ESSAYLEVER
Indian School of Business
2007 Application Essays - Tips and Suggestions
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Essay 1: What, in your opinion, makes you distinct from other applicants to ISB? How will that add value to other students and ISB? (300 words max)
Thinking about yourself at work can provide a good starting point to approach this essay. You may be unsure about what kind of people apply to ISB. You could look towards your work colleagues as a reference group to compare yourself with. Which of your personality traits, interests, passions, experiences and attitudes make you different from others around you?
You may be different from others in the way you work, spend your free time, in the values that you hold dear to you, in the past choices you have made in your life and the experiences you have gained as a result.
There are so many ways in which you may be different from others. But not all of these are suitable for including in the essay. You are really looking for those differentiating factors which make you better than the group you are comparing yourself with. For example, as an engineer working in an IT company, you and all your colleagues at work are likely to be doing the same kind of work and building up similar track records. So, your technical skills and project execution skills are not really the differentiating factors that you should be writing about. You are expected to be good at that. However, not many of your engineer colleagues are likely to have great selling skills or a strong ability to persuade others or the ability to make local friends on international assignments. Such abilities should certainly be included in the essay.
You can also include the learning you received out of playing a sport, pursuing a community cause or a personal passion. All of these involvements are likely to have given you valuable lessons that you are consciously or subconsciously applying in your work.
If you are an engineers seeking a career in business and management you should use this essay to project your aptitude for management roles. While describing how you are different and unique you should project your potential for management roles. Which traits and abilities have you already demonstrated that can convince the admissions committee of your management abilities?
After you have decided on the traits and experiences to include in the essay think about ways in which you can use these to contribute at ISB.
In what ways are other students and the school system likely to gain from you because of your special skills that make you unique?
To answer the second part of the essay question, you must build an understanding of the way in which ISB students spend their time on campus. Students learn as much from their interaction with each other as from the formal curriculum that is taught in the classroom. The school encourages involvement in out of class extracurricular activities through clubs where students are involved in organizing events and activities. Student involvement is also encouraged in several other administrative aspects of running the school. The school through its clubs also organizes several social events of which you may wish to be a part of.
So in writing this essay, first identify skills that make you distinct and then connect these skills to show how you plan to contribute and be involved in ISB.
Essay 2: What are the three things about yourself that you would like to change? Why? (300 words max)
You would change things about you that you are not happy about.
You could write about a change you may want to bring about in certain aspects of your attitude or personality.
You may want to change an experience or a decision you may have made which in hindsight you may wish to change.
You may wish to acquire a new skill or learn something that you may not have had a chance to learn till now.
This is not really a weakness essay. You can write about a weakness if you wish to. But if you are uncomfortable writing about your weaknesses, you can read the essay question as: what are the three things about yourself that you wish to improve?
Your choice of things you wish to change/improve can say a lot about who you are and what you wish to become. It can tell the admissions committee about things that matter to you.
Essay 3: You are applying to your dream job after ISB. Please prepare a cover letter accompanying your CV. (300 words max)
Your cover letter should be addressed to a company where you wish to work after ISB. Which would that company be?
Also mention the position for which you are applying.
Then briefly describe your experiences and abilities that make you a good fit with the requirements of the position to which you are applying.
Also show what you wish to do and achieve in your future job.
Finally, try to squeeze into the letter ways in which ISB has helped you cover up for the gaps in your experiences and abilities which now make you ideally suited for the job.
Essay 4: You are part of a team which has been assigned a project with a tight deadline that is not extendible. One of the team members fails to deliver on the part of the project assigned to him at the fag end of the project despite his assurance. All the other members of the team have performed flawlessly and completed their parts. There is no way that the project can now be completed even if all the team members provide their utmost help. Appropriate punishment has now to be meted out by the management. The team member is willing to own up his shortcoming and shoulder the responsibility. Should all the team members share the responsibility for failure equally or should they allow that particular team member to get all the blame and punishment? Take a firm position on the issue and support your stand with relevant arguments. (300 words max)
Think about everything that you know about working in teams. Recall all the teamwork trainings you have received and the books you have read on the subject and of course your own experience of working in teams. Decide on a future course of action that would yield multiple benefits: benefit the team in its future projects and encourage the failing member to perform better in the future.
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