A 11 min read

Indian School of Business (ISB) is one of the most sought-after business schools in India. Consequently, the process of securing a place in this business school is also very competitive. ISB looks for crème de la crème while selecting its class. However, like any other business school, the Indian School of Business or ISB also tries to put together a diverse class of accomplished individuals. Hence, how would you convince the ISB Admissions Committee that you are an accomplished individual?

In this article, we lay down 8 steps to get into the Indian School of Business (ISB) in line with the ISB eligibility criteria for 2023. Also, it will help you gain insights on the questions- how to get into Indian school of Business?

Need help with GMAT Verbal Prep?

Is GMAT Verbal holding you back from your dream of getting into ISB? We can help. Our proven methods will help you achieve a V35+ score. Join the world’s most successful GMAT prep company for a free trial and start improving your verbal skills today.

How to get into Indian School of Business?

Here we’re listing all 8 steps on how to get into Indian School of Business:

1. Step 1 – Start Early
2. Step 2 – Do your research for ISB MBA admissions
3. Step 3 – Research student profiles of Indian School of Business (ISB)
4. Step 4 – Understand ISB’s admissions committee’s expectations
5. Step 5 – Attend ISB Admission Events
6. Step 6 – Prepare and ace the GMAT to get into ISB
7. Step 7 – Focus on Essays
8. Step 8 – Prepare well for the interview

Step 1 – Start Early

Starting early is the key to preparing yourself for the ISB admission process. Consider this a psychological hack, and you will feel less pressured as you will have ample time to prepare. Planning it in a methodical way will ensure that you do not miss important aspects of your application because of the time crunch. Having ample time will let you work on refining your application as many times as possible without feeling pressured for time.

Step 1 Takeaway

Starting early, starting strong!!

Step 2 – Do your research for ISB MBA admissions

A high GMAT score can set you apart from the competition and help you get an admit at your dream business school. Start your GMAT Preparation with the most reviewed online GMAT prep company. Try out our FREE Trial Today!

When it comes to research there are 2 aspects to it:

1. Researching ISB’s class profile and admission requirements
2. Introspection to identify gaps in your profile

ISB Eligibility for Admissions

To get into Indian School of Business (ISB) PGP applicant for the Class of 2023, you should have:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in any discipline
• Valid GMAT / GRE score
• At least 24 months of full-time work experience
• TOEFL / IELTS / PTE score (only if the language of instruction at undergraduate study level is not English)

Early Entry Option (PGP deferred) – ISB
To be eligible for the Early Entry Option for a deferred admission, you will need to have:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in any discipline
• Valid GMAT / GRE score
• Less than 24 months of full-time work experience
• TOEFL / IELTS / PTE score (only if the language of instruction at undergraduate study level is not English)

YLP (PGP deferred) – ISB

To be eligible for the Young Leaders Program for a deferred admission, you will need to have:

• Be in final/pre-final year of your undergrduate/ post- graduate degree program
• Have no full-time work experience
• TOEFL / IELTS / PTE score (only if the language of instruction at undergraduate study level is not English)

Read our article on the complete admissions guide for the ISB YLP entry option

Read our article on what makes you eligible for the GMAT

Researching ISB’s class profile

Go to the ISB class of 2023 profile webpage and take a look at how the class is constituted. For your convenience, we have put the data in the below table.

ISB Class of 2023 Profile	Stats
Enrolled	843
Gender
Female	37%
Male	63%
Age (in Years)
22 to 26 years	41%
26 to 30 years	48%
Above 30 years	11%
GMAT Score
Range (Mid 80%)	690 – 760
Median	710
Work Experience (in Years)
upto 3 years	211
3 to 5 years	358
5 to 8 years	224
Above 8 years	50
Academic background
Engineers	57%
Non-Engineers	43%

If you are planning to take the GMAT, we can give you access to quality online content to prepare. We are the most reviewed GMAT prep company on gmatclub with more than 2500+ reviews and have delivered 10x 700+ scores than the average GMATClub partner. Why don’t you take a free trial and judge it for yourself? Write to us at acethegmat@e-gmat.com in case of any queries.

