By Rishabh Agrawal

Whenever I interact with prospective students of Indian School of Business (ISB), I am baffled by the kind of questions raised by them. In my opinion many common beliefs held by aspirants about ISB are complete myths. This made me think that if every second ISB aspirant has these misconceptions, it is imperative to clear them. My three-part blog series will do just that. In this article today I will try to clear certain doubts around applying to ISB.

Myth #1: Minimum 700 score is required to make the cut for the interview

Truth: Arguably the most common myth. There is no set cut-off for GMAT Scores. ISB looks at your application holistically and focuses on 5 key aspects: a) quality of work experience, b) essays, c) recommendations, d) Extra-curricular, e) academics etc. 

GMAT is just another part of your application and mostly considered under academics section. 

Also note that, ISB doesn’t have any fixed weightage for the aspects mentioned above. If your essays really make you stand out then you are sure to get an interview call irrespective of your GMAT score. In fact the average GMAT score of Class of 2016 (Co2016) is 700, ranging from 600 to 770.

Having said this, historically ISB hasn’t considered any application if the applicant’s GMAT score was below 600. And do not forget, ISB has also historically rejected many applicants with 740+ scores just because other components in their application were just not up to the mark.

ISB has also historically rejected many applicants with 740+ scores just because other components in their application were just not up to the mark.

Myth #2: You can fake your application

Truth: It is true that ISB doesn’t ask for certificates and hence many applicants tend to believe that they can write anything in their application. I urge you to refrain from such activities. The ISB admission process is designed in such a way that if you fake something in the application, in all probability you will be caught during interview stage.

Also, many applicants hire external consultants to write their essays. I strongly recommend against it.  All applicants short-listed for the interview round have to write a ‘one word’ essay on-the-spot. If your essay’s grammar and writing style in not consistent with your application’s then you might get into trouble. So be honest and be yourself.

Myth #3: IT professionals doesn’t stand a chance

Truth: For starters, my pre-ISB experience was in IT. I think it doesn’t matter from which profession you come from. What really matters is the quality of your work-experience and how you articulate it in your application.

Every year many CAs, Doctors, Lawyers do not make the cut while many IT professionals with regular service industry background do

When looking at an application, especially the work-experience section, the team evaluating the application tries and understands how the applicant could add value to the class and whether he or she has leadership potential. Every year many CAs, Doctors, Lawyers do not make the cut and many IT professionals with regular service industry background do. In the end, just introspect and find points that showcase your leadership and make you unique.

Myth #4: International Experience is a big plus in application

Truth: I remember an applicant contacted me via Linkedin and asked me why despite having 4+ years of International experience out of overall 6 years of experience he didn’t get an admit from ISB. I asked him to share his application pdf. As I anticipated, there was nothing that made the candidate stand out.

International experience is always good to have as it showcases that you have experienced other cultures as well. But 2 in every 5 aspirants that I have counseled had international experience in either education or work. So just mentioning that you had international experience won’t help much. The admission team would be more impressed if some significant professional contribution was made during the international stint.           

Myth #5: Recommendations should come only from immediate manager

Truth: ISB aspirants had this one fear: the day they ask for recommendations from their boss, things turn hostile at the work-place. Well, ISB understands that it is sometimes tough (read: awkward) to get a ‘good’ recommendation from your immediate manager. Hence, alternatively you could ask for a recommendation from your manager’s senior or if possible from a client as well. 

I believe ISB highly values client’s recommendation as it really tells the true tale. In the worst case scenario, take recommendations from your peers in other teams whom you may have worked with.

Remember the whole idea behind asking for a recommendations by any B-School is to corroborate the information supplied by you in your application and to get honest feedback on you.

A tip here: don’t leave recommendations for the last hour. Ask for recommendations as soon as you start applying for ISB.

I hope you will find above points helpful while preparing for ISB. If you have some doubts or feedback feel free to leave a question on the ISB thread on the forum where I will try and answer them as soon as possible.

In the next blog, I will break some more myths regarding ISB admissions. P.S. All the above points are based on of my experience and my interactions with admissions department. I recommend all aspirants dropping mail the ISB admissions team for any clarification.

Rishabh graduated from Indian School of Business in 2015. At ISB he was Vice-president of a 200+ strong Business Technology Club and worked closely with the admissions team on various fronts. Before coming to ISB, he had 3.5 years of experience in myriad of IT roles such as Product Development, Consulting and R&D. He also authored a book: HP Vertical Essentials published by UK based Packt Books in May, 2014.