ISB 2011-2012 Essays (for ISB Class of 2013):

For 2011-12 admissions, ISB application package consists of two standard essays and a third that allows a candidate to write any information that he or she deems pertinent to his/her candidature for admission to ISB PGP.

All ISB aspirants should know that ISB is opening up another campus in Mohali hence number of seats has gone up to 770 (560 at Hyderabad campus and 201 at Mohali campus).
The applicant pool is averaging high on GMAT, a high score may not be enough. Positioning a profile will matter more than just scoring high on GMAT.

Consistency, logical defence of the professional decision course and a unique positioning will help them get through. We, at ISB adcom has seen enough candidates failing to make through even at a GMAT of 780 just because they didn't position themselves appropriately. Concomitantly, there have been candidates who have sailed through with average GMAT scores by emphasizing their unique proposition or something which makes them valuable for the class as well as to the companies coming for recruitment.

Crux of the matter is:
ISB knows that Indians belong to Superman's / Superwoman's breed in terms of education. What they are looking for are the people with extraordinary common sense amongst these Supermen and Superwomen. The values that ISB has traditionally valued amongst the applicant pool are:

1.  Good Academic Credentials,
2.  Enterprising Nature
3.  Leadership Traits
4. Teamwork
5. Diversity / Positioning

Applicants should always keep these points in mind while applying to ISB and also the fact that even if they are lagging on one factor, appropriate positioning of the other factors usually compensates for the loss.

Another important point pertains to the word "Diversity". The word "Diversity" and its synonyms have been misused heavily in the context of ISB application. Positioning the ISB essays uniquely can itself help the candidate's case more than forcing the profile into the "Diversity Candidate" category.

The essays also act as a reference point during interviews. Application evaluators may “flag” areas to be probed/discussed further during interview in case a candidate is shortlisted.

Here we go with our analysis of the essay questions for 2011-12

1. Please detail, your two most significant achievements. These could be either professional or personal but relevant to your application to the ISB. (300 words max)

Analysis:
ISB admissions committee has some standard procedures to evaluate a candidate's profile. These procedures have been time tested within the gamut of reasonability and established measures of student's capabilities. Several candidates mention achievements that are absolutely out of context for a B-School application. One of the better known ways to evaluate the application is asking "So what" to answers? Agreed, you have been a sports star at school level. Ask yourself, so what? Is there any trait (perhaps, leadership?) that is highlighted enough in the situation to support your candidature? Is that spark you've always thought you had or the penchant for volleyball going to help you with application?
In essence, positioning of the profile matters. Two achievements can be from any field and can even be simplistic in nature. It all depends on how effectively you set up the context, how effectively you hold the evaluator's interest in your profile. And most importantly, are these achievements demonstrating qualities that ISB is looking for?
It is also advised to talk about achievements that preferably bring out distinct qualities of the candidate.  Two achievements highlighting team-work and perseverance would be better than both achievements exemplifying team-work!

ISB application software does not allow words more than 300, hence you must make sure you complete within the word limit else extra matter will be truncated and the essay/sentence will seem incomplete.

As always, alignment to the ISB's USP and values matter a lot. The alignment is always tested for consistency throughout the profile evaluation cycle. Do get in touch with experts at General Education on how to achieve best possible alignment and positioning.

2. Where do you see yourself three years after you graduate from the ISB? (300 words max)

As the candidates would have already noticed by now, the nature of questions given for this year matches like the ones that are asked in interviews with vision-type statements. It is imperative for the applicant to have reasonable answers ready within his / her domain over the backdrop of his / her experience handy for such questions. An example based presentation would be the best way to answer this question. Statistically, people who keep reasonable goals have succeeded within short span of time in Indian context - be it darling of the masses IT services or the core industries, so being reasonable is a reasonable route to qualifying for an interview call.

In their reply, candidates should mention about their goals that they hope to achieve within the context of natural progression in their area of work. Uniqueness would lie in being able to combine personal goals along with professional goals.

ISB lays a lot of importance on clarity of thought and objectives. One may be asked this in interview also and cross-questioned on its feasibility. Hence goals should ideally be something that you strongly believe in and its achievement ideally should be a result of the background of the candidate coupled with the ISB education. In that way you will be able to justify your stand with conviction.

It's important to know the facts and do some basic research before answering this question. Speaking to ISB alumni community would help as much as looking through the profiles of the classes that graduated recently. In this era of lateral hires and emergence of newer roles like intrapreneur, prospective applicants must position themselves in a light so that the traits valued by ISB management are highlighted very well within the profile and the goals mentioned fall into the reasonable limits. General Education's consultants are from premium B-Schools including ISB. Do get in touch with us to help you with this question.

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

It might be thought that this is a choice question. No. this question is mandatory and has to be answered, you are given a free hand to express your strengths according to what you think is best way of presenting yourselves to adcom.

This answer should be written after giving a good thought and structure to what can and should be covered in the other two essays. You must try to include all good points about your profile in the other two essays and then whatever is remaining (which is significant about your profile) must be covered in this essay. The style, examples, area of your forte is completely in your hands how you want to present. The focus should be on presenting one or max couple of very unique points about your personality which has made you what you are or which can make a significant difference to your goals and how they can be achieved.

Call us to know more about how to approach this essay!

ISB 2010-2011 Essays: 

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

WOW! ISB ended up with just two 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 !!