[spoud]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the wishes. It indeed feels good to have one admit in the bag. I have been given till Sept 29th to respond with the initial deposit of INR 200,000 or else forfeit my offer.

Paying such an amount would be a huge commitment. So, I am at a crossroad. However, I will still interview with IIMA. If I am lucky enough to get an admit from IIMA, I would be in a win-win situation, from a future career prospective, to be able to choose from arguably two of the best schools in the business.

In the grand scheme of things, I don't want the sum of money to be paid upfront to become a barrier in terms of which school I choose to attend. Given that the top schools in the US are hovering at or above $100K in fees, the ISB and IIMA fees are a great bargain for the quality of education and the brand name they provide.

So, here is the money analysis:

- Accept ISB's offer and pay INR 200000 (US$5000) initial deposit
- If I get admit from IIMA, spend a week or so to decide ISB or IIMA
- If I decide to join IIMA, then my IIMA fees would be INR 1400000, Add to this INR 200000 (what I would've already paid to ISB), and my IIMA fees would stand at INR 1600000. The fees for PGPX IV will probably be around this figure, if not more.

Doing an MBA from a top school is a once in a lifetime decision, so, I don't want to put a lot of emphasis on the initial deposit to be paid to ISB. In my opinion, it is a part of the application process I must go through.

I hope I am making the right decision.

PS: I will write to ISB to see if they would be willing to stretch the deadline a bit. But, I have a hunch they will refuse :-).

spoud

[rm12shah]

Originally Posted by singalnitin1

Hey guys,

PGPX guidelines document says that essay length should be "around" 500 words. What is your essay length coming out to be?

Is essay with 540-550 words okay, or you think IIMA is very strict about word restrictions and hence essay length should be less than 500 words?

Any comments...

Cheers
Nitin

Dude, if you've got any extra words, send them over. I'm having trouble going past 350! Don't know if ten years of marriage makes one a man of few words:satisfie:.

[spoud]

Originally Posted by goformba

Congrats!!!

I know that your ISB interview was a telephonic one. Have you already posted your ISB interview experience? If not, do you mind sharing it with us?

I guess you have to submit the fees to ISB soon, would you still pursue the IIMA interview? Just curious.

Cheers!!!

Hi goformba,

Yes I posted the details of my ISB interview on the ISB thread. I have included the link below. I frankly didn't think that my interview went well. In fact, I thought I did poorly. In the last two weeks, I've had a chance to prepare a better answer for each one of the questions they asked. Hopefully, will come in handy for IIMA.

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/intern...tml#post843852 (ISB 2008 - Interviews and Admits)

[goformba]

Thanks, spoud. Even if you were not too happy with how the interview went, the experience is well articulated.

Originally Posted by spoud

Hi goformba,

Yes I posted the details of my ISB interview on the ISB thread. I have included the link below. I frankly didn't think that my interview went well. In fact, I thought I did poorly. In the last two weeks, I've had a chance to prepare a better answer for each one of the questions they asked. Hopefully, will come in handy for IIMA.

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/intern...tml#post843852 (ISB 2008 - Interviews and Admits)

[shrek_05]

Originally Posted by spoud

Hey guys,

Thanks for the wishes. It indeed feels good to have one admit in the bag. I have been given till Sept 29th to respond with the initial deposit of INR 200,000 or else forfeit my offer.

Paying such an amount would be a huge commitment. So, I am at a crossroad. However, I will still interview with IIMA. If I am lucky enough to get an admit from IIMA, I would be in a win-win situation, from a future career prospective, to be able to choose from arguably two of the best schools in the business.

In the grand scheme of things, I don't want the sum of money to be paid upfront to become a barrier in terms of which school I choose to attend. Given that the top schools in the US are hovering at or above $100K in fees, the ISB and IIMA fees are a great bargain for the quality of education and the brand name they provide.

So, here is the money analysis:

- Accept ISB's offer and pay INR 200000 (US$5000) initial deposit
- If I get admit from IIMA, spend a week or so to decide ISB or IIMA
- If I decide to join IIMA, then my IIMA fees would be INR 1400000, Add to this INR 200000 (what I would've already paid to ISB), and my IIMA fees would stand at INR 1600000. The fees for PGPX IV will probably be around this figure, if not more.

Doing an MBA from a top school is a once in a lifetime decision, so, I don't want to put a lot of emphasis on the initial deposit to be paid to ISB. In my opinion, it is a part of the application process I must go through.

I hope I am making the right decision.

