ISB PROFILE EVALUATION THREAD - Post all Profile Eval Requests Here!

Hi Abhijit,
You have a good not great profile. Around 70% of ISB's class profile belongs to Engineering background. Hence, you need to be distinguished to get admitted. Your CGPA is low which you can compensate to some extent by scoring 720+ on your GMAT score. Your work ex is good and im sure you must have had good leadership and team work experience. You haven't mentioned any of your extra curricular and or community involvement, which is valued at ISB or any other business school for that matter.
If you look at the employment report of ISB, around 18% of students went on to sales and marketing function jobs. So, I think ISB is pretty good for your goals. Hope this helps.

Best,

Hi All,

I have 13 years of experience. Currently working as Business Development Manager in Telecom.
I have done undergrads in Bachelor of Engineering (Electronics) from University of Mumbai in 2004.
What GMAT score should suffice for my profile.

Please guide.
Regards,

Hi Jwalant,
With 13 years of work ex you should target PGPMAX. It is aimed at senior management folks and doesn't require GMAT. The average work ex for PGPMAX is 16 years. You will be slightly below average but it should be a good fit for you. If you plan to pursue the regular PGP then I suggest you get around 680 atleast in your GMAT. Hope this helps.

Best,

Hi Team

My academic records as follows
10th 74% (CBSE)
Active member of Quiz and Debate club

12th 92%(Andra Pradesh board)
Was active members in Quiz clubs and has multiple award

B-Tech in Electronics and Telecom Eng - 8.75 CGPA)
Leadership roles- Class Representative and Seminar Secretary
Headed Organising committee of events at college


Work ex- 9 yrs in IT
Have multiple client and company appreciation
Consistently performed and have among the top Band Employee
Have played roles of Team Lead (managing 10 members)
Project leads of small/moderate size project ($120 k to $150 k)
Backup lead with large project(>$ 450 k).
Worked in Pre-Sales roles

Active member in Toastmaster club
And NGOs with which my company is associated with

Planning for ISB and targeting 710.

NB. I have not taken any onsite roles due to parent health concern.

What is my chance in ISB and will my no onsite exposure be a bottle neck?


Sent from my iPhone using GMAT Club Forum

Hi Samrat,
I think you have a well rounded profile. Good work ex, strong undergrad gpa, active involvement in community. And if you score a 700+ on your GMAT, you have a good chance of getting into ISB. I don't think having no on site experience goes negatively on your profile. Hope this helps. Let me know if you need any further assistance.

Best,

Hi Deep,

Thank you for your kind help.
However, I am aiming at regular 1 year MBA program and PGPMAX is modular format.
The juncture of my career at which I am currently, requires me to aim for 1 year full time and not modular one.
Will aim for 680, as you have advised for regular PGP ISB program.

Regards

Hi jwalantudesai,

ISB has a select few applicants with 10+ years work experience in their regular PGP class. The challenges you will face as an applicant or rather the areas you must take care of, in your application are:
1. demonstrate your leadership skills and above average career growth. Basically prove that you are a rock star and the reason you did not do an MBA until now is because you had a great career growth and did not require an MBA.
2. Demonstrate clarity in career goals and make a clear case for why you need an MBA. Also address why you need it now (we touched upon this in point 1 as well, this is important).
3. Show how will you contribute to ISB as a senior class mate
4. Give subtle comfort to the adcom that you are not coming to ISB for recruitment but for knowledge and skill enhancement. At your age and career stage, they would expect you to have the requisite network to find yourself a job, should the b-school not be able to find you one.

ISB's average GMAT score is 706 and its good to get a score around this figure. However, your application will be viewed in entirety and a lower GMAT score will not keep you out of the race just as a super high score (750+) will not guarantee an admission.

Hope this helps.

Dear,

Thanks for your prompt response.
However, I am at such a juncture of my career that only full time MBA will help to achieve what I am aiming.
I am at Manager level as business development manager in telecom company. I started as installation engineer and have reached to this profile only with engineering degree.
Looking forward for your advice in full time MBA colleges and scores required for the same.

Regards

Posted from my mobile device

Hi Samrat,

Just for your knowledge, any business school will be more interested in knowing your career progress and achievements. The extra curricular activities are great to have but they are not a requirement.
Your applications should focus on a few key things:
1. your career progress, leadership at work, your achievements and impact
2. clear career goals and the need for an MBA from ISB at this point in your career.

The lack of onsite experience is not going to hurt at ISB. However do focus your application on your other strengths, which should be around your leadership capabilities.

Hi,

Please evaluate my profile...

GMAT score: Yet to Appear

Academics:
Btech (Electronics and Comm Engg) from PTU.
Degree: 74%
10th : 78 %
12th: 68%

Age 31, Male.
Working EXP: 8 years Working in IT Industry.

Target Colleges: ISB, IIMs and US colleges.

