Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay MBA Review By Mahesh Bhilare

Learning after a stage looks boring and the same happened with me until the CAT results of 2013 were declared. I used to stay close to IIT Bombay but never knew that it has a management school inside until I saw the CAT results. I couldn’t make it to the most sought-after ones and that is the IIMs so had to look a little beyond them and I found SJMSOM which are as good an institute you will ever find. IIT was a dream and I lived that dream through SJMSOM. The institute is a part of IIT Bombay and is inside the colony of IIT Bombay. It isn’t officially a colony but is bigger than any other colonies of Mumbai so it’s about time that BMC should declare it as a colony. Most of the programs here are residential and students no matter what even if they are Mumbai had to stay inside the campus and live their life inside the walls of the campus.

An engineering student always finds it hard to have a first crack at the management studies. Finance, economics were never my subjects and learning them was very difficult at the beginning. Luckily for engineering students, the seniors took extra classes on Saturday and taught us the lessons on management. Engineering students used to outclass commerce students in maths but we were certainly outplayed in finance. This chemistry worked really well as students of both the streams worked hand in hand and cracked the code of the management studies.

There were officially 25+ faculty for MBA and double than that was rolling or the visiting faculty who visited campus during the couple of years. Intellect was not the only factor that can teach management students. Experience is equally important and therefore former top brass of companies like HUL, HDFC Bank, and Morgan Stanley were hired to teach us and they did their job fantastically well. Giving us demo on what the topic is about and the importance of learning the particular topic was explained so neatly that we never had to brush about the same again. Faculties just didn’t made the life at the institute great but also made sure that once we step out, we are able to contribute in the best possible way.

SJMSOM too invite many dream companies and one such was JP Morgan. They are one of the biggest FIIs in the country who are operating since last 30 years. Unfortunately, even after trying hard, they showed no faith in me as they were happy with commerce graduates but nevertheless, they weren’t the only investment banking company so to get placed in the dream job fulfilled through SJMSOM. Companies from desired sectors offering challenging jobs with best packages to SJMSOM student was the pleasing part of the placements. The gist of the matter is that you will get placed in your desired companies as SJMSOM invites all the top companies of the country.

MBA is a residential program and I was grateful to stay at the hostels which had students from various parts of the country. Students from south too made their way here as for them IIT Bombay was a dream. So, hostel life was about sharing stories, planning future and eating the food which wasn’t that great. More importantly the mess was little far and sometimes getting the ass of the computer table and going to the mess looked like somebody has announced the death penalty.

IIT Bombay arguably has the best infrastructure. If one doubts, they can read as many reports they wanted. Located in Pawai which is a high-profile area of Mumbai makes sure that you may not be well connected to all areas of Mumbai but you will get all you desire with 2kms from the campus. I was never onto sports but IIT Bombay made me fall in love with sports as it has a huge football ground and when you have people cheering for you from the stands, you will develop a habit of playing the sport regularly. Other than sporting facilities the campus had some of the best flora and fauna as you will see a mini rose garden and some beautiful gardens with students practicing yoga. Some were even turned heaven for smokers but this is part and parcel of student life. All in all, infrastructure was mind blowing.

When you sit beside someone you know is better than you, you will have butterflies in your stomach. The feeling of it so intimidating that living with it for two years was more than I ever dreamt of. It was a dream turned into reality at SJMSOM and I have shared my honest views on each section for you to think of SJMSOM before targeting B-Schools.