ISB Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Hi kvakhil, quite a few positives in your profile: your work in cutting-edge tech, your association with big brands (such as Reliance and EXL), and your strong professional contribution.

From your post, I did not get a view on your future goals and reasons for pursuing MBA from ISB. As long as those are streamlined and articulated well, an interview call is a very realistic possibility.
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Hello Everyone,

It would be really nice if someone can evaluate my profile for ISB.

Background: Male, Indian, 28
Undergrad : College of Engineering & Technology (Not among top colleges); Class of 2014
GPA: 8.3/10 CGPA
GMAT: 690 (Q49 V36)

Work Experience:

5 years 11 months as of today (4 Years in India, 1 year and 11 months in Germany, currently in Germany)

1. Software Developer and UI/UX Architect in a big IT firm India(JUL'14 - Present) for BFSI domain

A. Designed Aviation claims to handle and reporting mobile and Web app for Brokers and Claim handlers
B. Collaborated with Acturials to design and implement Business technical solutions for Technical pricing and risk management
C. Worked as a Developer and technical solution architect for Catastrophic Risk modeling project to design and develop the solutions and software for Business.
D. Worked on Business proposal alongside Manager to win a deal of 400k Euros project, this was an appreciation with regards to my work on my last project.
E. Designed a dynamic solution to save the cost of one extra person in the project because of budget constraints.


Target Industries
1.TECH and Consulting

Extra-Curricular:
1. CSR activity of Teaching Government school kids and Security personnel on Computer knowledge and English

2. Prepared two apps for Kids School Quiz competition.

3. Hackathons on real-world business problems and recently started contributing to Tech community such as GitHub and Stack overflow.


Few queries from my end

1. Is my IT experience and GMAT score less lucrative for MBA programs?
2. I have taken some good initiatives to provide good Business benefits but my profile lack Leadership experience. Would that be a bigger problem?
3. What general advice would you like to give on this profile?

Thank You

Hi all,

I'm 19 from India, Male
I am in my second year persuing BBA from NMIMS (one of the top colleges for BBA in India )

*My academics are as follows:*

10th - 9.2/10cgpa
12th - 90.2 percent
1st year college - 3.54/4cgpa


*Work ex/internships:*

Interned at Pristile Products Pvt.Ltd. Where I worked on launching a new skincare brand, this involved content creation, digital marketing, making ad campaigns, engaging with target group, making a social media calendar and working on social media marketing
(The brand will launch soon)

*Extra curriculars:*

•Organised many school events and fests
•Was a part of organising a cultural fest in college
•Western Vocal Nationals
•Theatre
•Football

*Positions of responsibility:*

•Head of Stage Play event in college fest 2019

•Senior member of the Performing Arts Society in school

•Senior member of Expressions Theatre Club in school

•Overall in-charge of Inter School Theatre Competition.(2018)

•Overall in-charge of the Inter School Performing Arts Competition (2018)

•HOD of PR and Marketing in college 2020

*Awards and achievements*
•Academic:
°Blue tie for for 6 consecutive years of academic excellence(award given by school) (2013-2018)

° Certificate for completing Google's digital marketing course and passing the exam

•Extra curricular
°Awarded gold medal for excellence in western Vocal(an award given by school in the final year) (2018)
°Awarded red tie for excellence in theatre ( an award given by school-2018)
°Awarded the second podium in DPS-Nationals western Vocal choir competition
°Awarded red tie for excellence in western Vocal (award by school-2016)



*Projects undertaken*

•Social and Cause Related Marketing and Marketing Mix of Nestle (Marketing)

- >Studied about Social and Cause Related Marketing and researched on Marketing Mix strategies used by Nestle and how it promotes its products.
• Economics of Pollution (Macro Economics)
-> Researched on relevance of pollution in macroeconomics as well as the review and literature of the same.

