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After recent revelations regarding IIM Calcutta placements, is it wiser to choose IIM A/B/ L, XLRI or FMS over IIM Calcutta?
Every institute has its own shortcomings. If you choose IIM A/B/L or XLRI or FMS over IIM Calcutta, do you think you will not face any problems there? It’s just that their flaws haven’t been exposed yet. The fact that someone had the courage to come up and challenge IIM Calcutta is enough to prove its worth. The revelations were made by an IIM Calcutta student itself. This also proves the confidence level and leadership skills of these students are remarkable.
Besides, IIM Calcutta is among the best for a reason. Some casual claims cannot rain its reputation.
What will a graduate of SPJIMR/IIM-K/MDI miss out compared to someone graduating from IIM’s A/B/C?
This question can be best answered by someone who has had a taste of both campuses. Fortunately one of my friends was lucky enough to move to IIM Ahmedabad after studying for a year at IIM Kozhikode. He shared his experience and the various things that contrasted in both the B Schools.
Faculty: Being the topmost B School, IIM Ahmedabad does attract some of the best faculties that are experts in their fields. They had too much knowledge and experience to impart making the classes a thrilling experience.
Crowd: While the crowd at almost all the good B Schools attracts only the best, IIM Ahmedabad is famous for its exceptionally good peer groups with only geniuses and masterminds in their respective fields.
Academic rigor: Normally B Schools offer a very hectic life with academic pressure combined with placements and clubs and committee activities. But at IIM Ahmedabad the topmost preference is Academics only. You are required to attend 3 lectures of 75 minutes of case study daily. These case studies are extremely lengthy and on average you are required to read 300 pages every day. Such economic rigor is lacking in the case of IIM Kozhikode.
There are several more minor differences between IIM Kozhikode and IIM Ahmedabad but these 3 are the main things an aspirant needs to consider while choosing one of the two B Schools.
Can a person get into IIM CALCUTTA with low graduation score?
The following is the weighted average of graduation score taken into consideration to get into IIM Calcutta
60% will fetch you 15 marks
55-60% will fetch you 10 marks
50-55% will fetch you 5 marks
So yes you can get into IIM Calcutta with a low graduation score but for that your CAT score should not be less than 99.9 percentile.
How are the placements for engineers with no work experience at the IIMs, FMS Delhi and XLRI?
The two most important factors considered by recruiters during Placements at IIM ABC/FMS/XLRI are
- Brand of UG College - SRCC/Old IITs/BITS/CA
- High Academics - University RankHolders, City Toppers in Boards, or at least Department Rank Holders with 8.5+ in Engineering.
MBA scores are of much importance during Final Placements but are Not available during summer placement.
If you have passed the above criteria, you are most likely to land any job. Still, I have segregated the roles that require work experience and the roles that do not.
Roles that require work experience
- Operations/Supply chain/product management.
- Any role will require work experience if your above 2 criteria are not up to the mark.
Roles that do not require work experience
- Consulting
- Investment Banking
- PE/VC
- Marketing
- Corporate Finance roles
So most of the jobs do not require work experience. Even if they do only non-engineering work experience is of value unless you want to go into Operations/Supply chain/product management.
What should I do as an undergrad to get into IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore or IIM Calcutta?
As an undergraduate, you must complete the following tasks:
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Better 10th and 12th-grade point averages, at least above 80% in both.
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Maintain your academic focus.
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Choose a non-engineering subject for your undergraduate studies. It will help your profile.
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Attempt to score above the 99th percentile on the CAT. If you want, you can do coaching during your undergrad.
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Enhance your communication and writing abilities. This will be beneficial in WAT and GD/PI. If you want, you can join Toastmasters or start a blog.
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If you want, try to participate in some extracurricular activities. This will not improve your IIM chances (unless you have a national-level certificate), but it will add some vibrancy to your profile. Activities can range from being a member of a club or placement cell to creating your own YouTube channel.