This table will give you an idea about the uniqueness of your profile. For instance, ISB’s 2022 class will give you a clear picture about:

• The average age of the class
• Gender ratio
• Good GMAT score for ISB
• A good work experience you should accumulate
• The uniqueness of your academic background

Most importantly, this class profile represents the actual expectations of the ISB Admissions Committee. All selected applicants did fulfill the expectations of the ISB admission officers. But knowing the class composition of ISB is just scratching the surface when it comes to research. Proper research would require more digging, which brings us to the next step.

Are you an Indian engineer, planning to join ISB? Here are ISB application tips for you:

If other top business schools are also on your list, here are two articles on how to get into Harvard Business School and Stanford GSB

Step 3 – Research student profiles of Indian School of Business (ISB)

When it comes to ISB it really gives you access to information about their students. ISB has a webpage called ‘Connect with an ISB PGP Brand Ambassador.’ This page lets you connect with students who match your profile so that you can get genuine advice from someone who was in a similar situation last year. Hence, connecting on LinkedIn is not the only option.

For example, if you have been working in consulting for less than 5 years, you can refine your search and find current students matching that profile. You can then connect with them and get first-hand advice.

Below screenshot has been taken from the ISB website.

Step 4 – Understand ISB’s admissions committee’s expectations

Once you have thoroughly understood the class composition of ISB and connected with few students with similar profiles as yours, you’ll have ample insights into the dos and don’ts of impressing the Admission Officers. Now, the next step is getting answers from the ISB Admissions Officers directly.

If you are planning to take the GMAT, we can give you access to quality online content to prepare. We are the most reviewed GMAT prep company on gmatclub with more than 2500+ reviews and have delivered 10x 700+ scores than the average GMATClub partner. Why don’t you take a free trial and judge it for yourself? Write to us at acethegmat@e-gmat.com in case of any queries.

Firstly, take a look at the official selection criteria of ISB. ISB looks for 3 things

1. Academic credentials
2. Leadership Potential
3. Personal Attributes

Academic credentials

They include the grades you earned for senior secondary school, Bachelor’s degree, post-graduation degree (if any), and certification courses (if any) along with GMAT scores.

Leadership potential

ISB like every top business school aims to groom future leaders. What they need to see is the potential in you. Let me give you an example of Stanford MBA’s definition on the topic. It says, “Past actions usually are the best predictor of future behavior.” Therefore, it looks for examples of leadership qualities in your personal or professional life. Your resume and letters of recommendation are the best indicators of leadership potential.

Personal Attributes

Apart from how well you have done in the professional arena, ISB wants to know what makes you ‘tick’. Who are you when you are not working? What perspectives do you have about the world? The purpose is to know you personally and decide the uniqueness of your perspectives.

So, what do these 3 expectations of ISB actually mean? The best people to answer these are the admissions officers themselves. The best way to have a conversation with them is to attend the information sessions conducted by ISB.

Step 5 – Attend ISB Admission Events | How to get into Indian school of Business

ISB is conducting regional digital info sessions. You can register for the same by clicking on the link provided here.

Here is a list of admissions events of top business schools across the world.

Once you know what the MBA gatekeepers of ISB expect, you are now ready to assess yourself and accordingly fill the gaps in your profile.

Step 6 – Prepare and ace the GMAT to get into ISB

At this point, there will be changeable and unchangeable aspects of your application. It is really important to focus on changeable factors. Taking the GMAT is one of them. From the class profile, you know that the average GMAT score of ISB’s class is 713. As a rule of thumb, a good GMAT score is at least 20 points more than the average. Therefore, a score of 730 and above would be a good score for ISB. However, identifying a good GMAT score also depends on your overall profile.

Step 7 – Focus on Essays

Once you have aced the GMAT and understood the gaps in your application, it’s time to prepare your essays. Essays are the best way to convey who you are, what you have accomplished, where you want to be in the future, and how ISB will help you accomplish your career goals.

For this year’s admission there are 2 essays that you have to write:

Indian School of Business (ISB) PGP essay topics for 2023

ISB Essay 1: Peer Learning is a major building block of PGP at ISB. Help us in understanding how will you be able to add value to the PGP peer group through your personal and professional qualities/capabilities?  (400 words max)

To get the most out of this essay, introspection is important. Connect the dots of what major learnings you have had in your life and explain the best stories to the Admissions Committee. Make sure you do not exceed the word limit.

