The one week-long induction period for Indian School of Business’ flagship PGP is a celebration and coming together of the best minds of this country

Exhilarating, Enthralling and Exhausting!

Only three of the hundred words one would use to describe the ISB O-Week experience. This creatively crafted, high energy week lays the perfect foundation to rest of the year for PGP candidates, with a healthy mix of induction sessions, team building & bonding exercises and parties – LOTS OF PARTIES!

ISB is a completely student driven school with the student body having complete autonomy + responsibility to make of the year what they may. As it is a one-year program, there is no teething period or time for junior-senior interaction, which is exactly where the O-week comes in. This week acts as a way for the previous class to pass the baton and along with it, a lot of knowledge and fun memories to incoming class.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM ISB O-WEEK?

Expect the unexpected!

Cliché apart, here is capturing some of the most important and interesting bits of the week –

Day 01

Students and their families are welcomed to campus, and as they take in the magnificent view and lush greenery, housekeeping staff helps check them into student quads. Students then rush to complete their registration process, where they are greeted with warm smiles and quick ice-breaking initiatives by senior alums manning the booths. This is then followed by a welcome address from Dean, a welcome dinner and game night / theme party. With the simplicity of first day, students seldom fathom the craziness that await them next

Day 02 & Day 03

The second day marks the beginning of a blitzkrieg of activities. While the days are spent attending info-sessions by different administrative bodies and physically intensive, amusing team-building exercises, the evening is spent enjoying an enthralling unplugged event by alums featuring music, drama, stand-up and more! Day 03 usually sees one of the best o-week activities called treasure hunt, which is ISB’s novel way of giving newcomers a tour of the sprawling campus. Incoming students also get to try their hand at the most popular sport at ISB – no, not cricket, not football – it’s an ultimate frisbee, a unique and extremely celebrated part of the ISB culture!

Trivia: A couple of ISB alums have represented India at international flying disc world championships.

Day 04 & Day 05

By this time students have already been segregated into 8 sections and been passed upon the section gyaan – informal induction sessions by alums updating the incoming batch about their section spirit animal, unique traditions, section identity and bonding! This then paves way for Section Wars, where sort of a section jingoism is channeled to prove your section as the best and most talented. Section wars witness an extremely competitive but massively fun student participation and by end of the week creates a strong sense of belongingness amongst students

Day 06

Being the highly competitive school that ISB is, section wars are topped with SV wars where the four student villages (ISB’s version of student hostels) fight with each other to throw the coolest party of O-week – ultimately allowing students to bond with their quaddies (roommates in ISB lingo) and future neighbours. Day 05 and Day 06 also comprise of presentations delivered by ex-presidents and core members of 25+ clubs at ISB, hence walking the new batch through the specificities of each group, membership process and overall benefits. This plays an important role in helping students decide which club(s) would best complement their academic and career aspirations.

Day 07 & Day 08

Be ready to end the madness of week with sundowners, the very famous traffic lights party and of course the Talent Night! Talent night is possibly the biggest and most prepped for event of orientation week, with each of the eight sections at ISB giving musical performances, skits and a medley of other talents based on a unique theme. Alums from the previous batch add scores from the rest of section war competitions with the scoring of Talent Night to announce the ultimate winner – the section which walks home with o-week braggin’ rights!

COVID HAD NOTHING ON CLASS OF 2021’S O-WEEK

When faced with the unprecedented challenge of first few weeks of PGP going digital for the batch of class of 2021, the most innovative minds of class of 2020 came together to plan the most creative, fun and memorable o-week in the history of ISB. Zoom parties, virtual bar hops, digital version of shark tank, drinking games, virtual talent night, simulation marketing games, treasure hunt – you name it and co2020 made it happen!

COVID may have taken away the physical interaction, but it only bolstered the ISB spirit!

About ISBmantra

With a strong focus on ISB and a team of Former ISB Admissions Officers onboard, ISBmantra offers personalized Application Consulting & Interview Prep services. Feel free to send your profile to info@isbmantra.com for a free profile evaluation

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No other business school in the country celebrates and expatiates more about diversity than the Indian School of Business does!

