ISB Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Wow! Your fist post on GMATClub took a long time coming! More than 3 years after you registered here!

Things look decent overall. I would suggest that in the essays, you should focus more on the creative/functional aspects of your work. This would also fit neatly with your career aspiration of becoming a Product Manager.

Basically Product Manager requires both business and technical competencies. Clearly MBA education would come into picture, to endow you with business competencies.

Hi! How would your baby do with your one year of almost complete absence, especially since you seem to be pretty much the only one to steer the company? And what will happen to the 25 employees you have on your rolls?

Wouldn't a part-time program (such as MFAB) not be a better option?

While I have these questions, I am sure your reviewers would too. So, it is best to address them in your application (perhaps in the optional essay), so as to make your position very clear and demonstrate that you have thought out all options.

HI Parnika, yes you would, and hence, you should (re-write GMAT). With just 2 years of work-ex, you really need to beef up that score by at least another 30-40 points.

Clearly verbal is your area of focus. So, work on it with a missionary zeal over the next 1 month and you would have done the best favor to your candidature.

Hi guys,

I am an ISB 2017-18 aspirant . While I would like to go to one of the top 25 MBA programs in the US, I realize that it may be a long shot.
Request you to evaluate my profile. TIA

- 25 yr old Male

10th - 91 %

12th- 93%

BE - Electronics , Manipal Institute of Technology, CGPA - 7.71

Work Ex:

1 yr Software Developer at TCS
2 yrs Software Developer at a services startup ( 1st employee ,Played a leadership role setting the culture of the company and inducting new hires etc)
1 yr - Food delivery startup (sold/closed it a few weeks ago for a nominal sum - not really a profit)

No worthy extracurrics to speak of . Would you suggest I do something in the next 2 months ?

GMAT - 760

Would you suggest I apply to any of the top 25 programs in the US ?

You have an amazing GMAT score, and that will take you a long way, figuratively and literally (overseas). A good GPA adds to that. Do you have a ranking in undergrad? ( e.g. - top 10% in class? Add that in the resume)

Your work at the services startup and the food startup sound very impressive. Adcoms love the leadership stories, and starting/selling a startup show struggle, learning and success (maybe?).

So, do go ahead and apply to US colleges. I'd encourage you to apply to a mix, ranging from ranking ~6-25.

Regarding extra curriculars - two months is a little less time to take-up something radically new. Pick up the threads from some activity you have done earlier, maybe as CSR or at college. That will bring in the continuity and not sound like you made a last ditch attempt for the application.

Hi,
Please evaluate my profile
Indian journalist, female
3 years work experience in TV news (brands like TIMES NOW, NDTV, India Today)
GMAT: 690 (Q 47, V 38)
School 10th: 94%
School 12th: 91%
College, English Honours, from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi University: 55%
I've just been dinged by Queen's. Do I stand a chance anywhere else?

Can somebody please evaluate my profile. I am targeting ISB (2017 intake) and about to appear for GMAT this month.

X - 91.3%
XII - 85.0%

Integrated Dual Degree (B.Tech+M.Tech) in Mechanical Engineering from IIT(BHU), Varanasi.
CGPA - 7.57

Workex by March'17 - 30 Months.

Have worked in a Japanese automobile R&D for 14 months with a Product Planning profile. Role involved mainly Automobile Market Research.
From the last 8 months, working as a Business Analyst for an E-commerce firm.

What should be an acceptable range for my GMAT score to get a call from ISB?

Thanks in advance!

Thanks a lot MBADecoder! I haven't given my GMAT yet, but am aiming for a 770. We'll see how it goes.

Also I'm going to apply for Round 2 since I'm giving my GMAT in September end. And since I don't have any job/business currently, do you think that's gonna be a problem ? How do I explain the gap ? Should I take up a part-time job or some such thing ?

Hi,

I want to apply to ISB in round 2.
My profile is as below:
10th:80%
12th:87%
Graduation - Regular Bcom(H)- University of Delhi -70%

Professional Experience:
Worked with EY in Audit and Research for 20 months.
Currently Working with Standard and Poor's as Researcher in Financial Services from last 5 months.

As of now 2 years + of work experience.

Achievements:
1. Won Exceptional client service award for outstanding performance on the recommendation of EY senior manager.
2. Took part in 4 societies during college time and served as an office bearer for most of them.
3. Chief coordinator of the Placement cell.
4. Represented college at University level at Central Placement cell, University of Delhi.
5. Holder of RBI scholarship from 2011-2014.
6. Associated with CSR in my current as well as in my previous organisation.

Planning to take GMAT in october-november. Please help me out that how much target score on minimum basis should i focus on.

Ps: I am not an engineer.


Thanks,
Jaskirat Singh

Hi Teja,


I shall try to give you a detailed answer as much as possible.

Your Academic credentials look pretty good and the admissions committee should be no problem in that.

The GMAT range for ISB for the class of 2017 batch is between 600 – 770, since you have 700 therefore it is a decent score.

