Indian School of Business (ISB) Application Tips

ISB is probably the best B-school in India. Well, not probably it definitely is the best B-school in India. To crack an ISB interview is not easy & not simple. A GMAT score of even 750 can get you a reject if your application is not in order. Here are 15 Application Tips that I believe will help you draft a great ISB application.

1. ISB focusses highly on diversity. So, highlight how you are diverse, not only in terms of education or your professional life but also in terms of your future goals to your extracurricular activities. Everything matters.

2. GMAT Score: Unless you are diversity candidate make sure that your GMAT score is 700+. Yes, you still need a stellar application but without a GMAT score, it would be a tough nut to crack.

3. Clarity of Goals Is important. You cannot be iffy what you want to be, especially in your interview. Connect the dots for where you were, where you want to be in the future & how ISB can connect those dots for you.

4. Be specific with your hobbies. For Eg. Let's say that your hobby is you love reading. Well, don’t just write that, be specific. So, this hobby can be better described as something like “I love to read & study about the post-colonial history of India”

5. Strong Letter of recommendation. Please, please, please do not take this section lightly as most of us are want to do. You need to choose your recommenders carefully. So for Eg. If your work ex is weak, you need to have a strong recommender from the professional domain. A Non-Indian citizen recommender can work wonders.

6. Interview Prep: Prepare numbers, ISB interviews are heavy on numbers, in terms of what is the revenue of your organization, your competitors' revenue, at what rate is the industry going & so on. So prepare for it.

7. Another thing you might want to prepare for the ISB interview is your future Industry. Let's say you have mentioned the Education industry as something you might wish to attend. Here, you need to know everything about this industry, its numbers, growth rate, challenges & so on.

8. For Essays, once you have completed your essays, ensure that there are no grammatical mistakes. Other B-schools might sometimes (although rarely) be okay with it. But, for ISB it would not work. Read & reread & again read your essays to make sure they are error-free.

9. For Essays, think in terms of what an admission officer would want, think in terms of his/her perspective. They would want to know how ISB can help you achieve your goals. Be clear in terms of what aspects of ISB would prove useful to you. This is important. Mention clubs, SIG’s, case studies whatever you feel would prove useful to you.

10. For Resume, follow a particular structure. By structure, I mean in terms of how you frame the content. There are many formats of content widely known anyone would do. But, maintain uniformity.

11. ISB like other B-schools is looking for a leader. Show your leadership skills, do not worry as to how small may be the cause if you have any leadership experience, it better be highlighted in your application.

12. Do not mention ISB as a party school anywhere in your application. ISB is a party school & we all know it but the school is trying really hard to change that image & would not take it lightly if it were mention in your application.

13. Have you been to the campus? Talked to any of the alumni? Please do so. It will help you get the feel of the campus & its culture. This would then reflect upon your application.

14. How would ISB benefit from you as an ISB student or alum? Think about this. Make sure this is highlighted somewhere in a very subtle manner in your application or your interview. If ISB sees a benefit in you being a part of it, you will get in.

15. Do you know someone who is an alumnus of ISB? Well, if you do, now is the time to ask for a favour. ISB alumnus can refer any candidate at ISB. This would not help you a lot if your application & GMAT scores are weak. But, would give you some advantage.

This is not an exhaustive list by any means. But still will help you along with your application. All the Best.