ISB Essays

First, I'd like to thank all my readers for following my blog. I am happy that it is helping you in some way or the other.

I received quite a few mails requesting advice on writing the ISB essays. Hence, I have decided to post an analysis of the essays. So here we go...

Essay 1: Please give three reasons why ISB should admit you into the class of 2010. These reasons should ideally differentiate you from your competition. (300 words)

Needless to say, this essay is going to be the most important essay in your application. You have been, explicitly, asked to state the factors that distinguish you - qualities that make you special.

Think of instances in your life when you have been challenged and had to take decisions. Talk about the emotions that urged you to take those decisions. Choose your words carefully because the application portal won't allow you to enter more than 300 words for the essay. So, keep your sentences short, well-formed, and precise. Impact is the key here. Use examples. The adcom loves to hear more about the actual 'you' and your accomplishments. You may have one example where you have shown the three different traits or you may use three different examples.

I used three different examples - one professional and two personal. I concluded the essay by stating my short term and long term goals and how these differentiating factors would help me contribute to the ISB class and achieve my goals.

A couple of things that one must keep in mind:

1. Never project reasons like honesty or integrity as differentiating factors. These are qualities that you are expected to possess.
2. Avoid situations where you succeeded in doing something but doing that 'something' wasn't a decision that you made. For example, I studied in eight different schools and had learned six different languages before my eighth grade. I could have used this as an example for my willingness to learn and adapt but the decision to learn these languages was not mine to take. I was young and it was forced upon me. It will leave a stronger impression on the adcom if you describe circumstances where you were in control of the situation and the outcome was directly impacted by your thinking.

Essay 2: You are contesting the election to be the President of the ISB Student Body. Write a speech you will deliver to the student body on why they should elect you as the President? (300 words max)

Now, the situation is such that you have already been admitted and are contesting elections to be the President of a diverse and active Student body. Many would find it difficult to choose between describing their leadership skills and elaborating on how they can contribute to the school. I felt it best to present a good blend of both.

This essay gives you ample scope not only to highlight those instances where you have shown exemplary leadership skills and portrayed your ability to work in teams but also to project how much you know about the school and how you intend to utilize your time at school.

While choosing leadership and team work examples, I picked my stints as Captain of Sports teams and Coordinator of various clubs. This allowed me to highlight instances where I had displayed good inter-personal skills.

As far as writing about your plans for the school is concerned, you need to research as much as you can about the school and also about the responsibilities of the GSB President. Good place to start would be the ISB website. You could also talk to current students and alumni. Presidential candidates do soapbox presentations before the start of the election. Try getting hold of these presentations. Talk about those activities that interest you and will help you make positive contributions to the community.

The school wants to know as much about you as possible. Through this essay, you can also emphasize on the fit quotient.

Essay 3: CASE : You have been appointed to head the team to build a dam across the River Zumba. Success in this project is critical for your company and would earn you a promotion. Failure would mean that your company would be bankrupt and will take along with it, its investors and its employees. Building a dam across the river would result in deforestation of a portion of the rainforests and would mean relocation of the tribals and destabilization of wild life at Zumba. There is resistance from environmental groups against your project. You are meeting the head of the resistance movement in one hour wherein you would have to explain your decision. Describe what you would do and why? (You will be evaluated on the creativity and practicality of your solution).

You have already differentiated yourself. You have described your leadership skills and your interests in the school. Now, comes the opportunity to clinch your admit by portraying your problem solving ability.

While it is quite easy to get intimated by this question, it, nevertheless, allows you to be at your creative best. No answer is correct or wrong but every hurdle posed in the question allows you to project traits like practicality, resourcefulness, negotiation skills et al.

My approach to this essay was simple. There are three major hurdles and providing feasible solutions to these would win you the opposition's confidence. I tried to think of the simplest solutions to these problems and then built my final solution around these simple solutions. One thing that always remained in my mind was the ultimate goal of successfully completing the dam's construction.


The optional essay

It is not a must that you write this essay but you can use this opportunity to highlight certain items in your profile that couldn't be projected in other parts of the application.

I used this essay to talk about the internship experiences that gave me international exposure and brought me international acclaim. I had hoped that this information would strengthen my application and I think it did!

ISB Interview Invite

Yes...the wait for an interview call has finally ended!

I received my ISB interview invite today (30/10). It has been scheduled for the 9th of November. Quite appropriate that the first school that I had applied to was the first to send me an invite (though the ISB deadline was at least 25 days earlier than any of my other target schools :D). Nevertheless, I hope to get 3 more interview invites :-). There were over 2000 applications to ISB in this round. I am glad that the first hurdle has been crossed and I look forward to wearing my business suit :-).

I had, earlier, planned on blogging an analysis of the school's essays. But now, I have decided against it. The reason - there are some awesome tips that are already available on the web. Many applicants and admission gurus have shared their views and outlined their thoughts.

However, I will be more than happy to answer questions that applicants may have regarding these essays. My response will center around the strategy that I had followed for the particular essay and I hope to help applicants get a better idea of how to present themselves on paper through these essays.

Cheers

Darden application - tips from the Director of MBA Admissions

I had planned on writing about the strategy that I had followed for my Darden application (on receiving an interview invite from Darden) but with Sara Neher advising her prospective students through her video blog, I don't think that my strategy will be as valuable as her words of wisdom. Below are her video blogs that concern application essays, recommendations, and extra-curricular activities. I hope you find them useful.





I would have loved to have seen these blog postings before I submitted my application but I am glad that I have done most things right in my application. A good reason for me to hope for the best :-)

GMAT scores, GPA and essays

It is quite obvious that an applicant's GPA and her GMAT score are the major indicators of her readiness to face the academic rigor at a B-school. Although it is true that admission committees view each application holistically, it is nevertheless important for an applicant to judge for herself if her GPA and GMAT score will hold her in good stead while applying to various schools, especially the top 5 schools. I came across Are your GMAT scores competitive? recently and thought I'll share this link with you all. It is not, by any means, a tool that guarantees admission to a school of your dreams but will, no doubt, help you make realistic choices.


Another interesting tool that I recently came across is the Readability Index Calculator. It uses the Flesch-Kincaid method to determine how easy it is to read a text. The higher the score, the better is the readability. For example, comics score around 90 but legal/law documents end up with scores of less than 10. This does not mean that complex text isn't as interesting to read as other stuff. But it is definitely useful to write text that is easy to comprehend. Generally, a score of around 40 is considered to be excellent. This post has a readability score of 49! Pretty useful while writing essays, isn't it?

In other news, the ISB round1 application deadline is today. People are facing problems, big-time, due to server over-load. AFAIK, 1337 applications had already been submitted by late last night. I won't be surprised if the final count of R1 applications touches 2000.


Will grab some lunch now...catch you later...

and finally a blog....

After years of just reading blogs on the internet, I have finally decided to start blogging. 'Why now?' one might ask. Well...I wasn't actually lazy earlier but felt it was time I started bacause it is a good way of keeping track of things you do, sharing information with others, meeting interesting people and making new blog friends. And so here goes....



I got up pretty late today...after last night's Euro QF (was hoping that Netherlands win but Russia played well; Arshavin was marvellous towards the end of the match.). Made some breakfast and then got hooked on to the net. Spent some good time reading blogs and articles. Listened to an interview with Dr. Chetan Sankar, Professor, Auburn University. He spoke about the life of an academician. It was quite interesting. Then, I resumed with my ISB essays. Yes, I am applying to ISB this year, round 1. However, I managed to squeeze out some time to watch the French GrandPrix. I was at home the whole day. Wanted to relax a bit and take time off for myself. And I did just that !