Hi people, I am very happy to inform you that I have been shortlisted for the Interview for the PGP 2005-06 by the ISB admissions committee. Anyone else in the same boat please revert ASAP. Please chop in with your tips and suggestions. …
Hi people,
I am very happy to inform you that I have been shortlisted for the Interview for the PGP 2005-06 by the ISB admissions committee.
Anyone else in the same boat please revert ASAP.
Please chop in with your tips and suggestions.
I shall make a detailed post about how the session goes and GMAT prepping strategies once I am back.
Regards,
vin.
hi congrats that u have made it
can u throw more light on ur profile like experience, qualification, gmat score...etc...so that it will be useful for the future ISB aspirants.
With a 780 in GMAT, getting a call from ISB is but expected.
Congrats once again. I think you might get help here from the likes of Simba etc.
Arun
My score: 780 AWA: 6.0
Experience: 3 years
(2 years: MNC IT Pro - done Software Analysis/Dev. + Algorithms Analysis.
6 months: attended a company sponsered Developer Training program and topped the final Project executed; was project lead for a team of three.
6 months: Lectuer, Computer Science Dept. for M.Sc students. + ERP(SAP) trainee.
)
Academics: B.Tech (Electronics) - 75%
100/100 Engineering Math scores.
currently dabbling with ICWAI along with MNC job.
PS: I have not yet made it. The interview is a significant hurdle - can someone say how important is the interview?
What percentage of the shortlisted candidates ultimately get in?
Regards,
vin.
Hi All,
I attended the ISB Interview last weekend. To put it very mildly, it was the worst one of my entire life. Like I do with most things in life, I did some serious prepping for this one too.
Either by fate or by design, the whole interview affair was a nightmare for me.
I was the last one to be interviewed on Saturday. It started a full 2.5 hours after my scheduled time. The process started with a line from the lady on the admissions team: "You have an extremely high GMAT score.". I thanked her.
I observed then and there that the three folks seemed to be looking at me as if I were an alien who just appeared from Mars or Jupiter.
I dismissed that thought and told them that I wanted to present a couple of things I could not articulate enough in the essays. I then proceeded to present a derivation to speculate the path of a horizontal projectile using my beloved subjects of calculus, analytical geometry etc. I also gave a paper where I had written down my derivation.
The lady sitting in front seemed very reluctant to touch my paper; the gentleman alum took it and asked me if this had been outsourced from some Physics text. I assured him that it was my own.
After I elaborated on my derivation for a full 4-5 minutes, I again noted that "Where from thou alien?" look on their faces. To add chilly to my wounds, the lady remarked that she was yet to ask me something.
At that point I knew that they were through with me. To cut a long nightmare short, I was criticised one way or the other on every single piece of my application thereafter. I felt that they were decently washing me in a high-load washing machine. Was this some sort of a stress induction technique?
At the end, I thanked them and my soul ran out of the room. Now, folks, what do you think - was this some sort of a test to stress me out or (more likely) did I dig my own little cosy grave and bury my being?
It seems to me that I was the ONLY one with this sort of an experience in the Interview.
I for one am no novice to Interviewing having sat and conducted several interviews my self. But, I have never had an experience of this sort.
Let me know what you folks think.
Regards,
vin.
I dismissed that thought and told them that I wanted to present a couple of things I could not articulate enough in the essays. I then proceeded to present a derivation to speculate the path of a horizontal projectile using my beloved subjects of calculus, analytical geometry etc. I also gave a paper where I had written down my derivation.
WHY O Lord.. WHY ? Why do you want to present a mathematical derivation to an Adcom panel which is going to choose you for a business course ? I understand that you have an unrequited love for calculus, but frankly looks like you left the adcom no choice! Just how did your derivation help in your candidature ?
oh man!!!! where did calculus and derivation come in from???
Why did you decide to show them the derivation?
Guys,
My intention was just to indicate my love for Quantitative Analysis...I must have spent a full 45 minutes before I went in, to think over an original case-study to present my interest in Math succinctly. I arrived at this problem and solved it through with this precise intention.
What do you guys think about my chances?
Aware of any other 780s getting the kick?
Could this after all have been a pre-designed stressing exercise.?
Or this a case of the coffin digging his own grave?
My grasp of the issue was that Quant. strength is a huge desirable for the MBA program...at least the GMAT that is the supposed curtain-raiser to the MBA rewarded me for this passion...
Why should an abundant interest in math be a block to the adcom? Was this all just a facade?
Don't consider this post to be sarcastic, rather it is an attempt to figure out ..what were the actual reasons for your interest in an MBA.
Guys,
My intention was just to indicate my love for Quantitative Analysis...I must have spent a full 45 minutes before I went in, to think over an original case-study to present my interest in Math succinctly. I arrived at this problem and solved it through with this precise intention.
Agreed you love math. It has been sufficiently evinced in all the posts you have made here. Plus with your GMAT score, you have left NO doubt that you are capable of handling the MBA course. What other point were you interested in making? Plus if your primary interest is so Quant oriented, why an MBA?
Could this after all have been a pre-designed stressing exercise.?
If you ask me, it was a coffin digging exercise. They KNEW about your Quantitative abilities. Your transcript and GMAT would have proved that beyond doubt. Shoving a derivative into their faces would just show up as arrogance or a lack of understanding as to the understanding of WHY the interview is conducted in the first place.
My grasp of the issue was that Quant. strength is a huge desirable for the MBA program...at least the GMAT that is the supposed curtain-raiser to the MBA rewarded me for this passion...
Quant plays a small role. In your case, esp. considering your academic transcripts, a VERY small role.
