One of my cousins graduated from IIM Indore and according to him, it is not really a disadvantage.

• Extra-curricular serves the purpose of letting you speak about something other than your regular academics. It shows the panelists that you not just focused on your academics but you were also active in other activities.
• Now, not having extracurricular achievements does not mean you won’t be able to talk about anything. Be thorough in your subjects from 12th grade. Make sure you know the relevant concepts and can apply them in real-life situations. 
• Also, know about your school, its history, and basic trivia around it. Know about your home state - famous personalities belonging to your state, dance forms, festivals, and the likes.
• Talk about your hobbies and about how you've developed them over the years. 

Lastly, be aware of current affairs. Read newspapers regularly and make sure you are able to form opinions and support them with logical facts.

Integrated Program in Management (IPM) in IIM Indore provides a very good foundation for the management course. It has a total intake of 120 students each year and the course has grown over the years.

Here are some of the reasons why you should join this course.

• Academic Curriculum – In the first three years, you will learn mathematics, statistics, humanities, economics, and communication skills. The combination of real-life applications of theories learned through science, out-of-the-box thinking through humanities, and effective communication skills help to build a solid platform for you to become a great future manager.
• Campus and degree – The campus is beautiful and there are absolutely no ragging issues that you will face here. It offers a dual degree; BA foundations in management and MBA which is really good for your career.
• Placements – Take a look at some of the statistics for the batch which passed out of the college in 2021. Please note that the placements for IPM and MBA students take place together, so there is no way to know the actual figures for only the IPM batch.

All in all, there are various compelling reasons for you to join the IPM course at IIM Indore. But it should be your choice rather than because I am telling you.

For the IPM course of IIM Indore, there is a particular IPM paper that takes place for admission. The format of the paper has changed over the past 3 years. CAT and the IPM exam conducted by the IIM Indore are both different. The format of the IPM paper is as follows:

• 40 Questions - MCQ Type - 40 minutes (Quantitative Ability) 
• 20 Questions - Short Answer Type - 40 minutes (Quantitative Ability) 
• 40 Questions - MCQ - 40 minutes (Verbal Ability) 

Although both CAT and IPM exams are different, the format of both of them is the same. Some short answer-type questions are not MCQ type and are slightly different. Although the maths section is higher than the other section in the exam due to the short answer-type questions, the difficulty level would not be much. The cut-off for Quantitative Ability of the IPM exam is nearly 25-30%, therefore you need to go through a lot of Advanced Mathematics and should practice the CAT level mathematics well. According to the marking scheme, Each correct answer is +4 in the exam, and for the wrong answer, there is -1. This negative marking scheme is not applicable for the short answer questions. 

The reason why IIM Kozhikode is given more preference by candidates is due to the size of the batch. The Mumbai campus was started by IIM Indore and the placement process of both institutes is carried out at the same time. Both are among the top ten business schools in India.

The following data shows how the two institutions can go head to head:

Notable companies that are regular visitors of IIM Kozhikode and IIM Indore are American Express, ICICI Banks, Bosch, Amazon, Indigo, etc.

The Himalaya Outbound Program (HOP) is the best part at IIM Indore. This 4-credit course was only available for those who had not yet completed STEP (Student Exchange Program). 

Second-year PGP students are eligible to participate in this program. You will get a chance to visit several soothing and peaceful areas in the Himalayas. It will be organized for a week full of various activities including outbound adventures focused on experiential learning.

• Rappelling, ziplining, rock climbing, trekking, team building activities, tent pitching, setting camp, and group cooking are some of the outbound activities of the program. 
• It is carried out in partnership with two well-known organizations, IndiaHikes and TSAF (Tata Steel Adventures Foundation). 
• Dayara Bugyal, Kuflon, and Kedarkantha are among the most popular trek routes for the program.

You will learn the importance of leadership qualities as you might be appointed the leader of the team randomly. The program can prove to be a great digital detox where every member of the team will be disconnected from the entire world for three days.’

Interview questions depend on a lot of factors and it is hard to predict what to expect from the interviewer exactly. One of my friends attended the IIM Indore interview a few years back and here is his experience in brief. 

He is a B.Tech in Mining Engineering from ISM (IIT) Dhanbad and he had done an internship with a trading firm and got a final placement with a trading firm as well. Here are some of the questions that he was asked. 

• What is your current location?
• What is your recent educational background?
• Are your placements over?
• Have you been placed?
• What is your job profile?
• Why did you choose to work as a trader (my job) instead of pursuing something in mining engineering?
• What is blast ability?
• What is the most powerful explosive?
• What is powder factor?
• What is black damp?

He was also asked an extempore regarding “Whether the physical mode of education will be undertaken by online mode of education.” Apart from all these, there were some very common questions regarding general knowledge, current affairs. Some of the sample questions are given below.

• What is the carbon footprint?
• What are some good qualities a manager should possess?
• What will you get if you join IIM Indore?
• Where do you see yourself after 5 years or 10 years?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• What is a brand?
• Where do you get your daily news bytes?

Apart from that, you can expect questions from current affairs. So keep an eye for that. 

Having known some people graduating from both IIM Indore and Shaheed Sukhdev, I got to know that among the two Shaheed Sukhdev is a better option.

• They provide a better return on investment.
• It's better to have more options than to pay 30+ lakhs and get a job of 11 to 15 lakhs while paying the loan for 4 years.
• There is a very strong chance to go for the CAT or GMAT to pursue PGDM courses from B-schools which are higher in rank and more reputed than IIM Indore.
• Shaheed Sukhdev offers similar job opportunities like any top IIM or NITs.
• Being in Delhi you would get more industrial exposure for internships, jobs, seminars, etc.
• It has a much lower fee structure than IIM Indore.

All these reasons are good to favor Shaheed Sukhdev over IPM IIM Indore. Having said that, IPM at IIM Indore also has its own set of advantages. So you need to make a wise decision and go for the one that suits you best.