This is the last part of my "pre-MBA experience", as it is called.
Stage 6: ISBI must have begun considering ISB seriously only after exploring its website and reading up alumni opinions on it. By the end of June, ISB's PGPM had overtaken IIM-A's equivalent program in my opinion. IIM-A was still on my list though - "sentimental" reasons ;)
After working on IMD's essays, I had about 3 weeks to go for the Round-1 deadline for ISB... and I hadn't even started with my application! To add to my woes, most people I spoke to suggested that I give another attempt at GMAT because 690 was too low a score for an IT professional applying to ISB. They, of course, tried to put it as politely as they could. So I did just that with disastrous results. There I was - with my confidence in tatters and my desire to make it into ISB stronger. There was nothing to it but apply with the best I had in me. I wrote the essays within 2 weeks and by the time I got them reviewed and ensured that my recommendations were submitted by the concerned people, it was 9:30 pm of the day before the deadline. To keep the excitement in my life, the server collapsed and I couldn't submit my application until many anxious minutes later during which thoughts like "Is this a sign?", "Should I opt for submitting the application for Round-2?" and "Maybe another attempt at GMAT can turn favourable?" played havoc. Finally, I decided that I was ready to submit my application then. If one GMAT score mattered so much, maybe ISB wouldn't be all that it is hyped to be. So, as soon as the server came up, I hit the submit button, thus eliminating any chances of surrendering to self-doubt again.
The IMD interview happened a week later. After that, I began following the
thread on the Pagalguy forum. Obviously, I couldn't read all the posts from the beginning (there were about 350 pages by then) but I followed the posts diligently from then on. The panic when the interview calls were being sent out was almost catching. But if you remember, my confidence levels were not too high and neither were my expectations. I was almost detached while reading the posts, almost sure that I may not get a call. Imagine my surprise when I got the interview call! All was not lost yet... I began preparing for the interview with renewed enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, my family started getting more excited about ISB than me. It was afterall the only school in India I was applying seriously to. An admit from here meant that I would be returning home. Anything else, to them, meant that I might never go back to India for good. So, while I was battling with the butterflies in my stomach, I had to appear nonchalant on the phone calls - "This isn't the only option, Mamma. I will be applying to other schools as well and you know that." And both of us knew why I said what I did.
By then, on the PG thread, people had posted their interview experiences. Some people had a completely unambiguous interview - the panel was impressed, the questions were in a direction decided by the applicant and finally, the closing remarks by the panel were very encouraging. Being an international applicant, my interview was among the last ones. There was something funny, though. I got scheduled twice - once on a Friday afternoon and then again on the following Monday morning. The second schedule was sent to me after I had confirmed my availability for the first. I remember calling the admission committee from work. A very harassed lady received my call and when I introduced myself as an R1 applicant, I could almost sense the icicles forming on the other end of the line. Heheh. I think this was a result of all the calls from anxious applicants who had not yet received their interview calls. However, as soon as I explained my predicament, I was tagged as someone with a "real" issue and the voice became quite friendly. The confusion was sorted and I was to call in at the specified number on Monday morning for my interview.
The interview itself was one which gave me no clue about my chances. As with other telephonic interviews, mine started with the panel introducing themselves and then I was given the word "bank" - a minute to think about it and a minute to speak on it. I tried thinking but after the first 2 associations, I went blank. I could feel my throat constricting in panic and I decided to start talking on it immediately instead of psyching myself into a dumb state. Luckily, I found a third association while speaking and told them I had nothing more to say when I finished. After this, the first question I was asked was - "We've seen your application and don't find any special reason to take you into ISB. Can you convince us otherwise?" - the "Why you" question. I think I tackled it well enough, inspite of certain statements to contest my assertions. After that, the interview took a conversation-like appearance. They were curious about my employer and the way I got recruited here, the business my employer is in, the competition, the project I am working on, etc. Another panelist came in with a hypothetical case and asked me the sales impact on a particular product due to a certain condition imposed. I made my assumptions and estimations out aloud and came to a remarkably high sales impact! :P The panelist was shocked and asked me if that could be possible - he gave me a real analogy to prove his point. I made an impulsive decision to stick with my number and gave my justification by infusing some humour into it. They seemed convinced because they dropped the cross-questioning after that and the atmosphere relaxed. The topic veered to the kind of books I read and which were the last 6 books I had read. After mentioning 4, I blanked out again. I thought for a few seconds and then confessed that I don't remember any more at the moment. Then we spoke about what I do for recreation here and the fact that I speak a little French came up. My! Were they surprised! That caught me off-balance because I had mentioned it in my application and I didn't expect them not to know it already. So, we had a few minutes talk about exactly how much of the language I know and luckily, that is something that has many humourous accounts from my life. After a couple of questions from me, the interview ended. It lasted 25 minutes.
Then began the long wait for the results. I began looking up the other global schools I intended to apply to and started filling a couple of application forms. A week before the promised day of results, the PG thread started going ballistic - with random speculations that did nothing to calm the fluttering hearts reading the thread. I spent that week very listless at work. I looked like I had the worries of the whole world on my shoulder, didn't speak much to my colleagues and basically was a grouch. And then, finally, the results were published - and I started another interesting phase of my life. :)
