SIDTM: A TELECOM SCHOOL OF ITS OWN KIND

The admission process was simple, quick. Because of the dreaded Covid-19, the admission process for SIDTM was conducted in online mode. The exam which is used to shortlist students is Symbiosis National Aptitude Test or commonly known as SNAP. SNAP is a pan-India Management entrance exam that is conducted by Symbiosis International University or SIU. A 60 minutes objective exam which tests one's knowledge in the following subjects: English, Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning. One can give the SNAP exam two times and the best score out of the 2 exams one has given can be shared with the colleges you have applied to of your choice. SNAP application form can be filled at the official SNAP website with a fee of Rs.1950/-. The eligibility for SIDTM is that one needs to have 50% in Graduation in any stream and a minimum SNAP score of 78-80 percentile. Once you fulfil the above criteria then one is shortlisted for GE-PIWAT, where WAT is conducted on an online portal and GEPI is conducted on ZOOM.

SIDTM offers a variety of electives to choose from and the course has a unique combination of Telecommunications and Managerial aspects. One has 3 specializations to pursue career in SIDTM: Marketing, Analytics and Systems. The most popular specializations out of the 3 are Marketing and Analytics. SIDTM also offers amazing certification courses that would add benefit in one's Resume such as IBM, AWS, UiPath, Cisco etc. and many more. I chose SIDTM as my MBA college as I come from an Instrumentation Engineering background with 1 year of work experience, and would like to use my engineering background in working with Telecom Companies using management and strategic skills. 8:1 as per the official website is te Student to Faculty Ratio. All facultys mostly have PhDs and Masters Degrees and they come from multiple backgrounds such as Science, Finance, Accountancy. Teaching mode is both online and offline depending on the scenarios.

First Year students are eligible for the summer internship. The companies that offer Internships are Reliance Jio, Vodafone, EY, MathWorks, TCS, etc. If a student performs well in the tasks done during the internship, one can also receive PPO (Pre-Placement Offer) from the company. The Internship process begins in September and ends in April. The projects and tasks that are mostly given to students during the internship are market research, data analytics, writing research reports, conducting surveys, generating leads etc. The roles that are offered are Growth Intern, Business Development Intern, Risk Consultant, Business Consultant, IT Strategy Intern, etc. The highest stipend offered was Rs. 1,60,000 and the average stipend was around 58,000.

During the 2nd Year, Students are eligible for the Placement Process which is supervised by the Placement and Corporate Team which is a Student-driven committee. But even in the 1st Year one is eligible for PPO (Pre-Placement Offer) if offered by the company they have been interning with. The companies that come to the campus placement drive are Tata Tele Services, Aditya Birla, Salesforce, Deloitte, EY, Erricson, etc. The roles that are offered by the companies are mostly: Business Analyst, Consultant, Strategy Manager, etc. The highest package offered was 29.07 LPA and the average was 15.7 LPA. The top 100 students received 11.26 LPA.

Fees are 6.5 lakh per year. This fee structure includes Academic fees, Institutional deposit, Hostel Room, and for Mess. Government and Institute guidelines can increase the fee by 10% each year. International students who wish to study here have to pay the fees in USD equivalent to INR. In order to avail of scholarship benefits, one needs to secure top marks in First Semester with a minimum CGPA of 7.5 out of 10. If one is the semester topper then one will get a scholarship of 50% from the academic fee. SIDTM has a placement record of 100% each year. The highest package was 29 LPA and the average is 15.7 LPA. Financial assistance will be provided if one is from low income category provided one has relevant documents to show.

Located at the hilltop with lush greenery, Campus life is both exciting and memorable. There are various clubs and committees one gets to choose from to join in order to build their teamwork and personality skills. These are The Branding Committee, The Student Welfare and Fest Committee, Web and Tech Committee, Sports Committee, Entrepreneurship Committee, Marketing Club and Finance Club. There are various events conducted by the committees such as Ganesh Chaturthi, Open-Mic Comedy, Janamashtami, etc. There is a huge Central library dedicated to all Symbiosis Institutes that contains books and journals for more than 200 subjects. There are also e-books available at the Open Source Catalog, e-magazines and audiobooks. Classrooms are WIFI enabled with smart boards, IBM labs. There is a LinkedIn, Facebook and an Instagram page of the college to give regular updates and information on the various activities happening in the college.

It is an on-campus residence. Three types of rooms are available, single-occupancy, double-occupancy and triple-occupancy. One does not get a choice of which room during the First Year, however during the Second Year one has the choice of switching to the room of their own comfort. Hostel Fee is 1,00,000 per year which can be hiked up to 10% depending on government norms. The college will randomly allot the rooms to the students based on their Roll Numbers. In every room, there is a LAN connector for the Internet. Breakfast, Lunch Dinner, Dinner are provided by the Mess, and there are Student Mess Representatives which are there to help students who require a special menu depending on their health or religious customs. The meal is top notch and delicious.

After getting shortlisted by SIDTM based on the SNAP score, the further rounds for securing admission into the college are Written Ability Test, Group Exercise/Discussion and Personal Interview also famously known as the GE-PIWAT round. Firstly in the Written Ability Test round one has to write only ONE essay out of 6 or 7 topics on an online portal for 30 minutes. Keep practising essays to excel in this round. Secondly, is the General Discussion or General Exercise round where there could be a debate or discussion on either static general knowledge or current affairs or on finance and banking. Each group will have 7 to 9 members and each individual will get 1 or 2 minutes to discuss or debate or put forth their ideas. Be aware of what is going around you, read current affairs magazines and practice speaking. Finally one has to go through a Personal Interview where 4 or 5 faculty members of SIDTM will assess you individually. Be focused and keep calm to get a good score here.