Best Admission Consultants for ISB

ISB Application Reviews, Essay editing, Interview preparation for PGP PGPMAX PGPpro

The Indian School of Business came about in 2001. But make no mistake, this is no novice in the art of business education. Taking on the Ivy Leagues and other famed international MBA colleges that have proudly survived the game of thrones, so to speak, ISB has surfaced as a worthy challenger to them.

In the Indian B-School scene, ISB is one of the very few GMAT based MBA (technically the equivalent Post Graduate Program in Management, or PGP) that offers a one year full-time residential option of excellence to applicants with a few years of work experience (about 5 years). Currently, its two campuses – Mohali & Hyderabad – one program design supports the future of 800 some students each year.

That is the summary of what it has been doing in past two decades, for MBA aspirants. Dig deeper, however, and you will find many more reasons to offer ISB a standing ovation. Sceptics often weigh its steep tuition (~ INR 40 lakhs or about USD 57,000) against the other popular business schools in India. But there is a good measure by which ISB stands apart.

In this article, we will explore some of the common questions prospective students have about ISB and conclude the article by discussing its admission, how Admission Consultants can help and more significantly what are the qualities that define the Best Admission Consultants for ISB Applications.

So, let’s begin with the student queries.

Why is ISB so popular?

Let’s summarize.

Boost in career: A lot of MBA programs claim to do so, but in India ISB and the likes of the IIM programs are among the only few that manage to secure a bright future for its students. At ISB, 800 plus students have been consistently finding themselves at the envious end of multiple offers from renowned companies, with highest salaries in the order of INR 22,00,000 and more. The program is also condensed within a year to contain the opportunity cost resulting from a career break for education.
International Faculty: Not just the home-bred excellence in its faculty body, ISB has visiting faculty members from all the top international MBA programs from the likes of Wharton, UMich’s Ross School of Business, Simon School of Business, Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business, Northwestern’s Kellogg, Minnesota’s Carlson, UT Austin’s McCombs, and many illustrious such more. They bring with them an international perspective to education that these students immensely benefit from.
International Exchange: ISB has partnerships with 42 leading schools around the world feeding its exchange network where ISB students can get a global experience to education and be the better for it. Similarly, ISB also welcomes foreign students who are interested in learning about the Indian economy, also giving a chance for home students to get a taste of the inter-cultural.
Research Centres and Institutes: Nearly 10 research centres operate out of the two campuses enhancing the level of research focus on various topics crucial to emerging economies and other areas of industry, academia, and government in India and abroad.
Strong Networking Opportunity: Not just because of the rich diversity coming in from the various work-experienced peer group, within the classroom, but also through the strong and successful alumni network outside.
The ISB Community: It favours strong communication and activities through its events and student clubs, which are more than just a handful. The residential nature fosters camaraderie within the community which usually includes student families as well.
Globally recognized: Besides all the above gift hamper items, it has been receiving genuine accolades from independent sources and ranking bodies like the Financial Times. It has been maintaining a top 30 MBA Ranking for some years, on FT, proving not just its excellence but also its passion to stay at the top.

You will find ninety-three more reasons if you were to dig deeper. But for now, you should be satisfied that ISB deserves to be popular, by any sensible measuring standard. Read ISB vs IIM (1 year for executives) – Which is better?

What are my chances of getting into ISB?

According to a source which had collected data from ISB students over some years, the number of applications received by ISB is of the order of about 4,000. This number reflects mostly Indian applicants, given the relative lack of reach of international students in comparison. The number selected is, however, of the order of 800. Thus, you might expect an acceptance rate of 15-22% each year.

Given these chances, if you start assuming that a high GMAT is a sure shot security to an admit, you might be way out on a divergent track. The response to the next common question attempts to reveal why there is a challenge in making it into ISB.

Why is it so hard to get into ISB?

While you might be wonderfully satisfied with your test scores and your academic performance, ISB is harder to please. Why? Because the selection criteria, to ISB, doesn’t simply rely on GMAT/GRE or GPA. (Read Good GRE score for ISB)

It requires you to excel in three separate categories to be tagged as the wholesome candidate they want in their system – Academic Credentials that take into account your merit without setting up any particular cut-offs, Leadership Potential which judges how your initiatives and extra-curricular activities have impacted your work place or otherwise and consequently contributed to your growth, and finally, Personal Attributes where a well-rounded and preferably diverse individual joins the ISB community and contributes to it in all manners positive.

Now, apart from the objectivity of the test scores and educational background, the other two criteria are just as important in this holistic approach to admissions.

So, focus on your academics as you have been taught to do since the day you learnt your ABCs, but definitely spare yourself for other meaningful pursuits that make you stand out. Especially if you fall in the monotonic “male engineer” pool of candidates that tend to dominate the Indian scene.

For more insight on ISB Admissions Process, we recommend you to read the article titled, you guessed right, How does the ISB Admissions Process work?

What do the top ISB Admission Consultants do?

ISB Admissions being so selective, and with US immigration cracking in, the demand for this home-grown global business education is increasing. While a lot of applicants choose to fly solo with their applications, there is a considerable number that explores the option of getting expert consultation with their profiles, essays, interviews, and general research.

We have gathered here some of the tasks that good ISB Admissions Consultants can provide prospective applicants in terms of application assistance.