A master’s degree is the final foray into academics for most individuals, hence making the choice of school even more important. And when it is MBA that you are looking to pursue, student network should be at the top of your priority list.

The founders of ISB realized this two decades ago – back when great MBA meant going to an IIM and studying in a batch with more than 90% of engineers. And hence, diversity became one of the most important and defining cornerstones of ISB.

What does diversity look like at ISB?

Professional Diversity

ISB admits approximately 850 select individuals to the flagship PGP program every year. While most schools are still talking about diversity on paper, ISB has added a whole new dimension to it! A typical class comprises journalists, actors, film directors, army and merchant navy officers, entrepreneurs, chartered accountants, investment bankers and ex-consultants holding degrees in commerce, economics, humanities and, of course, engineering. What is even more fascinating is that even though the average work experience of the class is approximately 4.5 years, candidates come with as little as two years and as much as 20 years of professional experience

Gender Diversity

Business schools have traditionally and historically been plagued with skewed gender representation across the globe and hence ISB comes as a breath of fresh air with almost 40%-women representation in class. In today’s world, nobody can deny the discerning perspectives and empowering cultural change brought forth by women leaders and a gender-balanced classroom at ISB renders the learnings more comprehensive and impactful

Academic Diversity

The class is refreshingly diverse from a test score viewpoint as well. The GMAT scores for an ISB class range from as low as 640 to as high as 770. However, students with low GMAT scores often have other resume spikes to their credit, like but not limited to, higher than average work experience, non-traditional backgrounds or entrepreneurial profiles and a propensity to add tremendous value to the class through their varied experiences

Cultural Diversity

Students on exchange from far-flung corners of the world and cultures as diverse as that of Hong Kong, Canada, France, USA, UK, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Russia, China or Switzerland also bring in novel perspectives, enhancing the exposure of PGP students to different cultures and global best practices.

How does diversity elevate the ISB experience?

Attending lectures in the company of such a diverse group lends rich perspectives to the subjects being taught, as participants share their unique experiences and viewpoints with the class. For example, a financial valuation or marketing analytics course is significantly augmented by the invaluable, practical insights shared by a classmate who happens to have worked in the same domain. Or say, somebody who has worked in media and entertainment contributes by bringing a completely different industry perspective and anecdotes about influencer marketing.

How does ISB celebrate and encourage diversity?

Study Group Pairings

The concept of study groups is enforced to encourage amalgamation of perspectives and experiences while creating a safe space for students to bond and learn.  They are essentially groups of 4-5 students who undertake projects and class assignments together. While ISB pairs students with each other during core terms, they are free to form their own groups in elective terms.

End result? When an ex-consultant from a top-tier consulting firm, an English graduate, an ex-army captain, a doctor and a chartered accountant brainstorm a problem, one can be assured of the optimal solution, revealing facets of the problems that may well have been missed in a traditional like-minded environment

Peer Learning Sessions

Popularly known as P2P sessions, these are independent sessions that PGP candidates are free to organize to educate the rest of the class in the real-world workings of the industries/backgrounds they have come from. In fact, very recently the class of 2020 witnessed an extremely informative session on aeronautical engineering and plane design by an ex-Indian Airforce fighter pilot.

Numerous Clubs and SIGs

With over 14 professional clubs, 11 social clubs, and 7 special initiatives groups – ISB has something for everybody. To really understand the extent of this statement, know that there is one official MEME group as well. And if you still feel there isn’t a club representation for your interests, you are absolutely free to start your own Special Interest Group or SIG. The class of 2020 alone had 8 SIGs, with the most popular addition being Media & Entertainment. PS: If your SIG remains intact for at least 3 years, it is bestowed the status of a permanent club!

ISB’s continuous focus on and enforcement of diversity on campus has produced magnificent outcomes, to say the least. Not only are ISB graduates better prepared and more aware, but many start-ups have been born from enthralling conversations between people as unlike one another as mountaineers, Limca Book record holder artists, national-level sports players, wine connoisseurs and cartoonists, to name a few.

