The best B school of India: IIMA

I chose IIMA over other colleges due to multiple reasons. The legacy brand of IIMA and the Alumni network is the first reason. The cohort-based placement process and the smaller size batch size as compared to other B schools were the factors that led me to join IIMA. Faculty to student ratio: 0.3.World class faculties with previous work ex in different prestigious organizations. IIMA has case-based learning pedagogy with 3 terms in a year.

Companies from various domains visit IIMA for a summer placement. Consulting, Product management, sales marketing, General Management, Finance, and operations are a few domains of preferences of the students. Details of the report and average stipends can be found on the IIMA website.

The PGP first-year students sit for the summer placement in November, whereas the PGP second-year students sit for lateral placement in January and final placement in February. The company's details and average packages can be found on the website of IIMA. After my degree, I plan to work for a few years before going for my own start-up.

For the 2022-24 batch, the total fee was 25 lakh for two years. One can expect an average 5% fee hike every year. There are need-based and merit-based scholarships available. Also, most of the students avail of education loans at a lower rate of interest from different banks. Getting a loan is much easier once one has the offer letter.

Redbrick summit is the annual management fest (Sept-Oct), and CHAOS is the annual cultural fest (Jan) of IIMA. Vikram Sarabhai Library of IIMA is one of the largest and best libraries in India, with the availability of millions of books and journals. More than 50 clubs and groups are run by the students.

3 types of hostels/dorms (called at IIMA) are there in IIMA. Old dorms, New dorms, and Married Student Hostel. Two messes are serving food to the whole IIMA community. In terms of quality, I would rate it as average, considering the type of food served. It is mandatory to stay in hostels for PGP students.

The admission process consists of 3 stages. The first one is writing the CAT exam and qualifying for the minimum cut-off. In the second stage, IIMA considers past academic records, work ex, and background along with CAT score for shortlisting to the interview round. Then the 3rd stage is the interview and WAT (Written Ability Test) round, after which they offer admission. Application forms can be found on the CAT website (released in the first week of August).

There is no GD round in particular. Instead, IIMA has a WAT (Written Ability Test) round followed by an interview. In WAT, they test critical thinking skills and writing skills. In an interview, they may discuss the WAT one has written, current affairs, academics, ethics questions, etc. I prepared from multiple sources (IMS and Prepzone) for the GDPI round.