ISB Hyderabad Blues: Indian School of Business MBA admissions
Written by Sameer Kamat
ISB Hyderabad (Indian School of Business) is a dream destination for many Indian MBA applicants. But year after year, as ISB continues to make rapid strides and gain accolades across the world, the local competition gets more intense. Valentine’s day (actually the day after, to be technically correct) saw a lot of broken hearts, as ISB Round 2 results were rolled out. Riaz was one of those hopefuls who wasn’t in the list of lucky applicants. Here’s how he views the entire episode.
I am one of the many applicants whom ISB rejected in R2 admission process for Class of ’12. Throughout the admission process, I had a chance to get to know a lot of brilliant people, and many of them weren’t offered admission by ISB. I have listened to them say that all the time and effort has gone waste, the ego has taken a beating, and failure such as this is definitely unacceptable in life. To many of them, it was a golden non-returnable ticket towards success.
Generally, those who apply to ISB do apply based on their self-confidence, and on personal and professional accomplishments. Average age of the applicant pool is around 28-29, and I’m sure that there won’t be a lot in 1.4 billion people in India who have managed to do what we have done by the age of 28. We studied, earned our job and developed the habit of dreaming big. ISB is not even in the picture. So if I think that ISB and only ISB will help me to achieve my goals, I wouldn’t do justice to my 27 years of existence.
ISB, or for that matter, any management institute is not the place where you find or strike gold. No institute can give you that magic potion that gives you the power of Midas touch. I feel really bad and sorry for people who say, “ISB is one place where all my dreams will come true. If I don’t get there I will be a failure…” Seems like they are more than willing to put too much faith on something that hasn’t been part of their life as yet but not on their achievements and endeavors that have made them the kind of person they are now. I like this quote about Manchester United, “Man Utd don’t lose; they just run out of time.” The same is applicable to us mortals too. We don’t lose. We just run out of time to finish certain endeavors and journeys. And that doesn’t make us a loser.
Think of ISB as a place where you learn to be a goldsmith; and if you are already a goldsmith then how to become a better one; or as a few might be, to go from blacksmith to goldsmith (career changers). ISB can’t give you gold; but it will definitely help you to find your gold and teach you how to make things out of it. Now what to make out of the gold, it is entirely up to you. It is your life, and no one can mould it for you. And for all those alchemists out there, trying to become a goldsmith is going down a notch.
For those who feel that the application process has been a time waste, think about the last time when you sat down to think deeply about what you’ve done with your life and where your life is taking you? When was the last time you truly understood your strengths and weaknesses? When was the last time you created a list to improve your skills? When was the last time you had a chance to meet people with whom you shared your passion? When was the last time you spent days and nights in something you truly love to do? If the answer to any of these questions is “MBA application”, then, my friend, you definitely haven’t wasted your time.
- Riaz
Riaz has another story to narrate. But we’ll keep that for later. For now check out his blog interestingly titled – History of the Future. Any other ISB applicants out there who have other perspectives to share on the ISB Hyderabad application process?
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I see another Paulo Coelho who is helping people chasing their dreams in real sense……….
totally agreed !!!
well said Sameer, good luck !
Kash, this is Riaz’s story, not mine