About ISBmantra

With a strong focus on ISB and a team of Former ISB Admissions Officers onboard, ISBmantra offers personalized Application Consulting & Interview Prep services. Feel free to send your profile to info@isbmantra.com for a free profile evaluation.

The post Diversity at ISB appeared first on ISB Mantra Blog.

Getting an ISB admit is only half the battle done, the other half starts when you step into the campus.

A lot of people mistake getting into ISB as the final win, but little do they know that ISB is a constant war zone. And no we are not talking about section wars or SV wars, but the ultimate monthly bidding wars.

To ensure a fair fight amongst the brightest minds of the country, ISB allocates a virtual kitty of 4500 points to each student.  These points are used to pay for Experiential Learning Program (ELP), international exchange and desired electives to complete one’s specialization.

If a student wins an ELP project – for which there is a separate application process where students present their ideas to the company offering the ELP – 250 points are debited from their virtual kitty. The upside is that ELP also counts towards a full credit, meaning students with ELP have the liberty to take up one less elective as compared to others. You can read about ELPs in detail here.

BIDDING PROCESS

Bidding happens via an online portal that goes live for all students simultaneously. Students are informed in advance about the bidding rules and working of the platform via detailed seminars.

The bidding process at ISB is extremely transparent and easy with information like winning bids, maximum seats available and number of students competing for a particular course/exchange university being visible to all participating students. This enables students to make an informed decision whether or not to continue fighting. While there is only one bidding round for international exchange, there are 3 rounds of bidding for elective selection.

Bidding for Electives

Stakes are very high as students have to ensure completion of at least 18 credits (electives) with these 4500 bid points. And so it should come as no surprise that a lot of thought and careful consideration goes into planning the bidding strategy.  Take our word for it when we say every ISB student becomes a mad scientist experimenting with different bidding points, subject combinations, and respective class timings before and during the bidding session.

While the bidding per elective opens at 100 points, bidding for crowd favorite subjects or professors often drive the winning bid up to 1000 or even more points! Since there is an upper cap on the number of seats available per elective, bidding is the only way to fight it out and ensure that every PGP student gets to complete the specialization of their choice. This obviously also results in students having to ‘drop out’ at times. Saving enough bidding points for the rest of the year becomes of umpteen importance, especially if ones wishes to snag the desired or most popular courses in later terms.

Prior research, alum interactions and review of course material in advance often help students navigate the bidding process successfully. ISB further simplifies the process by allowing students to sample all courses after first round of bidding and having the option to change their selections in round 2 and 3. Students who have paid a hefty price for a certain subject in Round 1 often use these rounds to drop out and re-bid for the subject at a lower price. While this might come with the risk of losing the subject for good or even having to pay a higher price, ISB students put concepts of demand, supply and market reaction learned in Term 1 Economics class to good use to minimize this risk.

ISB Trivia: Section bonding is taken to new heights with students from each section bidding together in an extremely fun war zone like environment, constantly glancing over each other’s screens to keep track of winning bid and seats left!

Bidding for International Exchange

Students are informed well in advance about the international colleges up-for-grabs in the bidding process and thus have sufficient time to research and make a choice. The minimum bid for all colleges starts at 400, with the maximum being capped at 1800 points. Since there are a large number of students from both campuses fighting for limited seats and premier universities, more often than not they end up bidding 1800 points. To resolve the many ties, ISB uses a lucky draw method of sorts – the bidding portal randomly assigns a numeric ID to all competing participants and the one with the smallest assigned ID number, wins.

Some students may also decide against applying for international exchange as it comes with the downside of a drained kitty, meaning potential compromise on choice of electives for the remaining terms at ISB.

Bidding, therefore, is an essential and interesting part of the ISB academic setup and is probably one of the most crucial practical lessons on campus – both in economics as well as resource-management!

About ISBmantra

With a strong focus on ISB and a team of Former ISB Admissions Officers onboard, ISBmantra offers personalized Application Consulting & Interview Prep services. Feel free to send your profile to info@isbmantra.com for a free profile evaluation.

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