While I started planning for B-School admission I was looking for a one specific piece of information and that was to understand the timelines involved in the complete cycle of admission - right from time of deciding to join ISB till the point of actually joining ISB. Despite being based in Hyderabad I couldn't get some specific details. Currently I am more or less finished all the stpes except landing at ISB on 14th April, so I feel this might be the right time to provide a step by step detail along with the timelines. The whole thing went as detailed below:
Step 1: Deciding that I am going to get an admission into a premier B-school and committing myself to it completely - Dec 2005
Step 2: Identifying the B-schools that suit me, my profile and my future aspirations - Dec 2005 to April 2006
Step 3: Getting exact details about the admission cycles of the schools that I have shortlisted and based on that deciding when to take GMAT - April 2006
I have shortlisted ISB, AIM, IIM A - PGPX, and XL's GMP, NUS. I didn't even consider Insead, IIM Cal's PGPEX, and other European and American B-schoools mainly considering my family situation and financial arrangements. In fact one of the key reasons I have choosen IIM and ISB is the fact that you can get a loan pretty easily. For me it didn't matter if I am spending 15 lakhs or 10 lakhs or 20 lakhs as long as a Bank is providing a loan without collateral. Based on admission cycles of the schools that I have shorlisted I have decided to take my GMAT in the first week of August 2006.
Step 4: GMAT self-assessment and deciding whether to take external hellp or not.
I had a PC at home with broadband connection and this helped me immensely. I did all my research and took help of people I know who took GMAT earlier. I bought Kaplan premier program and OG 11 and downloaded GMATprep from mba.com. I took the diagnostic test in OG11 and realized that I am at the average or above average levels but not at excellent levels. Then I took the first complete test of GMATprep and scored 650.
Looking at the average GMAT scores of ISB and IIM, I have realized that I need to score atleast 690 in order to have a fair chance at these schools keeping in mind my 12 years work experience. Considering my work pressure I have decided that I better join a coaching institute, which will give the forced practice time that I can't do on my own. I joined a well-known institute, which was kind of OK and helped me do a disciplined practise in class and also using the online resources. The coching started in May 06 and lasted till July first week
Step 5: Finalizing the date for GMAT and taking GMAT
I have registered at mba.com and I was regularly checking the availability in Hyderabad right from May and after my coaching got over in July I have frozen the date as 10th August as it was the last date to submit one of the shortlisted colleges application. I have completed the application, which was quite simple in advance and entering the GMAT score was the only thing left to be done.
I took about 7 days leave. For the first three days I went through all the basics and took one test per day. I reviewed where I was going wrong and focused on those areas. The next two days I took two tests per day and saved the GMATprep second test for the day before the test. I called the GMAT office couple of times to confirm that I got all the formalities right. On the day of the test I had a light lunch and carried few chocolates for the break. I landed at the test centre about 30 min in advance and chatted with others sitting there. I had little bit of trouble signing with the stylus pen (my hands were shaking for sometime but then I managed to sign properly). I scored 690 and I got the unofficial score report. The unofficial score report is very important till you get the official score card.
I shall post the next steps in the following entry. Best of luck to all those who have already started on their journey to admission into ISB or other B-schools
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