ISB (Indian School of Business)

After your graduation, you’ve decided to pursue an MBA. You are already in this imaginary cabin with beautiful interiors, your MBA degree on the wall and a message on your phone that notifies you that your six-figure salary has just been credited to your bank account. Looks perfect, right? But to make your dream come true, a lot of effort has to be made! The very first step to building a successful career in the field of Business is to research and garner information about a B-school that would identify and tap your potential, help in skill development, and shape you into an eminent business personality. Indian School of Business (ISB) is one such B-school that has produced some of the well-known business tycoons who are now CEOs, CFOs, and COOs of top companies like WhatsApp, Flipkart, and Viacom. If you are someone who aspires to get into one of India’s top Management colleges, then this article is for you!

Time to Shine

Ranked 24th on the chart of the Financial Times Global MBA 2019, ISB is known for its Management courses, award-winning faculties, and great placement offers. The school was started by Rajat Gupta and Anil Kumar, who directed teams of McKinsey consultants, in the year 1996. Soon enough, national and international players joined ISB’s Executive board and formal partnerships with The Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) and Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University)were established. This helped in uplifting the standard of education at ISB and within no years, the business school was among the top-rated institutes in India with its functional campus in Hyderabad.

The Governing Board at ISB

Today, the administration of ISB consists of the Dean’s Council, along with its Executive and Governing boards. With some globally known names on the panel such as Anil Ambani, Rahul Bajaj, Purnendu Chatterjee, Laxmi Mittal, Sunil Bharti Mittal and more, ISB receives active participation from its administration in policy making and coordination of the school’s overall activities. You can check out the complete list of governing bodies of ISB.

ISB Campuses: Hyderabad vs Mohali

Indian School of Business follows the “One School, Two Campuses” vision. Its campuses, which are situated in Hyderabad and Mohali, are equipped with some of the finest facilities, bringing world-class education to classrooms. When we discuss ISB Hyderabad vs ISB Mohali, then there is one point that differentiates the two. While ISB Hyderabad has 600 seats, ISB Mohali has 288 seats, except for which, everything is common between these campuses.

The curriculum of both the ISBs runs parallel and undergoes up-gradation each year to be at par with top B-schools. Along with this, both campuses have the best professors of the teaching fraternity and have the same visiting faculty from some of the top universities like Yale University, Wharton, Rochester, Duke University and more. Since placements are conducted at any one of the campuses, students of the other campus have to fly down for the interviews. ISB makes sure that recruitments are purely based on the merit of the student. All the students of ISB have an option to exchange their campus if they can’t find any particular elective at their respective campus.

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Offered Courses at ISB

Apart from its flagship program PGP in Management, ISB has introduced a couple of Executive MBA programs for experienced professionals. Furthermore, it also offers a five-year doctoral-equivalent Programme (FPM) along with a master’s level course for the ones who want to gain the knowledge to move their family business further. Available in the form of long, short, and massive open online courses(MOOCs), here is a list of some of the programs offered at the coveted school:

Post Graduation Program in Management (PGPM)

ISB’s PGP, which runs for a period of 1 year is a very well-designed course that gives a 360-degree learning experience to every student. Due to its world-class faculty, exceptional placement opportunities, international student exchange network, alumni connections and infrastructure, ISB attracts thousands of applicants each year to the program. PGPM students need to have a work experience of more than two years. However, it also allows applicants to secure a deferred admission to ISB via the Early Entry Option and ISB Young Leadership Program (ISB YLP).

Post Graduation Program for Professionals (PGPpro)

The ISB PGP Pro is one of the famous executive MBA programs equivalents that is specifically designed for professionals with 5-12 years of working experience. It brings world-class education at the convenience of weekend sessions, which is an amalgam of classroom and online learning. PGPpro starts with online preparatory courses sourced from Harvard Business School Publishing and consists of a 16-month programme with seven modules. The classes for PGPpro are offered in Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. It is a great opportunity for working professionals who do not have the option to take a break in the middle of their careers.

