Iceman2020 wrote:
Hope you all are doing well and staying safe as we live through these apocalyptic days.
I was hoping if someone could evaluate my profile and help me figure out my chances of getting into ISB Co'22.
Age: 24
GMAT: Yet to take the exam
Background: Indian Engineering Male (The worst possible trio
you read it right)
Acads:
1) Class X: 93.4% (ICSE Board)
2) Class XII: 85.0% (State Board) - Awarded scholarship by State Govt for performance within top 1% of HSC Board
3) Graduation: Bachelor of Engineering with an 8/10 CGPA (not sure if ISB wants us to convert this to GPA)
4) Cleared CFA Level 1
Work Experience:
- Currently working with a bulge bracket Investment Bank for 32 months. I have consistently been a strong performer in my batch year and team which helped me get a fast-track promotion last year. I was also the first analyst to be deputed to Los Angeles to work with the onshore team for one month. Started as a junior analyst, I am now the senior most member in my team (after my manager) and hence entrusted with a lot of leadership responsibilities. Although not being the manager on paper I still actively contribute in managing the team members, team's work, and coordinating with all the relevant stakeholders (Not sure if this helps demonstrate Leadership skills - as I'm not the manager on paper). In addition to that I have solely trained ~11 juniors on topics such as valuation and capital structure comparison.
Apart from all of this I have been an active participant in firm wide activities including CSR and participating in competitions. I was also ranked among the top 10% (in a batch of 30) in the Analyst training program conducted by The WallStreetWiz.
I have also worked on several multi million dollar deals including acquisition financing, capital structure strategies, and treasury deals.
Co-curricular activities:
- Elected as Head Boy for Academic year 2010-11 based on the scholastic performance & leadership capabilities
- Represented Mumbai University for a National Level Robotics Competition at IIT Delhi
- IEEE (an International Student Body) Chairperson for my engineering college. During that time I spearheaded several inter & intra college events & symposiums. The highlight remains my team and I organizing "The International Symposium on Internet of Things" in collaboration with a US based startup
- Active coordinator of IEEE Bombay Section (which includes 100+ engineering colleges)
Extra-curricular activities:
- Marketing head of college’s Cultural and Technical Fest
- Student Ambassador of the NGO - Indian Development Foundation
- Campus Ambassador for The Grapevine Co. (which included working with clients like MTV and ITC)
Courses:
- Portfolio and Risk Management by Indian School of Business on Coursera
Others:
- I had co-founded a start-up (earlier this year) with my friend but we had to shut shop because our business model was severely impacted by COVID-19. However we still had some initial success and were able to get a couple of clients on board. (Not sure if i can put this failed attempt on my resume) - Kindly advice.
Hobbies:
- Modelling (a few print media advertisements), Acting, & Football
Thank you so much for reading through such a long post. Would greatly appreciate your thoughts on my chances at ISB Co'22, my target score, and any other advice.
P.S: Do you think getting into ISB this year will be tougher than ever before with the surge in applicants (thinking this is a good year to get an MBA) and ~1/4 of the 2021 batch deferring.
Hello Iceman (inspired from X-Men or Top Gun? Looking at your age, I'll bet on the former
)
Majority of the ISB cohort falls in the IEM category but what matters more is your experience after that!
- You have decent acads and CFA L1 adds a dimension to them. In case not already thinking, you should consider taking the L2 exam in December now that the dates have been extended
- The work-ex is strong (and a departure from IEM!) within core finance and will stand out. You have a couple of nice achievements and should be used to demonstrate what you bring to the table in the application
- For the start-up, yes it should be incorporated and I'm sure there would be a great deal of lessons learnt you can talk about in the interview
- The co-curricular, ECA and hobbies complete the whole package and demonstrate the diversity you have and are pursuing
The challenge for you would be how you bring everything together in a coherent and impactful structure, especially in the 'why you' essay.
Regarding GMAT, you should aim for a 710+ which would complement the overall package.
This year, getting into ISB would be tougher as you rightly pointed out not just due to the deferring but also since this is the best time to go for an MBA while the economy is in hiatus and bounces back by 2022/23. Hence, it would be all the more prudent to apply in R1 since you will have a shot at all the seats and there might not be a R3 like previous years.
Hope this helps. Feel free to reach out for a chat!
Cheers,
Manan
Co-founder, S4G | ISB Class of 2013