Indian School of Business MBA Application Essay Tips

For MBA aspirants who want to build or advance their careers in India, the Indian School of Business PGP program offers excellent preparation. International job offers saw a slight uptick in the class of 2018, a total of 30 offers were made for roles outside of India compared with 2017’s 12. While 2018’s industry distribution has not yet been released, the Consulting and Technology industries have in previous years consistently been the largest recruiters at ISB.

ISB students learn from visiting professors from the top MBA programs around the world including Entrepreneurship with London Business School’s Rupert Merson, Negotiation Analysis with Chicago Booth’s Radhika Puri, Leveraging Web 2.0 with NYU Stern’s Anindya Ghose, and Economics of Strategy with Wharton’s Louis Thomas among many other visiting scholars.

ISB is clearly the ROI winner when compared with its peer US programs for Indian students: instead of 2 years out of the workforce for a similarly-ranked US program at a tuition cost of over $130,000, ISB students are out of the workforce for only 1 year, paying tuition of only $37,000, with post-MBA weighted salaries only slightly lower than their American counterparts.

ISB has created new essay questions this year and cut the length of essay 1 by 100 words. Note that ISB’s online application will not accept even one word over the limit of either of its essays.

Here are ISB’s questions with my advice in blue:

ISB MBA Essay Question #1

At ISB we value diversity as it enhances both the in-class and out of class learning experience. Tell us how would you contribute to the same? (400 words max)

Applicants must decide what unique experiences and insight they have gained that will best contribute to the learning experience of their fellow students. In my experience, the most compelling essays will share anecdotes that illustrate your leadership and impact, not simply a list of roles that mirror the application form’s details about your responsibilities, initiatives, and achievements. This is your opportunity to explain the “why” (what motivated and drove you to these experiences) and the “how” (what creativity and interpersonal skills you applied to make an impact) and how these will benefit the learning experience of your classmates.

ISB MBA Essay Question #2

Enrolling in a Business School is an important career decision. Critically look at your career to date, the choices you have made, the key influences behind those choices, your goals for the future and how do you think ISB’s PGP can help you in achieving your goals? (300 words max)

I like that this question breaks down the essays into components: how and for what reasons have you directed your career in the past, what are your goals for the future, and how will ISB help you reach them?

MBA programs ask about your goals to ensure that they are reasonable: can their program prepare you for them and has your career so far positioned you to achieve them? If the answer to either of these questions is no, then they cannot accept you – you will simply be unhappy when you graduate – so speak with recent graduates about their recruiting experiences and take the initiative to speak with post-MBA professionals with 10 or more years of experience to guide you in your longer-term career discussion.

ISB does not offer an optional essay. However, applicants have space on the Education page of the application to explain any gaps during their education.

The only comfort in such a short application is that your fellow applicants are just as limited in how much they can share!

For expert guidance with your ISB MBA application, check out Accepted’s MBA Application Packages, which include comprehensive guidance from an experienced admissions consultant. We’ve helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to ISB and look forward to helping you too!

ISB MBA Application Deadlines:

	Cycle 1	Cycle 2
Application Deadline	September 15, 2018	December 15, 2018
Final Offer Decision	November 2018	February 2019
Acceptance Date	10 days from the date of the offer	10 days from the date of the offer

Advantages of applying in Cycle 1:

• Full tuition fee waivers will be offered only to Cycle 1 applicants

• 50% of all merit and need-based waivers will be offered to Cycle 1 applicants

Non-Indian Origin Applicants

To enable non-Indian origin applicants to complete their Visa formalities in time, we follow a rolling evaluation process for them. Their application is evaluated and their admission decision is communicated within six weeks of receiving the completed application.

***Disclaimer: Information is subject to change. Please check with individual programs to verify the essay questions, instructions and deadlines.***

Jennifer Bloom has been a consultant with Accepted for 19 years and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW). She is an expert at guiding you to produce application materials that truly differentiate you from the rest of the driven applicant pool. If you would like help with your ISB application, Jennifer can suggest a number of options that work with any budget. Want Jennifer to help you get accepted? Click here!