Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies MBA Review By Taposh Das

PG was always on my mind and therefore I appeared for all the entrances that exist. SNAP was the one in which I scored decent and since SIMS is dedicated for Army Personnel children, I got admission there From Delhi to Pune it wasn’t an easy thing as I have been to many places since my father was in army but was always posted in North. Also, many competitions were held between different colleges of Symbiosis and we were often accused of non-deserving. All the students who were not from Army background got the admission after scoring percentile in mid 90s while we got it even at the score of 60. Well that’s the perk of being an army kid. Talking about the institute if you compare it with other institutes of Symbiosis it is sub-par with them. The facilities are more or less the same but in terms of opportunities and other things the college is below par. Well enough of the attention on just 5-10% negatives that it had as rest all was quite positive. The placements were in line and the residential facility provided was top-class.

MBA is a compulsory class’s thing. Even if you are ill, the doctor at the campus will treat you upfront and will make you ready to attend the lectures. Thus, if you don’t feel like attending, you will not have a choice. Good thing was since I chose marketing, we had more of practical sessions and classes were often conducted in open. The companies were assigned from the second semester and we were engaged with projects for them. Things like time management and using the resources in an efficient manner was all learned in this college. The college has shaped mine and for that reasons all the students’ future the way it should be.

Pounding was a daily thing because after 8-10 hrs classes we were given assignments that used to take another 3-4 hours. The faculty was always up and running and watching them doing their things motivated us. If they were lethargic the experience wouldn’t have been the same. The faculty always insisted on peer to peer learning and were adept in the teaching methods. The faculty was nice not great but most importantly they had knowledge of the subject and the way they explained made us remember what all taught in class.

100% placement is a myth. They never exist and that’s true for a reason. In our batch 85% students got placed and it may be less but not for sure. SIMS is often approached by the new start-ups and always welcomed fresh ideas. Hardly any student had work-ex which is common in MBA colleges and therefore the placement were little lesser than many other colleges. The average package was 8-9 lakhs per annum and top banks were the ones that needed marketing specials and they targeted many students. ICIC Bank got the better of me and 20 more as that was the company that recruited maximum students from our batch. Other than that Zomato, Reliance, MET Life, and PNB were some of the companies that showed conviction in SIMS students.

The hostel was great as if I compare SIMS hostel to other MBA college hostels ours was lenient. First of all the time restriction was there but we were allowed to enter the premises by 11-11.30. If we went for a late night movie, we still managed to enter the campus at 2am. The rooms were huge and we had the choice of staying up to 4 in a single room. We all were army kids and had a great time at the hostel. Even we had some traditions like they are in the army. Challenges were thrown, sports were played, late night b’day celebrations and some leg pulling of the juniors. The food was great and had enough veg and non-veg options that I actually couldn’t try many restaurants in the Pune.

The area of the campus was enough as it was spread across over 4 acres. The main building, one building that had library and labs and the hostel buildings were the buildings in the campus. The college was like a cantonment area as there were enough trees and shade inside the campus. The college campus has various sporting facilities like basketball courts, volleyball courts. There was also an indoor sporting facility and had a well-equipped gymnasium alongside.

All the defense kids staying together who had chosen a different path was a whole lot of fun. The stories never ended as we all were same backgrounds. Most of us also had stayed at same places at some point in time. The campus was cooler than the ice as there was no hot blood between the students. We all stayed together with peace. The girls were almost same in numbers and there was no gender discrimination at all. We obviously had a soft corner as the college was especially for defense background people. All in all, SIMS was a great institution where we had many fun activities along with learning.