• Interview and analysis on body language (Effective Communication)
->Took interviews of two participants, Assistant Brand Manager (Digital Marketing) of P&G and the Marketing Head (western region of Mumbai) of Indraprastha Fibers and Trade.
->Developed case studies on the basis of the interviews and analysis was made on their personality types as well as non-verbal cues observed during the interview.

• Visit to Unify Facility Management Pvt.Ltd. (Principles of Marketing)
-> Interviewed the Managing Director at Unify Facility Management Pvt.Ltd.
-> Developed a report on the way functions of management are followed at Unify.

*Other*

Basic knowledge of MS Excel

Underwent training for Marketing on Facebook and Instagram


Haven't given GMAT yet, planning on giving it in a month or so, expecting 720 (getting around 730 in mocks)

I am planning to apply for ISB YLP next year which has to be done in the prefinal / final year of undergrad as you may know

Q) How does my profile look?
Q) What can I do to add more value to it?

Thank you!

Posted from my mobile device

Hi Codebug4it,

You've got a nice profile there! ISB is a great school when it comes to Consulting as a post-MBA goal. 25% of the class of 2019 got placed in Consulting and 4% in Tech. You can get more insights in these stats here: https://www.isb.edu/pgp/careers/placement-trends

ISB looks for the following in an MBA applicant:
1. Academic Excellence: The parameters that are quantified, in numbers: GMAT/GRE, GPA, other scores.
2. Better than the average performer: It means that when you are working, work better than the average performer in your workplace.
3. Diversity in your personality: It means they want to see what more do you spend your time doing outside of work.

I can see a good mix of 2&3 in your profile. Close to 2 years of work ex in Germany will definitely be a ++ to help you stand out of the pool. However, your GMAT is a little lesser than the average for ISB. But you can always makeup for a lesser test score with exceptional examples from your work experience. What’s going to matter most in your application is how you connect the experiential dots and build a great story to stand out from other applicants in the pool.

Answering your queries:
1. Is my IT experience and GMAT score less lucrative for MBA programs?
You have a decent experience, and that GMAT score is very well accepted in great B-Schools. I suggest you look at other schools beyond ISB and explore other schools which also match your post-MBA goals.
Is the geography a restriction for you?
2. I have taken some good initiatives to provide good Business benefits but my profile lack Leadership experience. Would that be a bigger problem?
Quite often candidates tend to overlook the examples of leadership in their role which don't necessarily have to be associated with the designation of their profile. I would love to understand more about your experience to comment on this.
3. What general advice would you like to give on this profile?
Looking at your score and a tech-profile, I can see that you stand a fair chance to make it to great B-Schools (that match your post-MBA goals). Also, moulding your application in the direction of Tech could make a great story. And a great story is what actually sells

Curious to know, where in Germany are you based? I am in Berlin and if you'd like, I am happy to hop on a call sometime this week to discuss your chances in further detail. Feel free to book my calendar as per your convenience.

Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma,
Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond
Schedule a free session
Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com
What s app: +65-97158525
Call: +49-15212121641
Linkedin

Hi, I am Abhimanyu, 28yo Male. Please evaluate my profile.

My Profile:
Finished my Bachelors of Enginnering (Chemical) in 2013 from Panjab University, Chandigarh.

My 10th Score: 87%
My 12th score: 84%
My UG Score: 72%

Im planning to take GMAT next month (July'20) [Last official practice test score: 690(V33,Q50)]
And also im planning to join MBA in 2021 intake

I am open to MBA major and career paths rt now, post MBA i will be looking for an exciting job.
Open to move within and outside India.

Work Ex;
1. Operations Manager at 'Reliance Industries Ltd' (July'13 - Nov'14) - Worked as Shift Field officer at World's largest petroleum refinery at Jamnagar, Gujarat. Was the responsible for all activities, production and maintenance of assigned plant. Headed a team of 4-5 field executives.

