ISB (Indian School of Business) Hyderabad is one of the most sought after school for most Indian and International MBA Applicants. In addition to world class faculty & partnerships with top universities (including Wharton, Kellogg,LBS, Stern & Haas), ISB PGP offers two key programs : Leadership Development Programme (or LDP) and Experiential Learning Programme. The two programs are the foundation on which participants develop their leadership and consulting skills.
Let us look at the Admission procedure, processes, and eligibility criteria for ISB.
Admission Procedure for ISB Hyderabad
• After the applications are submitted online, the applicant will be shortlisted for an interview.
• Interviews are conducted in Nov for First Round and in January for Second Round
• Decisions will be conveyed only after all the interviews are conducted for each round
• ISB Applicants can accept or reject the offer by paying INR 2, 00,000. This amount is non-refundable. For applicants entering through Corporate Leadership Immersion Programme (CLIP), the confirmation fee is
INR 5, 00,000.
• The Course commences in April
Eligibility for Admission to ISB
• Bachelor’s degree (Any discipline)
• Minimum Two years of Full-time Work Experience (Exception for applicants with demonstrable achievements)
• GMAT score (Although not officially provided but 700-720 is a safe bet for ISB applicants)
ISB Institution Code for Sending GMAT Score: N2DJ501
• TOEFL / IELTS / PTE score (For applicants who were part of undergraduate program in non-English medium)
ISB Institution Code for TOEFL Score: 9047
Changes in Admission Process for ISB Hyderabad (2014-15)
1) The video essay in ISB, one of the innovations that the school had introduced in 2012-13 has been discontinued due to poor formatting and false interpretation of the guidelines.
2) Less Experienced Applicants: ISB is known to attract more experienced students (5-7 years) but this year AdCom has introduced an Early Entry Option that allows students with 0-2 years of experience to apply and gain admission to ISB. The admission will be deferred until the students gain a minimum of 2 years of work experience.
3) Essays: The three mandatory written Essays and one optional essay are designed to understand more about the career goals of ISB PGP applicants.
ISB PGP Admission Criteria
To get into ISB PGP when the majority of applicants are from premium institutes, applicants have to evaluate the three criteria that the AdCom has highlighted:
LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL
Although ISB AdCom is not expecting leaders with a large list of achievements, leadership potential can be measured based on achievements in work and college. The leadership should be proved with relevant recommendation letter, which are part of the application. Highlight recent achievements, mostly in the workplace to fit this important criterion for ISB PGP Admissions.
Read 7 traits that proves Leadership Potential in MBA Applicants
DIVERSITY
ISB AdCom is not just looking for IITians. They are looking for a class with a diverse background including educational, work experience and nationality. Since over 70% of the applicant pool to ISB is from IT Industry, it is important to present the essay differently. We have written extensively about utilizing elements of storytelling for application. Read it here
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
The ISB PGP is an intense program that requires analytical rigor and ability to comprehend complex business concepts in a very short duration (1-year). The only proof that the AdCom has about your ability to master concepts and excel in them is through the transcripts that you share. For applicants with average GPA, GMAT score will play a key role in assessing your analytical and comprehension skill. ISB does not have a cut off score but GMAT score in the 700-720 range is an unofficial pre-requisite to stay competitive among one of the best applicant pool.
Competition
The competition is intense and for applicants with low GMAT and GPA, there is still hope. If your work experience involved leadership roles that was measurable and impactful, putting the achievements to persuasive words in essays will compensate for the below par GMAT or GPA. We have included elements of persuasion, storytelling, contexts, leadership, emotional intelligence, and storytelling in our essay guide. You can download it here
About the Author
I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.
My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.
I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.
The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.
Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.