Experience at IIM

I've opted for MBA Core whereas our Institute provides three courses of MBA, MBA-Business Analytics, and MBA-Human Resources. I choose this course as I wanted to have exposure to all the different domains of Finance, Marketing, Strategy, Analytics, and HR being a person from a technical background. The term exams are every trimester as we have a term of 3 months so there are 3 terms in both the first and second years. They are not difficult to pass if you're attentive and consistent in your practice.

The Institute provides various internship opportunities to all candidates in different companies with different roles. The companies include Adani, TATA Capital, ICICI Bank, ICICI Lombard, Union Bank, VIP, Schindler, Schneider, etc. and the roles comprise of Management Intern, Business Intern with various others.

The Placements Committee is there to help with the placements which is also a student-run body. The first-year student sits for their summer placements which is for their mandatory summer internship in their Term 1 whereas students of the second year sit for placements of their final employment in Term 4. Some of the companies visited for placements are Accenture, ICICI Bank, ICICI Lombard, TATA Capital, EY, Deloitte, Adani, EXL, etc. The average package of final placements this year is 16.51 LPA whereas for summer placements it is 82k. The Institute achieves 100% in both summer and final placements.

The total fee for two years is 16 Lacs which you've to pay in 6 installments. Regarding the scholarship, one has to be in the Top 7 positions to get a scholarship from the Institute. For that, you've to perform academically very well and hard and earn the top seven positions. The college helps you in getting an internship for which you are provided a stipend and also the Placements Committee of the college takes responsibility for your final placements after which you can bag a package of around 16.5 LPA.

The annual fest of the Institute is AARUNYA which is conducted in February every year. There are events every month conducted by various Committees, Clubs, and Cells of the Institute. The Cultural Committee of the Institute amazingly organizes every festival so that no students from other states feel homesick. The social life on campus is quite good. You are always engaged in the activities, events, and sessions which are conducted throughout the year. These events and activities include sports, competitions, quizzes, and other cultural functions and to keep up the spirit of participation various wars are organized between class sections in which all the sections participate and fight for the reward. There are 9 committees, 11 clubs, and 4 cells all of which are student-run.

The hostel facility provided by the campus is also nice. We are provided with well-furnished rooms with beds, mattresses, almirahs, tables, chairs, and attached washrooms. We are also provided with full machines for the laundry purpose. The ambiance of the hostel is also good. The mess provides us 4-time meals for which there are assigned timings. The quality of the mess food is also good and the menu is being designed keeping in mind all the tastes of other states. Also, the menu is changed every 2-3 months. For all the operations of the hostel and mess, there is a student-run committee which is Hostel and Mess Committee. For any issue encountered regarding the same, they are there to solve and help.

I took the CAT Exam which is a Common Admission Test for getting admission to premier institutions like IIMs, IITs, FMS, and other colleges for admission to an MBA. The conducting body of CAT is IIMs only so you don't need to fill out an application for IIMs separately but you can apply for desired IIMs and their provided courses while filling out the CAT application form. So, I applied for all the courses on the list which I wanted to pursue. After writing the CAT and declaration of results, I got an interview call from IIM Amritsar and other baby IIMs. The eligibility criteria for clearing the interview call was an overall and sectional cut-off of 85 percentile in the CAT exam. For the same you didn't need to do anything separately, if you're eligible for a specific course for which you've applied you'll get a call (email) from that particular IIM, instructing you about the next steps. The application and admission procedure set up by IIMs is quite smooth, you just have to be patient with it.

I have to give an interview for admission. The interview questions were mainly around my introduction, background, current affairs, and my CV. The admission process was smooth as I got details of my interview through an email and I was informed almost a month prior that I would be having an interview on this date and that time. Due to COVID-19, the interview was conducted in an online mode. It was a 15-20 minutes interview taken by two faculties of IIM Amritsar. The admission to the Institute is decided by a composite score which is a mixture of Pre-Interview and Post-Interview scores that are calculated based on the interview marks and your academic, and gender diversity along with the marks of 10th, 12th, UG, and work experience if you have any. In preparation for the interview, I just brush up on my UG concepts, focus on current affairs, and everything which I mention in my CV.