Indian School of Business

FAQ

What is the tuition for ISB’s MBA program?

The tuition for ISB’s MBA program is 24,54,000 INR (US$32,643).

What is the average GMAT score for admission to ISB’s PGP program?

ISB did not publish the average GMAT score for their most recent class. But the average GMAT score for the Class of 2019 at ISB was 709 and the average has hovered around 710 for several years.

Does the ISB MBA program accept the GRE?

Yes. The ISB MBA program has accepted the GRE for a few years now.

What is the minimum number of years of work experience required for admission to ISB’s MBA program?

ISB requires a minimum of 2 years of work experience. However, it is important for candidates to be aware that they are being considered against other candidates with an average of 4.3 years of experience.

What is the average number of years of work experience for admission to ISB’s MBA program? (or, What is the average age of a ISB MBA student?)

The average number of years of work experience among students in ISB's MBA program is 4.3. The average age of an ISB student is around 27 years old.

What is the average starting salary for graduates of the ISB MBA program?

The average starting salary for ISB MBA graduates is 22,04,449 INR.

How long is ISB’s full-time MBA program?

ISB offers a 1 year MBA program.

What are the application deadlines for ISB's MBA program?

The Round 2 MBA application deadline is January 10, 2021.

VIDEOS

Admissions

The Class Profile

The ISB Class of 2021 has 690 students between the Hyderabad and Mohali campuses.  Similar to previous years, the class was 60% male and 40% female and the mean age of the Class of 2021 was around 27 at the time of matriculation.  Seventy-three percent of students matriculated with between two to five years of work experience, and 27% had worked for over five years. Sixty-four percent of entrants were previously engineers.

Application Procedures

To submit a complete application to ISB, applicants must fill out its online data form, respond to an essay, report their GMAT or GRE score, submit their undergraduate transcripts and provide the name of a recommender.  ISB prefers applicants to have at least two years of full-time experience to be considered for the PGP, and highly qualified candidates with less experience may be eligible for deferred admission.  Applicants must also pay an application fee that ranges from INR 5,000 to INR 10,000.  ISB has two cycles, or rounds, of admission for Indian passport holders occurring in mid-September and early January.  International applicants are evaluated on a rolling basis, with decisions going out within six weeks after receipt of all materials.

Application Checklist

• Online Application
• Application Fee
• Passport Size Color Photo
• Passport Copy
• Academic Mark Sheets & Certificates
• Work experience
• One Recommendation
• GMAT/GRE, TOEFL/IELTS Scores
• Interview

Interview Reports

ISB Interview Questions & Report: Round 2 / Alumni / Zoom

Hello! I was interviewed by 3 interviewers (1 alumnus (2006) and 2 alumnae (2014 and 2018)). The interview happened over Zoom and it was very conversational and stress-free. Questions: 1. Tell us about yourself. 2. Goals? What motivates them? 3. Are you sure ISB will help you achieve your goals? 4. Give an example of […]

Indian School of Business Interview Report: Round 2 / Alumnus / Off-Campus

The following Indian School of Business interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Round 2 applicant. Good luck to them! I interviewed in February in ITC Sheraton, Delhi. The interview results were announced just 4 days before, so we had very less time to prepare. I interviewed with 2 alumni from the school. The interview started […]

Indian School of Business Interview Report: Cycle 2 / Panel / Off-Campus

The following Indian School of Business interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Cycle 2 applicant. Good luck to them! Three member panel…consisting of one member from their ad-com, one alumnus and one alumna. The interview lasted 35 minutes and was conducted at the ITC Hotel in Mumbai. The panel had access to my application. […]

Indian School of Business MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 1 / Adcom / On-Campus

My interview went well. Many questions were asked, but a few that I remember were: 1. Why I chose to apply to the school? 2. What I look forward to achieve through attending? 3. Where do I see myself in 4 years? The interview went pretty much as I expected. I had done my research […]

Indian School of Business MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Alumnus / Off-Campus

The following Indian School of Business MBA admissions interview report was submitted to Clear Admit by a Cycle 2 applicant. Good luck to them! The questions asked in my ISB interview were simple: – Why ISB? – Career goals? – How do I spend my leisure time? (This was basically checking how I manage my time when […]

Indian School of Business MBA Admissions Interview Questions: Round 2 / Alumnus / On-Campus

The interview was conducted by 3 alums of ISB. Most of the questions were asked by the two men. The lady asked one question towards the end of the interview. The interview panel was fairly conversational and made sure to make me comfortable during the interview. These were the questions asked by the interview panel. […]

