SDM Institute for Management Development PGDM Review By Anushka Dhasmana

SDMIMD can win an aggressive bidding battle with any top B-School. I come from Mysore and going to Bangalore for graduation was fruitful but when I looked back at the options for MBA, I found my city's College, SDMIMD superior and better than many B-Schools of Bangalore. Before taking admissions, I watched Danny Boyle's film 28 days later. The gist is that after taking admissions, I didn't want to look at a month before when I had quite a few options and chose the one which is not worth it. I checked the placements circa, and it was good. I looked at the campus and it was good again. I looked at the education part and it was way better than many others. These reasons were more than enough for me to know that 28 days later, I won't be regretting my decision at all. Mysore generally doesn't have many students from various states of India but SDMIMD has broken that jinx because ever since it has started ranking in the top 50 B-Schools of the country, students from wide and far off states have started pouring in.

Academics here were a virus that infected all the students because after the induction program, I saw all the students getting so serious about it as if there's nothing beyond studies. It is unimaginable how much of an impact academics at SDMIMD has made on us because academics here were not on campus. We were taken to various other campuses including IIM Bangalore for a guest lecture and competitions where students of SDMIMD have done well. If there are two terms defensive and attacking, then academics was the attacking point of the College. They used all their bullets in academics first and then the leftovers for extra-curricular activities.

Faculties were given license to go and create havoc and they did that by bringing the best out of the students. The College senior-level people used the faculty to solve all the student's problems, and in a way, it is not possible, but faculties still tried to do that. So even for those attempts, I am being their biggest cheerleader. My friends who were studying in different B-Schools said that the faculty over there are creating problems for the students, but at SDMIMD, they were used to solve the student's problems. This is one of the major differences between our College and the other B-Schools.

The placement department was handed the role to ensure that most or rather all the students of the College are placed. They chased us like hungry lions and took our interviews and started our training. Some smart students were hired by many IT and non-IT companies in Bangalore during their internships. Those who were left were trained for the same, and trust me, they trained us like animals. The fair point for placements would be that they were exceptional because, among my group, we all were placed. In other groups, too, where I knew certain people had an offer letter. So don't know the exact percentage, but students were placed with a package of 7-10 lakhs from our batch.

Hostels were an ultimate mystery of SDMIMD. We were told during admissions that the College is planning to go residential and then they checked the resources and were like, locals can stay at their homes. I wish it turned into a residential program, but one boys and one girls hostel were not enough to accommodate 480 PGDM students. Hostels are new and look amazing, but I so wished that I had an opportunity to stay there because I have experienced hostel life and I know how amazing it is to live in a hostel.

Infrastructure, if I compare it to other B-Schools, might look ordinary. So, if there's anything which should be there in SDMIMD shopping list then it should be getting a good computer lab and revamping the main auditorium as both need some changes. For greenery and environment, I can give 11 on 10, but not on the infrastructure inside the building. Classrooms were the best thing in infrastructure as everything about the classes was alright, from operational air-conditioners to smart boards. The canteen was average; and the immense library had the smallest of the reading area, as not even the entire strength of the College could get seated in the reading hall.

Education was made the leader of all the aspects and therefore co-curricular activities were given the least importance. No other College students were invited to our campus, but we were lucky on that front as we got the opportunity to visit many campuses. There was an annual fest and now since so many outsiders are studying here, having an entire Kannada theme was not fair on the College's part to get the entire student of College to show enthusiasm and interest in showcasing their talent.