The PGP application has a separate section to showcase one’s awards and activities in different facets of his or her life. These help us understand how your passion has influenced you in taking up pursuits that really matter to you, what role you played in pursuing these meaningful opportunities, and how your contribution created a positive impact. Awards and achievements are an independent recognition of your ability to excel and rise above your peers, while activities show commitment and initiative, which are characteristics of a well-rounded personality.
In your application, you will see the below sections in the “Awards and Activities” page. The details you provide for any of these could be drawn from your experiences in Academia, Profession, Sports, Fine Arts, Social Service, or any other areas. Here are some ideas on what you can showcase in each of them:
Awards
You can talk about any significant activities for which you have received formal awards or recognition, along with details and the year in which you received them. Patents are also recognised as important awards. The details you provide here will help us understand your achievements and gives us some idea of what you can bring to the school as well as your peer group.
Extracurricular Participation
Here, you could share details of any other significant extracurricular activities that you participated in, even those that you did not receive any awards or recognition for. The nature of the activity, the level of the event (school level, state level, international, etc) and the duration of your involvement will help us learn about your commitment to things apart from daily tasks in school or work.
Activities
Here, you can talk about activities where you held a position/office of responsibility, such as Secretary of an association, Director of a council, Volunteer, etc. These will help us assess your leadership abilities and potential, teamwork skills and how you can add value to the class. Once again, the duration of your involvement will be of interest to us.
Current Hobbies
There may be some activities you participate in purely out of interest or passion. These could be sports, theatre, arts, adventure, lifestyle, other intellectual pursuits like special interest groups, specific reading habits, etc, or anything else in general. These help us to learn more about you as an individual.
ISB PGP students are expected to have well-rounded personalities and not be limited to excelling in only one dimension, like studies or work. Your awards and activities show us your track record of investing in your self-development. They also give us confidence that you will fit in well with your peers, along with whom you will be participating in myriad activities as part of the PGP. If you are wondering what these activities are and why they are absolutely central to your one-year transformation, read my previous post, The Emphasis on Extracurricular Activities at ISB.
All the best!