Realizing ISB dream — PGP Pro MBA
A year and a half back, while contemplating pursuing higher education, a couple of things were very clear to me — the program has to be in business management and it has to be from the top five B-schools in India.
The clarity had come after sorting answers to questions like understanding my long-term career objective, preparing myself to commit time & effort to a rigorous program along with a full-time job, and accepting the fact that there will be lesser family time. The next was to target admissions to these top five B-school executive programs.
Why ISB?
Apart from being the number one B-school in India and on my priority list, the other thing that worked in ISB’s favor was the flexibility of its executive PGP program (PGP Pro). The other B-schools I was targeting were IIM (A/B/C) and FMS in Delhi.
Once I sorted to target only those schools that can add value to me at this stage of my career, the next step was to rank them in the order of choice. I decision framework I had put to decide my priority was based on three factors -
- The program should let me continue my job,
- Timing of admissions — It should be starting asap, and
- Fees — It should be leaving the least impact on my pocket.
I discounted the other aspects like network and alumni as I considered all of these schools would have added equal value in this aspect. Also, the placement was not a factor as none of the executive programs provides that.
I started my research to get an understanding of these three factors for each of the probable executive programs. As I concluded my research, I realized that ISB is the only possible option that I can take. This was due to the flexibility PGP Pro provides and the practical challenges to join other B-school executive programs.
IIMs (A/B/C) were out of contention as they only provide a full-time residential executive one-year program. Similarly, the FMS executive MBA has the requirement to go to campus six days a week in the evening for two years. So these options were taken off the list due to my inability to stay away from family full-time, especially with an infant daughter or affect my job because of travel to FMS every day. The only feasible option left was the ISB executive PGP Pro weekend program.
Take out good & make it great
With IIMs and FMS out of contention, technically my chances to get into B-school were suddenly reduced to 20% and ISB was the only possible choice left. Getting this clarity allowed me to be even more focused to work for ISB selections and in any case, ISB was always the first choice among others.
So I started planning to work toward my application. First was attending some of their online information sessions that are conducted by the admissions team over Zoom. The team had put all efforts to clear all the doubts. Then was getting in touch with ISB alumni to get actual insights on the program and its relevance. Once I was convinced that it is matching my intent, and is worth my efforts, time, and money, I started preparing to get into ISB.
The Selection
Just like all other things at ISB, the PGP Pro selection process is simple as well. It is a profile-based selection — fill out your application form to state your purpose to take up this program. The application form asks for a couple of recommendations and I am thankful for my line managers & department heads at Fidelity International to take out time of their busy schedules and provide their recommendations.
If the application is shortlisted, the next is an interview round by a group of 4–5 alumni. The round primarily focuses on your purpose of joining ISB, the value you can bring to ISB (and its alumni network), the value you would add back to society being an ISB alumnus, and a few more things I am sure. If you are through, you have a chance to accept ISB’s offer to join PGP Pro.
Post Selection
Offer acceptance is acknowledged by ISB once the program fee initial installment is paid. In terms of program fees, details are here. There are loan options available and banks are more than happy to give loans to ISB students, details are here. I opted for SBI as they gave a special 1% discount on the interest rate to ISB students. Glad to see the ISB brand working even before the start of the program. :)
Currently, this PGP Pro is conducted over weekends with classes in four locations — Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. Program details can be found here.
What's next?
At the time of writing this, I have completed the Hyderabad campus residency to study first term. You can read about the Hyderabad campus residency experience here.
There are in total 12 terms each with 2 subjects, hence a total of 24 credits. Each term is one and a half months long. Each subject has 18 hours of class time, spilt between 4 hours of online and 14 hours of in-person class over weekends. The entire course length is 18 months.
After the first week of campus residency in Hyderabad, in-person classes will be scheduled in Gurgaon on these dates.
The program also has a week of international immersion (mostly INSEAD, Singapore) in the latter part of next year and a week in the Mohali campus to conclude the final term in Dec 2024.
I would like to make a special note to thank my spouse for being a guiding force behind it and motivating me to be on this journey. There would be a disclaimer that the admission team & every ISB PGP Pro alumni will give you is the lack of family & social time you will get. It will take a massive sacrifice from your family as well to let you be the best at your job and at school. A usual PGP Pro class weekend would look like this.
About Myself
I am a student at Indian Business School (ISB) pursuing Post Graduation Program for working professionals (PGP Pro) and am part of the Delhi 2024 cohort. PGP Pro is an executive MBA equivalent weekend program from ISB.
I am also working in a UK based mutual fund asset management company, Fidelity International, as a Software Project Manager.
In case you are looking for any help regarding ISB or for that matter any other topic where I can help, you can reach out to me at lavalmagan@gmail.com or laval_magan_pgppro2024@isb.edu.
Disclaimer — These are my personal views and are based on my experience with the ISB PGP Pro program only. The photographs in this post are used only to give a better sense of experience at ISB and to complement the post. The ISB logo used is the intellectual property of ISB.
