As someone from ISB or graduated from ISB, was joining ISB the right decision? Why?

It was absolutely 100% the right decision for me.

But before I get into why it was the right decision for me, let me share a little bit about my background. I went into the school with 3.8 years of work ex — 2.5 years as a software developer at an MNC and a little over a year at a start-up as the head of technology and product. Why is background important? Well I’ve come to notice that not all people look at the ISB experience the same way. And the background plays a huge role. If someone’s coming from consulting, they tend to have really high expectations and nothing can satisfy them. But I’d say about 85% will still feel the same way as me about ISB.

Here’s why ISB was the right decision for me

1. Incredible learning — ISB gives you multiple opportunities to learn. You learn from your peers, alums and profs. Can’t say that all profs are amazing but some of them are truly rockstars at why they do. Whether it’s at the lecture theatre or at a party, they sprinkle some serious inspo. Secondly, the peers. Since its a short program, there are only as many sessions that a prof can take. Peer learning is huge at ISB. If anyone has prior experience in a subject, let’s say Accounting or Supply chain management, they’d conduct P2P sessions before exams. There are always people to help you. Thirdly, you learn from the alums. Alums come to campus many times over the year and the different professional clubs facilitate sessions where the alums share insights on particular job roles, what they entail, how placements should be approached, etc. I genuinely find that I think differently after my year at ISB because of the learning I got there.
2. Really inspiring batchmates — It’s totally common at ISB to come across a veteran army/navy person, a child prodigy, actors, international level athletes and some others with some real iron clad personalities. My batch had a woman who wrote her GMAT in her 7th month of pregnancy, gave birth to a beautiful boy, stayed with him for a couple of months and then joined ISB leaving him with her parents. She’d be the first to leave campus on weekends and run to her family. Literally can’t imagine the struggle she dealt with. All of us celebrated his first birthday on campus 🙂
3. Insane campus life — Now ISB truly spoils you. You have the most amazingly green campus, facilities for almost every activity and sport, support facilities like laundry and housekeeping and my favourite — peacocks! 🙂 The school understands very well that the one year course is super demanding and so they take care of all your essentials. There’s a housekeeping team will come and make your bed, mop your floors and clean your desk every day. Laundry is as simple as putting the dirty ones in a locker, creating a ticket on a portal and then receiving clean clothes in 2 days. Another aspect to campus life — the parties and events. There’s a dedicated Student Life Council that ensures we celebrate term ends and festivals alike. There’s literally always a party or event around the corner.
4. 1 year course — I didn’t want to spend 2 years for my MBA. There are only a handful of schools offering a one year course and doing a good job at it.
5. Located in India, yet highly reputed — Staying in India was important for me for personal reasons. So a top tier MBA meant either IIM or ISB but the one year programs at IIMs didn’t compare to ISB.
6. Alum network — The alum network is amazing. Even if not alums from other batches, just your batch would be extremely resourceful. The professional network you get is a huge advantage.