Post Graduation Program for Senior Executives (PGPMAX)

PGPMAX by the Indian School of Business is a postgraduate program designed for experienced professionals, senior executives, and entrepreneurs who have work experience of 10-25 years in total. The executive MBA equivalent program runs for 15 months to prepare individuals with higher career aspirations to become global leaders. What makes ISB PGPMAX a hit is the blend of academic and experiential learning facilitated by senior faculty members with rich teaching and industry experience. Moreover, the diverse classrooms consist of Directors, Business Heads, and Business Owners that add to the individual learning.

Post Graduate Program in Management for Family Business (PGP MFAB)

Inheriting your family business while the market is changing rapidly can become pretty challenging. ISB offers a Post Graduate Program in Management for Family Business, which is uniquely crafted for individuals who want to push their family business forward. The compressive general management course focuses on how to sustain the business while adding to its standardized growth. Running for 15 months, the course transitions students to become future entrepreneurs who have a sound knowledge of national and international markets.

Advanced Management Program in Business Analytics (AMPBA)

Another unique course offered by the Indian School of Management, the AMPBA program is an amalgamation of online and classroom-aided different learning methods. To develop business acumen, the program imparts knowledge in Business Analytics, FinTech, Media and Healthcare Analytics, Big Data Management, Machine Learning, Forecasting Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, etc. For a period of 1 year the students will be required to attend 5-day classes every alternative month. When there will be no class-based lectures, the curriculum will be taught through a technology-based learning platform.

Apart from the abovementioned programs, enlisted are the other courses offered by ISB at its campuses:

• Executive Fellow Programme in Management (EFPM)
• Fellow Programme in Management (FPM)
• Advanced Management Programme for Healthcare (AMPH)
• Advanced Management Programme for Infrastructure (AMPI)
• Advanced Management Programme for Manufacturing and Operations (AMPMO)
• Advanced Management Programme for Public Policy (AMPPP)

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Available Resources at ISB

Indian School of Business believes in each candidate’s potential to become a future entrepreneur if they have the right exposure and opportunity. Today, ISB is India’s largest educational hub because it brings a plethora of opportunities to aid students in their overall development and works on building and enhancing career skills.

Class Structure

ISB’s classrooms are foremost in exposing students to the diversity that prevails in India. Students from different cultural and industrial backgrounds come together under one roof and learn from their peers’ experiences. This brings numerous networking opportunities and adds to their learning experiences. ISB makes sure that each campus has similar crowd quality by taking their GMAT scores, work experience, etc. into account while allotting them a campus.

Faculty

ISB is globally known to have the best faculty from leading international business schools. The institute has professors like W. Bruce Allen from The Wharton School, Sunil Chopra from Kellogg School of Management, Aradhna Krishna from the University of Michigan, Anjani Jain from Yale and many more prominent professors as a part of ISB’s teaching faculty. Some globally known professors like Robert Stine, Jay Anand, Prakash Kale, Sarang Deo, etc have been awarded for their research and experiences, and are also a part of ISB’s teaching faculty. With this, the visiting faculty adds to the vibrancy by introducing students to the latest practices and research going around the world.

Affiliations

Indian School of Business is affiliated to Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Kellogg School of Management through its formal partnerships in place. Along with this, MIT Sloan, which is affiliated with The Punj Lloyd Institute, assists ISB in designing its curriculum and making changes in the existing format which enhances ISB’s standard of education and helps the institute to be one of the top B-schools. Furthermore, through its academic and industry associations, ISB has established strong links with other prestigious institutions. This helps students in leveraging the opportunity of gaining expert advice for academic and professional needs.

Student Exchange Network

The well-known ISB’s International Student Exchange Network helps students dwell in the international culture as it opens doors to outdoor learning through its partnerships. It is not only a medium to gain a holistic and global view but, it widens their perspective which in turn helps students to understand the dynamics of management in other economies. While students from some top B-schools like ESADE, Melbourne, Wharton, etc are being invited to spend time on ISB campus, ISB students, in turn, visit the campuses of these partner schools. This cross-cultural interaction mutually benefits and brings a multitude of networking opportunities for ISB students.

