SIDTM: BEST COLLEGE IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS DOMAIN

Due to the pandemic, I could not visit the SIDTM campus and therefore the complete admission process was held online. In order to secure admission to this course one has to give an all-India MBA exam known as SNAP or known as Symbiosis National Aptitude Test. This is conducted completely by Symbiosis International University or SIU. The form for registration to the SNAP exam can be found from the official SNAP website with a registration fee of Rs.2000 /- The last date for filling the form typically begins around 1st week of September and ends on November. The SNAP test comprises of computer-based MCQ test which tests on English, Quantitative Aptitude and Logical Reasoning. In order to be eligible for SIDTM one needs to have 50% in Graduation from any stream and a valid SNAP score of around 80 percentile. Post shortlisting by SIDTM after fulfilling the above criteria one has to go through Written Ability Essay Test, Group Discussion, and Personal Interview.

This course contains a blend of technical and managerial subjects which essentially makes one a future techno-manager. I come from a commerce background however as I require technology to meet the industry needs and to reach the top of the ladder in various companies as they require technical expertise, I had chosen this course as this will provide a push to my career and since telecom is the next big thing in India, it was a wise decision for me to choose this college. SIDTM offers certification courses on IT and also 3 specializations to choose from that is Marketing, Analytics and Systems. Faculty is well qualified with everyone mostly having PHDs, some have post-doctorates, and some have essential technical certifications from Microsoft and Amazon. Faculty teaches in a very interactive and simple manner using smart boards and simulation software. Exams are fairly difficult due to the heavily technical nature of the course but one needs to daily revise the study material.

Internships begin from September during 1st Semester and end in April of 2nd Semester. The various Internship profiles that are offered are Business Development Associate, Business Growth Intern, Risk Consultant Intern, Strategy Intern, Brand Management Interns, etc. SIDTM has a record of 100% of students being placed in summer internships with an average of Rs. 59,000 as stipend and highest is offered at Rs. 1,60,000 as stipend. Mostly the companies that visit SIDTM for internships are EY, VOIS, Phoneix, CollegeDunia, Airtel, Reliance, etc. The projects typically consist of writing and proofreading research papers, conducting market surveys, and analyzing financial data.

As soon as one enters the final or 2nd Year of SIDTM MBA, one is completely eligible for sitting in campus placements. SIDTM has a record of 100% placement each year with the highest package offered at Rs. 29LPA, average at Rs. 15.7LPA, Top 70 receive Rs. 13LPA and there are also international companies that do offer higher packages depending on the location abroad of the company. The Companies that usually arrive for Campus placements are EY, Deloitte, Vodafone, Salesforce, Coee, Morgan Stanley, Capgemini, TCS, Infosys, etc. The various profiles that are offered are Technology consultants, Risk analysts, IT System Managers, Business Managers, etc.

Fees is approximately 16-18 lakhs in total and has to be paid in 4 installments. Fees can be hiked to around 10% if required by the college or according to Symbiosis guidelines. The Fee structure typically includes Academic Fees, Insitute fees, Mess and Hostel room fees. Financial assistance can be availed by lower-income groups if having sufficient required documents to show proof of their income. If one becomes a Semester Topper one can get 50% merit scholarship from the academic fees.

Campus life is very amazing and fun. I had made a lot of great friends and also the Campus allows you to connect with various people who have different and brilliant skills that I can learn. There are lot of student-run clubs such as Placement Committee, Marketing Club, Finance Club, Telecom Club, Branding Committee, Sports Committee, and many more. Joining any one of them provides a rich experience in seeing how teamwork and building relationships with peers can help in working for the industry in the future. The sports committee also organizes an annual Sports festival where different colleges compete with our sports teams in SIDTM. Classrooms are spacious and are equipped with interactive teaching boards, updated computer labs and software. A Central Library dedicated to Symbiosis is there which has over 200 different books of different subjects. It also has an Online Portal for ebooks. Social media handles like Twitter and Facebook is managed by respective Student Committees.

The hostel is in campus residential means it is compulsory to stay in hostels while in Campus. There are 3 types of rooms available, single occupancy, double occupancy and triple occupancy. The fees for Hostel Rooms is Rs.1,00,000 per year and the Mess Fees is Rs.70,000 per year. During the first year the college decides what room one will get depending on availability but during the second year one gets to switch or choose what room one wants according to the level of comfort. There is a LAN wifi cable for internet facilities and there are also charging points for charging devices. Mess food is pretty satisfactory and it caters to the needs to different dietary requirements of students. Lunch, breakfast and dinner is served by the Mess. The menu does change every week to offer different tastes and variety in meal.

After gettting shortlisted by SIDTM, I had to give a Written Ability test, where I had to write an essay for 30 minutes on a topic of my choice from 6 options on an online portal. One has to practice essay writing regularly to score well here. The next stage was Group Discussion where I was in a group of 9 and we all were given a hypothetical problem and together have to come up with a solution. Each individual was also given 2 minutes to introduce and give their opinion on how to solve the problem, I suggest aspirants to study current affairs, think outside of the box and practice speaking in order to score well in Group Discussion. The next and final stage was Personal Interview where there is a panel of 4 teachers all who are from SIDTM faculty and they asked a lot of questions on my academics, my projects and my achievements and about my certificates of excellence. This was a tough round but one needs to be honest, calm and confident in order to impress the interviewer.