2. Executive Partner at Protech Solutions (Jan'15- present)- This is a family business and entrepreneurship experience, dealing in Electronics, particularly Audio, Video and Security Products; have dealt with many Indian and multi-national companies like Bose Corporation, Sennheiser, Hikvision as a key partner. Started this company with my brother but I was one of the main decision makers.
I have attended many technical trainings conducted by various brands and participated in trade fair both as Trade visitors and exhibitors.


Extra- Curriculars:
1. Volunteer work with NGO 'Youth United' in Chandigarh(2010-2013)- worked for education and overall development of underprivileged children- was elected Captain of Chandigarh Chapter in 2011. As a Captain, I presided a team of 30+ volunteers and among other things, hosted the flagship cultural event 'Smiling Future' in 2011, which proved to be the most succesful event in NGO's decade long history both in terms of no of children participating and amount of donations collected.

2. Recommended by Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (Ministry of Youth Affairs) to participate in TERI conference on ‘Conserving Global Commons’ in Chandigarh in Nov’11 and National conference YUVA Meet in Jan’12 in New Delhi.

3. Won 1st Prize for presenting a review poster on ‘Synergy’ at CHASCON-2012.

4. Part of organizing committee of various science conferences hosted by the University.

5. Part of organizing committee of college annual cultural and technical fest ‘Cyanide-12’, ‘Cyanide-11’ and ‘Cyanide-10’ and university cultural fest ‘Aagaaz-10’.

6. During School,Worked as a member of Interact Club, a unit of Rotary club during 2005-08

7. Active participant in various extra curricular house activities at school, was selected Vice-captain in 2007 and Captain in 2008 of my house.

8. Was selected 1 out of 20 member of School Student's council in 2008.

9. Part of a few hobby club for last few years. We organise various meets for book lovers, board game enthusiasts and some pop-culture discussions.

Hi, I am Abhimanyu, 28yo Male. Please evaluate my profile.

My Profile:
Finished my Bachelors of Enginnering (Chemical) in 2013 from Panjab University, Chandigarh.

My 10th Score: 87%
My 12th score: 84%
My UG Score: 72%

Im planning to take GMAT next month (July'20) [Last official practice test score: 690(V33,Q50)]
And also im planning to join MBA in 2021 intake

I am open to MBA major and career paths rt now, post MBA i will be looking for an exciting job.
Open to move within and outside India.

Work Ex;
1. Operations Manager at 'Reliance Industries Ltd' (July'13 - Nov'14) - Worked as Shift Field officer at World's largest petroleum refinery at Jamnagar, Gujarat. Was the responsible for all activities, production and maintenance of assigned plant. Headed a team of 4-5 field executives.

2. Executive Partner at Protech Solutions (Jan'15- present)- This is a family business and entrepreneurship experience, dealing in Electronics, particularly Audio, Video and Security Products; have dealt with many Indian and multi-national companies like Bose Corporation, Sennheiser, Hikvision as a key partner. Started this company with my brother but I was one of the main decision makers.
I have attended many technical trainings conducted by various brands and participated in trade fair both as Trade visitors and exhibitors.


Extra- Curriculars:
1. Volunteer work with NGO 'Youth United' in Chandigarh(2010-2013)- worked for education and overall development of underprivileged children- was elected Captain of Chandigarh Chapter in 2011. As a Captain, I presided a team of 30+ volunteers and among other things, hosted the flagship cultural event 'Smiling Future' in 2011, which proved to be the most succesful event in NGO's decade long history both in terms of no of children participating and amount of donations collected.

2. Recommended by Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (Ministry of Youth Affairs) to participate in TERI conference on ‘Conserving Global Commons’ in Chandigarh in Nov’11 and National conference YUVA Meet in Jan’12 in New Delhi.

3. Won 1st Prize for presenting a review poster on ‘Synergy’ at CHASCON-2012.

4. Part of organizing committee of various science conferences hosted by the University.

5. Part of organizing committee of college annual cultural and technical fest ‘Cyanide-12’, ‘Cyanide-11’ and ‘Cyanide-10’ and university cultural fest ‘Aagaaz-10’.