Your work experience is one year now which seems fine as far as the Early Entry program is concerned.

Your work as the project manager is good for two things - First it enhances your community profile and secondly would project you as somebody who has taken up challenges in his life, though you should have mentioned about your KRA in this particular area to give a better feedback.

Also your extra curricular activities should highlight your achievements and they should have been mentioned in details. To give you an honest advice, the term 'good enough' does not say much about you.When you are applying for ISB , you never know what is good enough.

You should have mentioned the details of the research properly to help me tell you whether it would be considered a value addition or not.All researches do not fetch you the same points.Hopefully yours was a good one.

NOTE ; Even though you might have hands on experience in Marketing and Business , never mention that you have a pretty good understanding . The moment the admission officers of ISB see this , they shall ask you in depth questions on Business strategies and marketing principles followed across the globe which may find you caught at the wrong foot.

Plus they shall ask you that if you have pretty good idea why do you want to join ISB ?

You shall say that I want to add on my existing knowledge .Then they will do a post mortem of the entire thing and finally tell you that you need more in depth knowledge of Marketing and Business.

My advice would be to show that you are an excited apprentice of Business, rather than projecting yourself as a person who knows about business.

Your good communication skills are a big advantage for you but make sure that you don't have an MTI problem.

In short the chances are good but I could have projected better if you could have given the details which I have mentioned above.

You can also visit collmissionstats dot com and understand your basics for essay and LOR as they are really crucial.

Good Luck !!

Hello folks,

Can anyone evaluated my profile for ISB.

GMAT - 720

10th - 84%
12th - 92.4%
5 years Integrated M.Tech from IIT Roorkee in Geophysical Technology. Final CGPA - 8.42

Work Experience
- July 2016 - Present (1 month) : Scientist at National Centre for Antarctic and Oceanic Research, Goa.
- May - June 2016 (2 months) : Curriculum Associate, Avanti Learning Centre, Mumbai
- June 2013 - December 2015 (2 years 7 months) : Geophysicist, Schlumberger, Doha, Qatar (Had to quit sadly because of a transfer to South Sudan)

I've worked in multidisciplinary teams, under challenging environments, providing petrotechnical solutions to high profile clients such as Qatar Petroleum, Exxon Mobil etc. I've also had a short experience of working in an unstructured environment, while working for the social enterprise Avanti.

Internships:
- Schlumberger, Navi mumbai (June-July 2011)
- Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany (May-July 2010)

Achievements
- AIR 3010 IITJEE, AIR 132 AIEEE, AIR 33 MPPET.
- CBSE Merit Schlolarship in 2007.
- Society of Exploration Geophysicists Scholarship in (2009)
- DAAD scholarship for research internship in Germany (2010)

Leadership roles:
- Schlumberger's point of contact for a Qatar Petroleum project, handling the project independently.
- Additional Secretary Music Section IIT Roorkee : Managed a team of around 40 musicians, organizing cultural council's shows across the year, while also taking active participation in them.
- Coordinator in Cognizance, the Tech fest of IIT Roorkee.
- Cultural Secretary of Dept of Earth Sciences, IIT Roorkee.

Extracurriculars:
- Vocalist and Rhythm Guitarist for Music Section IIT Roorkee, participating in shows of varied genres across the campus.
- Represented school's handball and Cricket teams for U-16 and U-14 regional tournaments respectively.

Thanks in Advance

Ayush

Hello folks,

Can anyone evaluate my profile for ISB.

GMAT - 720

10th - 84%
12th - 92.4%
5 years Integrated M.Tech from IIT Roorkee in Geophysical Technology. Final CGPA - 8.42

Work Experience
- July 2016 - Present (1 month) : Scientist at National Centre for Antarctic and Oceanic Research, Goa.
- May - June 2016 (2 months) : Curriculum Associate, Avanti Learning Centre, Mumbai
- June 2013 - December 2015 (2 years 7 months) : Geophysicist, Schlumberger, Doha, Qatar (Had to quit sadly because of a transfer to South Sudan)

I've worked in multidisciplinary teams, under challenging environments, providing petrotechnical solutions to high profile clients such as Qatar Petroleum, Exxon Mobil etc. I've also had a short experience of working in an unstructured environment, while working for the social enterprise Avanti.

Internships:
- Schlumberger, Navi mumbai (June-July 2011)
- Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany (May-July 2010)

Achievements
- AIR 3010 IITJEE, AIR 132 AIEEE, AIR 33 MPPET.
- CBSE Merit Schlolarship in 2007.
- Society of Exploration Geophysicists Scholarship in (2009)
- DAAD scholarship for research internship in Germany (2010)

Leadership roles:
- Schlumberger's point of contact for a Qatar Petroleum project, handling the project independently.
- Additional Secretary Music Section IIT Roorkee : Managed a team of around 40 musicians, organizing cultural council's shows across the year, while also taking active participation in them.
- Coordinator in Cognizance, the Tech fest of IIT Roorkee.
- Cultural Secretary of Dept of Earth Sciences, IIT Roorkee.

