A glimpse of MBA in the mountains.

The course is one of a kind in India, offering specialization in Data Science and AI with an MBA. The program is specially tailored with both core management and data science courses. The student to faculty ratio is 1:9. All the faculty members are PhDs with some expeience in the fields they teach. The semesters here are divided into quarters (one semester has two quarters), however, sometimes the first quarter courses are carried in the next quarter and exams are conducted as and when the faculty completes the course.

This year's internship process is still going on. Till now students have been offered internships at MaxLife, VGuard, Datawise etc. Last year the studnets interned at companies such as Tesco, Titan, Indigo, Yum Brands etc. where they were offered roles in Cosumer Insights, Market Research, Analytics etc. The hightest stipend last year was Rs. 50000 and the average was Rs. 22000.

Students become eligilbe for the placements after the completion of 2nd semester. Since the course started in 2022, the first batch is yet to graduate and official placement records have not been released. However, some offers from Japan have been made. In India, students have been offered PPO from MaxLife and Yum Brands. Some other companies that came for placement are Axtria and FIITJEE.

The course is a bit costly but comapring to other B-schools, it matches the range. For a general category student, the total fees including hostel and mess would be around 12 lakhs for a two-year MBA. The amount is divided into 4 semesters and have to be paid accordingly. School of Management does not offer any scholaship, however, there are some scholarships that IIT Mandi offers based on merit, income and gender. Since the course started in 2022, the first batch hasn't graduated yet and the placement records are not released. However, based on the students who are placed, there have been some international offers and the domestic average package is around 15lpa.

Located in the Kamand valley, in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh, the campus of IIT Mandi is absolutely beautiful. The social life is good but limited to campus only as there is not much to do around and the campus is located 1 hour away from the main Mandi city. Life, for sure, will be peaceful for that matter. There are two campuses, north and south. School of Management is located in the north campus. There is a central library with ample number of books. The infrastucture is good but still developing. Since it is mostly cold here, there are heating systems in the classroom and hostel facilities are also fine. There are sports facilities in both campuses. School of Management has some committees that students can join and IIT Mandi also has clubs for various activities.

Everyone is required to stay on campus itself. Hostel facilities are provided, with separate boys and girls hostels. MBA students are given single or double occupancy rooms depending on the availibility. There are four mess in north camous and three in south. You can opt for a mess of your choice in your campus. The food quality overall is better than other places. Hostels are provided after admission.

Application for MBA (DS & AI) at School of Management, IIT Mandi has two categories for admission: i. CAT exemption ii. Through a valid CAT score. The first criteria is only for students from top 100 ranked NIRF colleges or CFTIs. Since my college qualified for the first category, I did not need to take the CAT. For those who need a CAT score, the cut-off is somewhere around 80%ile. Other basic requirements are mathematics in 12th and a bachelor's degree in a relevant field. The application usually opens in February and goes on till April. Its fee is around 2000 rupees. After the application submission, there is a PI round.

There is a Personal Interview round with a panel of faculty members. In these interviews, they generally ask topics related to mathematics, statistics and your educational background. Basic knowledge of programming languages is a plus and brushing up class 12th-level topics such as calculus, probability and statistics and matrices is highly recommended. Along with knowledge and preparation, a display of a knack for learning will be helpful.