Unravelling the new ISB Essay 1 (2023-24 application)

This year, ISB has replaced the good old Essay 1 on leadership qualities with the following:

New ISB Essay 1: Peer Learning is a major building block of PGP at ISB. Help us in understanding how will you be able to add value to the PGP peer group through your personal and professional qualities/capabilities? (400 words)

With this year’s release of essays, ISB has brought a whole interesting perspective via the Essay1 in that it directs focus to peer-to-peer learning and gauges the candidates’ ability to

1. self-reflect

2. talk meaningfully about their own experiences in classroom discussions

Some of you will realize that this pattern of questioning is very similar to what we also see on the application of schools such as INSEAD for whom the “ability to contribute to the cohort” is the foremost criterion the school looks for in the applicants.

With this new essay, ISB is rooting for a highly interactive and collaborative culture, specifically seeking individuals who have experimental maturity, those who have had real-world exposure, and those who are able to contextualize management problems. Highly motivated, well-rounded, and possessing strong communication and interpersonal skills, the ISBians are expected to share a unique perspective on their life experiences- both personal and professional. When the world-renowned faculty and unique teaching pedagogy challenges students to come up with interesting insights and perspectives for business problems, ISBians are able to reflect on their own actions, successes, and failures, bringing into discussion the "qualities" they demonstrated to handle a variety of situations.

ISB does not want your stories to be limited to your professional experiences and the same has been made very clear in the question. Having spent a lifetime chasing academic and professional triumph in an extremely competitive environment, people often put their interests and leisure pursuits in the backseat. Yet if you have been actively involved in community initiatives, or have been pursuing hobbies or sports of interest, this is your opportunity to highlight your participation and contributions to present a well-rounded profile.

Applicants, however, may not limit their personal stories only to volunteering work or hobbies but can also draw meaningful insights from personal situations where they took initiative to help others overcome difficult situations.

Some good examples to take ideas from are

1. Small actions make a big impact

An ISB admit shared the story from her adolescence when she helped her mother steady family reigns during a financial crisis. She took up odd gigs such as organizing coaching/tuition classes for neighborhood kids, started a homemade snacks business with her mother that she marketed through social media, and started a women’s dress boutique at home with her mother where she worked with artisans on profit sharing basis to keep the workers motivated. Besides helping her family, she drew insights from each business and demonstrated an entrepreneurial bent of mind from a young age.

2. Taking a stand on social issues in your society/community

An applicant shared her story of participating in theatre and dramatics during her college days. She set the context well saying she comes from a conservative and regressive rural society where vices such as female infanticide and domestic violence are prevalent but frowned upon when discussed openly. She decided to create awareness on such issues by writing and directing street plays that her team performed in villages, under police surveillance, to echo a strong message, demonstrating ability to persevere.

3. Showing inclusivity at work

Profoundly thinking about your actions in hindsight is a great way to uncover aspects of your personality that created a strong impact on people around you. Other than community involvement or hobbies, bringing a unique frame of reference through your occasional but strong stance on issues can also help you make a strong impression. Another successful applicant talked about his apprenticeship program for women employees to make the onboarding process more women-friendly in a highly male-dominated field sales team (his LOR also substantiated this). Collaborating with the HR team, this category manager for a retail start-up was able to make the job more women-centric and reduce the attrition for female Business Development executives in his team.

Know more about writing the personal narrative for ISB


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