ISB increases its student body to 579, up by 24%; admits 21 foreign students

The ISB commenced its programme in 2001 with a class size of 126 and has been steadily ramping up its student numbers in keeping with its plans for expansion. With 579 students as its class size, ISB now becomes the largest amongst premier B-school in India offering one year Post Graduate Programme in Management.

Talking about ISBs fast paced growth since inception, Ajit Rangnekar, Dean, ISB, said, We have successfully pioneered several new trends in B-school education in India and I hope having a large class size will soon become a trend in educational institutions across India. India is a very large country and we need several high quality institutions to help our youth transform their lives. With 579 students in our Hyderabad campus and a new campus coming up at Mohali in 2012, we want to make quality education accessible to as many as possible.

There are 21 international students in the Class from nine different countries such as Ukraine, Spain, France, UK, Canada, USA, Brazil, Australia, Nepal, and Singapore. ISB is a great centre of excellence for an international student who wants to understand doing business in emerging markets. There are lots of similarities between Brazil and India but there are many interesting differences too, said Pedro Henrique Lemgruber Vilela, a student from Brazil.

According to ISB, as many as twenty five students who got admitted into top international B-schools such as Harvard, Columbia etc have opted for the one year programme at the ISB. India is where the action is. I want to work in India and other emerging markets and need to understand both emerging and international markets; what better place than ISB to get that, said Niranjan Sekhar, Class of 2010.

Keeping up the ISB tradition, the Class of 2010 comes from diverse academic and work backgrounds. Students with interesting industry backgrounds such as Law, Media and Communication, Medicine, Marine Engineering, Consulting, Armed Forces, Pharma, Civil Services, Scientists, etc constitute the Class. The Class has an average work experience of 5 years with the highest number of years at work being 16 years. Fifty percent of the class (336 students) comes with international work experience.

ISB attracts an exceptional group of achievers, with a demonstrated record of accomplishment, both academic and non-academic. Few remarkable examples include a youngest volleyball match referee in Olympics, a marathon runner, University Gold Medalist in Pharmaceutical Sciences, a GE Innovator award winner who has filed eight patent applications, a holder of six patents in the semiconductor industry, a Naval Lady Medical Officer and a woman Army Major.

ISB has made extra efforts to attract women students to its programme and has increased the strength of women students year on year. The Class of 2010 has 26 percent women students, the highest for ISB so far as well as the highest among B-schools in India. Commenting on her choice of the ISB for an MBA, Chandrasekhara Sowmya, ex- Woman Major in the Indian Army, said, I wanted to switch from the military to business and found that the ISB would help me transform myself and at the same time give me an unforgettable experience. The ISB is probably the best Return on Investment (ROI) and I can return to work earlier.

The average age of the new batch is 27 years, with maximum age being 39 years. The Class has 12 percent Non Residential Indians and 28 percent married students, 118 students live with their families on campus.
A total of 59 students received scholarships from the ISB at the time of admission. This is in addition to the scholarships that ISB awards for outstanding students at the end of the academic year and the various scholarships instituted by several companies disbursed to students.