6. During School,Worked as a member of Interact Club, a unit of Rotary club during 2005-08

7. Active participant in various extra curricular house activities at school, was selected Vice-captain in 2007 and Captain in 2008 of my house.

8. Was selected 1 out of 20 member of School Student's council in 2008.

9. Part of a few hobby club for last few years. We organise various meets for book lovers, board game enthusiasts and some pop-culture discussions.

Hi Abhimanyu14, in your post, you have not mentioned what your career goals are and why you want to do MBA at this stage; in other words how will MBA act as an enabler to your career goals?

Also, in your essays, you need to address the seemingly abrupt transition from corporate life (in Reliance) to family business. In other words, why did you not join family business immediately after your college? Also, if you had always want to join family business (in electronics) then what was the reason why you graduated in Chemical engineering?

However, all these are points that can be pondered upon later. Right now, your single-most important and immediate priority has to be GMAT! See how close you can get to the 700 mark.
_________________

Your IT experience is definitely not a negative. In fact, I see that you have had pretty decent accomplishments professionally. Make sure you highlight them in your application. By the way, you did not mention in which stream you graduated? Was it computer science / information technology?

GMAT score is something that I wanted to address. How many times have you given GMAT so far? if you have given GMAT only once, then I would strongly encourage you to take GMAT once more, to see if you can bump up your score by 20-30 points. ISB is obviously very competitive and you do come from a fairly represented pool of IT professionals. Hence, any jump in the GMAT score from your current level, will definitely improve your chances.

Having said that, even if you are not able to score any higher than your current score, it is not a no go. So, that way, you are at minimum risk.


Leadership is often mis-interpreted as holding a senior position, with dozens of subordinates reporting to you.

The truth is that leadership is as much about taking initiatives! So, highlight those instances from your professional life, wherein you exhibited the trait of taking initiative.


I don't get any sense of your future goals. Make sure that your career goals are aligned with your professional experience so far.
_________________

Hello Experts ,

Kindly evaluate my profile :
Looking to get leadership roles in consulting/strategy/digital transformation/general management post MBA.
Male,29
10th/12th : 86/78 % ICSE Board
B.Tech : Metallurgy & material Engineering from National Institute of Foundry & Forge Technology – 7.77 CGPA, 2008-12
M.Tech : Construction Technology & Management, NIT Trichy, 8.43 CGPA. 2014-16

GMAT – 670 (Q48,V34,IR – 8)

Work Ex – Total – 6 Yrs as on date
1. 2012 -14, 24 Months, L&T MMH – Executive, BD for wear & abrasion castings in Power, Coal, Cement, Steel, Aluminium, & Energy sectors. AoR – India
Key Achievements:
• Revived Wear & Abrasion casting segment from 0% revenue of BU to 7% of revenue in a span of 2 years, having clients from top PSUs to large corporates.
• Part of Project Lakshya - team for establishing & executing strategic plans for BU, worked with consulting firms like McKinsey & Accenture during this period as well.
• Based on performance & multiple interviews, got sponsored by L&T to pursue full time M.Tech at NIT Trichy.

2. 2016-19, 39 Months, L&T Construction – Manager, BD for EPC & Supply projects for Material Handling & Crushing Equipment to Cement, Coal, Power & Steel Sector. AoR – India.
Key Achievements:
• Member of core group which set up EPC Projects arm of BU for Material Handling & Crushing Equipment.
• Won Single largest order in BU history worth $12 Mn & overall orders worth $25Mn
• Core Team member of Perspective Plan 2026 , working with Bain & Co identified Port Equipment Segment as key growth area for BU.
• Rated Outstanding Performer for 3 consecutive years, while being promoted 3 times in this span of 39 months.
• Cleared Leadership Development Centre-1, necessary for fast track growth.
• Nominated by BU for First Level Leadership Programme a 1 year training course for leadership pipeline development.

