ISB Weekend Visit

Well, one of the leading B-school of India and the only one I would like to go if I want to do an MBA in India. I applied to ISB in the Round 2 and as I write this post, I am waiting for my interview call. Once again, I apologize for the delay in posting this post to my blog. I visited ISB in September and I stayed in the campus for more than 24 hours. It was tough initially to enroll for this program. I went on to call the Admissions Manager and persuaded him to give me a slot and fortunately, I got my opportunity.

I went to Hyderabad on train. On reaching the campus, I knew this is the place I would love to be in. After searching a little bit about the Student Village block (hostel), I reached the reception. I was almost 1.5 hours early. There were few guys from the earlier batch also. As their end time came near, they started coming out of their rooms. We introduced ourselves. Some of them started sharing their thoughts. Almost all of them described the initiative was stupid as they did not find anything relevant. They had roamed around the campus, partied in the night, boozed and slept. That is how they described their 24 hours at ISB.

But I had gone to ISB with a different set of mind. I knew what ISB is and it could do with an MBA. I was focussed more on learning about ISB as much as possible. I had taken bath and refreshed myself right after getting down at the station. So, after getting introduced among ourselves (the guys who were visiting ISB for 24 hours), we left to our rooms. I left my room almost immediately and straightaway headed for lunch. I waited for the few students who accompanied us for the lunch. They shared their stories and tried to give us some tips. After lunch, it was time for action. I had heard a lot about LRC. LRC is the Learning Resource Center, the heart of ISB, consisting of library, computer center and reading rooms. It was really great. In fact, it did beat my expectations. I spent some time reading books and decided to come back again to it before leaving the next day.

Guys, let me tell you, Ground works magic and sometimes, pleasant surprises were always welcome. One of my friends also accompanied me to ISB. We started searching for my friends, looked through our facebook and linkedin profiles. We tried to fix times with them according to their availability and we did manage to get most of them. The other most important thing that I had in my mind was to meet the club leaders because they are the ones who are going to share their first-hand experiences with us. Let me tell you, I did talk to most of them. Talking to them, interaction just reconfirmed my belief that an MBA from ISB would do wonders to my career and life. And I would love to cherish the one year at ISB for the whole of my life.

Well, to let you know that ISB is a one-year Post Graduate Program in Management. So, every semester is about 6 weeks long. People ask me why do you want to do an MBA. I know each one of us has different reasons. The biggest reason for me is “Learning and Networking”. I still could not come out of my college days and I simply love to go back. We will discuss why MBA factor in detail soon in another post.

Coming back to ISB, when majority of participants left the following day morning, I had decided to stay back. I talked to the admissions manager about the whole admission process and discussed it at its length and breadth. We requested for a class visit but unfortunately, we were not allowed to avail one due to ISB policies. One very big USP of ISB is its faculty. Almost 2/3rd of its faculty are from abroad and that is what I feel makes it a real global school.

I talked to almost dozens of students, almost all club officers and a lot of mutual students. Couple of them really shared their honest views and I am really grateful to them namely, Sandip, Sundeep and Sumit. Let me tell you, there are few honest students and alumni anywhere and these, according to me, are the real ambassadors of the school. It is difficult to find this characteristic and I am sure that most of the universities and colleges would agree with me that of all its students in batch, this number may be very marginal. We see education as a progress to career path or in fact, meeting our goals but in the meantime, we forget that we become face of some organization or school when we work or study there and it is our responsibility to improve its image. While constantly bragging about the system without concrete examples would do more harm than good, not willing to participate in the improvement process would destroy the image completely.

My visit was one of the most fruitful visits and I wish I could have visited other schools that I applied which unfortunately I could not. One suggestion that I would give to all prospective applicants is apply only to programs you genuinely feel connected, visit them and before visit, do your ground work like what is it that you would like to know, what memories would you like to carry after your visit and so on. So do your preparation properly before going. I hope that I would be able to share a good news very soon on this blog. I applied to programs where I felt connected and I felt not only it could contribute to my career but also I could contribute back as a both student and alumnus. Waiting eagerly for the ISB interview call now…

ISB Information Session

I attended ISB Information Session today at Bangalore. The event was at 3 pm in ITC Windsor Hotel, Bangalore. I was along with two friends, all of us reached 20 min late as we kept on roaming around the area looking out for the venue.

