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Indian School of Business 2014 MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines

October 31, 2013 by Jennifer Bloom Leave a Comment

Indian School of Business campus in Hyderabad

The Indian School of Business has become one of the strongest graduate business programs in Asia. While it dropped from 20th to 34th in this year’s Financial Times’ Global MBA rankings – making it only the fifth best MBA program in Asia – 100% of its graduates secure job offers within 3 months of graduating and salary increases for graduates are still 152% over their pre-MBA pay! Competition for seats in this esteemed 1-year program is intense and the admissions process is highly competitive for native Indians. Here are ISB’s essay questions and my advice for how to answer them (in blue).

Essays:

1. Attitude, skills and knowledge differentiate people. Elaborate with two examples on how you would differentiate yourself from other applicants to the PGP. (300 words max)

To answer this well, you need to know what makes you special. Think about who you are and perhaps even ask your friends and mentors for input to gain some perspective. ISB recently revealed in a summary of Myth Busters that it is looking for applicants with a “thirst for knowledge, involvement in professional and personal pursuits, willingness to learn and eagerness to contribute, well balanced personality with thought-provoking ideas and ability to challenge status quo,” so think about examples of these in your own background.

Once you have selected the two qualities you wish to highlight, make them come alive by sharing examples and/or evidence of them. While you certainly can split this essay into two 150-word sections of each quality, you do not have to be so even-handed: if one differentiating factor needs more space or just is more interesting, it’s worth giving it more room.

2. How does the ISB PGP tie-in with your career goals? (300 words max)

ISB’s Admissions Director has listed “Clarity of thought in terms of career aspirations and goals” as one of the three most important qualities sought in the ISB application essays. This goals essay is your opportunity to show that you possess that clarity. You must begin by explaining your goals. Keep in mind that these goals must “make sense” and stem in some way from your past. If entrepreneurship is in your future, it should really appear in your past as well. If you aim for a technology or consulting role, you’ll need to demonstrate that you know what qualities you will need to succeed in these and bring some proof as to your readiness for this career. You do not need an exact map of your future, but you do need to reveal a thought process, reasoning, and evidence of your ability to reach your goals through the ISB program. Highlight in this essay what makes ISB the perfect stepping stone to those goals.

3. Pick the most significant achievement (professional or personal) you have had and elaborate on the key learning you took away from it. (300 words max)

ISB is looking for leadership potential in its applicants, the ability to take responsibility then collaborate with, motivate and drive others to produce results. This essay is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate that you have these skills. An ideal achievement essay will show the obstacles that were in your way and how you used creativity, interpersonal skills, and intellect to surpass them and make an impact.

Optional Essay:

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

The open-ended nature of this question causes infinite hand-wringing, but it should really be viewed as a gift: here is your opportunity to share whatever makes you special. This could be from your work, community service, education, or travels. Don’t make the mistake of just listing an experience or award that is mentioned elsewhere in the application form. Instead, use this space to share why the experience was meaningful, what you gained from it, how you grew, and why you are better prepared for ISB and your future career or leadership as a result.

If you would like professional guidance with your Indian School of Business application, please consider Accepted’s MBA essay editing and MBA admissions consulting or our MBA Application Packages, which include advising, editing, interview coaching, and a resume edit for the ISB application.

ISB 2014 MBA Application Deadlines:

International applicants (Non Indian Passport Holders) to the Indian School of Business (ISB) have a rolling application process. If you are shortlisted, you are likely to be interviewed within one month of submission of a complete application. However, in exceptional situations it might take more than a month. You will be informed about the decision within three weeks from the date of the interview.

As an international candidate, you might need additional time to arrange for visas, housing and financial aid, and to work on their English Language proficiency if necessary. Hence, you are encouraged to apply early.

Application for PGP 2014-15 is now open. It will close on January 15, 2014.

Application Deadline for Early Entry Option candidates is January 15, 2014. Offers will be made on March 31, 2014.