Here is an article on expert analysis from an ex-ISB admissions officer of ISB essays for 2023 intake.

ISB Essay 2: What are your short-term and long-term career goals? How will Post Graduate Program at ISB assist you in achieving your goals? (400 words max)

Take a free GMAT mock to understand your baseline score and start your GMAT prep with our free trial. We are the most reviewed online GMAT Prep company with 2500+ reviews on GMATClub

In short, this essay means, ‘Why ISB?’ The low word limit makes this essay quite challenging. What you need to explain to the admissions committee here are your career goals and how management education from ISB will help you achieve them. So, make sure that achieving the career goals you highlight must require business education. Take a look at this article which highlights how to write an essay highlighting your career goals.

Essay for reapplicants:

ISB has re-introduced an essay for re-applicants. If you are re-applying to ISB, you’ll need to focus on how your profile has improved since applying to ISB the last time. You can highlight the experiences which made you a stronger candidate this year. Since the theme for the first essay is ‘diversity’, you can highlight this aspect in your essay.

ISB states the following for reapplicants:

• The admissions committee reviews each application on the basis of its merits. The fact that this is your second attempt does not affect its perspective.
• Include everything in the application that you have learned in the last year as it will help ISB evaluate you better.
• Update all the mandatory information required for the re-application especially with regard to the academic transcripts, essays, reference letters, and work history.
• The admission decision will be made based on the current application.
• You may opt for a recommendation from a different referee as it might bring out different qualities or traits of your personality.
• In case your GMAT//TOEFL/IELTS score is no longer valid, you should retake the test and send ISB your latest results.

Step 8 – Prepare well for the interview | how to get into Indian school of business

Received the interview call? You’re one step closer to your goal. This means that ISB already sees potential in you. All they want now is to assure themselves that you are a worthy candidate by having a conversation with you. ‘Interview’ is the common word used for this conversation. It goes without saying that be authentic during the interview. Authenticity and preparation will give you confidence.

Watch this video where ex-ISB admissions officer shares tips to crack the ISB interview in 2023:

Here are 10 tips to ace your ISB PGP interview:

1. Research ISB’s history and milestones, academic achievements, recent initiatives, alumni, clubs and possibly what you plan to contribute. This will show your keenness and preparation level
2. Be prepared about questions on projects you undertook in your last job. If you coordinated the project then how did you manage all the people and information? Were there any conflicts? How did you resolve them? You should at least know one project inside out.
3. Be authentic.
4. An interview is a two-way communication. Be prepared with relevant and intelligent questions.
5. Interviews follow “Murphy’s law.” Be prepared that the interview will not go the way you expected it in your head. The best way to handle uncertainty is to give and record mock interviews.
6. Keep your answers crisp. This will show that you are resourceful and good at communication. If you can convey some information in less time then you are saving the most important resource i.e. time.
7. Use humor in your interviews. It’s good to know a joke or two, but only if you can pull it off.
8. If your hobbies/ interests come up during the interview, be sure to know some trivia on the topics.
9. Listen to the questions carefully, gather your thoughts and then answer. In case you don’t understand the question completely, don’t hesitate to ask for more information.
10. And lastly, don’t panic.

Congratulations!! You made it to the Indian School of Business (ISB)

I am sure you would want a similar communication from the admissions committee of ISB.

Therefore, to get into the Indian School of Business (ISB) make sure that you:

• Start early and start strong
• Do thorough research on ISB’s class profile
• Connect with a few ISB PGP ambassadors
• Understand ISB’s admissions committee’s expectations
• Attend ISB’s admission events
• Prepare and ace the GMAT
• Write a killer essay
• Prepare well for the interview

If you are planning to take the GMAT, we can give you access to quality online content to prepare. We are the most reviewed GMAT prep company on gmatclub with more than 2500+ reviews and have delivered 10x 700+ scores than the average GMATClub partner. Why don’t you take a free trial and judge it for yourself? Write to us at acethegmat@e-gmat.com in case of any queries.

How to get into ISB – FAQs