Authors: Surabhi Tripathi (ISB Class of 2006); Vinit Garg (ISB Class of 2010)

WOW! ISB ended up with just 2 mandatory essays and one optional one this year. Quite a relief for applicants or it is so? We, at General Education, advise candidates not to fall in the trap and procrastinate on ISB application. “Oh, ISB – Just 2 essays, I will handle it over a weekend” If this ran across your mind, you have a serious thinking to do. The shorter the application, more the onus on you to first decide what stories to mention and then tie those small knots to project your complete personality. Go on to read our take on ISB Essay for Class of 2012

ISB 2010 Essay 1
If we were to admit one more student to the class of 2012, make a compelling argument as to why that student should be you? (300 words max)

ISB has a tradition to include at least one very specific and unique essay. This one is just right up there. This essay requires you to showcase your ability to stand shoulder to shoulder with other ISB students. Dig deeper inside yourself and think what is it that is truly yours; really unique to you – Something that you can speak passionately and people – no matter who - will listen to you with awe. Explore your finest accomplishments, your larger than life interests or your deepest desires for which you have worked relentlessly. You might come up with just one such thought or you may have 2-3 such anecdotes. Doesn’t matter as long as you can back these qualities with objective data or examples or anecdotes and make a crisp argument. Do not forget to establish a direct connection between the qualities you choose and ISB’s academic and non-academic resources elaborating how exactly you will contribute to experiences of the student body. 

Getting down to the details, one of the possible ways to attempt this essay is to list out and describe your top 3 relevant strengths that make you competent to attend and successfully complete ISB MBA program. The strengths must correlate with the notion of competency as follows.

• Academic competency – You must have the abilities/strengths/attributes to handle rigorous academic coursework at ISB. Support your academic ability with spectacular undergraduate performance, professional feat where you produced original piece of work/performance, or anything that speaks about your intellectual capability and readiness to learn business in classroom environment.
• Ability to contribute to classroom and learn from peers – 2nd set of competency must portray your credentials and motivation to share your experiences with your ISB MBA peers (If you come from the school of thought where learning is a unilateral activity then be ready for a change as it is a very real fact that in MBA coursework you would end up learning more from your classmates than the professors. Take my words for it and be ready to absorb and assimilate useful information from as many sources as possible at ISB MBA). Investigate your personality and list out traits that will help you seamlessly exchange information in positive manner with each and every individual at ISB.
• Competency to practice ISB ethos after graduation – Understand what ISB stands for and assert that you have the mindset and capability to put ISB principles into practice as you navigate your post MBA professional career. Now this could be tricky as individuals will have a correspondingly individual perception of ISB principles. Best way is to take an initiative to visit campus, talk to current students; professors (if possible), and alumni to get real world idea of the details and how they are doing it.

We also suggest that before you decide what exactly to write here take a look at the other essays and do not commit a suicide of repetition. Space is a real constraint here and any sort of repetition will reflect poorly both your judgment as well as on your diversity quotient. Writing the first essay, you need to create an impact on the reader and give him or her an “Aha” moment that makes her interested in you at the onset. A curios opening statement or a great ending within the structure of your response might just score you a home run.

ISB 2010 Essay 2

What are your short term and long term goals? How will the ISB help you achieve the same? (300 words max)

This is a standard goal essay in sync with most global business schools. Only difference is ISB wants you to draft a story of your lifetime in just 300 words. Cruel, isn’t it J!! Crispness has to be your forte here. We recommend that you cover the following points – somewhere in your response (By somewhere I mean you might want to be innovative in the structure as Long term –> Short Term –> ISB –> Current or the exact opposite or even a hybrid!!)

• Career Progression: Very succinctly mention your career progression till date while keeping an eye on your goals and keep your theme limited to the same. Make it as brief as possible – might just be one line
• Goals (Short Term & Long Term): Be as specific as possible in your goals. Your short term goal has to be tangible and objective. Explore school's website or your contacts within ISB to find out exact positions offered at ISB and stick to the something similar. Being ambitious is good but being realistically ambitious is even better. Your long term goal should then be a natural progression from your short term goal. Please do avoid putting a blanket statement in your long term goal. If you came up with "I want to be CEO of XYZ Company" you definitely need to think deeper
• Why MBA: Even if this question hasn’t been asked directly, still this has to be addressed somewhere. If you have done good job in the above two section, you must have already created a void by now that only a MBA education can fill in. Bring out the specific things you need from MBA that will bring you closer to your goals
• Why Now: It is extremely important to bring a small & crisp argument about why you think now is the right time for you. Don't make the mistake to leave a gap for Adcom to think that you need another year or two before coming to ISB
• Why ISB: Goes without saying, this aspect is extremely important and will speak volumes about your passion for ISB. An ideal strategy is to connect ISB's resources - Academic programs, Clubs, and Special programs to your specific needs. Attempt to write a paragraph with each sentence containing something unique about ISB

Again, remember to take care of the overall structure of the essay through a short and crisp opening statement and a coherent ending exclamation statement. Words will be premium as you attempt to fit in the aforementioned elements in JUST 300 words. As long as your essay addresses each of the above components and you manage to tie the story in single theme, you shall score well!

ISB 2010 Essay 3

Please provide additional information that will significantly affect the consideration of your application to the ISB. (300 words max)

With just 600 words in the application, we reckon almost all candidates will give a shot to this essay. While that is completely acceptable, we suggest that you do a deeper soul searching here and not think of this as just an “additional” essay. If it is no brainer for you to come with some accomplishment to write here, may be that story is better off in Essay 1. If you cannot come up with anything, well you need to dig deeper to discover yourself more. 

You might want to utilize this space to cover up some glaring weakness in your application – Were you fired from work? Did you have 2 years of break in studies? Were you overridden for promotions several times? That should be your first priority but do not over think and explain something trivial. That will reflect poorly on your judgment. If you do not have any weaknesses (Violaaaa!!), then something truly outstanding that can provide a final punch to your application will be apt here. And yes, please do not try to consume all those 300 words unless absolutely essential. A well thought through point made in 132 words is much better than unnecessary 300 word rambling. Respect the adcom’s time. Wish you all the best !!