By Jennifer Bloom who has been helping applicants to the top MBA programs draft their resumes, application forms, letters of recommendation, and essays for 14 years. She is happy to serve as your personal coach and hand-holder throughout the entire process. There’s no time like the present to begin!

Filed Under: MBA Admissions Tagged With: 2014 MBA Application, Indian School of Business

2014 ISB Adcom Interview on Career Switching Available!

September 16, 2013 by Accepted.com Leave a Comment

ISB

Are you considering applying to the Indian School of Business AND switching careers post-MBA? Then you’ll want to read the following excerpt from our recent Q&A with Mr. V. K. Menon, Senior Director of Placements at ISB, as he discusses important information for career switchers at the ISB.

Question: I have often read about ISB students making career shifts after years of being in one position. How does the one-year program help students to make such dramatic career shifts? How does the school assist students in considering different choices?

VK Menon: As we said at the start, around 70% of the guys shift their careers in some way. Either they shift their function or they shift their industry or their geography or they might shift two of them or they might shift all three…

The important thing is look at it from the eye of the recruiter…The recruiter says fine, you’ve got three, four years of experience in whichever domain you’ve been working in. We will give you credit that you have got to a premium MBA program. We will give you credit that you have done well in your undergrad…But now you should tell me why we should take you over somebody else we can get from the market who is coming from a similar experience background?

Now this is the question you have to answer when it comes to the interview. How ISB prepares you for that is again going back to the question which was asked some time back. Right from the time you join, you will be connected with learning – as we call learning and development experts. These are all people with vertical experience across verticals. That is sales and marketing, technology, finance, etc. and these people will handle and guide you through the process. They will tell you what you need to do to be able to answer that question which we discussed. They will connect you will alumni. They will connect you with industry leaders and experts. There are programs which are specifically designed for industry people to come and give you guidance. So this whole process is orchestrated by the career advancement services group.

Question: What if I want to change industry being from a family business background?

VK Menon: This is also another very interesting question because hidden in the question is another question….Will the companies think that I may not stay with them? There are all kinds of fears which are there in the minds of people who are coming from that background. But what I have seen is, as far as the company is concerned, the company is looking for certain skill sets. That’s number one. Number two is by and large, most companies these days promote an entrepreneurial culture. They want people who are risk takers, who can think differently, who can come up with solutions, who can take responsibility and move forward quickly in a flexible way. So all these are requirements.

Now what I have seen is, unless you are coming in from a family industry which is directly competing or something, which I haven’t had many cases like that, but if you’re coming from an industry, a family – a background where you have your own industry or your family has an industry, these recruiters are quite comfortable taking you because their assumption is that since you have your own industry or participated strongly in it, you will have this in-built characteristics, risk taking, responsible, flexible, move ahead fast, all these entrepreneurial characteristics which become very favorable. So I have seen a lot of people from family backgrounds get very nice roles.

For more questions and answers on switching careers at the ISB, check out the 2014 ISB Career Shifts Q&A transcript or audio file. You can also view Accepted’s Career Changers 101 page for more information.

To automatically receive notices about these MBA admissions chats and other MBA admissions events, please subscribe to our MBA events list. To listen to the Q&A recordings on-the-go, please subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Podcast.

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Filed Under: Accepted Podcast, MBA Admissions Tagged With: career changers, Indian School of Business

2014 ISB Adcom Interview Available!

August 28, 2013 by Accepted.com Leave a Comment

ISB

Thinking about applying to the Indian School of Business?

Then check out our recent Q&A with Mr. V. K. Menon, Senior Director of Placements at ISB for valuable information on career prospects for ISB grads post-MBA. Read on for an excerpt:

Question: Can you explain how well ISB graduates are placed in terms of being work ready on the first day? Do ISB and companies that hire consider that the PGP is robust enough to deliver work-ready managers with minimal training?

VK Menon: Let’s look at how we operate. The ISB Program is a one-year program. So right when we were setting up the school the question arose, should we go in for a one-year program or should we do a normal two-year program like many other business schools? The research we conducted showed that if people had more than three years of experience they were in a very advantageous position if they went in for a one-year program, and so we chose the one-year model.