** What GMAT Score should I be targeting to get through? **

Hi Experts

I gave my 2nd attempt of gmat today and got a 640 (q49,v28).

I am an Indian female with about 6 yrs of exp in IT Software, worked with two companies , TCS and Accenture. I have been doing great at job with lot of best employee awards and extra curricular activities like participating in quizzes, rangoli art competitions etc. I was also the HR spoc for my project and arranged events like picnic for about 100 people, quarterly awards for best performance etc.

My academics are also good like in
-10th, 89.8%, (Merit student certificate from CBSE)
-12th, 89.6% (Amul vidyabhushan award)
-B tech in electrical n electronics , 85% (gold medallist, branch topper) CGPA : 9.24
I was engaged in lot of extra curricular activities at school also like painting and essay writing competitions etc.

What are my chances in IIMs or ISB ? or can you suggest what are the best schools for me both in India and US? I am looking for a functional shift in my role and an MBA In information systems.

Thanks in advance.

A score close to the class average GMAT score (706) is always beneficial. That said, the MBA application is viewed holistically and your acads, work experience, extra curricular activities, essays and recommendation- all matter.

So aim for the best GMAT score you can get and submit an application that is competitive on all fronts.

What were your work related achievements? An MBA is a professional degree and you are evaluated for your career progress and work related achievements. Extra curricular activities have importance, but not as much as work related achievements. You see to have reversed their priority.

Also, it will be worthwhile to retake the GMAT. You have to have an exceptional profile to expect a positive result with your GMAT score

As I mentioned, I have received several awards for Best employee of the month and team rewards for resolving complex issues in the application, lot appreciations for client satisfaction.

Does that increase my chances of a good MBA program? Can you suggest any programs/schools for me? I do have strong acads but i know the GMAT is pushing me back.

Hi Experts,
Please review my profile.

Bacherlors - BCA with 78%
Masters - MSc from Symbiosis with 3.25 GPA

Work Ex - 3 years as Developer for a large product based company. promoted once. Salary incremented thrice. Also, was sent to client side abroad for 3 months.
1 year as Data analyst for a no-name startup.

GMAT - 740

Extra curriculars - represented my college(during bachelors) in debates and poetry competitions at University level.

Do i stand a chance to get into ISB? I know competition is tough. Thanks in advance, kind souls.

Hi,
Please evaluate my profile and help me set a GMAT target.
10th(CBSE)=9.4/10
12th=94.6%
Engineering from Amrita School of Engineering Bangalore 8.27/10(CGPA)
Worked as a Research Intern with TCS Nozomi Embedded Labs
Presently working as Program Analyst with Cognizant
Worked as President of Science and Innovation club in college.

I am basically looking at SP Jain Mumbai and ISB(early entry program)..Also please suggest ways to build my profile.(I know it's kind of below par).

Hi sjacob7,

Academically, you are on good footing. A 740 in GMAT is definitely exceptional. Few thoughts:

#1 In terms of work experience, working as a developer may cast a shadow on your achievements. You will need to think deeper to identify examples and strengths that exhibit leadership potential.
#2 Dig deeper into your profile: Taking initiatives, working in a team, leading a team, working with client, international exposure on the client side- all these should add value and reason to why you want to move from tech to business.
#3 The extracurriculars seem a little out-of-date too. Is there any activity that you are involved with currently or are passionate about, that would make your profile an all-rounder?
Answers to #2 and #3 will define the course of your application. Our recommendation is to introspect and build clear articulate essays on your strengths, to differentiate yourself in the super-competitive IT pool.

Hi there!

The ISB EEO evaluates your potential to be a good leader. Therefore, your application and candidature should clearly reflect your personality, your goals and expectations. Since you have do not have a lot of work-experience, you should be able to use a mix of attributes from under-graduation, extracurriculars and examples from work (wherever possible) to showcase these.

While you have sound academics so far, a higher GMAT would always boost your chances. We recommend you aim for a GMAT of 720+ which will make your profile more competitive. We also think you should also work on building extra-curriculars at your place of work/beyond work. This will help you build a better story.

Feel free to reach out in case of queries.

Thank you for your response!
For #2, yes, I do have client side exposure abroad. I was in charge of the whole project. This included meeting with clients' business folks, working with different vendors of the clients as well as their own in house tech team etc. Apart from this, I ideated and led the development of a new tech tool.
As for #3, I was in charge of placements whilst in Post grad and also head of the content team. I love writing, and I've made some money writing articles for an American photography website. Plus I also write poems.

Does any of this count?(I know it's not much, but this is all I have )

Hi sjacob7,

Definitely counts! We think you have the necessary ingredients for a good application. Both your project lead stints and writing skills can be weaved into the larger MBA story. The clarity of your application and how you map your achievements and strengths to goals will see you through!

A detailed discussion would be helpful in structuring your application, please feel free to call us on 91 9871354580 or email your resume to info@apphelp.co.in.