I had applied to ISB last year and got a reject. My profile in last year's application included Engineering in Industrial Engg & Mgmt course, GMAT - 690, work-ex of 2.75 years in Natural gas industry in Business Development domain. The reason for rejection apparently was low work-ex and low GMAT score.
I intend to take my GMAT again and increase my score. Also, my profile has changed considerably. I have now taken the role of a Business Analyst in Commercial group which involves a lot of number crunching, negotiations and strategic level decision making on daily basis. It was very unusual for my organization to bring someone to this profile without an MBA. I now directly report to General Manager and Director of Commercial group. My questions are:
1. i believe ISB looks for candidates with managerial work-ex. However, my organization has a stringent rule of not promoting any engineer to even first level of managerial position without a substantial work-ex (5-6 yrs). I was the first Engineer to have taken such a prominent role in the group as well as in the organization. My current roles and responsibilities are very challenging and can be easily comparable to that of a Manager in my organization. In which of the essays I should reflect this issue? Although I have taken the role of Business Analyst, I have not been promoted officially. My total work-ex by April-09 will be 3.75 years. Will i be at a disadvantage because of the above issue?
2. I would like to use my wor-ex as the differentiator (diversity) in the application. Do you think the work-ex will be considered low even if I have taken challenging assignments and added significant value to my quality of work-ex?
3. Since I work with GM and Director of the group, is it advisable to take reco from senior management? I fear that it may go against me..
Kindly give your views.. Thanks!!
Anupam
Anupam,
1) You will yourself have to take a call in which essay you can highlight your professional achievements. Your application will not be at a disadvantage because of the above issue.
2) You work exp is not low. You only need to explain about the various skills (like leadership, maturity, clarity of thought, etc) you displayed while completing the above mentioned challenging assignments. 3) If you work closely with the Senior Management then obtain your recos from them only. It will not go against your application. Admissions Team
Sir, I am in IT but my profile is different from that of generic IT Pool. Most of the people from the IT Pool would be either project Managers or Technical people. But I am managing more than 1000 people and US$50 Million revenues/year. I have good amount of sales,relationship mgmt and delivery mgmt experience. I have around 12 years of IT Experience(with 8 years of overseas experience in 6 countries). I have a consistent and good academic record. Received scholorships during graduation and post graduation. I am part of some of the local bodies in commerce and recently started a small company too... I can speak more than 5 languages including two foreign languages. But, the biggest negative point is low GMAT score (650). My queries: 1. Do you think my Experience is a problem? Would I be singled out in the class because of age factor (I am 35)? 2.Would my low GMAT is an issue or my experience & exposure would offset the low GMAT. Appreciate your advise. Cheers.
Appuvar,
1) The average age of the current batch at ISB is 27 years. However, the age range is 23 51 years. We have many students above 30 years of age. You can rest assured that you will not be singled out in the class due to your age. For more statistics, please visit the link http://www.isb.edu/PGP/Classof2009.Shtml 2) GMAT is only one of the criterions. We will look at the whole application package and assess your suitability to the programme. A good score strengthens your application but does not guarantee admission while a low score does not necessarily mean exclusion.
I have started my application process with the ISB and would like to target the first round of application process. I've taken my GMAT test once on 2-Aug-08 and scored 660. I am also looking forward to re-take the GMAT by end of sep to increase my score. Could you please let me know the impact of re-taking the GMAT on ISB Application Process? If I submit my application before 15-sep, and then I send in my improved score by end of sep, will I be considered for first round process?
Regards, Tare
Tare,
You can either apply in cycle 1 with your old score or apply in cycle 2 with the new score. You cannot resend your GMAT score after submitting the application in Cycle 1.
I would first like to thank for taking time out your hectic schedule to provide us with guidance on the admission process.
Sir my query was specific to the choice of recommenders.
I have a doubt in selecting my second recommender and thus seek for your/ISB's view on the same.
1)Sir I was thinking of taking a reco from my x senior in work and community service group at my company. This person has recently left the company to pursue his mba from a top B-school abroad.Will this person be considered an eligible recommender? He is having official email ID provided my the B school and is more than willing to write a reco for me.
2) If unfortunately not then I was thinking of taking a reco from a senior member of the community service group in my company who will be able to add a different perspective to my candidature and help ISB know me beyond my professional responsibilities. Will this person be an eligibe recommender from ISB's perspective?
I thank you for your time
Regards
Bnahse,
We will prefer the recos from somebody who you have worked with, however it is entirely your call who you get your recos from.
thank you for your prompt reply sir, that encourages me to get few other doubts clarified , they are as follows, 1. since you have suggested me to get previous supervisor's reco(whom i worked with 1.5 yrs ago), do i also need to explain this in optional essay? 2. sir, i have graduated from UICT, (formerly UDCT). here we follow autonomous syllabus and exam pattern/evaluation, but certificate is issued from mumbai university. Sir, i hope you will agree that, comparing mumbai university scores with the same obtained in autonomous school of such excellence , will be unfair, as we have more rigorous syllabi and stricter evaluation. do you suggest i explain this in optional essay or do i simply feed my college name in the application form as 'other' category and expect ADCOM to give me due consideration? 3. sir, with the alumni now recommending new students, is there a percent of seats alloted to such applicants? and students lacking it are sure to be at disadvantage but question is by how much?
thanks and regards
Neha,
1) No, you need not explain that.
2) If you wish to then you can explain it in the optional essay.
3) There are no such reservations of any kind. Admissions Team
I need a further clarification on your above response to my question. "checking the relevant box in the evaluator details page of the online application" : So, please correct my if i'm wrong in my below assumption:
Suppose last year the order of my reccomenders was 1. Miss X and 2. Mr Y. I need to retain Miss X, then in the current application, I should choose to retain evaluator no.1, correct?