The tradeoff of the model is that in a typical two-year model, you get about 720 contact hours. These are hours which you spend in class with the professors, 720. In a one-year program, that is the one that is done by ISB, you have around 680 contact hours.

So there is a tradeoff of about 40 contact hours, but the advantage is that you get back to work one year earlier.    So that’s how we formulated the design. Having formulated the design, the other thing which we had to do was that we had to do away with all the breaks….This one year is split up into eight terms and each term is one and a half months. In each term, you will do about four to five subjects which means that it’s a very tight program and the program rolls on term after term for one complete year.

Now, the interesting fact here is that close to around 70% of the students who join the PGP Program of the ISB change their careers. They either change their function or they change their industry or they change their location or they change all the three. So the question which was asked becomes very important. How is it that we make these people ready to be operative from day one, how is that we prepare them not just on that curriculum but also on the get-ready-to-industry concept? Now for that we have a complete — under the Career Advancement Services, we have a Learning and Development Department. The Learning and Development Department is headed by vertical specialists….So it is their role…to ensure that you take the right subjects, you go to the projects which you need to do. You may have to choose certain projects which are specifically designed for you. You may have to kind of go out and work with certain industries. You may have to do special sessions from industry experts who are brought in for getting you ready to go to market. So there’s a whole set of activities which are done by the Learning and Development Department.

This department is not in any way associated with the academics that go on. The academics is a stream by itself. The Learning and Development Department just ensures that the student is job ready, job fit for both the interview and for the job, if and when the job is given to you. So that’s the way in which we train students to be ready on day one. Going by feedback of companies which have been recruiting, and we’re very sensitive about feedback, we get back to the companies and we are in close touch with more than about 1,000 companies worldwide. So the feedback suggests that the graduates of ISB have performed exceptionally well when it came to really handling assignments post graduation.

For the complete conversation, please check out the 2014 ISB Career Opportunities Post-MBA Q&A or listen to the audio file. You can also view our ISB B-School Zone for more information.

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Filed Under: Accepted Podcast, MBA Admissions Tagged With: Indian School of Business, Q&A

The Most Popular Resources at Accepted

December 31, 2012 by Accepted.com

Thanks for a wonderful 2012!

For this last post of 2012, I thought you might be interested in what you — our readers, visitors, clients, and friends — visited, read, and watched the most in 2012.

Top Ten Most Visited Accepted Admissions Blog Posts of 2012:

5 Most Popular Articles

And what’s the absolute best at Accepted.com? What do I like the best? YOU! The wonderful people who are our readers, followers, circlers, fans, friends, participants, and most of all, our clients.

Thanks for a wonderful 2012. Bring on 2013!

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Filed Under: Admissions Consulting, College Admissions, Grad School Admissions, Law School Admissions, MBA Admissions, Medical School Admissions Tagged With: 2013 common application, Brown University, Columbia University, Duke Fuqua, Harvard Business School, Indian School of Business, INSEAD, MIT Sloan, Northwestern Kellogg, Princeton

Apply Now for International ISB Scholarships for Non-Indians

December 31, 2012 by Accepted.com

ISB

The Indian School of Business, one of the top-ranked international one-year business programs in the world, is giving away scholarships worth $400,000 for non-Indians.

The deadline for scholarship applications is Tuesday, January 15, 2013. For more details email intladmission@isb.edu or call +9140 23187484.

For more information on ISB, please see Accepted’s Indian School of Business B-School Zone.

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Filed Under: MBA Admissions Tagged With: Indian School of Business, scholarship

Indian School of Business MBA Admissions Committee Interview Available Online

November 27, 2012 by Accepted.com

“300 to 400 companies would come and recruit.”

Did you miss our recent ISB MBA Q&A? No problem! Read the excerpt below on the Indian job market for ISB MBAs and then check out the full transcript for more details. Thank you VK Menon, Senior Director of Placements at the Indian School of Business, for an insightful conversation about ISB! (P.S. We invite you to read the Q&A transcript even if you DID attend the event – an excellent review for those planning on applying to ISB!)

