Comments on: Ding from ISB !! – even before Applying.. :)

By: Srinivasan

Srinivasan — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:33:55 +0000

I got a score 730 in gmat and i have 2 yrs experience in IT industry. Will these enhance my chances of getting into ISB

By: avagama

avagama — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:21:36 +0000

While I am no authority on ISB admissions, I do feel that 8 years of experience is really worth a lot ( provided you can prove the same in you reference letters and your essays). Writing GMAT again is worth it only if you can significantly improve your score. If you can improve your score from 680 to 730 or something similar, it would make a difference. But if the jump is going to be only 15-20 marks, I feel you can spend the time on your essays and reco instead of spending on GMAT…. This is my opinion and as stated above, I am no expert. I am in fact sailing in the same boat as you.. . and FYI, I am not writing the GMAT again either.

By: Himanshu

Himanshu — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:52:40 +0000

I got a score of 680 and I am planning to take test again. I am not sure how much I will improve this time. Reading these blogs, I feel that I should not be discouraged by my score. By the way, I am also an IT professional with 8 years of experience at various levels from development to managerial.

What do you suggest: should I spend my time taking GMAT or work on my application?

By: Current ISB Student

Current ISB Student — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:40:54 +0000

I am from IT, I had a GMAT score of 680, hadn’t done much of extra curricular stuff apart from a few NGO-kinda stuff where mostly I was only volunteering (had to really rake my brains during admissions to find out what I had done apart from academics all these years!).. and still I made it to ISB. I am really surprised that the adcom told u to improvise ur GMAT score.. Dude.. u have 700 for God’s sake! And that pretty darn ought to be good enough for any B-School. Work on ur application- ur essays and reco make a big deal of difference. As someone pointed out already, ask adcom to link you to any student or alumni with similar profile. Lastly, if “diversity” were factor to stop you from getting an admission, atleast 200 odd people here in my class would have had the same occupational hazard of being an IT Engineer when they applied to ISB:). So shed all ur fears and get a move on! All the best!

By: HemanthNarayanan

HemanthNarayanan — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:14:45 +0000

For some its IIM, for some its Stanford, For some its S.P.Jain, for some its REC, for me it was IIT and for you its ISB…..It happens dude……Though i don’t have much to comment on a “Trip towards MBA”…..all that i can say is, Put your level best and leave the rest to the supreme power…..:)

By: Karthik (current ISB student)

Karthik (current ISB student) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 05:27:38 +0000

Hey,
Don’t worry so much. 700 is a pretty good score. Everyone can contribute to the diversity at ISB – even if one is from an IT background. All that you have to do is display your passion for an MBA at ISB. Please dig deep into your past to find things that set you apart form the “IT Junta”. I am pretty sure you will come up with loads of things you could use on the essay. Please ask the admissions team to get you in touch with a current student. Get your essays reviewed by an ex/current ISB student.

Bottom line is, if you have a coherent, persuasive story as to why you want to get an MBA and why ISB, a score of 700 shouldn’t be a terrible negative.

Good luck, do apply, spend a lot of time on the essays… give it your best…

By: Current ISB Student

Current ISB Student — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 05:19:19 +0000

Hey, you are getting discouraged for absolutely no reason. 700 is a good score (even for an IT profile). I would suggest you apply with this score and build on your resume until Sep 15th (day of 1st Round application submission). Work for an NGO, learn a new language and work on your essays everyday to make them sound like the best possible. Pack each day with some activity that will eventually contribute to your application.
But of course, you should want to get into ISB that bad or the effort may not seem worth it to you.

By: Swati (current ISB student)

Swati (current ISB student) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:48:40 +0000

Hey…..my two cents…..Diversify….u have quite some time to go before u apply….go volunteer, hold a post somewhere……what you put on your application does help……and trust me, taking GMAT again is not a bad idea if you think u can improve ur score……look at it this way……all u have to loose is 10,000 Rs (let me guess, that’s like less than half your monthly salary) if it doesn’t go too well….but u stand to gain a lot if u do improve ur score …….so go for it

By: sandeep

sandeep — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:53:07 +0000

A 700 is adequate for getting into ISB. I know quite a few people with 600-650 scores who are in. You need to sell yourself well in your application, bring out all your positives, and if you have a pretty decent academic record, there’s no reason you won’t get in. To put things in perspective, I know people with 780 and 790 who didn’t make it to wharton or stanford, in fact didn’t even get an interview call and i also know there are people in stanford with gmat scores of 600, so don’t let that bother you, appy early after doing a detailed job. Remember luck plays an important role at the end of the day in the application process.

By: Current ISB Student

Current ISB Student — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:47:37 +0000

With a 700, if you have good essays, fair recommendations and good job profile, i don’t see why they wont accept you. There are people with lower scores here. They call a lot of people for interviews, so if you have a good interview, you could very well make it. Try and apply first decision.