ISB Application Myths Busted!!

In last decade ISB has become an institution that is associated with a sense of honor, prestige and accomplishment.

ISB has been constantly ranked as top-ranked MBA university in India and 20th in Global MBA Rankings by Financial Times, London.

Undoubtedly, MBA aspirants are not leaving any stone unturned to add ‘ISB’ into their CVs.

However, in this helter-skelter, several myths have cropped up over the last few years.
Most of these grapevines are related to the ISB application process.

Well, to get into ISB one needs a very good score in GMAT/ CAT and a very impressive essay.

You should keep in mind that the applicants of ISB have a good work profile and experience and thus your competition is among the best.

You can definitely get through ISB if you have prepared for it. However, most people back out when they come across a few myths about ISB application process.

Trust me, they are just myths.

ISB tries to look beyond your resume and evaluate its candidate in terms of their :

• Capability
• How far they have grown professionally in their career
• Academics and GMAT/ CAT score
• Leadership skills
• Team work
• Other interests
• Long and short-term goals, and last but not the least ,
• Idea about giving back to society.

1) Likelihood of rejection because of sub-700 score

According to the official ISB statistics around 25% of the entering class had a sub-700 score.

This myth is perhaps propagated by those who got rejected because the other factors such as weak essays, poor interview or may be their inability to answer/attempting any basic or logical question.

2) Not applicable for candidates with >10 year of work experience

Even though the average work experience of students is 3-6 years, ISB totally understands and appreciate the unique background and experience a senior student would bring in, in terms of knowledge and industry.

ISB gives complete support in placement assistance as someone with more than 10 years of experience will look out for positions like “Country Head” which opens up rarely.

Thus, there is no placement guarantee but enough assistance in terms of contact and access to MNC’s are provided, just like any other full time student.

3) Ignoring the details in the ISB application form

Aspirants usually fill out all the mandatory information about education, work-experience, projects, essays etc but consider some other details as “minor” like, hobbies, extra-curricular activities, awards, languages known to name a few.

I would suggest the aspirants to reserve some time for this section too as the admission committee gets to review a file which contains these very details before it even gets to see your essays.

So, this is the chance to actually make the first impression on the selection board.

4) Showing NGO work is a must in your application

ISB is always on the lookout for people with varied perspective in their classroom discussion.

This is the reason you might come along to meet a few people who have an “unconventional” profile of working with an NGO.

However, it is a myth that ISB wants everyone who applies, to have contributed to a social cause.

Association with an NGO just for the sake of embellishing your ISB application will actually reduce your chances of admission. Integrity is a quality that is highly regarded in B-schools these days.

Integrity is a quality that is highly regarded in B-schools these days.

Culturally Indians tend to use their time constructively in many other different ways – not just in social causes.

So, candidates should look at creative ways of revealing their managerial or leadership qualities such as playing a sport or serving for the community; basically anything that serves a purpose to either “self” or to “society”.

5) Focusing only on the essay and ignoring the interview

Essays are an important part of selection and everybody gives their best in coining the right SOP for themselves as it is through essays that B-Schools will actually get to know about who you are as a person, and what you bring to the table.

However, it is also equally important that you focus on the interview process, through which the admissions committee tries to see if the person behind the essays is interesting in real-life.

What you say in the interview matters are a lot. This is a platform where you can put forward your strengths and managerial traits for them to see.

There is more to you than an application form and the ISB interview panel wants to see that.

If you wish to know more in detail, you can check out Crackverbal’s ISB myths busted where you can find in-depth analysis of ISB application related myths.