Linda Abraham: “How does the Indian job market look for a person graduating in 2014 from ISB?” Probably a question of interest to a lot of people on the call.

VK Menon: Okay. Actually, this is my personal take – but I have a very different take on this whole thing. I don’t think we should confuse the macro with the micro. That is, I’m not so concerned about how the economy is doing, or how certain sectors are doing, or how the global economy is, or whether we are in a recession, or whether we are in a buoyant mood. Yes, those are all factors. But end of the day, when you graduate out of a premium b-school like the ISB, it is what happens to you that’s important.

For a small group of people, (700 is not a very large number in a collective world landscape), so in a small group it all depends on how you prepare for the job you want to join, and given that over the years the reputation that is built by premium schools is strong, and close to 300 to 400 companies would come and recruit. Your chance of getting a job which you want is high, subject to your preparations levels being strong and your commitment levels being strong.

So I really don’t bother too much about the macro-environment, or how the environment might go. Wherever it goes, the war for talent will be there. Good students will get lapped up, so, those are all reality….over the last ten years I have seen various ups and downs of the economy, but always the demand for talent and the demand for the right talent, and good talent has been constant.

For the complete conversation, please check out the Indian School of Business MBA transcript or listen to the audio file. For additional tips on how to ace the ISB application, visit our Indian School of Business B-School Zone.

To automatically receive notices about these MBA admissions chats and other MBA admissions events, please subscribe to our MBA events list. To listen to the Q&A recordings on-the-go, please subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Podcast.

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Current Student Interview – Shyam from ISB

September 21, 2012 by Accepted.com

ISB

Here’s a talk with Shyam Dattani who just graduated from the Indian School of Business and is now working as an account director at Indegene Lifesystems Pvt Ltd.. Thank you Shyam for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us!

This interview is the latest in an Accepted.com blog series featuring interviews with current MBA students, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look at top MBA programs. We hope to offer you a candid picture of student life, and what you should consider as you prepare your MBA application.

Accepted: First, can you tell us a little about yourself – where are you from? What and where did you study as an undergraduate and when did you graduate? What degrees do you hold in addition to your new MBA?

Shyam: I spent most of my life in Mumbai, India where I was born. After graduating from Mumbai University as an Electronics Engineer degree, I worked for Siemens Ltd. for five years. While I was working, I pursued a part time Post Graduate Diploma in International Business at Symbiosis International University to augment my understanding of international trade. While I gained a rich experience in Sales at Siemens, I felt the need to consolidate my learning and get a holistic perspective of business. Pursuing an MBA at ISB, Hyderabad was one of the crucial decisions of my professional life. I graduated with a dual major (Marketing and Finance) in April 2012.

Accepted: Why did you choose ISB?

Shyam: ISB is known for its excellent research driven faculty. The curriculum at ISB is a good concoction of the business needs of Emerging Markets and the management principles used in the Western world. With a plethora of opportunities for self development and leadership initiatives, ISB gave me a platform to hone my leadership skills.

The peer group at ISB is one of the best in the emerging markets – students are from diverse backgrounds and with rich professional experience. With the academic model followed at ISB, each student gets ample opportunity to work closely with many other students in teams to gain from their knowledge, skills and experience.

The students participate in many business competitions and win quite a few as well. The exposure to the Industrial world through workshops and leadership summits is an experience in itself. I am proud to say that ISBians are well rounded individuals who would be the future leaders of the industry.

Accepted: Can you tell us about the award you won for Best Experiential Learning Project of the Year? What was your project?

