All about the life of a MBA student!

The college is situated in Ghatkopar East, Mumbai which is the financial capital of India. It has various infrastructural facilities like Bloomberg labs, WIFI all throughout the lush green campus, hostel facilities for outstation students, accomplished faculties, since being under the Somaiya Vidyavihar University, it provides MBA degree instead of PGDM which gives the college am an upper hand, instead of its other competitors like Welingkar. In order to secure your seat in the college, you can give various entrance exams like CAT, XAT, CMAT etc. Post that you have to fill the college application form and await the cut off lists for GDPI process according to your score in the exams. Post that around Feb. March the GDPI process begins and around April/May the merit list is out based on your overall performance in the Entrance exam, GDPI, Work experience and Past Academics.

Since I have a background in Finance and it interests me, I chose an MBA in Financial Services. The course begins with the basics of all the finance-related subjects and marketing and communication skills in the first trimester and gradually takes a dive into the core of finance and how does an MBA contribute towards the field. We have a 2-month summer internship in our respective domain. The faculties are highly qualified with some having Doctoral degrees in their specialization and some having research papers under them. The faculty to student ratio is about 1:30. Since due to pandemic this year and unable to stay on campus the authorities have tied up with various institutions for proctored online examinations in order to maintain fairness and hence the exams have been delayed to spread awareness about the platform. But according to previous trends, the exams are conducted smoothly with fairly instructed exams.

College offers both on-campus and off-campus internship facilities based upon the student's wishes. Companies like DE Shaw, Acresium, Citi Bank, Marsh, JP Morgan and Chase etc come to campus for recruitment. The highest package is about 1.45 lakhs and average 25 thousand. The roles offered are as per the specialization of the student's course like financial analysis, prime brokerage, marketings, sales etc. There are various projects as per the ability of the students and the need of the company.

From semester 1 itself, students are eligible for summer internships with companies like DE Shaw, Acresium, JP Morgan and Chase, Marsh coming in with various profiles. The highest stipend offered is 1.45 lacks an average being about 25 thousand. From trimester 4 onwards you become eligible for Final placements. About 160-170 companies come in total for the placement process and the highest package is about 28 lakhs and average about 10 lakhs is offered. Almost 90-95 percent of the students are placed.

The only drawback is the hike in fees this year considering the pandemic and financial crisis faced by many students due to the various reasons. It seems unfair during such difficult times. The fees last year was about 12.67 lakhs and has been increased to 14.95 lakhs this year, which seems a bit unfair. Apart from that, the mess fees are 50000 for the entire year and 1.67 hostel fees for the same. There are various opportunities with various companies for both summer internships and final placements with about 90-100% placement record.

The Annual fest Melange is conducted in the month of Feb/March every year where students from various colleges take part. The library is equipped with all sorts of books and journals and magazines to empart knowledge and keep students up to date with the happenings all around the world. Since we have not yet been physically present on campus we just have a virtual tour of the classroom with pleasant seating arrangements. The campus is situated amidst a lush green ground with gymnasium, basketball court, lawn tennis, etc. As the college has an MBA in sports management, it has all sorts of gaming and sports equipment. The college has about 30-40 clubs and committees. With some exclusive committees like Placement committee, Admission Committee, Alumni Committee, etc. Gita club, etc.

Since I haven't been on campus yet, I'm unable to provide my experience, but according to the seniors, the hostel has all the amenities in it with 24*7 wifi and running water. Triple room sharing with private washroom cleaned every two days. The meals provided in the mess are very hygienic and since it is a completely veg hostel there is no issue regarding the quality of food for vegetarian students. The registration process for the student is fairly simple which is explained at the time of admission. The hostel is fairly priced considering it being located in the heart of Mumbai.

The topics for GD is quite generic like Detox from social media, Women Empowerment etc. They might also ask about current affairs in the same. The group consists of about 12-15 students with 2 moderators. The discussion time was about 10 mins apart from that 30 seconds per student to conclude. The PI was conducted by 3 faculties who assess you based on your past academic knowledge, strengths and weakness. The process is fairly simple and just as there is only merit-based admission where you clear the entrance exams cut off of about 85-90 percentile for CAT and XAT and 97 percentile for CMAT. Then you go through the GDPI process and then the students are ranked and accordingly alloted their choice, of course, they want to pursue. I had taken tuition from TIME to prepare for the same.