3. 2019, present, 9 Months, MachineMax Ltd – It is an early stage London based Construction Tech start-up, having investors like Shell, BCG & B -Capital (co-founders of Facebook). I am the BD Lead for India having responsibility to set up Sales & BD Pipeline in India & SE Asia.
Key Achievements:
• Engaging with C-suite Executives of Fortune 500 companies in Construction, Mining, Steel, Power Cement & Consulting sector in India.
• Winning Projects worth $100K ARR within 9 Months of setting up of India team, approx 20% of Global Revenue.
• On the verge of setting up of separate Indian entity of the company based on 9 months performance.
• Stretch Role - Handling Operations team additionally with Sales & BD.

Extra Curriculars:
• Did Pro-Bono Consulting sessions on careers in Sales & BD for IIM Bodh Gaya in 2019.
• Student Co-Ordinator for Industrial Liaison Cell (Training & Placement), NIFFT.
• Head of Pranav 2k11, annual Techno-Management Fest of NIFFT.
• Runner’s Up in Robotics competition in Pranav ’09, ’10 in NIFFT.
• Winner of multiple State Level & District level Quiz & Debate competitions in School.

Hey,

Please evaluate my profile.

26Y Male Engineer

Academics:-
12th: 83% Non- Med Background
B.E: Mechanical Engineering from Thapar University, Patiala, 6.91 CGPA

GMAT: Planning to write in Aug.( Target 700+ )

Extra-Curricular:-

1) School-level National basketball winner
2) CBSE-Clusters Zonal level basketball runner up
3) Founding Member of Toastmasters club in Thapar University
4) Participation in various cultural events in college
5) Voluntary NGO work. ( Very basis work just out of compassion for society )

Work- experience, Total of 5 years till date :-

1) Engineer, Havells India Ltd. - 3 years
Worked as R&D Engineer
Setting up of production line for new projects
Kaizen Coordinator
Value Engineering
Etc Etc

2) Director at my own company, Industrial Automation solution provider ( 2 years till date )
Family-owned business with annual revenue of more than 3 Cr
My role majorly involves existing customer engagement and internal operations.
Re-structured the company to work on its own without the direct supervision of promoters.
Revenue increased by 30% YoY after joining.
Leadership role as I am the only in the family involved in this family.
Diversified company domains

The purpose for MBA: For upgrading the skill sets and personal growth.

Apart from ISB, what all other schools should I target with 700+ GMAT score. I am a new MBA aspirant, so any good insight will help.

Thank you!

Very decent profile overall jandash00, but your current GMAT score is a bummer. Please see if you can re-appear and bump up this score by at least 20-30 points.
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Hi shivanshu6893, this seems a very generic career goal brother. It needs to be further refined, streamlined, and contextualized :)

However, this brainstorming can be done later. Right now ,your immediate and utmost priority, should be on getting a 700+ on GMAT.
_________________

Hi jandash00,

Firstly, you’ve got a great profile! And ISB is a great choice if consulting is your post-MBA goal, with 25% of class 2019 getting placed in Consulting.

ISB looks for majorly three aspects to evaluate a candidate:
1. Academic Excellence: ISB gives 30% weightage to GMAT/GRE scores along with an emphasis on quantifiable parameters, say, 12th grades, graduation and post graduation grades.

2. Impact: Need to have a great impact on the professional and personal life. Aspirants are evaluated on the bold decisions they have taken in work, their leadership qualities and the strength of taking initiatives.

3. Diversity: ISB, like every other popular b-school, intakes not only people with diverse backgrounds but it emphasises diverse thought processes and perspectives which are exemplified by the extracurriculars that one is involved in beyond work.