Profile Evaluation: As with any MBA application, ISB application too begins with a thorough Profile Evaluation, taking an unbiased uncorrupted view of a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses to leverage that very profile for their benefit. This process also illuminates whether there is a good match between ISB and the applicant’s mutual expectations.
Strategize the Application: They also evaluate whether the applicant is prepared to apply and how should their application be timed, given their profile particulars – work experience, test scores, sufficient planning, etc. Would they have a better chance applying in the next round or perhaps the next year? Should they first attempt to fill certain gaps to strengthen their profile?
Motivation and Essay: Good consultants are experts at exploring those pertinent questions that are at the heart of ISB’s MBA application – Candidate’s “Why MBA” “Why MBA now” stories, how will they rationalize their stories into the content of their first essay drafts, and more.
Good consultants never write your essays for you or plagiarize it from other sources. Rather they invoke the applicant’s motivation for writing ISB essays. Their job is to help the applicants articulate their thoughts meaningfully. Finally, they review and edit the essay keeping true to the candidate’s own version of her story.
Interview Preparation: Interviews can become daunting if ill-preparation, lack of information, or even over-confidence, takes over. ISB interviews are usually attended by at least two faculty members, two students, two alumni, and two senior admission staff members.
With such a diverse group, it is best to have a well-rounded approach complimented with clarity and confidence. Good consultants can be the experts who can review and provide valuable feedback for a solid preparation.

Best Admission Consultants for ISB Admission

It is often a difficult choice to filter through the many consultants, you may find on the internet, for the most eligible MBA Consultancy that can help guide you to put in your best for your ISB Application. You need to be wary of the ones who promise a little too much without a sound backing of experience and proof to show for. Sensibility dictates that you follow certain simple rules, to choose your ISB MBA Consultant. Here are the traits and conditions you should look for.

Consultants include ISB Alumni: ISB is known to involve current students and alumni in the admission process. Consultancies that include members who are ISB Graduates are thus able shed a better light, having gone through the grilling admission process, themselves.
Past ISB Success Stories: The biggest advertisement for an effective MBA consultancy are its proof of past successes. Instead of falling for paid marketing gimmicks, you should research how past clients review the services of the consultancy, especially in the ISB Admissions. Visit the blog pages, or ISB discussion forums, where ISB admits usually share their feedback and reviews.
Personalized Approach: What do clients have to say in their testimonials for the consultancies? How were there experiences? Aim to hire consultants who are dedicated in working with each individual applicant personally as an independent project. This makes the process unique for each applicant rather than the factory based cookie cutter methodology of churning out the same dribble for each applicant, leading to a series of unfortunate rejections. Select an ISB MBA Consultant who is adept at understand your unique profile and work with you to create the optimum strategies for your application package, based on your work and life experiences.

ISB Consulting Reviews

We, here at MBA Crystal Ball (MCB), have had our fair share of success stories to ISB and many such top programs across the world, often with scholarships. Our MBA Consulting Team includes ISB, Stanford, MIT, INSEAD and other elite MBA program graduates and toppers (Meet our consultants).

However, more significantly, we have tons of successful admits who have shared back their happy stories with us on our MCB Blog. If you are short on time, maybe these snippets from these real reviews from real people can help.

Initial conversations with MG convinced me that these were guys that weren’t after your money but were genuinely interested in helping you achieve optimal outcomes. In fact, on multiple occasions MG told me to not sign up for an MCB product that would cost more, purely because he didn’t think that would add value.

In a class of close to 900, only 7 students (less than 1%) are offered a full scholarship i.e. 100% tuition waiver, the highest amount of financial aid you can get from ISB. Read more about our best ISB consulting success stories.

Having experienced a lot in Round 1, I needed to know where I stand. I wrote back to MG (Manish Gupta) from MBA Crystal Ball expressing my interest in the MBA MAP from MBA Crystal Ball. It was exactly what I needed.

This applicant failed to convert several b-schools in R1 even with the help of other consultants. He worked with MCB in R2 and cracked ISB, Georgetown, UNC and Emory. Continue to read more.

I did my research before selecting MBA Crystal Ball and suggest each one of you to do the same as one consultant, who may be a perfect fit for your friend, may not be the best for you.

This applicant applied only to ISB and made it in with scholarship. Continue to read more.

I was trying to write essays that I thought admission officers wanted to read. My approach was to use catchy phrases like “Leadership” and “Strategy”, all of which were cut down by Vibhor…
…Being from a core engineering background, I was apprehensive of my work experience but Vibhor pointed out unique strengths in my story that I would have never thought of on my own and mentioned in my essays. Throughout the application, he provided the much needed straight-forward criticism that improved my essays.

This re-applicant got rejected after interviews from ISB and IIM Bangalore in his first attempt. In his second attempt, he worked with our consulting team member, Vibhor, and got admits at ISB and several IIMs as a re-applicant. Continue to read more.

Since MBA Crystal Ball had nice reviews and seemed genuine, I chose to work with them. I worked with Parveen for the interviews and essays. What was great about Parveen is that he helped me select the right stories from my work experience, provided me a framework to pen down my ideas and encouraged me to be authentic…
…At the end of the day, I feel very happy satisfied working with MBA Crystal Ball. I applied only to ISB and got through!

Continue to read more to find out how this Indian Railways employee went from a government sector job to ISB.

Honestly, they could have asked me to get a comprehensive package, and I would have taken that as well, because this is a time where candidates would anything that could improve their chances for entry even slightly. This goes to speak itself about their values and work ethics…
…And the result was that I was not just able to make it to the class of 2014, but also get 5 Lakh Rupees of merit based fee-waiver. Wooohooooo!

Third time applicant shares his experience of being offered a cheaper essay package in lieu of the ISB waitlist he managed in his second attempt despite his best efforts with us. He came back to our team for his third attempt and made it into ISB with scholarship. Continue to read more.

For more such delightful hits visit our blog for ISB Admissions and other ISB related stories and Selected reviews of MBA Crystal Ball Consulting Services.

Have more questions and queries? Feel free to drop us a line at info[at]mbacrystalball[dot]com and check out our MBA Admissions Consulting Services and Prices.

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