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Perform some internships or work as a freelancer on a project. It will provide fodder for conversation in interviews.
I have converted calls from IIM Bangalore and IIM Calcutta this year. Which one should I opt for?
You should go to the campus where you know the most people from the senior class. Regardless of the field, you want to enter after graduation, an MBA is all about networking, knowing the right people, and making sure they know you.
At this point, your academic credentials will be on average the same as the rest of the batch, so you must distinguish yourself. Knowing people on campus before you arrive is important, as is understanding the nuances of academics, clubs, internships, placements, and so on.
What are the chances of getting an admission into IIM Calcutta?
Let’s discuss the changes in getting admission into IIM Calcutta through past figures (general category only).
Apart from CAT score, the chances of getting into IIMC depend on various factors such as
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Academic profile (i.e. marks in 10th, 12th, and undergraduate)
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Academic Diversity
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Work experience
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Gender Diversity
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Category-based evaluation (EWS, NC-OBC, SC, ST, PWD)
IIM Calcutta has around 200-220 general category seats. Also, it rejects 4 students for 1 selection which means around 1100 students are shortlisted. To be among these 1100 students you need to have at least 99.33 percentile.
The chances increase if you are a favorable candidate apart from a high CAT score. Being a female, non-engineer, decent work experience. If you aren’t then your cutoff increases to 99.5.
Your chances drop to 0.5% and passing the interview round becomes more difficult.
So work around the factors I have mentioned beforehand to become a favorable candidate for admission into IIMC
Is IIM Calcutta an "IIM Ahmedabad" rejected college?
I think comparing both IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta is doing injustice to these colleges. Both the IIMs are excellent at their own level.
If you consider the rankings then IIM Ahmedabad tips the list and IIM Calcutta comes next. But do rankings really matter that much? It might be possible that a certain college is on top of the list but inconvenient for you and a certain college is second in the list and is best suited for you.
I have seen friends who have rejected offers from IIM Ahmedabad and went for IIM Calcutta because it suited their needs better.
Some special features of IIM Calcutta that IIM Ahmedabad does not have are:
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A finance lab with a Bloomberg terminal
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Top notch finance faculty
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CEMS-MiM programme (Masters in Management programme ranked 7th in the world)
So yes IIM Ahmedabad is the best IIM but IIM Calcutta is also not an ordinary one. Choose the one that suits your needs best rather than which ranks the most.
Is ISB better than IIM A/B/C and FMS Delhi?
My uncle is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta and also an ex-employee of ISB. So I asked him about the same. He told me that the faculty of IIM Calcutta focuses on the overall development of students and not just academics. They prepare you for the life ahead and not just for exams or placement. ISB on the other hand due to its short duration course is unable to cope with this aspect. Also, the fees of ISB are much more than that of IIMs. The only merit is that it saves you a year as the flagship program at IIMs is two years.
So ISB is a good choice for you only if
- You are looking for a course of shorter duration
- You are okay with spending a lot of money
- You value the degree more than what you learn from it
Both the institutes are world-class and therefore not much comparison can be drawn from them.
Why do people prefer IIM Calcutta over IIM Ahmedabad for finance-related jobs?
The claim that IIM Calcutta is India's finance campus, is overstated. Yes, C has a slightly higher number of finance recruiters, but the majority of the top recruiters also attend IIM Ahmedabad and Bangalore. The difference is in tier 2 and 3 finance companies, which Ahmedabad makes up for with good FMCG and consulting roles.
In general, placement processes in Calcutta are disorganized when compared to Ahmedabad, Bangalore, and even FMS. Processes in Calcutta are woefully out of date, as evidenced by the recent dissent against place reps and the subsequent motion of no confidence.
It has been noticed that people only select IIM Calcutta over IIM Ahmedabad if they are having problems with location and not because they believe Calcutta to be superior to Ahmedabad.
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