Extracurriculars:
- Vocalist and Rhythm Guitarist for Music Section IIT Roorkee, participating in shows of varied genres across the campus.
- Represented school's handball and Cricket teams for U-16 and U-14 regional tournaments respectively.

Thanks in Advance

Ayush

Hi Ayush,

You have competitive academic and GMAT scores.
I am a little concerned about your WE. You just joined a company this July and before that, you have a gap of five months. Was the filler job in any way associated with your field? Despite the gap, you are still competitive for ISB. But I'd suggest you should apply in R2 because by then you would have atleast 6 months experience at the time you are submitting your application.

Also do explain the gap and how you were still doing something productive during this period.

Your extra curricular experiences are only from the undergrad level, have you done anything more recently? If you take my advice of applying in R2, do get involved in a volunteering activity. Here's an article you should read about how community service helps in MBA applications.

Hi,

I'm in the process of applying for ISB 2017-18 (intake R1). Could you please evaluate my profile.

GMAT: 690 (V-34, Q-50, AWA-4, IR-7)

Education:
Master of Oil & Gas Engineering - University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia (WAM: 60.8)
B.Tech in Natural Gas Engineering - University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Dehradun, India (CGPA: 2.49/4.0)
Year 12 - 87.9%
Year 10 - 79.8%

Work Experience:
Mar 2015 - Present: Self Employed Uber Driver, Perth
Apr 2013 - Oct 2015: Drilling Consultant, Landmark/Halliburton Australia, Perth
Apr 2011 - Apr 2013: Airline Service Agent, AeroCare/Virgin Australia Airlines, Perth

Worked in multi-cultural & multi-disciplinary teams and independently to help Drilling Engineers at Chevron Australia, Woodside Energy in designing and modelling their oil & gas wells.
Worked in the development of Training manuals for the Well Design training with Halliburton's Global team in Houston, United States.
Delivered Well Design training to Senior Drilling Engineers and Graduate Drilling Engineers in the Australasian region and the Middle East.
Landmark/Halliburton's point of contact for the projects with Woodside Energy & INPEX Australia.
Got recognition from Landmark/Halliburton's Global Vice President as a Top Performer.

Gained a wealth of Customer Service experience by serving thousands of passengers as an Uber Driver in Perth. Developed business skills by running my micro enterprise.

Worked in the ground handling of Virgin Australia Airlines' group airlines Virgin Australia, Tigerair Australia and Sky West at the Perth International Airport. Lead teams in aircraft servicing operations. Supervised the Baggage Handling division with operations of 300+ flights per week with consistently achieving the airlines' KPIs.

Extra Curricular Activities:
Won a Silver medal in a State level Shooting competition organized by the National Cadet Corps, Andhra Pradesh in 2000.
Won the State level Business Aptitude Test organized by Career Launcher in Uttarakhand (competing with students from IIT Roorkee) in 2007.

Volunteering:
Feb 2013 - Present: JET Australia Foundation, Perth Chapter
Feb 2010 - Jun 2011: Oxfam Australia
Aug 2009 - Dec 2009: Australian Red Cross

Part of the leadership team at the JET Australia Foundation's Perth Chapter. Successfully planned and organized several cultural, social and community events in Perth. Organized fund raisers to support various causes and mobilize funds for victims of natural disasters.
Active blood donor since 2005. Organized blood donation drives since 2015. Achieved my personal goal to motivate people and introduce at least 10 new donors every year.

Goals:
Short - Medium term: Build a career in Management consulting


Regards,
Dilip

Hi Dilip,

Thanks for posting your profile. I have two concerns:
1. Your GPA and GMAT combination will not be competitive at ISB. Usually if one is low then the other one should be higher. Your GMAT is below ISB's average of 706 and the BTech GPA is also low, so both together don't work too well in your favour. Can you throw more light about the difficulty of the Masters course and how you fared in comparison to peer students?

2. Your three jobs are very different from each other, and don't show that you have built a career in a particular direction. adding to this, while your academics were in
oil and gas, you did not work in this field other than your job as drilling consultant. The admissions people want to see the dots being connected, but I see that as a potential problem.

Do explain the scenario either here or through PM.

Hi

All seems good with your profile. You would certainly stand a good chance at ISB. Focus now on creating a strong app. All the best!

I am Sudharshan, 26 years old, working in manufacturing sector, for TVS Turbo Energy Ltd (National leader in Turbochargers market - India).

Work exp : 5+ years
Role : Project management - Key account management, Project management (Handled domestic and international customers)
GMAT : 650 (V : 31 , Q :49, AWA : 6)
B.E Mechanical : 80.3% - Anna University, Chennai
Other notable works : City lead for M.A.D Chennai (Make A Difference - NGO for Education), College/Company football player, Mechanical Department Secretary, Mechanical Department topper (once)

I am aware that my GMAT score is not exceptional. But do I have a shot at all? Please advise.

Thanks in advance