In my first conversation with Sahil, I could not refrain from asking him the significance of the letters san in his email address given his last name is Sharma. Sahil responded with a chuckle, “It’s Japanese.” Over the course of further discussions I understood the significance of Japanese honorifics and Sahil’s connection to them.

ISB R1 vs. R2

As Sahil sat down with his admissions calendar, he was flummoxed. On one hand, he was tempted to apply to ISB in Round 1, as folklore was Round 2 is extremely competitive. On the other, the enrollment deposit date if admitted in Round 1 precluded considering offers from other schools abroad.

In 2013, ISB’s key PGP R1 application dates for the Class of 2015 were as follows:

• Application deadline: Sep 15, 2013
• Decision Notification: Nov 15, 2013
• Enrollment Deposit (INR 2,00,000) Deadline: 20 days from admission offer

On the other hand, let’s say someone applied to Kellogg’s full-time MBA program in R1 2013 for the Class of 2016, the corresponding dates would have been:

• Application Deadline: Oct 16, 2013
• Decision Notification: Dec 18, 2013
• Enrollment Deposit (US$2,000 or INR 1,20,000) Deadline: Mar 5, 2014

Therefore, Sahil took a call to apply in R2. In the most recent admissions cycle (different from when Sahil applied), R2 had a deadline date of Nov 30, 2013 and notification date of Feb 15, 2014.

Application Differentiator

Sahil’s international experience in Malaysia with an oil and gas major – Petronas – helped him gain significant client experience. When coupled with his Civil Engineering background, Sahil could easily stand out from a pool of IT, Male Engineers.

Interview

Sahil interviewed with a panel of three alumni in mid January. Having worked as an engineer at Japanese automotive major Honda Motor Co., he was surprised to receive a Marketing case. He was asked to develop a marketing solution for Honda in the event of a failure. After recovering from his initial surprise, Sahil was able to answer his interviewers’ questions easily.

The takeaway for prospective students is to know your current employer well – not just from the perspective of your function but also taking a holistic view as a future student of business.

A tip Sahil wants to pass on to prospective students is to carry their certificates and relevant documents. While he did not need to produce anything from his file folder, he was comfortable knowing he could provide anything asked for.

Decisions

On decision day, there was turmoil on the online forums as the decisions were delayed for sometime. Sahil was confident of his chances as he had a good discussion during his interview.

His gut instinct proved to be right. On receiving his admission, he punched his fist in the air in excitement and celebrated with his friends. Next lay the tricky part of deciding where to go.

Eventually, despite receiving admissions offers with scholarships from schools abroad, Sahil decided to pursue his MBA at ISB.

To read about Sahil’s exciting journey at ISB, stay tuned to Crack The MBA.