A few of my friends graduated from IIM Bangalore. Here are some of the facts that they shared with me.

• IIM Bangalore was the third IIM to be established after IIM Calcutta and IIM Ahmedabad.
• The Government of Karnataka offered 100 acres of land for free of cost and contributed INR 30 lakhs in setting up the Institute.
• IIM Bangalore is the first management institute in India to launch the country's first Executive General Management Programme in Aerospace and Aviation Management known as the Post Graduate Programme in Aerospace and Aviation Management in collaboration with Toulouse Business School.
• IIM Bangalore has a vast alumni base and some of the prominent alumni include academicians Prof. Aswath Damodaran and Prof. Raghavendra Rau, eminent author Karan Bajaj and renowned film Director and Producer Nila Madhab Panda, former Chairman of ISRO, Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, and business executives like Ravi Subramanian and Sameer Suneja.
• Rajkumar Hirani directed movie 3 Idiots starring Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi, and R. Madhavan was shot in IIM Bangalore. The filming of the hypothetical ICE college scenes including the Library, Classrooms, Hostel Blocks, and Corridors, took place at the IIM Bangalore campus for 33 days as a part of the second schedule of production.
• The lush green campus of IIM Bangalore is home to a variety of flora and fauna. Every year the Institute hosts professional birders to promote birding and keep a count of the different species of birds found on the campus.

These were some beautiful facts about IIM Bangalore.

IIM Bangalore has many, not one USPs. Here are some that caught my attention the most.

Location: Unlike other IIMs located on the outskirts of cities, IIM Bangalore enjoys situated at the heart of the city. Students need not travel far for shopping or other fun activities.

Sports center: IIM Bangalore is heaven for sports freaks. Its vast infrastructure comprises a sports center where badminton, squash, pool, table tennis, cricket, volleyball, and basketball are played.

Swimming pool: IIM Bangalore is the first and only IIM to have swimming pool facilities.

Surreal campus: IIM Bangalore has a lush green campus with paved roads around ideal for late-night walks. The temperature here is moderate due to the excess greenery.

NSRCEL: This is the most eye-catching feature of IIM Bangalore. NSRCEL is an entrepreneurship cell that promotes the startup ideas of aspiring entrepreneurs. It even holds Launchpad programs that give vast knowledge about the startup world. NSRCEL has incubated many well-known startups.

All these amazing features are the USPS of IIM Bangalore.

One of my friends studied at IIM Bangalore. According to him the sports facilities at IIM Bangalore are really good.

• The complete facility is well equipped and every sport is done inside the campus except only a few games like swimming, squash, etc.
• A new sports complex has been made and it is well equipped with national level equipment. It includes swimming pools, squash rooms, and many more such facilities.
• IIM Bangalore also has a big ground with a perimeter roughly equal to 600 meters which can easily host cricket and football.
• There are games such as basketball, tennis, volleyball, and box cricket grounds or the court in the block near the campus.
• The sports complex is also equipped with a state-of-the-art gymnasium which easily hosts around 70 people at a time.
• There are regular yoga sessions planned these days and everyone is allowed to join here for holistic and spiritual growth.
• The beautiful campus also has a marathon track and it conducts yearly marathons for the past five years.

IIM Bangalore is well equipped with all the necessary sports facilities and equipment. You can train yourself and also take part in competitions held there. It will keep you energetic and fit, providing a wholesome development.

Unlike CAT, RAT (Research Aptitude Test) is not a unified exam. Evert IIM conducts its own admission process for FPM and thus the pattern of RAT varies from IIM to IIM. One of the patterns is termed as minor RAT followed at IIMB and at a few other IIMs. The RAT consists of different types of CAT questions including questions on verbal skills, logical reasoning, quantitative etc. However, the quantity of questions is less and the questions are distributed differently. Questions are designed to determine minimum eligibility requirements and are not meant for elimination thus the overall test is not too difficult.

It's important to note that the RAT pattern for each of the IIMs changes every year. Though some preparation definitely needs to be made for these exams, I would not suggest giving more time to prepare for interviews than the written exam.

Admission to IIM Bangalore highly depends on several factors. Which are as follows.

• CAT percentile: It is the most important factor of getting admission anywhere.
• Gender: It indirectly plays an important role in getting a call from any IIMs.
• Category (General/ OBC/ SC/ ST/ PD):The offer of admission to the candidate depends on availability of seats in each category.
• Academic background: The final selection list also considers the academic background.
• WAT and PI: If you are shortlisted, you will have to go through the Written Ability Test and Personal Interview sessions.
• Work experience: It also plays a major role in selection.

Weightage:

After WAT and PI, a category-wise merit list is made, and admission offers are sent to the shortlisted students.