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First hand experiences of students from top MBA colleges in India.

B School Reviews

What if one day you get to choose between IIM-A & B? Be prepared. Stay informed.

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM - A)

Location & Infra:

Although Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM - A) is one of the oldest Bschools of the country, its infrastructure has evolved over time. At IIM A, which is spread over a few hundred acres, you get unparalleled infrastructure, which is conducive to learning and studying.

There are 26 dorms, each one having its own history and its own idiosyncrasies. Infrastructure at IIM A is exactly what you would expect form the premier Bschool of a country - top notch.

Fees & Placements:

The fees of IIM Ahmedabad is Rs.13 lakhs for the entire two year course.

Of course, that should Certainly Not be a deciding factor in the extremely special case of an institute like IIM A, as you’ll quickly find out as soon as you read the next few lines.

Because IIM Ahmedabad has arguably the best placements amongst ALL institutes in India. The Who’s Who of consulting, finance, investment banking, marketing, etc come to the campus and recruit students at absolutely hair-raising salaries.

In 2012, 120 firms participated in the placement session. Boston consulting and McKinsey were the highest recruiters, and a number of major players like Deloitte, E&Y, KPMG, HSBC, ICICI Bank, Nomura, Standard Chartered, etc made multiple offers to students as well. First time recruiter Supermax made the highest number of offers and recruited 14 students. There was a marked increase in the number of Pre Placement Offers (PPOs) as well as the Lateral Placement Offers. The average domestic salary was a cool Rs.15 lakh, and the average overseas salary was a whopping Rs.45 lakh per annum. The highest salary offered is believed to have been in the range of about Rs.1 crore. Don’t faint.

Faculty & Pedagogy:

The reputation of IIM A owes much to its faculty. IIM A’s trademark style of teaching is using extensive case-studies. Research has increased multifold over the past few years.

The visiting faculty at IIM A (which come from some of the best universities in the world, of course) stay on campus itself, and are actively involved in the design of the course. Although they are termed ‘visiting’, they stay on campus for the entire duration of the course, thus making sure that students have the ‘best of both worlds’.

Crowd & Campus Life:

The crowd consist majorly of students who are engineers. This naturally means males quite easily outnumber females. Many students have at least a couple of years of work experience, and those who don’t, more often than not have fantastic overall profiles. The crowd is a nice blend of the slightly nerdy and the extremely brilliant.

Life at IIM-Ahmedabad isn’t a walk in the park. Submissions and assignments and crazy deadlines ensure that you’re always on your toes. But students do find time to pursue their interests; IIMA has some excellent festivals and students take part in them enthusiastically. Students also indulge in a lot of ‘intellectually stimulating’ interactions with seniors as well as professors. An alumnus of IIMA has started a food-bar called ‘Joos’ as an entrepreneurial venture within the campus; its a hub for such discussions, and it’s a pretty cool place to hang out anyway.

Corporate Connections and International Associations:

Owing to its reputation, there are many institutes and companies that want to get associated with IIM Ahmedabad. Recently, Samsung was one of the first companies to get into a corporate partnership with the institute.

In terms of affiliations, IIM A has tie-ups with a number of very reputed institutes like Harvard, HEC Paris, Duke University, etc. A number of other highly-rated universities also try to woo the Bschool into tie-ups all the time.

Summer Placements:

IIM Ahmedabad, being IIM Ahmedabad, always has fantastic summer internships to offer. The global leaders in consultancy, finance, marketing, sales, etc offer a month or two month long internship to students, and pay them, well, handsomely for it. IIM A always has 100% summer placements, and students are offered stipends ranging between about Rs.1 lakh to Rs.3.5 lakh per month.

In 2010, some of the companies that visited the campus were Nomura, Morgan Stanley, Citibank, JP Morgan, Royal Bank of Scotland, Goldman Sachs, Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey. RBS was comfortably the highest recruiter, picking up about 20 students from the batch.

Special Attributes:

IIM A offers a unique agro-management program, which is one of, if not the best in India.

Apart from the fantastic courses and faculty, well, IIM A is IIM A. The best placements, the best packages, and perhaps the best future for its alumni.