Quick De-brief and thoughts:

1. ISB is definitely great. One cannot get the niche field career prospects like VC/PE or alike. As such, India is not so good on all such areas and we need time to catch up on all this. So, I hope to get armored at ISB to jump and contribute to the niche areas.
2. ISB is an amazing place for career switchers: 1 yr course and choose general specializations like finance, entrepreneurship, etc.
3. ISB is a PGP program and is well recognized globally.
4. I feel what I like the most with ISB is YLP. It is an amazing initiative, especially for people like me with great aspirations. (YLP is Young Leadership Program where companies like HSBC targets specific individuals to groom them accordingly for its leadership role). YLP is a completely recruitment initiative though I, personally, feel that it would have done wonders had it been part of curriculum.
5. Close to 40% people have IT background and they end up choosing some other career as the outgoing IT share is close to 17%, if I remember correctly.
6. Retail and Healthcare are two industries that is gaining momentum in placement segment.
7. GMAT range has been 600-780. So, do apply.
8. Nice Electives are available and so does Exchange Programs. Check the website for details.
9. For choosing electives, you are given 4000 points, you choose your electives and bid accordingly. Electives are bidden for your points.
10. Companies like Google and MS are favorites of ISB for Product Managers and so does BCG and McKinsey for Consultants. Majority of the people choose consultancy as their careers.
11. Choose your 2 recommender from your workplace, preferably.
12. 20% of the class in re-applicants – a stunning figure but it clearly shows that ISB values re-applicants.
13. Placement Season begins with international placements in October and Domestic from Jan. Now, here is what is a big question mark: one starts his season in April and then placement in October. How well can one justify his interest and company with his own capability and aspirations. Personally, I feel it is a big deal especially when goes to ISB not prepared what he/she wants to do with his MBA. So, have strong goals and be focussed. Do your ground study, build your basics before you start attending the classes at ISB.
14. Special Case 1: A lady gynecologist doctor chose to do her MBA at the age of 52. So age no bar. Amazing excpetional case.
15. Special Case 2: If I remember correctly, the guy name was Shankar. Topper of ISB batch, 2nd rank IIT-JEEcame to ISB with 9+ yrs of experience. McKinsey offered him Manager+ role with a package of 32L+ INR. He choose to start as an associate. Today he is earning in crores. Now, why I like this example is that one choose to learn over money and trust me, I feel long term goal is what matters the most.
16. Average Salary package for 80% people is 12L-22L. Now, I am pretty close to this range but then I feel MBA will make the difference because I know I can make the difference with an MBA. I definitely don’t mean in the salary rather the difference that I am talking about can only be seen in long term.
17. Yeah Beer Parties on Thursday and Friday. Lets go party every week, is the motto inside the campus. I feel that it should be that way. Work hard and party harder.

Overall, I feel ISB, ranked 12th globally by FT, is a great place if someone like me who has entrepreneurial pursuits and want to stay in India making decent money and doing what I am good at. So, my plan for ISB. I will be applying for R2. I have a very close friend, passing out from ISB in the past. Meanwhile, I am going to visit ISB next month. Go and stay in the campus for one day and night and feel the experience. I have yet another trump card for ISB, which I will disclose later sometime.

Drafting your essays, watch this

Watch this video if you are thinking of starting to draft your application essays. The message is very clear and it is applicable when we tell our story to or B-School. For me, it is like lying to your parents to take their advantage. But in the due process, we miss the essence: if they find out, we may lose them forever even when they will be alive. If one feels deeply about his dream B-School, then for me it is like my family and I will be honest with my feelings and dreams and I believe, with that even though late but then I will be become their inevitable part forever.

Essay 14

You have received a full scholarship to a good university in your country. You have also been offered a full scholarship to a top university in another country. Which of these two scholarships would you accept?

I would prefer to study in the university of my country rather than going to any another country, if I qualify to get full scholarship at both the universities.

Inida has come up as a strong economic pwerhouse in the past two decades after economic liberalization. It is now considered to be one of the fastest growing and emerging economies. With the future looking good and prosperous for the country, I would prefer to study and work here rather than going abroad to study.

Moreover, top universities like Indian School of Business, Indian Institutes of Managements, Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Information Technology has become global brands with their alumni having established as graduates at par with any other good universities of the world and has been now constantly been ranked at the world level.

Additionally, being in the country helps to be within the reach of my relatives and friends in mutual needs. And I strongly believe that joy of success will be in its true color if we share that joy with our loved near and dear ones.

As I am keenly interested to take my country tot he nect level of its development and see the dream of our past President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam of India becoming a developed country by 2020, I would like to help it from here be lending a hand in its course in every possible way.