IIM Vizag - An overview

This is the nearest option I had out of 5 other IIM's from which I received an offer last year. In addition to that, I heard that the batch size comparatively lower at IIM Vizag which influences the placements to great extent. There were no interviews that happened last year due to the pandemic situation. Based on the CAT score, they gave out offers and IIM Vizag didn't take a part in Common Admission Process (CAP) as well. The offer letter came around mid of May last year. Before finalizing the colleges, I happened to talk to the seniors from the respective colleges and got the basis of their opinions on my options. After synthesizing all that info, I've decided to go for IIM Vizag which primarily influenced by the geography and scope for placements. In addition to the seniors' opinion, I did my own research about the colleges and culture out there. I've used platforms like Quora, Pagalguy and LinkedIn posts from respective institutes.

I am interested in the Finance specialization. But, most of the 3rd gen IIM's do not have a specialization along with the degree. Students are free to choose the electives right from the beginning of 3rd term. In that way, it is quite lenient and we can test our interest in the 1st year itself. There are more than 30+ professors along with 15+ visiting faculties which are quite good enough for quality teaching and learning process. But, in our tenure, the no of visiting faculties went down due to the rise in residential faculties. This is inevitable as the college gets old. Since IIM Vizag under the academic mentorship of IIM Bangalore, we had pretty good professors from IIM-B and the quality of teaching was top notch though it was in a virtual mode. Most of the subjects were case-based learning and the number of cases you read would widen your perspective. But, the downside was that the most of cases were age-old and we did read a case that was 4 decades old.

Yes. IIM Vizag consistently providing 100% internship opportunities to students from various domains. The major brands that visited last year for summer internships would be YES bank, Dalmia, ICICI Lombard, Lubrizol, and Bosch. We received 100+ companies for summer internships as well.

First-year students are actively participating in the summer internship process and 2nd-year students will participate in the final placements process provided they are eligible to sit for the final placements. The eligibility criteria include the fulfillment of academic requirements as well as summer internship requirements. At times, it also linked to the behavioral aspects of the students as well. Last year, 104 companies visited the campus for final placements out of which 74 companies were 1st-time recruiters. The highest package was ~20.5 LPA from Amazon and the average package ~12.5 LPA. We achieved 100% placements in the middle of May month.

The management didn't split the tuition fee and hostel fee as separate components in the fee structure. It caused a lot of trouble for us because last year we didn't visit the campus till the 3rd term and still we end up paying the hostel fees just because they didn't mention it explicitly in the fee structure. The only concession they had given was that the mess fee which is worth 25k per term. There were many national and state-level scholarships floated to us. But, many students couldn't clear the interview round which happened with our own faculty members. The questions were like what kind of TV at your home and which brand of mobile you are using and all to check the financial stability of the candidates. But, two of my batchmates from my state received a state-level scholarship worth 2 lakhs. As far as I remember, we received around 4-5 scholarships in 1st year.

Only 60 students went to the campus till now from the 1st year batch due to the pandemic situation. At 1st, they allowed only the students who were facing severe network issues and the students who were a part of the placement committee. Only in 2nd round of calls, they opened it to all the students who are interested to come to the hostel. So, we didn't get to experience the whole spectrum of social life at campus. But, we stayed there for roughly 3 months and did organize the offline and hybrid fest and events which include sports activities as well. We don't have a permanent campus yet. This was a major hurdle in executing the annual fest due to the challenges in commuting the students from the hostel to the ground or institute. There were 3 major sports events namely Yuddhh, Samyodha and Sangram. Sangram only didn't happen this year because of the pandemic situation. For cultural events, we organized an annual fest called Sammarambh which was super successful.

We don't have a permanent campus yet. Thus, we were accommodated in the apartments in a residential area. The major trouble was that the seniors' hostel is 6 km away from our hostel. So, building a network with seniors had become a huge challenge and we had only one cab for us to commute. The registration process is quite simple and staff at the hostel are friendlier. Food quality is quite good and there is a continuous change in the menu which is actively taken care of by the mess committee. The infrastructure is pretty good at the hostel. The rooms are fully furnished and equipped with A/C's and spacious bathrooms along with the heaters. We had indoor sports at the 5th floor and a hall to practice dance and other cultural activities as well. For 1st year students, they will get a sea-facing hostel which is unique in a way in their MBA life.

No. Last year, IIM Vizag didn't participate in Common Admission Process(CAP) and also didn't conduct any GD/PI to the shortlisted students. To some extent, it brought the quality of the batch down. The students received offers based on their CAT scores. No other eligibility criteria were there last year. In addition to that, we have to submit our SOP on the IIM-V website. The experience of participating in the CAP interviews helped in tweaking the SOP.