Placements

Currently, ISB is India’s most famous school for pursuing an MBA and it is truly escalating the lives of students through their on-campus placements. Recruiters from Aditya Birla Group, Amazon, Apple, Deloitte, Future Group, Google, Infosys, KPMG, Microsoft and 375 such companies regularly hire students from ISB campus. Interestingly, these global companies offer attractive packages to reward young talents. In the year 2018, the average package offered to an ISB candidate was of INR 22, 14,684 per annum. Indian School of Business gives the perfect opportunity to each of its students to turn their dreams into reality by working at one of the top corporate houses of the world.

Alumni Connect

Indian School of Business actively receives participation from its Alumni network. Some of the graduates of ISB have landed in C-Level positions at top firms and continue to guide students even after their MBA. Some of the notable alumni of ISB like, Ajith Andhare (COO, Viacom), Neeraj Arora (VP Business Development, Whatsapp), Viren Rasquinha (CEO, Olympic Gold Quest), Ankur Warikoo (Founder & CEO, Nearbuy), Alok Goel (former CEO of FreeCharge and Partner at SAIF partners), and more have actively contributed to the growth of ISB by bringing in placement opportunities for students.

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What does ISB look for in an Applicant?

There are no set parameters on which ISB judges its applicants. However, some of the traits of applicants that help ISB evaluate the potential of its candidates are:

• Their leadership skills
• Academic and Extra-Curricular Achievements.
• Ability to express thoughts clearly
• Presentation and Communication Skills
• Multi-Tasking, ability to handle pressure, etc.

From the applicant’s high school scores to his performance during graduation, everything is taken into consideration by the school. Along with this, ISB also takes the GMAT scores into account before short-listing a candidate. Being one of the leading GMAT-accepting colleges in India, the GMAT scores of the current batch range between 600-780. ISB also takes a keen interest in profiles that have exceptional extra-curricular achievements as it values the overall growth of each individual.

Since ISB believes in their idea of producing future entrepreneurs, they evaluate the applicants based on their essays and recommendation letters (LOR), where their abilities and goals are mentioned. Students need to identify their strengths and write a convincing essay that shall prove their inclination towards the program for which they can also ask one of the Leverage Eduexperts for help!

Procedure to Apply for PGP at ISB

The procedure to apply for a PGP program is mentioned below.

• In order to apply for a PGP program at ISB, students need to download the application form which is available on ISB’s official website.
• Once students fill in their personal details, scores etc, they can attach a copy of their updated resume, academic records, and professional degrees, letters of recommendation, income proof, essays, and GMAT and TOFEL/IELTS scores, if applicable and submit the application online.
• Students must make sure they adhere to the given deadline to avoid missing the opportunity.

What are the fees of ISB?

While ISB eliminates the cost of opportunity for its Indian candidates, one would still need their finances in place to support their education. The admission fee remains non-refundable once the offer is accepted by the candidate.

• The annual fee for ISB’s flagship program PGP in Management ranges between INR 35,00,000 – INR 38,00,000.00 plus GST for the academic year 2023-24.
• The variation in fees is based on the type of accommodation you choose.
• Applicants have the option to pay the fee in one go, or in four instalments.
• A security deposit of INR 20,000 is paid in addition to the programme fee, which is later refunded after deducting dues payable to the school if any.

Scholarships Offered

Now that you’re roughly familiar with the fee structure of different programs, you might be wondering if ISB offers scholarships based on merit. Well, yes! To our relief, they have up to 125 scholarships under different categories listed by the school. All students are entitled to apply for scholarships that are awarded to exceptional applicants with limited financial resources.

• Generally given during admission, or after enrolment at the discretion of AdCom or the corporate donor, these can be of great help as they can waive up to 50% of a student’s tuition fee.
• The nature of these scholarships can be merit-based or need-based or any other category listed by the school.
• You can figure out how to apply for a scholarship at ISB by asking an expert who would help you choose the right scholarship program from the list given by the ISB.

FAQs

ISB has turned the lives of countless students by providing them with a platform to gain a world-class education and the right opportunities to become future leaders. Today, ISB brings in great opportunities for students like no other institute through its global network. To gain a wider perspective of ISB, one can connect with experts who are ISB graduates through Leverage Edu for free. With all the necessary elements that are taught at ISB to become future leaders, the institute leaves no stone unturned!