Indian School of Business (ISB) Essay Topic Analysis 2011-2012
Today we’ll be taking a look at this season’s essay questions for the Indian School of Business. The application requires that this year’s candidates respond to three questions about their accomplishments and professional goals, as well as a topic of their choice. The narrow 300-word limit for each of these responses requires that applicants pack a good deal of information into a mere 900 words. Therefore, choosing strong topics and writing concisely for all three essays will be important in the ISB application.
Let’s take a closer look at each of the school’s essays:
Essay 1: Please detail your two most significant achievements. These could be either professional or personal but relevant to your application to the ISB. (300 words max)
New to the ISB application, this is a fairly straightforward question, but brevity will be key given the 300-word limit. Applicants should select two achievements to discuss – ideally ones in which they had a positive impact on a person, group or organization, as it would reflect well on applicants to say that they consider the achievements significant because they improved something for others. As always, it will be important to ground your comments in specific details and fully explain why these achievements were significant, both in terms of the results you produced and the lessons you learned. Note that the question does not limit you to the professional realm, so you may want to choose one professional and one personal achievement, thereby presenting a more rounded picture of your candidacy.
Essay 2: Where do you see yourself three years after you graduate from the ISB? (300 words max)
In a shift from last year’s question, though still a variation of the standard career goals/why MBA essay, ISB is asking applicants this season to focus solely on their short-term goals. ISB requests that applicants discuss their career plans in considerably fewer words than do many other b-schools; with so little room to work with, candidates should ensure that they clearly outline their immediate post-ISB plans. Although it’s important to stick to this narrow focus, it may be helpful for some candidates to also include information about their long-term goals, as well as how ISB will help them achieve all their future plans, as long as these elements are conveyed in a manner that clearly supports the discussion of one’s short-term goals.
Essay 3: Please provide additional information that will significantly affect the consideration of your application to the ISB. (300 words max)
This question provides candidates a chance to explore an important aspect of their candidacy not mentioned in their data forms, resume, or other responses. For applicants from oversubscribed groups in the applicant pool, this essay could offer a great opportunity to truly stand out from the crowd by sharing an interesting detail about their candidacy. The door is wide open to all manner of qualities, interests and skills from the professional, academic, extracurricular and personal realms, so take some time to reflect on what truly makes you unique. Whatever topic you select, it would be ideal to link this quality or fact to some element of your experience in the MBA program and/or future career. In addition, because ISB does not provide an optional essay, applicants may need to use this essay to address an extenuating circumstance or weakness, such as a gap in work or low GPA or GMAT.
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