You seem to have a good mix of 2&3, with sufficient examples to support the same. However, the average GMAT score for ISB stands at 710, I'd suggest that you push for getting a 700+ on GMAT or if you’d like to go with the existing score then think about adding a couple of other schools in your list, based on your post-MBA goals.
That said, you can always overcome test scores with exceptional examples from your work experience or extracurriculars, and I can already get a glimpse of those examples in your profile, such as your experience as BD lead in a startup and that sponsorship opportunity by L&T. You should definitely use these to your advantage to make your application stand out of the pool.

What’s going to matter most in your application is how you connect the experiential dots and build a great story to stand out from other applicants in the pool.


If you'd like, I am happy to hop on a call sometime this week to discuss your chances in further detail. Feel free to book my calendar as per your convenience.


Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma,
Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond
Schedule a free session
Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com
What s app: +65-97158525
Call: +49-15212121641
Linkedin

Hi Shivanshu,

I like the work experience at the family biz. It also ties in nicely with your stint at HAvells and shows some career progression. Revamping ops in a company is a great initiative as it helps the promoters create a more efficient business and aim for more growth. But revamping ops to put the company on cruise control, such that promoters are no longer needed is well, a little off and only a short-term benefit. When you apply to business schools, you will have to be careful about the way you word your application. B-schools want hands-on leaders who lead by example.
Secondly, your goals can be more ambitious- have a specific vision in mind, and draw out a 3 year/ 5 year/ 10 year path to reach that vision. That's what career goals are.

Reach out to usfor more inputs on your profile

Hi Shivansu,
Very good profile overall with a healthy mix of extra-curricular. As my fellow consultants have pointed out, you need to be far clearer in your short and long-term goals, especially with the fact that you progressed from a corporate job to your family business. Another question which can come up is why not look at MFAB (the family business specific program at ISB).
If you intend to stay in India, then you could explore exec MBA programs from IIMs A & B.

All the best!

Regards,
Manan
Co-founder, S4G | ISB Class of 2013

Hello experts,

Really appreciate your time and insight which you share on this forum. I will be a reapplicant at ISB and my profile is as follows:

Education

10th: 92% CBSE
12th: 90% CBSE (PCM+Econ)
Undergrad: Top 30 ranked public school in the US; overall GPA: 2.3/4; major GPA: 3.76/4
GRE: Q160 V156 (Re-taking this)

Work experience

2.5 yrs as a social entrepreneur in the area of skill development where we helped youth between ages 18-28 enhance their hard and soft skills, eventually leading to employment. We trained and employed 2,500+ youth across Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with 800 of these students belonging to Below Poverty Line families. We also partnered with various ministries like the Ministry of Finance, GOI, Ministry of External Affairs, GOI and state government of UP for their skills development programs. We, unfortunately, had to shutdown due to issues of capital during our scaling phase.

1.5 yrs in an Edtech company where I was a part of the core team. Grew the sales team from 2 to 20 employees by the time I moved on. We went from doing 1 lakh in sales to 5 cr at the time of my departure. I also helped create programs aimed at employment like Android App Development, Big Data Hadoop during my tenure.

2 yrs+ as a political consultant with a major political party in India. I managed election strategy for states of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra Lok Sabha and assembly elections. Of these, our client won comprehensively in Gujarat, Maharashtra (Lok Sabha and assembly) while losing out in Chhattisgarh. In addition to strategy, I also ideated large scale outreach programs including a youth outreach program in Gujarat which had participation from over 3 lakh+ youth pan-state, a tribal outreach program in Maharashtra where we reached out to 1.5 lakh tribal population.

Currently, I work as an independent consultant and help companies expand their footprint in India. For example, from December till April, I helped a Y-combinator startup from the US initiate their operations in India. I did market research, developed case studies and initial marketing for them in India.

