The Indian School of Business is one of the top 30 B-schools in the world and best B-school in the country. As the number of applicants grow, so do the ‘truths’ or ‘theories’ about the admissions process and what the adcom wants in an application.
Through our experience over the past few years and interactions with successful candidates, here’s an attempt to debunk a few common mythsabout the ISB admissions process,
– A sub-par GMAT score spells doomsday to your chances
Usually, the mid-80% range of GMAT scores from the selected class is between 680 and 720, which means there could be ~100 candidates with less than 680 on the test. Also, there are many with 720+ scores who don’t make it. This is because ISB assesses the entire package while making the decision and the GMAT is only one of the pieces of the puzzle. ISB adcom understands a candidate can have a bad day at the test if the overall application is good.
– NGO experience is a must have
It is a big myth that everyone who gets through has gone through the NGO journey. While it adds to the diversity and improves the experience of the class, contribution to the social cause just for the sake of application can easily be ascertained by the adcom and it significantly reduces your chances! Working in/for an NGO should be done for genuine reasons to give back to the society and nothing else!
– Recommendations should come from someone very senior in the organization
The idea of external evaluation is to validate the information supplied by the candidate and get an outside-in perspective on your profile. Although, a client’s or senior management’s recommendation creates an impact, the more important factor is that the evaluator should’ve extensively worked with you to comment on your candidature.
– ISB Hyderabad is better than ISB Mohali
HRB follows the ‘one school two campuses’ philosophy in letter, spirit and practice. The class is divided in such a way that the average and quality of talent pool is the same. The teaching experience is similar and a number of times one subject is taught by the same professor at both the campuses. In addition, it is a unified placement process. Hence, campus preference should only be on the basis of family reasons, preference for manufacturing industry, etc. and not the age of the campus
Hope the above provides a clearer picture on the ISB application journey. For further queries, visit www.strategy4gmat.com or write to [email protected].