My aplologies if the question seems silly. But I just need to be sure....
Thanks! Shruti.
Shruti, you can put the names of the evaluator in any order. Admissions Team
I had a question about recommendations. One of the Sr. Directors with whom I've worked closely for almost 5 years at my current job just recently transitioned away from the company. He has currently not accepted any new position, and so my question is what email address should I enter for him when seeking the recommendation?
Your 1 year internship will not be considered as work exp. You exp as Junior Resident will be valid only if it was not a part of any academic course.
Admissions Team
Dear Sir,
Thank you so much for the reply. As you said that internship wud not be counted but i still hv a doubt if I can apply for ISB.the junior residency I am doing is definitely not a part of my academics but then when internship is left out I would just hv 8months of work ex left to be counted.In this case would my application be considered or would be rejected. I know a senior of mine who have got admission in ISB 2008-2010 batch who has got admission with the same issues. Thank you
I had a question about recommendations. One of the Sr. Directors with whom I've worked closely for almost 5 years at my current job just recently transitioned away from the company. He has currently not accepted any new position, and so my question is what email address should I enter for him when seeking the recommendation?
Kindly advise.
--K
K,
Please write to [email protected] explaining the situation. You can request for an offline evaluation. Admissions Team
I've never been able to find any information about the median salary for placements at ISB.
Friends at ISB have told me that they don't know the number either - but suspect that it could be significantly lower than the mean because of asymmetric distribution of salaries - which in turn is possibly caused by the significant diversity in both the target industry and the experience.
Could you please reveal the median salary figure, if you have it handy?
We will prefer the recos from somebody who you have worked with, however it is entirely your call who you get your recos from.
Admissions Team
Thanks alot for your prompt reply Sir. Just a short query:
I just wanted to ask that will ISB consider a reommendation eligible if my recommender is a person who was my x senior and who is presently pursuing his/her mba abroad? While filling the details of my recommender Can I write the of the name of the organization he belongs to as the name of the B-school he is attending and designaton as current mba student and give his official B school email ID?
I have a query regarding recommendations. I have two senior members Associate Consultants by designation who know me well and also a colleague who is an Assistant System Engineer and knows me well too. Whom do you consider should I ask for recommendations. 1. Both from the senior employees. 2. One from senior and one from colleague.
dear sir, With 10 years of IT industry experience(8 years in US), currently a development manager in a large ERP organisation in US. (BTech IIT textile engineering, GMAT - 720/AWA-4.5), how good are my chances of selection. I was also mess secretary in my hostel days.
I wanted to know about the placements in the Middle East. I saw that 24 offers were made to students from companies in the Middle East. Could you provide some information about job function, industry, compensation for people who were placed in the Middle East? Were most people recruited to Dubai?
I will have 3 years work experience by the time I apply for the 2009-2010 batch at ISB. I have scored 720 in my GMAT and also have a Masters in Electrical Engg. from Chicago, IL. I have interned at General Electric(new york) and worked at Motorola(chicago). Currently I am working at Cintra(chicago), a Spanish company, in Operations Management.
I plan on getting a recommendation from my mentor at Motorola, and another recommendation from a professor from school under whose guidance I have written 2 economic papers. I won't be taking a recommendation from my current job, since they won't be too pleased with me leaving if I get an admit next year. They want me to stay with the company. Will not getting a recommendation from my current company harm my chances of getting an admit at ISB? My current company is where I will have experience for 2 years until april 2009 out of 3 years total experience. Please advise if I should risk asking my boss for a recommendation.
Definitely. Since we do a holistic evaluation of your application, an average performance can be compensated by a spectacular performance in another arena. In your case you should aim for a very good GMAT score and provide instances of accomplishments in your job which signal the quality of your work experience.
Menon
Dear Admission Team,
I had posted my query some time back, but it never got reflected .... dont know what happened.... any ways
I had some queries:
I have 8 yrs and 3 months work exp in Marketing & sales function in India Automobile industry, worked with who's who of Auto industry, from Hero Honda to Maruti Suzuki to General Motors. currently with GM India, in Network & Business Development dept, V good performer at job and have also done good in academics
got great exposure to varied corporate cultures etc etc .. and managing my family since 8 years ( as father is expired), got great achievement in personal life too, running a social organisation at home town too ... basically a B. Tech mechanical engg ( 2000 pass out)
Problem : Low GMAT score of 590 ( Q-49, V-21, AWA-5.0) taken in aug, 2006 , took again but did not improve !!! ( thought of applying with good score)
will it be good idea to apply to ISB ??? i know my score is too low too even get an interview call. However i an reading these kind of post since 2006 itself, but abstained myself in posting low gmat score and inviting feedback ...
i request ad com for a candid feedback so that i can have some morale to apply 9 if in case there is some light)
as you said in the homepage Selection Criteria "A GMAT score helps in assessing your suitability to the programme. We do not have a cut-off GMAT score. While a good GMAT score helps, an average score can be compensated for by achievements in other areas."
Should I go head and apply with GMAT 590 score I am having 12 yrs of Leadership Experience with Govt of India(last 7 yrs as Dy Director) M Tech(IIT) with CFA L-I(USA) I know this thread is not meant for profile check just wanted to have a quick response as "Range of GMAT" is not given in the site
Thanks alot for your prompt reply Sir. Just a short query:
I just wanted to ask that will ISB consider a reommendation eligible if my recommender is a person who was my x senior and who is presently pursuing his/her mba abroad? While filling the details of my recommender Can I write the of the name of the organization he belongs to as the name of the B-school he is attending and designaton as current mba student and give his official B school email ID?
Thanks for your time and consideration.
Regards bnahse
Bnahse,
Yes, we will consider reco from a MBA student. You can fill his details as mentioned above by you. Admissions Team