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How have the ISB Placements 2015 been? Which Top Companies visited? Which Industry Dominated?
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Achche din have certainly arrived at the ISB campus in 2015. For the Co2015, ISB reported interim placements figures that indicate a whopping jump of 77 percent over corresponding figures last year. This should bring glad tidings to those who are considering the school in the near future. While the number of offers per se is not a guarantee of substantially better placements, it does certainly indicate rising demand for ISB graduates. This will no doubt help the school in the rankings (ranked 33 this year in the FT ranking after being ranked 34 last year. ISB's best rank in the same ranking has been 12 in 2010), besides of course giving its graduates a wider spectrum of more post-MBA options.

ISB Placements 2015 : Consulting and Tech dominate

Hi GyanOne,

Please review my profile -

Engg - 2.65/4 CGPA (Non-IIT/NIT/BITS)(University of Mumbai)

After Engg -
1 year - Own start-up related to iOS App development and Web development
Start-up was co-founded by 4 class-mates (including me)
The stint ended after a year as the other 3 co-founders left for the States to pursue their MS, I on the other-hand wanted to pursue my MBA.

Please note - The start-up was a successful experience.

Post start-up work ex - 1.5 years and counting
Business Analyst at ZS Associates (Management Consulting)
My job involves sales and marketing consulting for clients across the Pharma (dominantly), financial, banking, insurance, etc. domanins

GMAT - 700

Questions -

1 - I know my CGPA is very low as per B-school standards. Thoughts regarding how to over-shadow it?
2 - Current GMAT is 700. Re-take? And what is the ideal score for my profile?
3 - I have a job offer currently from a pharmaceutical giant for a better package. They are offering me a better role with more job responsibilities and a promoted designation also. Considering I'll apply next year R-1, should I switch my job and gain an experience for a year and a half more or stay at my current job and get promoted? Major question I'm facing right now.


Thanks in advance !

Yash_rathi wrote:Hi GyanOne,

Please review my profile -

Engg - 2.65/4 CGPA (Non-IIT/NIT/BITS)(University of Mumbai)

After Engg -
1 year - Own start-up related to iOS App development and Web development
Start-up was co-founded by 4 class-mates (including me)
The stint ended after a year as the other 3 co-founders left for the States to pursue their MS, I on the other-hand wanted to pursue my MBA.

Please note - The start-up was a successful experience.

Post start-up work ex - 1.5 years and counting
Business Analyst at ZS Associates (Management Consulting)
My job involves sales and marketing consulting for clients across the Pharma (dominantly), financial, banking, insurance, etc. domanins

GMAT - 700

Questions -

1 - I know my CGPA is very low as per B-school standards. Thoughts regarding how to over-shadow it?
2 - Current GMAT is 700. Re-take? And what is the ideal score for my profile?
3 - I have a job offer currently from a pharmaceutical giant for a better package. They are offering me a better role with more job responsibilities and a promoted designation also. Considering I'll apply next year R-1, should I switch my job and gain an experience for a year and a half more or stay at my current job and get promoted? Major question I'm facing right now.


Thanks in advance !

Hi Yash,

Thanks for posting.

To begin with, your CGPA seems unusually low. Did you simply divide your percentage by 25 to arrive at it? If you did, that's not the right way. If we are not mistaken, that should put you around 66.5% for Mumbai University, which is decent performance given the university you belong to.

Overall, your profile seems fine. We understand the part about the start-up after the first year, but some more context around that is needed (for example, why did your co-founders leave if the startup was successful?). Still, the start-up experience will not drag you down. You will have about ~4.5 years of experience by the time you join, which is fine in terms of both quantity and quality given your experience with ZS now.

