in 1st week of December, Average score in 3 mocks is 710, I expect and hope my final score will be 740+
Planning to switch career
Indian Male 27
Class X : 83 %
Class XII : 69.4 %
Graduation : B.Tech Civil Engineer (2014) 67.8 %
2014-15 : Worked as a Civil Engineer with my father in his firm
Post Graduation : M.E Transportation Engineering (2015-17) from BITS Pilani 6.91 cgpa
2017-18 : Worked as a Highway Design Engineer in an MNC(Canada)
Was given various responsibilities regarding preparation of DPR for National Highways, Had to coordinate among various departments of the firm (Geotech, Structure, GIS etc), Have conducted various meetings in NHAI (National Highway Authority of India) & MORTH (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways), Conducted meetings in various cities for Land acquisition process, Have also worked in projects from Africa(But this work was completely technical)
2018- Present : Working as a Project Manager & Highway Engineer in a Construction firm building State Highways.
Leading the project as a Manager which involves construction of a State Highway worth 3 million $
Total Work Experience : 31 months as of now
Internships : At DMRC during my Bachelor's & at Central Road Research Institute of India(CRRI) during my Master's
Achievements : During my internship at CRRI for 2 months published my report in the 1st Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) of India, Won a corporate cricket tournament in May, Have won few quizzes in cultural fests during my bachelor's
Hobbies & Extra-curricular : Quizzing , Cricket, Trekking
Social Work : Have not done much social work but whenever I got the chance, I donated blood in Blood donation camps in my College, Work place
Post MBA goal: My short term post MBA goal is to work in a Management Consultancy firm (Preferably in Business Operations & Strategy )
After that I would like to work in an Indian conglomerate.

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I have done Btech in ECE with 80% and have around 5 years experience in IT(MNC).
I got 315 (q-165,v-150) = 630(GMAT).
I want to know if my profile has any chance to get ISB.

Hello tejyr

If you want a feedback on the profile, please share details around the profile (academic background- undergrad school, CGPA, nature of work, career progression, companies worked in, achievements at work, extracurricular activities, career goals and the reason to pursue an MBA)
Since you have just shared your industry and GRE, you will get generic a feedback on these two data points only (which I'm sure you are not looking at)
The GRE range for ISB was 311-335 last year with the average at 325.
A 315 is towards the lower end of the spectrum, especially for someone from the highly competitive IT pool of applicants. Unless you give ISB some incentive to admit you through other stellar strengths in your profile(see points mentioned above), this GRE will be tough to get a call with.
You may want to read here on what to focus on in your application and here on career goals.

Best
Varun Sharma
+919137133507
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
[email protected]

Hi Abhinav,

You have a nice profile overall. I'd like to understand more about your work experience, and why you think consulting would be the best choice for you. What will you do as a consultant? The second detail I am missing here is your long term goal- what will you do in the conglomerate?

Also when you talk of your achievements, they should be related to your work. Achievements related to internships, extracurricular activities may be important, but they are peripheral compared to work-related achievements. I am pointing this out so that you don't make this mistake in your application (trust me, we have see far too many applicants make this mistake. the results as you can imagine, are not too good. An MBA is a degree for biz education, so your application should cover the work achievements in ample details).

Hello
The following is my profile. Kindly assess it and provide valuable suggestions.

CGPA = 8.95/10 (Mechanical Engineer)
12th = 94%
10th = 95%

Currently working in TATASTEEL as Maintenance Manager for 1 year 6months. Looking to start my B school from 2020.

Hi 197369

Interesting user name

With the limited info that you have provided, your acads are decent and from an application perspective, your acads can be complemented with a good GMAT score (Engineers are the biggest pool of candidates and hence necessity of a good GMAT score) ; be clear with your post mba goals (short term and long term) and how ISB or any other B school will help you realize your goals. I am sure you will have few extra curricular activities that will help you build up your application. I suggest to speak with someone who has a similar background as yours and has graduated from ISB.

You have ample time in your hands and do read about the whole admission process and other details via numerous threads on GMAT Club.

All the Best !

Hi all

Please evaluate my profile

I am aspiring for ISB round 2

Metallurgical and materials engineering graduate from IIT Roorkee (2013) CGPA- 9.12/10
10th-94 percent
12th -80 percent

GMAT score-710 (Q49,V38,IR6,AWA4.5)
(I am going to retake soon)

After 2013, prepared for civils for one. Volunteering as a teacher in a coaching institute.

In 2014, joined a coaching institution as deputy manager operations. Got promoted to manager, operations in 2015 on basis of good results.In 2017, seeing my results, the company transferred me to its another firm which is more like a baby firm to expand its reach. Also associated as a content developer and reviewer with the same firm.

Working with a NGO in New Delhi since the last 2 years aimed at educating the vulnerable and weaker children.

Associated with robotics club in college. Class representative. Department rank holder.
In school,used to be prefect.

Internship at Tata steel for 2 months.

Pursuing MBA to garner skills relevant for sustaining and growing an organisation in operations domain, effective utilisation of the limited resources at disposal specially in the higher education.

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Hello 21111

The outline of your profile looks pretty balanced.
Decent GMAT score (not stellar), realistic career goals (show ISB in the essays why you need to study there), strong academic background, work experience that seems different (showcase your achievements and impact more than roles and responsibilities) and decent extracurricular.
The key for you is execution. As long as you do a decent job of tying the above together in your essays, you have a good shot.

Best
Varun Sharma
+919137133507
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
[email protected]