Extracurricular

I volunteer my time with an NGO which teaches school-going and non-school going children from less privileged backgrounds. I do a lot of on-ground marketing, fundraising and troubleshooting for them. For example, at one location the NGO was teaching kids in a public park where they faced opposition from the local residents. I worked with the local administration and MLA to acquire a classroom where these children are now taught.

I am also volunteering my time during the current Covid-19 crisis in my personal capacity by raising funds through friends and family, and utlising those funds to provide essentials to families in need. We were able to help 155 families for a period of 2 months from March till end May, and subsequently helped these families return to their native village by liaising with local administration for their transport.

Post MBA plans:

Short-term - I honestly have not finalised this yet. My first preference is to work in the development sector with an aim of working with a company like Dalberg. My other wish is to work in a strategy or product role at a startup post MBA to get an understanding of the product side of things.

Long-term - Entrepreneurship in the area of education. Through my time as an entrepreneur and as a political consultant, I witnessed first hand how education can change peoples' lives and my goal is to contribute to enhancing education outcomes in semi-urban and rural areas. I wish to achieve this by enhancing the quality of education in government schools and that will be my area of focus as an entrepreneur.

Apologies for the verbose post. I thought more information may help with a more accurate assessment.

Thank you!

Hey Klopp Junior

Very impressive and diverse profile! Decent acads. Get your GRE in a higher range.
Regarding the work-ex, the combination of tech and education/skill development-focused sector is a good one. In the application, you'd clearly have to lay out the journey and the reasons therein- political party (no prizes for guessing ) - Edtech - social entrepreneurship- and now independent consulting. You'd have an interesting time in figuring out one leadership trait for the first essay among the suite of experiences you've had.

Regarding your goals, you should think hard on the path towards your long-term goal, they need to be linked and clearly called out how ISB can help given that you already have a good bouquet of experience.
Another path you can explore apart from Dalberg is with firms such as Gates Foundation and Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). Both work closely at a grassroot level and a number of ISB alumni (inc. a couple from my class) are working with these organizations. It would link well with your long-term goal.

Feel free to reach out for further queries.

All the best!

Regards,
Manan
Co-founder, S4G| ISB Class of 2013

Hello kloppismydad,

Thanks for writing in. You have a very diverse and distinctive profile, and lots from your experience to talk about in your essays. However, since you say you are a re-applicant, which year did you apply before? Did you interview? Assuming you weren’t offered a seat, do you have any feedback from ISB around your application or any self-analysis around this? That could be a starting point for your application this year.

On the basis of what you have mentioned, here is my advice:
1) Considering you have a low GPA in undergrad, you could retake GRE, and also address the issue, if need arises.
2) Your experience is distinctive but needs to be stitched into a story with a theme. For example, you are an entrepreneur currently and were one to begin with, but took jobs in between. Your first two experiences are linked, but you may want to talk about what inspired you to work as a political analyst and then open your own firm again. I am sure you have a rationale, but will have to be explained to the AdCom.
3) You are divided between two ST goals, which are not linked, so you may want to straighten your story there.

All the best!!

Hi Avichal,

Overall, you have a strong profile for an aspiring YLP candidate. A couple of observations:

1. Your acads are good. Considering you are scoring 730 on GMAT mocks, we don't see any issue on the acads front.
2. The PORs, projects and extra-curricular activities are pretty diverse and impressive.

We will not suggest you take up something just to add value to your profile. Since YLP candidates are without any work experience, apart from basic hygiene factors, what ISB is looking for at this stage is a hustle to succeed, future leadership potential, and clarity of thought. As we mentioned earlier, your overall profile is pretty good. The critical part will be how you present your candidature through your essays. The story you depict in terms of where you are coming from, where you are at present and where you want to be post-MBA, needs to be coherent and sellable.

At this point we suggest you focus on your GMAT prepration.

Our team of consultants has both ISB grads and YLP admits. We can guide you put your candidature forward to the admissions committee in a way that brings out the best in your profile. You can PM us for the same.

Regards,
Team MBA Sorting Hat