IIM Udaipur- The Honest Review

IIMU has been rated highly for its academic excellence and has fared better in terms of summer and final placements when compared to other new IIMs. It is the youngest B-school in the global FT master management ranking in 2020. Admission to the college is done through Common Admission Process (CAP). I had my CAP process done in Delhi in February after which I regularly used PagalGuy to be updated about the admission process. I chose the college since it offers an enriching learning experience through student-driven programs and has over 60 permanent faculty members with many years of teaching experience. Also, the placements numbers have improved over the years with 65+ recruiters visiting the campus in 2019. Although, the campus is still in its construction phase and will take a long time in becoming fully operational. The library and sports infrastructure is also very weak when compared to other IIMs and will take many years in getting refurbished.

The course covers the latest concepts from all domains- Marketing, Finance, Operations, HR and consulting, and is regularly updated to stay abreast with the latest information. The students are divided into 5 sections and there is 2-3 main teacher for each subject. The faculties are well qualified, with most of them having academic or teaching experience from IIM A, B or C. The students also get to individually evaluate a teacher on multiple parameters once the course gets over. The exams, during the first year, are held once during the mid of the trimester and once during the end. However, quizzes and assignments occupy a student's timetable throughout the course of a trimester. In the second year, the exams are held according to the evaluation pattern of a subject.

The college completed its 2021 summer internships by achieving a 100% placement status. 100+ recruiters visited the campus out of which 60+ were first-time visitors. The maximum number of offers were rolled out in the Sales & Marketing domain, followed by Analytics and Finance domains. Some of the top recruiters that visited the campus were Goldman Sachs, Titan, HPCL, ICICI Bank, Cummins, ICICI Lombard, Accenture, Adani etc.

The college has been successful in garnering one of the best placements among new IIMs with an average CTC of around 13.5 lacs last year. The college obtained 100% placements for summer internships for the year 2021 however the final placements stats for the same year are yet to be released. The major recruiters that participated in the final placement drive of 2021 were Accenture, Infosys, KPMG, EY, TATA AIG, Bajaj Auto, Axis Bank, Flipkart, Berger Paints, Cummins, Juggernaut etc. The majority of the companies that visited the campus were from the BFSI sector, followed by IT and consulting. The major profiles offered to students were Senior Analyst, Channel Sales Manager, Consultant, Business Development, Project Manager etc.

The total fees for the 2-year MBA program are approximately 17 lacs (hostel and mess included). The hostel and mess fees are subjected to fees hike on account of an increase in raw material. There is an opportunity for financial assistance for students with a conservative background. The college has witnessed a steady increase in stipend over the years. The average package last year was around 13 lacs. I got a summer internship in Ernst & Young and was placed in TATA AIG with a CTC of 15.6 lacs.

Life at the IIMU campus is very VIBRANT with lots of cultural and social activities planned throughout the year. So if on one hand, the academics grill you to your core, the social activities help you rejuvenate. Three fests are held annually in IIMU- Solaris- Management Fest, Utkrisht- Sports Fest, Audacity- Cultural Fest. The fests are conducted in November, January and March respectively. There are plenty of social, functional and academic clubs catering to the interests of all the people. Some of these clubs are- 1. Culcomm (The Cultural Club of IIMU) 2. CodeRED (The Social Club of IIMU) 3. Potpourri (The Literary Club of IIMU) 4. Octaves (The Music Group of IIMU) 5. FootworX (The Dance Group of IIMU) Complete details of these clubs can be found on IIMU official website. There are separate music and dance rooms on the campus.

The rooms are equipped with basic facilities- a single bed, a study table, an almirah, a fan, an AC and 2 lights. The rooms are painted yearly and so are in proper condition. Any problem related to any electrical equipment can be reported via mail/call and gets resolved quickly. The mess and hostel cleaning service is outsourced to Sarovar Hotels which maintains high standards in quality and consistency. The food menu contains different options, ranging from North Indian to South Indian food, for different days. The food taste varies on daily basis however the hygiene is always maintained.

I had to go through a written test and an interview as a part of the Common Admission Process (CAP). The topic for my Written test was road safety whereas in my PI I was mostly asked about my graduation academics, besides a few HR and GK questions. Being a fresher, I expected interviewees to ask me questions from my graduation so I started revising the basic concepts from a month ago. Alongside I was also preparing for GK questions by reading the newspaper daily and memorizing some facts from recent events. For HR questions, I did proper practice for basic questions like- "Tell me something about yourself", "Why do you want to do an MBA" etc. Lastly, I gave a few mock interviews before appearing on the D-Day.