My MBA experience

College management is also helpful and supportive.

The course curriculum is well-structured and organized as it is a short span MBA of only 1 year. The professors at ISB are all of international fame and recognition (including visiting professors from renowned international schools such as Harvard, MIT, Emory, Stanford etc.). The exam and course structure is focused more on skills based lifelong learning. Several student run clubs also exist on campus that are organized into various sectors/industries such as consulting club, technology club, infra club etc. These clubs do organize company and industry visits for interested students.

ISB holds a 100% placement record. The placements usually take place over several days and a lot of companies visit on the same day. Hence it is very important for the students to prioritize beforehand which companies do they want to sit for first, depending on their interest areas and chances of getting in. ISB provides a lot of study material to prep students for the placement depending on industry interests such as case prep material for product management and consulting, interview guidelines, resume building workshops, practice interviews conducted by alums etc. Unfortunately, there are no internship opportunities provided by the school as it is a short duration program of only 1 year as opposed to the usual 2-year MBA programs offered by other business schools. However, ISB does provide an internship-like opportunity called an Experiential Learning Program.

A lot of events take place on campus and most of these are student run and externally sponsored. There are a lot of business events such as ISB Leadership Summit and Women in Leadership talks. Then there are social events such as Bandhan (community program for poor kids) and Aikya (adopt a family program). Last but not least there are a lot of cultural programs that take place on campus throughout the year. Renowned celebrities including but not limited to Karan Johar, Abhishek Bachan, Shashi Tharoor, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Mohit Chauhan, Regha Jha etc. have featured and participated in these events.

The fee structure is slightly expensive compared to other business schools in the country, although it is cheaper than any 2 year international MBA. There is full transparency on fee breakdown and several loan options are also provided by the college.

Yes, scholarship opportunities are available to students applying in Round 1 of the application. The candidate needs to write an essay on the need for scholarship. On average, 20-30% scholarship can be availed on the total fees.

The gender ratio is more or less balanced with 60% males and 40% females in my batch. ISB offers a great campus life with student village events and quad parties. Over 10% of the student population is comprised of international students, so there is also the diversity element to the college admissions. Further, the college offers student exchange programs wherein students can spend up to 2 semesters at any of the partner schools worldwide. In exchange, there are students from different international universities who come to ISB on exchange for a semester or two.

Very helpful seniors and vast alumni network. I have personally reached out to many ISB alums on LinkedIn and they have been extremely supportive and helpful.

I have 4 years of work experience and wanted to do an MBA for my personal and professional development. I wanted to further my career trajectory and make a move from data and analytics into management consulting, hence pursuing an MBA was the best possible way forward. To choose the best institution that can offer me a good MBA experience, I had to either write CAT (more relevant for Indian business schools such as IIMs, FMS, etc.) or GMAT (more for international focus schools such as ISB and US/UK b-schools). I had 4+ years of experience, so it made sense to write GMAT and do either an executive MBA or a full time MBA from ISB since it is the #1 ranked business school in India of international stature. The average GMAT score (general aptitude test) for ISB admission is 670 but it is safe to score 700+ marks. I got 720, and that's when I started preparing my application for ISB. They ask us to write a couple of essays describing why we want to join the college and why they should choose us over other candidates - this is the most important part of the written application. Once the candidate clears the written application stage (keep in mind that this is an elimination round), they receive a call to interview. The interview panel comprises of ISB alums and/or professors. The candidate is given admission if he/she clears the interview round.

As highlighted before, ISB has a world-class faculty, with outstanding resident faculty as well as visiting professors of international fame and recognition. Several visiting professors fly down from all over the world including US and Europe. The teaching method is very practical and implementation focused. Average age of faculty is 40 years and most of the professors are Ph.Ds, involved in several ongoing research projects. There are also research labs and departments on campus that have been established by resident faculty to promote research work.