Isb Q&As

Admissions Director Q&A: Dibyendu Bose of the Indian School of Business

Located in Hyderabad, India, one of the larger urban areas in India, and in Mohali, India, the Indian School of Business offers an accelerated, one-year Post-Graduate Program in Management (PGP).  An ISB alumnus and MIT Sloan Fellow, Dibyendu Bose is the Director of Admissions & Financial Aid (AFA) at ISB. He also heads the Office […]

Admissions Director Q&A: Dibyendu Bose of the Indian School of Business

For this edition of our Admissions Director Q&A series, we hear from the Indian School of Business (ISB).  An ISB alumnus and MIT Sloan Fellow, Dibyendu Bose is currently the Director of Admissions & Financial Aid (AFA) at ISB. He also heads the Office of Alumni Engagement and works closely with Dean Rajendra Srivastava in […]

Admissions Director Q&A: Rupesh Bisht of the Indian School of Business

Moving right along in our Q&A Series, we turn this week to India, specifically the Indian School of Business (ISB). With campuses in Hyderabad and Mohali, ISB features an accelerated one-year Post Graduate Program (PGP) in Management, as well as a PGP for Senior Executives, a Fellow Program, a Management Program for Family Business and […]

Isb LiveWire and DecisionWire

Academics

Faculty

ISB has a full-time resident faculty of over 60 professionals.  In addition to its resident faculty, the school hosts over 200 visiting faculty throughout the year who are often affiliated with other MBA programs, such as Wharton, Kellogg and Sloan.  ISB also features a Media Hub and six Centres of Excellence, which support research on areas ranging from analytical finance to entrepreneurship development.

Curriculum

ISB faculty members utilize a variety of teaching methods including seminars, simulations, and case studies.  The PGP is broken into eight terms of approximately five weeks each.  Pre-term and orientation activities, which are social and recreational in nature, commence in early June.  Classes began virtually in mid-June in a 10-week program called Digital Head Start Module, developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On-campus courses commence in September, and students graduate at the end of May the following year.

During their first four terms, students take a series of core courses.  These courses are designed to give students a solid foundation in business principles including finance, marketing, strategy, operations, and IT management.  The fourth core term crosses over with electives, as students can begin to direct their studies by choosing from about 80 electives for the remaining terms.  By selecting specific combinations of courses, students can create specializations for themselves.

To further prepare its students for reentry into the workforce, ISB offers the Experiential Learning Programme (ELP).  The ELP gives students the opportunity to work with established businesses on a range of issues they are facing, which may include matters of market positioning, new product development, creating growth strategies, and talent management.  This for-credit experience allows students to work in teams of three to four and gain insight into real-life business considerations and present recommendations to the businesses with which they have been matched.  Moreover, many companies view this program as a pre-recruitment exercise.

ISB also maintains over 50 exchange partnerships with other business schools in the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Other MBA Degree Options

In addition to its one-year PGP, ISB offers a 15-month Post Graduate Program in Management for Senior Executives targeted at applicants with at least 10, and preferably 15 or more, years of work experience.  In Summer 2016, ISB announced the launch of a Post Graduate Program for Working Professionals, called a PGPpro. The PGPpro is an 18-month Weekend Executive MBA offered in Delhi or Hyderabad on alternating weekends.  The school also offers the fully funded Fellow Program in Management, which is designed to foster the potential of innovative academic researchers so that they can later secure faculty positions at leading international business schools.  Finally, ISB maintains a Management Program for Family Business, which is a 15-month program tailored to students who will become leaders of their family businesses. In addition, ISB offers various advanced management and executive education programs.

Recent college graduates with less than two years of work experience hoping to attend ISB in the near future have the option to apply for the Early Entry Option. Students accepted through the Early Entry Option are granted advanced admission to ISB’s PGP upon completing two years of professional work experience prior to matriculation.

Degree Offerings at ISB

Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP)
One-Year
https://www.isb.edu/en/study-isb/post-graduate-programmes/pgp-management.html

Post Graduate Programme in Management for Working Professionals (PGPpro)
https://www.isb.edu/en/study-isb/post-graduate-programmes/pgppro.html

Post Graduate Programme in Management for Senior Executives (PGPMAX)
https://www.isb.edu/en/study-isb/post-graduate-programmes/pgpmax.html

Management Programme for Family Business
https://www.isb.edu/en/study-isb/post-graduate-programmes/pgpmfab.html

Campus Life

Clubs, Conferences & Competitions

ISB has nearly 25 clubs that it divides into three categories: social, professional and special interest, all of which are overseen by the elected members of the Graduate Student Board.  ISB’s social clubs include an Arts & Creativity Club, Dance Club and Quiz Club, among others, through which students get to know their peers outside of an academic context.  Professional clubs, meanwhile, give students the opportunity to bond over shared career interests.  Students can also participate in ISB’s 15 professional clubs, such as the Consulting Club, Finance Club and Marketing Club.

