One of my friends is a student of XLRI and her interview experience was quite strange. When she looks back at the experience it seems quite funny. Here are a few snippets of her experience. 

• First, she was asked to explain the differences between Shakespearean Tragedy and Sophoclean Tragedy. This question is actually quite great for checking how deeply you can analyze dramatic narratives. But the fact that it was the very first question makes it funny. 
• There was a follow-up question to the previous one. The question was, ‘How do you relate Shakespearean tragedy to human resources?’ and she was asked to state it with appropriate examples.
• One of the interviewers was from Civil Engineering and asked questions like, ‘What is the most reactive metal?’ (Ans- Sodium) and ‘What is the atomic number of Sodium?’ These questions were strange for my friend as she is a humanities student.

Based on many incidents that I heard from my friends over the year, it seems that most interviews of B-schools are of non-standardized nature. In most cases, the type of questions they ask depends on what presumptions they make about the candidate, and some depending upon their bias on a particular topic. However, it is a matter of discussion. Here is an interesting anecdote, I know a few people who have failed in XLRI PI round but have successfully cracked IIMs PI.

XLRI has been ranked 9th for management studies in India by NIRF 2020 whereas FMS, IIM-L has been ranked 35th and 4th position respectively. JBIMS is ranked 23 for MBA by India Today 2019.

Admission:

XLRI:

• XLRI conducts the Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) every year in the month of January which is followed by PI rounds for admission.

• 95% is the cutoff for male candidates to join the BM program whereas 93% in the case of females for the same.

JBIMS:

• CAT exam and PI round must be cleared to get admission at JBIMS with the minimum graduation score of 50%.

• The previous year cutoff for BM was 96%.

FMS:

• FMS considers CAT scores for MBA admission.

• BM at FMS is most likely to have a cutoff of 98%.

IIM-L:

• For admission at IIM Lucknow, one has to clear IIM-CAT.

• The expected cutoff percentile this year would be around 97-99% for BM.

Placement statistics:

XLRI:

• The batch of 2020 recorded 100% placement with 362 overall domestic and international offers.

• The average CTC was recorded to be 26 LPA whereas the highest package was 58.5 LPA.

• Sales & marketing and BFSI were the top sectors where students were placed. 17% of these roles constituted students from Business Management.

JBIMS:

• JBIMS experienced a 17.6% hike in their average salary from the previous year. The average CTC offered this year is 20.13 LPA where 98% of students applied for placement have got placed.

• The best domestic CTC offered in 2020 is 32.3 LPA.

• 41% of students got placed at BFSI and IB sectors which includes a majority of BM students.

FMS:

• 219 students appeared in the placement session in 2020. Each of them got placed at top-notch companies like Coca Cola, Asian paints, GSK pharma with an average salary of 25.6 LPA.

• 58 LPA was the highest CTC offered which is 10% more than the previous year.

• Consulting, General management, and E-commerce were the major domains where 33% of students got placed.

IIM-L:

• 443 students got placed from the 2020 batch at IIM-L with an average annual package of 24.25 LPA at companies like Flipkart, Deloitte, Accenture.

• The best CTC offered so far is 54 LPA at IIM-L.

• 480 students availed of a summer internship opportunity with an average stipend of 1.2 LPM.

XLRI slightly holds an upper hand for BM when compared to the other three B-Schools. Nonetheless, all four institutes offer quality education, exposure, and good placement.

Any visiting professor or faculty member, like L Gurunathan from XLRI, is paid on an hourly basis. It is rather a fair amount to share. For a full credit 30 hour course, a professor like him can be paid anywhere from Rs. 8,000 per hour to Rs. 15,000 per hour. Generally, new IIMs pay a lot higher than what old IIMs pay, which somehow can be anticipated. 

The best guess still remains to be around Rs. 10,000 per hour or a whole 3 lac, if the professor invests for a full credit course. Other than that, if you wish to know how L Gurunathan in XLRI is known to be, then read the progression.

L Gurunathan had taught Comp. and Benefits in the Talent Management course online offered solely by XLRI - VIL programs to my younger cousin alongside other students, and as he reports, his vantage point isn't likely the best. Students comparatively arrive with basic industry knowledge, but his attitude towards them doesn’t remain smooth at all. It is something to consider.

He also, over time, has failed providing students important notes, handouts or book suggestions, unlike many other professors. Students have often come up saying that his indifferent behaviour has led into not sharing better information of Comp. and Benefits which rather is a very technical subject itself. 

He is somehow infamous for not teaching the proper structures of a topic. He teaches what he thinks about, which practically can be chaotic, if not followed a pattern. The story however does not end there. L Gurunathan, when asked for various case studies or book suggestions, directly moves into denial, saying that his teachings on the topic are strictly based on one.