ISB admit :)

I did it :) Got my dream admit, and now am a member of the ISB class of 2011...
5th March 2010 9:58 am will be etched into my memory for a long time. As, I was awaiting the ISB results for waitlists for the last 3-4 days (as the due date for the R2 selects to pay off their initial deposit was 27th feb), every no-number sms was getting my anxiety and nervousness to a new level. And, what a feeling it was when I read that message !!!

I had just got up 10 mins back and was still half asleep when I read it. For a moment, it was truly unbelievable. I was speechless, and just showed the message to my rommie gulti and hugged him. The next thing I did was opening the mail box and reading the below text:

"Congratulations! We are delighted to inform you that on the basis of a comprehensive and careful evaluation process, you have been offered admission into the ISB’s one year Post Graduate Programme in Management which commences on April 12, 2010.

We believe that your profile will add significant value to the diversity of backgrounds, outstanding talent and significant achievements represented by the students in our new class and also bring in a valuable perspective to our classroom discussions and international community."

Well, at the end of my MBA journey I would like to thank some folks without whom I would have never made this journey. First of all, my sis Charmie for helping me out with everything from reviewing my essays to interview preps. Being an MBA and a present generation entrepreneur, her experience was definitely worthwhile. Another important person in this journey would be Shubhra, my senior at Cisco who had made it to the ISB batch of 2010. She helped me right from the university selection to the interview process. Her timely help, in spite of the extremely busy schedule at ISB has been wonderful and really noteworthy. Abhishek Binani, my senior at college, and a long time LUG friend has been equally helpful. His help goes right to the days when I started considering an MBA from a global b-school. Being a MBA student at MBS, he was instrumental in providing me feedbacks for univ selection. His help in how to approach the essays and interview was more than needed. Suhas and Kavita from Jamboree were also more than helpful in the entire process with their inputs. In addition to the above mentioned ppl, a number of friends have helped me out including the resourceful PG forum and PGites.

In addition to all, I have to sincerely thank my present manager Raj and my ex-manager Murali for supporting me in my decision to go for a management education and helping me out with writing the recommendations.

ISB results out - Waitlist

ISB results finally came out on the 12th of this month, and they have put me on the waiting list. I was expecting results anytime from 10th as ISB had declared Round 1 results 5 days in advance. My productivity at work took a toll for those 2-3 days, and the wait was really killing me. Also PG thread for ISB aspirants was flooded with more anxious candidates like me. At 6 pm on 12th, Hofeza posted a mail on the bgl-isb aspirants alias that he got an admit. From that moment my heartbeat went up whenever my inbox saw a new mail. And I kept on refreshing PG, and read a no. of admit stories. My hopes were getting lower and lower and time was getting past. Finally at 6:45 I got an email about waitlist. I was filled with mixed emotions. I didn't understand whether I was happy or sad. To be honest, I was damn sad on missing out an admit, but after a few hours I started feeling ok about it, and felt that it is better than a reject.

So, to sum it up the wait has been extended by a further 3 weeks :(

But, the worst part of this wait is that ISB dosen't inform the waitlisted candidates about their respective waitlist ranks.

ISB Interview experience

After a depressing couple of months waiting for results, ISB interview call brought a cheer to the otherwise sad admission results. Results till now: Rejects from Harvard, Chicago and Yale. I got my interview call on 8th Jan and had my interview scheduled with ISB on the 16th of Jan. Couple of days went by searching for a business suit, and then I started to prepare a little. Special thanks to folks from PG bangalore subscribed to the google group bangalore-isb-aspirants-co-2011 to help me out with a mock session. Went to hyd a day before the interview, and started for the awesome ISB campus at around 11:30 (interview scheduled at 12)

I had my interview yesterday. It was more of a discussion. Trying to pen down the questions that I remember:
1. Why MBA with only 2 years and 7 months of work exp?
2. What value will you be able to add?
3. Your strenghts?
4. Questions about my leadership experiences and which leader do i look upto
5. Questions about work
6. About hobbies

In about 20 mins, I got the question do you have any queries for us, and I thought there was still a lot more to be said
Not sure what to make out of the interview. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Post interview I went to Microsoft campus, and then at the Xtreme sports bar for lunch.

Thanks to my friends Megh and Kushal for the hospitality at hyderabad. Overall the stay at hyd was great.