Shyam: While pursuing an MBA at ISB, I signed up for an experiential learning project with four of my peers The project was to develop sales capability and to increase market share for a leading automotive player in India in the light commercial vehicles segment. We conducted 100+ interviews and a few Focus group discussions covering all the stake holders right from company executives to the owners of the vehicles and competitors as well to understand the various gaps in the business model. Secondary research helped us gain insights into market dynamics. We identified the gaps and suggested a few changes in their marketing, financing and dealership model. The suggestions were well accepted by the client and many of them were implemented while we were still working on the project. Based on feedback from the client and based on evaluation by a panel of senior people in the Projects Team at ISB, we were awarded the “BEST Experiential learning project team for 2012.” It was a great learning experience where we could put our learning at ISB coupled with our previous experiences to practice.

Accepted: Are there many competitions at ISB?

Shyam: Yes, there are plenty of competitions in-house and at the inter-school level. Most of them are business case competitions. It is a great opportunity to apply the knowledge gained at ISB to real world problems. Many of the companies which float the competitions also hire from our school during placements.

Accepted: I see you are now working at Indegene Lifesystems. What sort of company is that and what do you do there?

Shyam: Indegene Lifesystems Pvt Ltd. offers scientific partnership to global life science companies by delivering a spectrum of medical, marketing, training, intelligence, and analytic services. It has a global footprint, technological expertise and domain knowledge which help enhance commercialization and marketing success of life science companies. I am an Account Director – Sales for emerging markets (APAC and ME) for three major accounts.

Accepted: What role did ISB play in helping you secure that position?

Shyam: ISB helped me understand business from a holistic perspective through interactions with peers and great faculty. My previous experience in Sales coupled with my self development at ISB helped me secure the position at my company.

Accepted: Do you have any advice for some of our applicants who will be applying to the Indian School of Business?

Shyam:

Be very clear about the reasons for pursuing an MBA and apply only when you are convinced about your reasons.
It is important to connect your previous experience and your future aspirations through the journey of an MBA at ISB.
Be consistent in your essays and be true to yourself while writing the application essays.
Highlight your skills and the impact you generated in your past experience by means of examples instead of a laundry list of roles, responsibilities and achievements.

For one-on-one guidance on the ISB application, please see our Indian School of Business packages. For specific advice on how to create the best application for ISB see Linda’s Indian School of Business 2013 Essay Questions, Deadlines, and Tips.

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Filed Under: MBA Admissions Tagged With: Indian School of Business, MBA Interview, MBA Student Interviews

Should Gupta Conviction Affect Your MBA Decisions?

June 22, 2012 by Linda Abraham

“Ethics classes will be pretty ironic won’t it?”

I recently received the following comment from ANP on an April 2011 MBA Admissions News Round Up:

“I had posted that you are not giving a fair view to potential ISB applicants by ignoring the fact that Rajat Gupta was accused in the Galleon insider trading scandal. But well he has been convicted now. How does that change your view of ISB now that it’s founder is a convicted white-collar criminal? Ethics classes will be pretty ironic won’t it? I hope to see a post informing readers about this.”

Just in case there is an MBA applicant out there who doesn’t know, Rajat Gupta is an IIT grad and Harvard MBA who went on to become the Managing Director of McKinsey & Company. He co-founded the Indian School of Business and was chairman of its board until 2011. He also served on several corporate boards, including those of Goldman Sachs, AMR, and P&G; educational boards, including that of University of Chicago, Harvard Business School, Lauder Institute, Kellogg, MIT Sloan, and Weill Cornell; and charitable boards, including the Gates Foundation, India AIDS Initiative, World Economic Forum, and more.

Rajat Gupta was convicted last Friday of insider trading.

An arms-long list of felons either graduated from or actively supported business schools of varying pedigree, including Harvard (Gupta, Jeffrey Skilling), Wharton (Milken, Rajaratnam), and Kellogg (Fastow). Ivan Boesky, who was convicted of insider trading in the late 1980’s, actually taught at Columbia and NYU Stern prior to his conviction. These are just a few names that came to my mind; there are more.

Certainly the Hall of Shame from the last twenty-five years does not seem to have damaged the reputations of these programs or their ability to educate students and send grads on a trajectory of professional success. And the convictions of McKinsey alumni Skilling and Gupta haven’t diminished McK’s allure.

