Most people consider IIM Kozhikode a better option than MDI Gurgaon. But in reality, MDI has many lesser-known features that might help you take the right decision:
MDI Gurgaon has the best faculty in finance so it’s the best option for the finance stream.
The curriculum taught here is very much similar to the skills sought by the industry
A large number of students get into consulting companies. More than 10 companies visit MDI every year.
Low batch strength, which means proper attention to each student
The No Reservation policy makes the admissions here solely merit-based
Although IIM Kozhikode has some excellent features, MDI Gurgaon lacks the public eye so it’s necessary you know its reality before blindly trusting IIM Kozhikode.
FMS Delhi is better for an MBA. The institute is ahead of IIM Kozhikode in terms of fees, placement, ROI, cutoff, and other aspects.
FMS Delhi fees are only INR 1.92 lakhs, while the average CTC for the institute is INR 32.4 LPA. So, the return on investment is pretty good. Around 100+ companies participate in the placement drive each year.
The PGP finance program at IIM Kozhikode is indeed good. IIM Kozhikode is the 4th Ranked B-School in MHRD NIRF Ranking (2021) among the top 100 Management Institutes.
The PGP Finance is a two-year full-time masters level program designed to aid students in pursuing careers in the financial world, in domains such as corporate finance, investment banking, and wealth management.
Most of the courses are very easy, especially for commerce graduates from DU or other reputed colleges.
All the IIMs are excellent at their own level. Some things that set IIM Kozhikode different from others are:
Food: The campus at IIM Kozhikode offers various eating options. Apart from the mess food, IIM Kozhikode has its own restaurant.
Amazing courses: Apart from the traditional courses, IIM Kozhikode offers versatile courses like Social Transformation of India and Managerial Perspective.
Sessions on self realisation: IIM Kozhikode offers a discretionary course called Self-Incorporated that covers aspects like self-awareness, positive attitude, courage and confidence.
Campus Entertainment: The campus has a number of clubs for extracurricular activities like Krescendo (Music), Foot Vibes (Dance), Theatrix (Drama), Atharva (Quizzing), K-Matinee (Cinema), Tripod (Photography), Pro-lit Cult (Literary activities), Kalakriti (Designing) .
All these make IIM Kozhikode stand apart from other IIMs.
The FPM or Fellow Program in Management at IIM Kozhikode does have its own placement program. This is because the batch size is very small.
But the FPM program in itself is such a meticulous one that all its students become scholars or researchers. The recent data confirms that most of its fellows have been placed in the top IIMs or other reputed Management Schools ranked high on NIRF.
The only thing you need to be careful about is not delaying your thesis work and having good publications. If not you might face problems at the time of placements.
The FPM degree has been renamed as the PhD and IIM Kozhikode provides excellent placements for the same.
If you want to pursue a career in operations, NITIE is superior to both IIM K and IIM Indore. Any other specialization is followed by IIM K, IIM I, and NITIE.
NITIE is the best college in India for operations management, but IIMs are unrivaled in terms of culture and rigor.
IIM K is superior to IIM I for two reasons:
IIM Indore has a large batch size.
IIM I has a lower level of diversity due to a lower number of work-ex people.
Both MDI Gurgaon and IIM Kozhikode are prestigious institutes delivering top-quality management education. IIMK is preferred by those who prefer the IIM tag more than anything while MDI Gurgaon is usually known for its locational advantage. The table below gives a head-on comparison between the two
Particulars |
MDI Gurgaon |
IIM Kozhikode |
Fees |
23.47 Lakhs (Total Fees) |
20.5 Lakhs (Total Fees) |
Eligibility |
Graduation with 50% |
Graduation with 60%+ CAT |
Cutoff |
95 |
97 |
Ranking |
13 out of 125 by NIRF |
79 out of 200 by NIRF |
Highest CTC |
INR 1.14 CPA |
INR 67.02 LPA |
Average CTC |
INR 26.65 LPA |
INR 31.02 LPA |
Top Recruiters |
Microsoft, Google, HCL, Adobe |
Accenture, Amazon, Microsoft |
CAT cut-offs for all categories are given below. These are category-wise sectional and overall qualifying IIM Kozhikode CAT cut-offs 2022.
IIM Kozhikode CAT Cut Off 2022
Category |
CAT 2022 percentile |
IIM Kozhikode sectional cutoff |
Class 10 percentage |
Class 12 percentage |
General |
85 |
75 |
60 |
60 |
NC-OBC/EWS |
75 |
65 |
60 |
60 |
SC |
65 |
55 |
55 |
55 |
ST, PwD |
55 |
45 |
55 |
55 |
It’s important to note that the above-mentioned percentiles are qualifying cut-offs. The final CAT cut-offs are higher.
If you are already PMP certified then pursuing Project Management course of IIM Kozhikode will not add much value to your experience. This is because
Firstly the course is for professionals who are interested in acquiring the PMP and CAPM certification. Since you are a PMP certified professional, it means that you are an experienced professional too. So this course will add no value.
Secondly, the objective of the course is to impart real-time work experience, and understand the principles of project management. As a PMP you already have these skills.
If you want IIMs title for your CV then go for it. But know that you won’t learn anything new from it.
IIM Kozhikode has a holistic approach to select candidates for its various management courses. PGPBL at IIM Kozhikode is a new course in the 1 year MBA category, due to this reason it is not as rigid towards the minimum CAT/GRE/GMAT requirement for student selection. But you are expected to put effort into your application at the same time.
This program has a very detailed application. With decent scores and in-depth application you can expect to crack the first stage of the admission process. But the program is attracting positive attention, so you can expect a rigid percentile requirement in the coming years.
I would recommend you apply for PGPBL at IIM Kozhikode and experience the rich selection process first-hand.