The Indian School of Business (ISB) has increased its student intake by 20% for the current Class of 2007. The Class of 2007 – all working professionals – has 418 students as compared to 345 students in the Class of 2006. The ISB will now be counted as one among the largest, when compared to the top B-Schools in the world.

“We have taken the ISB standards higher this year with 53% students from our new class having secured GMAT scores of over 700. ” said Professor Rammohan Rao, Dean ISB

To encourage meritorious and deserving students, the ISB has offered scholarships worth Rs.1.67 crores right at the time of their admission to the ISB. Scholarships have been offered to nearly 20% of the class and will also be awarded by companies like HSBC, Citigroup, Novartis, Anand Group and KC Maritime during the academic year. Scholarships exclusively for women students are also being offered. At the end of the academic year, the top 20 students who are selected for the Dean’s list will be offered merit scholarships.

The current class has many students who have rejected offers from B-Schools in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Singapore and have chosen to study at the ISB. Some of the renowned B-Schools from whom the students received and rejected offers include Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia Business School, Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Purdue University, INSEAD, University of California – Los Angeles, National University of Singapore, and several others.

Another highlight of the new class at the ISB is the significant increase in the number of women students. The ISB, which has always encouraged women to take up a management career, has seen an upward trend year after year in women student intake. The number of women students which has gone up to 87 from 67 last year, represents 20% of the Class of 2007, which is comparable to some of the leading European B-schools.

The Class of 2007 comes from varied academic backgrounds and diverse work experience. Some are Doctors, some are from the Indian armed forces, others are entrepreneurs, architects, model/actor, urban planner, chef, etc. Students with interesting industry backgrounds like media, advertising, real estate and social services have also joined the ISB this year. The class boasts of a mix of students who have excelled and won acclaim for excellence in both scholastic and non-scholastic activities. Few remarkable examples include a student who has won the Operation Vijay Medal for the Kargil war, students who have applied for patents, a student who has won the International Femtor Award for emerging business leader in USA, etc. The current class has eight entrepreneurs who have work experience ranging from three to thirteen years in their own ventures. The Class has an average work-experience of 5 years in a variety of industries and functions such as technology, pharma, media, etc., and in operations, finance, marketing, consulting, entrepreneurship, merchant navy etc. The average age of the students in the Class of 2007 is 27 years.