How good/bad is ISB?

2 Simple things to navigate through any MBA are -

1. You should have a decent resume to get shortlisted for interviews.
2. Be good at English aka know how to bullshit your way through an interview

These 2 will end up letting you land a job atleast.

Bonus points if you are a IIT/BITS/Faang/mbb/top startup alumni, have a big marketable skill, are a girl, have an exotic accent. In that order

Good or bad is relative and different from person to person. If you are looking to be at a certain place in your career, you should ask yourself if an ISB PGP will help, what you want out of it and how your likelihood to achieve your goal will change post the PGP - the input variables will matter like your grad scores, college, concentration etc. and other things like the fees, scholarships, opportunity cost etc.

I don't think you will hear that ISB is a 'bad' school often. The concern some people have with the college is that it is projected to be a lot more than it actually is. Getting objective opinions from alumni is rare (in general), even more so in the case of ISB.

Having worked closed with ISB graduates and not making into it last year, here is my take from my research

• get an admit first (it’s getting tougher with every passing year, in 2016-17 a GMAT of 710 would give you a good bet now even 750 folks are dinged because they don’t know why behind their MBA)
  On cons you have mentioned - what I have heard
• placement at ISB are more organised vs IIMs, as they are not organised by student groups (hence limited scope of bias, favouritism)
• consulting make up 300-350 offers (that is like the entire batch of FMS) top firms MBB, Kearney, Roland, LEK, EYP etc. make 120-150 offers offers
• Prod man has huge scope people with valid experience can even get Prod man 2 as well at FAANG, Indian tech firms
• On resumes, yes the vetting is limited. But, eventually recruiters are not dumb. Big lies get caught and impact candidature. Overall, the profiles are so diverse at ISB that is tough to validate every resume ( Indian Army, doctors, ISRO, WWF fund, news broadcaster, core engineers, IT engineers)
• on non-placement yes there are 5-8% of batch (40-70 people) that is not placed by graduation - 20-25 people out of these voluntarily drop off due to entrepreneurships, 5-10 go back to their old firms and drop off. 25-30 most have one offer but don’t take it as they want to apply off campus as competition is lower vs competing inside ISB. But there are 10-15 people who have no offers till graduation
  Hope this helps

This is the fundamental problem of aspirants : They start evaluating the school before they evaluate themselves.

By evaluating themselves, I meant -

• wat they want from the program

• if their profile is good enough for isb

• how MBA helped other people with similar backgrounds

They simply look for “an easy formula to accelerate the salary”. It’s evident from this post as pro/con has top points related to salary only.

If 800+ people are joining a program year-after-year, do you think they lack in IQ somewhere?

Try looking for answers of all the above questions, maybe you will be able to figure out yourself. There are many views on ISB and it’s too confusing here.

P.S. - I’ve no relation to ISB, I researched about it and went to other school basis my preferences.

Current student at ISB.

There is a positive in your bad things list and its that all these concerns will become irrelevant an year after graduation. BS resumes will go away and people will get better paying jobs.

Although, I wouldn’t say professors are “best”. I obviously haven’t studied at any other college but any Prof can be a hit or a miss in class affecting your overall experience.

ISB treats you like an adult.

Take home assessments exist because there is an honour code. If you want to cheat, go ahead and cheat but they trust you by default. It's very hard to believe this in an Indian educational system.

Same goes for resumes. Nobody is going to babysit and vet all resumes. If you want to lie over there, feel free to do so. Recruiters are very smart and can catch these within a few minutes. There is no point of getting shortlisted.

If you don't care about your grades and B school means something else for you, you are free to focus on networking or extra curriculars. Ultimately you are the one paying the fees.

Similarly in placements, you are given ample oppurtunities but it's upto you to land a job.

Almost everyone (99%+) gets 'a job' but for many especially the ones with high experience, it's not what they want. So they decide to go at it on their own. Nobody forces you to pick something for placement statistics.

I loved my time at ISB and I am happy I chose it over many reputed B schools abroad.

One of my managers was a high pedigree person - DU rank holder, University cricket player and a first time CA by 21-22. He was among early graduates of ISB, and had also spent a semester abroad (back when isb had two year programs) - and he said that even compared to London school of business, the professors in ISB were leagues ahead.

Its a bell curve,

And pareto principal at work.

Just understand your needs, see if you can get them from Isb then finalise. ( Steve jobs said if you decide to get 100% of info then it's too late)

The Indian School of Business (ISB) used to be one of the top-notch institutes in India. Over time, though, its ranking has dropped a bit. They promise an average package of 22 LPA, but the reality is closer to 17 LPA. I was thinking of joining ISB, but then I decided to study abroad. Now, I feel glad I made that choice because it gave me better opportunities and experiences. However, it’s important to remember that your success also depends on what you want to do with your life and how much you are willing to learn. A good future is possible from anywhere if you put in the effort. If you're considering ISB, it's still a good option, but there might be better choices out there now. Ultimately, it’s about finding the right fit for your goals and aspirations.