Professional clubs further enhance the campus community by organizing a number of events throughout the academic year.  These events vary from ongoing workshops to lecture series and “conclaves.”  For example, the Consulting Club organizes résumé reviews as well as Speaker Sessions, which cover all areas of consulting.  Meanwhile the Finance Club organizes the Annual Finance Conclave in October that brings together interested members of the student body and current finance practitioners for speakers and panels on relevant topics.  In addition to attending conferences and lectures, ISB students also compete in a number of competitions each year, including the Novartis BioCamp, PepsiCo Challenge and HILTI-ISB Case Study Competition.

Campus Spaces

ISB’s primary campus is spread across 260 acres of land in northwest Hyderabad. Facilities on the Hyderabad campus include a central academic building—called the Academic Centre—that houses the school’s main library, lecture theaters, faculty offices, the Learning Resource Centre and a 500-seat auditorium.  In addition to its main academic building, ISB provides housing for its students in four student villages.  Students also have access to the Recreation Centre, which includes a swimming pool, fitness center, and various sport courts.

The Mohali campus in northern India, operational as of April 2012, offers facilities similar to those on the original Hyderabad campus.  Designed to meet LEED Gold sustainability criteria, ISB’s Mohali campus spans more than 70 acres and hosts four new institutes focused on healthcare, global manufacturing, public policy and infrastructure management.

MBA Careers

PGP Career Services

ISB’s Career Advancement Services (CAS) seeks to help its students further their career goals.  To assist students in their employment search, the CAS offers career counseling, skills workshops, résumé critique, interview practice, and additional support targeted at bolstering selected soft skills.  The CAS’s Learning and Development team begin working with students by the start of their first term.

The CAS Placement Process begins when recruiters are welcomed on campus to give presentations, which give students the opportunity to get a sense of each company’s culture and expectations.  After listening to the recruiters and sorting through job postings, students create “expressions of interest” for companies that best fit their own set of skills and experience.  Corporations then communicate with the CAS office to schedule interviews with eligible students.

PGP Career Statistics

Twenty-two percent of the Class of 2020 entered the consulting sector upon graduation and 2% entered IT consulting. The second most popular industry, which drew 15% of the class, was IT/ITES. Financial services took in 12% of the Class of 2020, followed by e-commerce at 11%. Another 7% of graduates entered the FCMG/retail/consumer durables sector and 6% into tech. The oil/energy/petroleum and pharma/biotech/healthcare/hospitals fields each saw 4% of the ISB Class of 2020.

Consulting was the most popular function for the class, drawing 23% of 2020 graduates.  Sixteen percent of graduates each entered general management and strategic planning roles, product management or sales/marketing.

Financing

The tuition for ISB is INR 24,54,000 for the 2020-2021 academic year.  The full cost of the program, however, rises with additional fees and also depends on whether students choose to live on campus in a shared accommodation or in a studio apartment.  The program cost also includes an admissions fee, library and recreation fee, deposit for alumni association membership, living costs, books, a computer, and meal plans, among other assorted fees.  For those who choose shared accommodation, the total cost of the program is INR 35,98,940.  Students who choose studio accommodations must pay a bit more for their independent living, with a total cost of INR 37,48,800.

ISB offers merit- and need-based scholarships that range from partial scholarships to full coverage of tuition.  Each scholarship has its own requirements, which vary from focusing on a student’s nationality to how he or she scored on the GMAT exam.  Students are automatically considered for some scholarships, while for others students must provide supplemental information and be interviewed before being awarded any funding.

ISB has partnered with several banks and lending institutions, including Credila and Andhra Bank, to offer loans to its students.  These loans can amount to up to 95% of the cost of the PGP depending on a student’s collateral.  The repayment and additional fees also vary from one organization to another.

Program Tuition                  

Admissions Fee 2,50,000 INR (US$3,326)

Tuition Fee 24,54,000 INR (US$32,643)

Campus accommodation
Shared 2,89,000 INR (US$3,844)
Studio 4,16,000 INR (US$5,534)

GOI service tax
Shared accommodation 5,00,940 INR (US$6,664)
Studio accommodation 5,23,800 INR (USD$6,968)

Library and Recreation Centre Fee 15,000 INR (US$200)

ISB Alumni Assoc. Membership 25,000 INR (US$333)

Security Deposit (refundable) 20,000 INR (US$266)

Total

• Shared 35,98,940INR (US$47,874)
• Studio 37,48,800INR (US$49,867)

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