Post Mortem-ISB:

The show is over...For the R2 folks.The admitted students are partying and the rejects are going through a difficult time.Everyone out there was good. He gave his best but then, only a few could make it.

As the coach Gary Gaine says in the movie Friday Night Lights:
"There ain't much difference between winning and losing, except how the outside world treats you" That explains it why we feel disapointed when we don't make it!!

I have paid the acceptance money for Queen's today (2000 CAD). Asked them for a scholarship or a waiver but they outrightly denied it. :(
Anyway, I have decided to stick to Queen's.

So with this,I have closed all doors for an ISB admit.Am waitlisted there but even if I get an admit now, I don't think I will be joining ISB.The wait has been too long.

Since the whole MBA game about ISB is over, here are my candid views about the ISB episode. Yeah, folks reading this post might call me sour grapes coz I didn't make it...and thats perfectly acceptable with me..but even if I had got admitted, I would have still shared the same opinion.

a) GMAT is a big factor in the decisions.
GMAT is very important to make it to ISB.
It is extremely important if u are an Indian IT Male.
Although ISB claims that GMAT is only one of the factors,my personal feeling is that it is the score which ultimately decides if you are in or out.ISB plans to enter Bweek Intl rankings in the next few years and they must have an average GMAT score matching/exceeding that of top schools.

Based on my observations, ppl who have a lot of work ex or have really diverse background have made it to the school with low GMAT scores. Otherwise, it is a strict NO for anyone else. I am not sure about this but I read in PagalGuy.com that there was one gentleman who had a 780 on GMAT and had a pretty stressful interview.(lots of argumentat types).After a
a few days, the guy was asked to provide additional recos and was admitted. Any school would die to have someone with a 780 on GMAT.

Also,If Iam right, some of them had low GMAT scores and have been admitted and have been asked to "improve their score". I simply don't understand the logic here. Why is that when somebody is in, you are still making him go through this test
again.They can be asked to attend pre term courses etc.Getting a few more questions right will solve the purpose? CAT champions have to get a 680 in GMAT now. Do they feel that all those who cracked CAT can get a 680 on GMAT easily.
I would not comment on this but all I can say is that in CAT you have an option to choose the questions you want to answer but in GMAT you gotta answer ur questions right if you want to move ahead.

b) Women candidates on the rise

The percentage of women in a a lot of Intl schools is less.
ISB aspires to be in the International league. Therefore, ISB wants to make sure that it does not lag behind in this area.So, intake of females at ISB will improve over the

years.The quality of female admitted students have been really good this year. There is Suneetha (IAF candiate)..Shilpa (Architect who made it to Dean's list)


c) Adcom needs to get a lot of things straightened out.

The admission process needs to be worked upon.Communication needs to be better.Decide how you are going to manage the whole admission process.Overseas interviews were held in R1 towards the end, in R2 they were held randomly.
Decisons were supposed to be announced no later than Feb 28th.Yet,ppl who have not made it have not been informed.
No proper explanation or justification is given to explain the difference between telephone interviews and personal

ones.Some of them had personal interviews which was stressful and some of them had friendly ones. A lot of us were pretty confident with the way interviews went this year and some of them thought they were not given enough opportunity to showcase their talents.


d)Itz getting tougher every day.

Making it to ISB is getting tougher every year.I have been following the ISB groups since Ramkee, Raja were all applicants and I have seen a dramatic rise in the number,interest and quality of applicants. This is a clear indication that things are going really good for ISB.



e) Apply early if you think you have a chance.

If ISB is the school you want to be in, then make sure you apply in R1.If you apply in R2, you are in with the sharks.Sharks are the studs who have terrific GMAT scores, strong applicants and are pretty comfortable making it to the school. Also,for some of them ISB is a safety school.So they apply in R2. Plan ur game in advance and apply early.



f) Acads: Why were you playing and not studying in school?
Acads are very important for ISB. The program is for 1 yr duration and they wan't folks who can handle the load easily. Yet unlike, the IIMs, these folks look at the complete profile and pick the best candidates.
But what surprised me is that they ask for the XIIth std grades too.

g) Indian IT male: A boon or a curse:

If you are not in IT, itz relatively easy to get admitted.
If you are in IT and work for TCS,Infy or Wipro, itz tough to make it..There would be atleast 50 applicants from each of these companies. The competetion is so tough for the IT folks that sometimes I feel that if ISB specialized in providing an MBA in IT, it would even beat MIT and Carnegie Mellon MBA grads some day.

h) It rains jobs at ISB

Oh yes..when ISB was started, ppl had a tough time getting lateral placements but now you have some of the best jobs coming to ISB.

i) The challenge begins now
ISB has started a new trend in the Indian market.
"World class education at affordable price" is what the mantra is. IIM A starts a PGPx program this year. Other schools will follow. The fees will definitely be lesser than the ISB fees and itz now ISB will have to prove its mettle.


The bottom line:
No matter how much it claims, you still cannot call ISB a truly international school -primarily bcoz they have mostly Indians there.But then if you are not bothered about all that but want to work in India in the long term and get educated from the best profs in the world, ISB is the place to join.

ISB is in India...that is what makes it special.!
You get fantastic education. You get a decent job.
You live in India.You serve your country and you are with ur loved ones. ISB will shine in the years to come.

Will IIMs 1 yr program give it a run for the money..We'll wait and watch. We aren't dying that early..are we?

All the best to everyone who got admitted. You are special and you have made it. For the others, don't loose hope.As they say, the best is yet to come.