Why should an abundant interest in math be a block to the adcom? Was this all just a facade ?I presume they want people who can handle the rigours of the course. Not proceed in life to write Math theorems.
PS: Apping any other bschools ?
Thanks friend. You have a very valid point there - it might have cast some arrogance inadvertantly. Sometimes the best of intentions backfire.
hey vingmat,
sorry to hear about your experience. though it seems to have been a bad experience from your post, may be the adcom isnt thinking it that way ? I guess in stead of analyzing too much into how exactly the interview went and what exactly the adcom is feeling, you can just wait and hope for the best. Dont be harsh on yourself, you never know what surprises await you.
good luck.
i bet it was kind of Strs mgmt.. u will def get thru..
Hmmm.. What an experience!! Last year, I had an interview with ISB too but it was anything but stressful. It was more like an informal chat about what I want to do post MBA etc etc... they just wanted to see what drives me ahead... 😃
Not only ISB.. any B School in the world... they want to see u as a business leader.. not as a quant jock, trying to solve some excruciating math sums!! They want to see what u can deliver to ur peers .. the diversity and experience u bring into the classroom.. the color u bring into class discussions & case-studies!! Next time, see if u can talk abt urself as a person .. a complete person!! 😃
I hope the Adcom see this experience of urs in a different light & selects you! All the Best!! 😁
Simbaaaa
Sorry to hear ur meltdown vin.
I believe that though ur int somehow did not clicked, ur GMAT scores will definitley help u to compensate for ur bad int scores.
I observed then and there that the three folks seemed to be looking at me as if I were an alien who just appeared from Mars or Jupiter.
Even before the int started, u appear to have either sensed a stress building around u or have a developed a pesimistic view of the adcom.
All i can say is keep ur fingers crossed on this one (who knows they were really testing u & may consider u in the final list). Treat it as a mock int (though for 2000/- bucks 😃 ) & start preparing for others.
With such a score, u can get a call from any college u apply (provided u don't portray ur love for maths to tht extent again
). We all cud have varied interests but give the adcom an oppurtunity to talk abt them & appreciate those skills.
ashish
i dont agree completely .. if there is something that u cud have not shown through ur essays, i think its alright to try and demonstrate it in ur interview. doesnt a math guru add diversity to the classroom ? i think it does. i think its awesome to have a math guru around whom u can hook up with to start a firm which creates high end analytics software. the problem could have been in the way this particular strength had been presented, and might have shown some arrogance. but otherwise, i think this definitely does add diversity to the class .. and if i were in adcomm i wudnt view this is a red light. i dont like the attitude that geeks .. math gurus .. dont add diversity. trust me, there are wannabe geeks, but there are very few real geeks .. and there are some geeks who started businesses 😃 .. there's a place for everyone under the sun folks and everyone adds diversity, in one form or the other. why does someone who climbed the everest have something more important to add to the classroom than someone who has an original paper in math ? whats most important is the attitude - whether the person is willing to share his insight and learnings.
Interesting perspective there. But again there are a lot of sentences in the original way it has been presented. "Looked at me like aliens" et al .. which err..tend to show this is a different light. Fair enough, there may not be enough info put in by vingmat to come to a conclusion. Vingmat, I would now like to hear more if you don't mind.
As in .. how and what led to the start of the solving of the problem? This could give us a better insight on what really happened.
Hmmm, didnt want anybody to agree with me. But yes, that was my take on it!! 😃
arboreal_tarantula Saysi dont agree completely .. if there is something that u cud have not shown through ur essays, i think its alright to try and demonstrate it in ur interview. .
An interview is a further cause. They have seen u superior Quant score & ur great marks in ur acads... So, what more proof does the adcom want about the math skills. I strongly feel that U shld demonstrate skills that are not quite visible in the complete app, something that should be explained to the interviewing committee. Not something that is pretty obvious, running a risk of being misunderstood as 'Arrogant'!
doesnt a math guru add diversity to the classroom ? i think it does. i think its awesome to have a math guru around whom u can hook up with to start a firm which creates high end analytics software.
I dont completely disagree with u Shameek here but if I were on the committee I would be wondering whether he has more to give to the class than his differentiation-integration skills. 😃
whats most important is the attitude - whether the person is willing to share his insight and learnings.
Oh yes, this is true. But Shams, nowhere do we know how he has portrayed himself as a person, willing to share his expertise!! If the interview ended with people looking at him weiredly, then, thats something to worry about!!!
Hmmm.. I think he must make it to ISB!! Dont see any strong reason to keep him out...they cant hold his strong MATH skill against him... I wish I was so good at MATH myself... 😃
Cheers
Some random thoughts that came to my mind :
(1) Talking about quant/math is not a big deal and is not a reason to get dinged. I feel showing a paper on whatever-you-have-written is not such a bad thing per se.But if I love doing something and feel passionately about it I should have written about it in my essays not in the interview.
(2) What else did you mention ? Did they have a wow-effect on anything ? I remember with my current employer, one of the managers asked me immediately on the interview "Arun, I have read your resume and know about the facts, I want to know something interesting about yourself. Tell me something that i will remember even on leaving the room". Were you able to create a wow-effect there ?
(3) Were the interviewers just having a bad-hair day or were they geniunely trying to scare you ? It could be that you were pitted in an interview with 3 morose guys. Tough luck in that case.
Arun
interesting thread going on here...
my gut feeling is that vingmat will get through..
i guess if u prove to the panel that u were very good at what u have already done it does give them an incentive of taking u in becoz they then know that the person is capable of doing well and in all probabilities will do well at their institute as well... just mt point of view..
when r results expected??