On your questions:
1. See our comment on your CGPA above. It might not be as low as you think it is.
2. You should retake if you feel you can raise your GMAT score significantly. Depending on the schools you are targeting, this may be ok. As an example, for ISB or say, Oxford Said, this will be fine. For schools like Duke or Darden, you might like to think in terms of a retake (Just taken some random examples to make the point. Not implying that you will be necessarily applying to these schools).
3. Switching your job will not be a problem from the point of view of quality of work experience. However, this will be the second move for you in just two years, and you might want to address that in your essays next year. In just 3.5 years (by the time you apply next year), you would have been part of a (closed) startup, been in two jobs, and would also have applied for an MBA. If the new role is decidedly better, move. Else, it is better to stay put and get promoted (from just an admissions point of view).

Hope this helps. Feel free to come back with more questions.

3. Switching your job will not be a problem from the point of view of quality of work experience. However, this will be the second move for you in just two years, and you might want to address that in your essays next year. In just 3.5 years (by the time you apply next year), you would have been part of a (closed) startup, been in two jobs, and would also have applied for an MBA. If the new role is decidedly better, move. Else, it is better to stay put and get promoted (from just an admissions point of view).

Does this mean that if the role is better, it is fine to switch? Provided I can justify my move to the other organization within a year and a half at ZS.

Also, won't ZS be a better work experience to show? (Consulting) vs. Pharma --> (Big dilemma I'm facing currently)

Overall, your profile seems fine. We understand the part about the start-up after the first year, but some more context around that is needed (for example, why did your co-founders leave if the startup was successful?). Still, the start-up experience will not drag you down. You will have about ~4.5 years of experience by the time you join, which is fine in terms of both quantity and quality given your experience with ZS now.

The other co-founders were preparing for GRE as well as working on the start-up. They intend to return to India and continue the start-up. They really wanted to do an MS as a post-grad is the new norm.

Any schools you would recommend looking at? (which are completely safe for me)
They need not be in the top 10, I'm open to all.


Thanks!

Hi Gyanone,

Any thoughts on the above post?

Thanks!

Does this mean that if the role is better, it is fine to switch? Provided I can justify my move to the other organization within a year and a half at ZS.

Also, won't ZS be a better work experience to show? (Consulting) vs. Pharma --> (Big dilemma I'm facing currently)

Yes, if the role is substantially better (more leadership opportunities, more global opportunities etc) it may be fine to switch. Not possible to comment without really comparing the two opportunities in more detail. There may be pros and cons on both sides. Unless you are sure that the new opportunity is substantially better on all fronts (salary doesnt count), stick with ZS.

The other co-founders were preparing for GRE as well as working on the start-up. They intend to return to India and continue the start-up. They really wanted to do an MS as a post-grad is the new norm.

That seems a bit shaky, really. Throws up additional questions. Still, this is not a major issue, given your ZS experience later, so fine.

Any schools you would recommend looking at? (which are completely safe for me)
They need not be in the top 10, I'm open to all.

Would suggest you retake and then come back with a revised score, as you are anyway planning to do that. Your apps are an year away, so you should start looking at schools later, once you have the revised score. Also, choosing safe schools is easy . What involves more effort is choosing the right schools that you would be enthusiastic about and that would be the right fit with your goals and admissions chances. We would welcome your further queries post your revised GMAT on this front.

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Hi,
Just came back from a GMAT exam with a disappointing 710 (Q49 V38). Would like some help in deciding the next steps.
Key questions I am looking help on are:
1. Whether to retake GMAT ? (I felt quite rushed in the test, maybe due to not enough test practice)
2. Is this score good enough to apply to my target schools (INSEAD, Duke, Darden, Tuck and Ross), given that I dont have the most solid CGPA (6.1/10)

Background information:
Indian Male, 28 yo, engineer.
Have been working in consulting (Data analytics) for the past 5 years, with the same firm. two promotions. 1 relocation to UK. Working out of London for the past 1 year and will mostly work out of US after Dec.

Have led multiple team since last 2.5 years. Was managing 3 separate engagements totally amounting to a total of million dollar revenue for my firm.

Have been an above average student till my undergrad where I did not do very well but have a couple of start up attempts to speak of.

Not much in extracurriculars since work is very hectic but founded clubs in my firm and university for activities pertaining to debates, book discussions, etc. National level debater at school.

Thanks