IIM Sirmaur - Plethora of opportunities

The course curriculum is changing every year since it is a new course. The current course curriculum is good but needs improvement. Some courses are relevant whereas some are not that much relevant. Since the course was offered by an IIM and it coincided with my future business plans, I opted for the same. There is a shortage of qualified faculties for tourism-specific subjects but they are currently hiring faculties for the same. The pedagogy is usually case study based which makes the course more practical and helps the students get a better picture of the same. The exams happen twice in a term. We have a mid-term and an end-term exam. The exam depends on the faculty. Mostly they make it case study based which forces the students to solve real-life questions in a proper manner using all the frameworks.

Several companies came for internships like Decathlon, Daimler Trucks, Adani Group, Big Basket, Posterity Consulting, goStops, Digit Insurance, Gilpin Travel, IHCL, etc. The companies came for HR, marketing, finance, sales, product, and several other roles. Adani came for the finance role and was offered a Rs. 1lakh per month stipend. Daimler Truck came for the HR role and offered Rs 50,000 per month. Decathlon came for a digital marketing role and offered Rs 25,000- Rs 50,000 per month. The internships offer various opportunities for the candidates and apply all their knowledge in practical life.

All the students are placed on the campus itself. Companies start visiting from the fourth term onwards i.e. at the start of the second year. More than fifty companies visited last year for a batch of 50 students and the highest package was 34 Lakhs. Companies come for several roles like HR, marketing, sales, finance, general management, and operation. Companies from various sectors came including Tourism. Club Mahindra, Satguru Travels, Pick Your Trail, Travclan, etc. came from the tourism sector. Other major companies include Lenden Club, Belgium Waffle, BigBasket, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Virtusa, Decathlon, etc. The highest package was 34 Lakhs an average of 11.82 LPA. IIM Sirmaur had 100% placements last year.

The course for our year was offered for a fee of Rs 11,85,000. This was inclusive of hostel fees which are Rs10,000 per month. The mess fees are separate. It costs Rs18,000 per term. For the candidates coming from financially backward classes or belonging to SC, ST, or OBC approximately 1 lakh is provided as a scholarship. For most of the IIMs, there is a tie-up with local banks which indeed helps in offering loans to the students at lesser interest rates. For IIM Sirmaur, we got emails from the Central Bank of India, State Bank of India, and Union Bank of India with interest rates of 6.7, 6.75, and 7.2 per annum respectively. Since we are currently on the temporary campus, the course fee is less, once we move to a permanent campus with more facilities the fees will see a hike. For the academic year 2023-25 itself, the fees have been increased to Rs16,00,000. The institute offers campus placements and IIMs always see a hike in their campus placements. This year our average placement is Rs11,82,000.

The campus life at IIM Sirmaur is amazing irrespective of the fact that we are on the temporary campus. There are around 10 committees, 5 cells, and 13 clubs. This itself provides the candidates the platform for networking and bonding with their batchmates. The infrastructure is not that good in the temporary campus but once shifted to the permanent campus, it will be the largest IIM campus. The annual fest, Sierra, is conducted in February. This offers a plethora of opportunities. There are several sports events, competitions, case study competitions, fashion shows, DJs, and whatnot. It is a two days colorful event. Talking about the library, it is open 24*7 and has a huge collection of e-journals and books. All the classrooms are air-conditioned with projectors and speakers, always ready for presentations. There are plenty of opportunities when it comes to sports be it indoor games like chess, or table tennis or outdoor like cricket, football, badminton, volleyball, etc.

This is a residential program therefore you'll have to stay in the hostels provided. IIMs unlike private institutes has a single type of accommodation for all the students in the batch. For the first year, it is triple sharing rooms and for the second year, it is double sharing rooms. Due to a lack of infrastructure, the boy's hostels are located outside the campus but they have shuttle services and the timings and details are dealt with by the IT & Infrastructure Committee. Rooms are cleaned every day and we have 3-4 washing machines on every floor of the hostel. A table, chair, almirah, and shelves are provided to each student. For double sharing, bathrooms are attached otherwise common. The mess is student-run and offers food of good taste. The menu considers all different types of food from all parts of India. The mess charges are Rs18,000 per term. On the first day of campus, you'll be allotted your particular hostel room. The hostel fees are included in the total fees which are Rs10,000 per month

For getting into this, you'll have to write the CAT entrance exam. According to your CAT cut-off, you'll get all for the interview. Some institutes may have group discussions as well. For IIM Sirmaur, we had only an interview. In the CAT online application form, there'll be an area where you can opt for IIMs. If you don't opt for a particular IIM, you'll not get a call from there even if you meet the cut-off criteria.