While certainly not badges of pride or associations to tout, the failings, mistakes, and even crimes of individual members of a community or institution don’t determine the value of that education or institution — provided the institution disavows and discourages the criminal behavior and that behavior is the exception rather than the rule. Those misdeeds belong to the individuals who went down the slippery slope and made the big mistakes that they are now paying or have paid for so dearly.

Unless moral purity is your sole criterion for choosing a school, I recommend that you choose schools based on the following:

Ability to help you achieve your professional goals.
Curriculum you want to study in the way you want to study it.
Attractiveness of the school’s student life and extra-curricular activities.
Personal preferences regarding location, family needs, etc.
The likelihood of your acceptance.

ANP asks about ethics classes taught at ISB in light of Gupta’s conviction. In fact, last year an HBS prof corresponded with Bernie Madoff about his ponzi scheme; the purpose of the correspondence is research for a series of case studies. Business schools frequently bring in convicted felons to speak about their crimes and punishment. My understanding is that students have found these presentations more impactful than theoretical books and seminars with Thou Shalt’s and Thou Shalt Not’s.

How does Gupta’s conviction affect my opinion of ISB? It doesn’t. It affects my opinion of Gupta.

How about you?

By Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted.com and co-author of the new, definitive book on MBA admissions, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools .

Filed Under: MBA Admissions Tagged With: Indian School of Business, MBA trends

Indian School of Business MBA Adcom Member Interview Available Online

June 18, 2012 by Accepted.com

Thank you to Hima Bindu, the Associate Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at the Indian School of Business, for an excellent Q&A. Hima covered a wide range of topics, providing advice on all aspects of the ISB admissions process. Read the excerpt below to learn about the differences between the elite ISB program and those offered at IIMs (or Indian Institutes of Management):

Linda Abraham: Jiyan asks: How does the MBA program compare with similar programs offered at IIMs?

Hima Bindu: IIMs are also very good programs, and ISB is also a very good program. There is no comparison between both because it’s like comparing apples to oranges. I know it’s a very old saying, but that is the truth. IIMs have phenomenal achievements to them. They’ve been pioneers in management education.

On the other hand, ISB has been a pioneer in the one year program. It is for a peer group with 3 to 8 years work experience. ISB is ideally suited for a person with between two to eight years work experience. The faculty you get at ISB is from across the world, so they get different global perspectives. The research centers at ISB also contribute a lot to making the curriculum very cutting edge. I think these are the major advantages you get at ISB, but IIMs are also good programs.

You can view the full ISB transcript or listen to the audio file here.

Still not sure if an MBA is right for you? Read Accepted’s FREE special report, Why MBA, to help you determine if pursuing an MBA is your best move, as well as to learn how to answer the “Why MBA?” essay question that most b-schools include on their application.

To automatically receive notices about these MBA admissions chats and other MBA admissions events, please subscribe to our MBA event list. To listen to the Q&A recordings on-the-go, please subscribe to the Accepted Admissions Podcast.

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ISB Recent Graduate Interview

May 18, 2012 by Accepted.com

ISB alum Keisuke Matsumoto

Here’s a talk with Keisuke Matsumoto, a Buddhist priest and a 2011 graduate from the Indian Business School (ISB). Thank you Keisuke for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us!

This interview is the latest in an Accepted.com blog series featuring interviews with current and past MBA students, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look at top MBA programs. We hope to offer you a candid picture of student life, and what you should consider as you prepare your MBA application.

Accepted: First, can you tell us a little about yourself – where are you from? What and where did you study as an undergraduate and when did you graduate?

Keisuke: I am Keisuke Matsumoto, a Buddhist priest in a traditional Buddhist school of Jodo-Shinshu Hongwanji-ha.

In 1979, I was born in Hokkaido, the northern most part of Japan. My grandfather was a Buddhist priest, though my father is not. Since my youth, I have been strongly interested in Philosophy and Religion as the ways to realize myself.

