I just Beat The GMAT!

imsmartani wrote:Congratulations to all succesful candidates who got into Wharton/Harvard/Stan/kellog and other B Schools already. Sadly I need to write more essays and that means more introspection. Cheers to you guys hope I catch up with you in R-2. All the experts here. Please answer: As I have mentioned, I know gmat doesnt play a key role in the admission process and is just a part of everything. How much does the GMAT score matter once you are out of a business school ? For first recruits? In the future jobs? Or absolutely nothing?

Management consulting companies typically do ask you for gmat scores. Regarding the weightage given to GMAT scores, I am not sure... probably a current student at MBA college can advise on that. Best of luck with R2.

@imsmartani

thanks for sharing your experience ,profile and result. I am sorry you did not make it in wharton all the best for round 2.

It will be great if you could share ur interview experience.

Ya sure: WHARTON INTERVIEW:

My wharton interview was in Dubai. I could not book a slot in mumbai or new delhi. As expected it was all behavioral. It started with a normal chit chat with the interviewer. Then she asked me to walk me through my resume. Then she told me that we ll stick to the 30 mins time limit to be fair to all the candidates. Then after a few cliche questions why mba, career goals questions, she shifted the focus to my experiences. I dont remember the exact questions, but they revolved around a leadership experience, challenging experience as a leader, strengths I had gained through my sporting career, what would be challenging for me at wharton , what feedback did I get from the alumni I got to interact with (I had mentioned that in my essays), so even though they say it was a blind interview it didnt seem like. There was no grilling, very friendly, very much based on my profile & experiences.

ISB interview:
Panel of 3 conducted my interview. And this was a completely different experience from what I had at wharton. Though there wasnt any direct grilling. They went deeper and deeper in the application. Raised questions from my essays, reco letters, goals mentioned etc. After 15 mins of these questions, one guy asked me to take a pen n paper and told me he ll give me two business problems to solve. Then he asked me to calculate the target market size for the male grooming/service industry in India. (My experience is in our own business, which is in the beauty care industry). I had done my homework here but made everything sound very spontaneous. Next he asked me a couple of questions from the manufacturers side, retailers side etc. Our business is based in pune and i was entirely aware of our ecosystem. But he then asked me some derivative: He asked me ok Aniket, imagine that I m a wig manufacturer and i have lots of hair with me and lots of money with me, and all the machinery needed to manufacture the wigs. I am the only player in the market. Tell me how many wigs maximally can I deliver in four metro cities in India in a month. This was a crazy question and no one could answer it accusrately. I managed to give a very detailed, logical, systematic answer and then he was like okk good, great etc. He told me later that he wasnt really interested in my answer but was interested in how I got there.

SO my takeways for ISB interview:
1) Know your application cold. Except for recos, as you dont know whats in there.
2) Know in depth about your industry. Your competitors. Scope. Growth rate. Impact on other situations etc. Your industry means the industry in which you are working as well the industry in which you wish to go.
3) If you are good at mental math, no issues. They do check your analytical skills through guesstimates. Do not be afraid that your guess will go wrong, just give proper logic. How you reached that figure.
4) If they try to provoke you, just smile and say thats what i want to learn here, isnt it sir. They are good at every damn field. Trust me. Dont bluff, but dont hesitate to defend too.
5) Be confident, if you become nervous, your answers will get worse. If they try to dig in deeper, that means they like you and are trying yo test you under pressure.

All the best..

You mean, the interview is like GMAT: If the questions get harder, it indicates that you are on way to a high score.

hehe. Good one. Ya you can say that its adaptive. Although there is a slight difference. The GMAT even gives a few easy questions. These people will try and make you uncomfortable and see to fill the gaps in your applications. My advice to anyone who gets a call from ISB would be: Sit with your own application and try to question yourself on that. Cuz 300 words essays' make us leave a few gaps. Assume that you are reading an application of someone else and try to analyse what questions would be asked. And even though you prepare a lot, there would be some questions which require quick thinking. Dont think oh I havnt prepared for this question. The interview is supposed to be spontaneous, so the best way to prepare is to know what you have to definitely put through, some keys facts, some key strengths, your interaction with someone who has been an ISB alumni etc. Even though you try to put everything in your application, there remains a lot unsaid about you. Your qualities, your interests etc. My opening question itself was very tricky. I am a sportsman and have experience/career goals related to my family business. The guy started the interview saying, okk. Why dont you tell us something that is not there in your CV or in your essays. And I thought WTF. All the best parts I have managed to put through in my essays/sv. Hehe. Then I started the conversation by saying, ok sir, I ll tell you how my career as a sportsman progressed (right from how/when i started playing tt) and then I ll tell you how I have landed up here in front of you. Then as I knew my application cold, I knew what to put through, what not to put through as that ll just be repeating whats already there in the app.

so aniket whats up with ur apps process??
got any success with your ISB apps??

Also, your example has really given me a boost to my mba journey!!
i also strongly believe that although high GMAT score is one of the determinants of the entry in a Top notch B school, it's not the only one ( i have read somewhere, it only constitutes 25 % weightage in the whole admission process)

currently, i am also preparing to crack the test but on the whole I am banking on my profile, which is as follows :-

Ethnicity :- Indian
Age :- 30
Qualification :- Chartered Accountant
Work ex :- 8 years
Has set up ( greenfield projects) 2 medium sized manufacturing industries at my home place in allahabad.

will love to have your take on the above!!

Also, regarding the letter of recommendation, as an entrepreneur, of whom letters have you provided to ad-com??

@paraspapermills@hotmail
First of all so sorry for the late reply. I was out of town and then my post went further down and I could not check the questions posted. First of all regarding your profile!! unfortunately, I am no expert when it comes to evaluating your/anyone's profile. But it seems solid. Only things which I think you may have to work on would be your rationale to pursue and MBA at this point of time, as 30 is not viewed by many b schools as young. but if you can justify it well then its very good! also you being a CA tells them your intellectual horse power is solid! so dont stress too much on the GMAT! more the merrier! let me know if you wanna know anything else! for others.. I am eagerly waiting for the ISB final result!

Guys I got into ISB !! with a 680 !! so profile does indeed matter. And again how you portray yourself in the essays!!

imsmartani wrote:Guys I got into ISB !! with a 680 !! so profile does indeed matter. And again how you portray yourself in the essays!!

Congrats

Regards
Vinni

thanks vinni !!

imsmartani wrote:Guys I got into ISB !! with a 680 !! so profile does indeed matter. And again how you portray yourself in the essays!!

congrats on your admit..
once again proven " you become, what you believe to be"

congrats mate .. your interview tips are really cool