PS: I will write to ISB to see if they would be willing to stretch the deadline a bit. But, I have a hunch they will refuse :-).

spoud

Well thought-out decision Spoud. IMHO, its the best possible decision given the deadlines and the b-school brands. Good Luck with PGPX and hope to catch up with u at newark . I've also applied for ISB PGP and would love to get some inputs from your exp on that front amongst other discussions with the group.

[goformba]

lovychhabra, really appreciate your efforts.

Unfortunately, I have a 5pm flight out of Newark on the 7th. This time won't work for me. I'll probably show up earlier, if possible. Anyway, I hope to catch up with as many Puys as possible.

Good luck to all with the essays!!!

Originally Posted by lovychhabra

Alright... to make this easy, i've figured this out... everyone, please go ahead and sign up for a coffee with the group at : IIM A Shortlised candidates evening coffee - Event Hosted by Eventbrite

This is a free registration event and should not ask you for any details other than your name and email address. We can meet in the coffee shop at Ramada.

Hope this helps!

[Praveen S]

hi Guys,

I was wondering if anyone can give a little bit more insight into the selection process.

Does the interview panel have our essays in front of them while they are interviewing?

Do they typically ask clarifications about the essays?

Do they typically ask all the participants to do the presentation?

Is the idea of the presentation more to check your presentation/communication skills? as opposed to get more insight into your management skills?

Also, does anybody know the difference between management and leadership skills as the management gurus define it?


thx a lot guys and all the best for the essays and interview.

[shrek_05]

Originally Posted by lovychhabra

Don't forget to sign up for our meeting in newark... u can do so at: IIM A Shortlised candidates evening coffee - Event Hosted by Eventbrite

interested newark interviewees -

Do sign up at the link sent by lovychabbra...i just did it myself and it takes less than a minute to finish. Will be easy for him to co-ordinate the get-together.

ATB!!

[jondil]

Originally Posted by RR_ez

I agree with Grynn. Not sure about US, in India there will be multiple panels. Also, it may not be difficult to get multiple panels in US/UK, if they rope in alumni.

If IIMA's stated position is no telephonic interviews, I wd believe that to be the case...how that is the case can be ascertained by last year's candidates or by us next month

I can confirm that no telephonic interviews are being allowed. Have to fly from Sydney to Ahmedabad and shell out around USD 1300. If I get through, no problem - I'll chalk it up to one-time costs and add it to the overall tuition fee, but I wish they were more flexible about this, esp if they are looking to increase diversity and international exposure in their average profile.

First post, so some details:
Score: 780, 6.0
Location: Sydney
Experience: 8 years - US/Japan/Australia
Industry: IT Consulting
Acads: Average
EC: Active in college, not so much anymore

[lovychhabra]

Originally Posted by spoud

Hey guys,

Thanks for the wishes. It indeed feels good to have one admit in the bag. I have been given till Sept 29th to respond with the initial deposit of INR 200,000 or else forfeit my offer.

Paying such an amount would be a huge commitment. So, I am at a crossroad. However, I will still interview with IIMA. If I am lucky enough to get an admit from IIMA, I would be in a win-win situation, from a future career prospective, to be able to choose from arguably two of the best schools in the business.

In the grand scheme of things, I don't want the sum of money to be paid upfront to become a barrier in terms of which school I choose to attend. Given that the top schools in the US are hovering at or above $100K in fees, the ISB and IIMA fees are a great bargain for the quality of education and the brand name they provide.

So, here is the money analysis:

- Accept ISB's offer and pay INR 200000 (US$5000) initial deposit
- If I get admit from IIMA, spend a week or so to decide ISB or IIMA
- If I decide to join IIMA, then my IIMA fees would be INR 1400000, Add to this INR 200000 (what I would've already paid to ISB), and my IIMA fees would stand at INR 1600000. The fees for PGPX IV will probably be around this figure, if not more.

Doing an MBA from a top school is a once in a lifetime decision, so, I don't want to put a lot of emphasis on the initial deposit to be paid to ISB. In my opinion, it is a part of the application process I must go through.

I hope I am making the right decision.

PS: I will write to ISB to see if they would be willing to stretch the deadline a bit. But, I have a hunch they will refuse :-).

spoud

Spoud, well thought out approach... best for luck for IIMA... if anyone's been watching ISB for the last 2-3 years, they've been trying to "lock down" talented resources sooner and sooner in the app cycle by moving R1 deadlines to earlier dates and by giving quicker decisions to foreign citizens... I even think that in the second batch people had a month to accept and now its only a year... its an aggressive attempt on the school's part, but i hope they aren't reading this post