At Tokyo University, I majored in Western Philosophy, which I had been interested in since my youth. But I grew uncomfortable in my studies, because no matter how logical or reasonable it was, studying it did not seem to be the way to true happiness. Instead, I came to realize how much my experience had been shaped by the traditional Japanese way of thinking, and I knew that without understanding that, I would not be able to understand myself.

Finally, I decided to become a Buddhist priest which I thought was the best way to completely immerse myself in Japanese philosophical tradition.

I graduated the University of Tokyo in April, 2003. Since becoming a priest I have continued my studies of Japanese philosophy and culture.

Accepted: Why did you decide to attend the Indian School of Business?

Keisuke: Despite the hereditary custom, I knocked at the gate of the temple and managed to pass its professional training. I have worked as a monk to restore valuable traditions of Japanese culture in society. Even now, there are more than 70,000 temples in Japan, which is about three times the number of convenience stores in the country.

In the midst of changes of society on a global scale, we Japanese should take advantage of potential resources like temples that our ancestors left for us. After working in this field for 9 years, I decided to tackle an important but complex issue – modern temple management. That’s why I got MBA, a Master of Business Administration, at ISB last year.

Indian School of Business is one of top business schools in the world. Though the name of the school contains the word “Business,” its concern is not limited to business. Actually, management matters everything.

Of course as a Buddhist priest, being an MBA graduate doesn’t make any difference to my position or rank in the temple. But it practically makes a difference to the quality of my work.

Buddhism is my life. I respect the tradition of Japanese Buddhism. But at the same time I am not satisfied with its current situation. To promote Buddhism among modern people, we have to update temples to meet modern needs without spoiling their religious traditions.

As a Buddhist, India is special. In fact, many people tell me that great experiences in India have changed their life. Then I thought, studying for an MBA in India will have a great impact on my life. That’s why I applied to ISB.

Accepted: What have you been doing since graduating last year?

Keisuke: I have been preparing for opening a new school of temple management for a year. It’s a comprehensive program for Buddhist monks who want to acquire management skills for temples. Of course, it’s not about how to make money in temples but about how to focus on the temple’s original mission. I will open this school this month. The first class will be held on 23rd May in Kyoto.

If you seriously study management in any business school, you will come to know that the basics of management are all the same in any field whether it’s a business or non-profit. Mission, Strategy and Marketing are the essentials of good temple management.

Accepted: There’s a great Financial Times article about you in which you compare temples to social media. Can you talk a bit more about that?

Keisuke: The use of social media like FB or Twitter is globally spreading. But why? In my observation of Japan, many people feel lonely. So they are trying to join communities according to their hobbies and tastes. In Japan, temple used to be the place to form a local community, though it is not working well. I guess the new communities created on FB will seek a nice place to have a gathering and real communication. In my opinion, temples have potential to accommodate those gatherings and be the center of local communities again. That’s why I mentioned temple as real social media in Japan.

Accepted: Can you share your experience as a delegate for the U.S.-Japan Leadership Program?

Keisuke: The U.S.-Japan Leadership Program is held by the U.S.-Japan foundation. In both countries, 10 to 20 delegates are selected among young leaders in diverse fields and join the program every year. In the program we discuss many topics from politics and economics to culture and religion for a week. It is an amazing experience to spend a whole week with diverse young leaders and establish friendships.

Accepted: What were some of your favorite things about living in Hyderabad? Least favorite? Did you have a favorite coffee shop that you liked to hang out it and do work?

Keisuke: In Hyderabad, I loved to visit the Old-City district. It was a fantastic Muslim city. I am interested in any kinds of religious culture and buildings. I often visited there and had a cup of Chai (Indian Masala tea) with my family, though I didn’t do work there.

Accepted: Do you have any advice for some of our applicants who will be applying to the ISB?

Keisuke: If you are applying to business schools just because others are doing the same, ISB is not your destination. If you really want to differentiate yourself and change your life, I strongly recommend you ISB. Especially for international applicants who seek great challenges which lead you to grow further; the combination of MBA and India must be one of the best options. There is no reason for innovators to choose the destination ordinary people are rushing into. Visit the campus, and you will understand what I said.

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