SDM Institute for Management Development PGDM Review By Vaibhav Jha

IIMs and all others are at a level that is impossible to reach for students with less than 98 percentiles. SDMIMD too doesn't accept students below 90 percentiles as the SDMIMD standard is too high. A group discussion followed by a personal interview is all that we had to clear before getting our final admissions here. Once the admissions were done, we had to join the College. On joining, I checked in to the hostel and made friends immediately as the next day, we had our orientation program. The orientation program started with a bang, as in the very first session, we all knew who our classmates were and where they belonged. Also, the faculties introduced themselves and those three days made me get rid of all the homesickness that I had the night before the orientation program. Well, even though the Covid came along the way, online classes were held and portions were completed. The only problem that we had was that our exams were online and the grading of those exams is still beyond me.

The academics at SDM Institute for Management Development are the glue that holds it all together. The academics didn't hurt as much because many engineering students found it tough to study marketing topics and subjects, but as they say, things done together can bring fortunes. The faculty and the management asked us to help those students out. Even though in PGDM Colleges, we look at each other as our competition, the College knows what and how students can be persuaded to help their fellow mates. So, in that way, we also learn how to persuade others because marketing is all about persuading clients to buy our products.

The faculties were some of the most democratic people on earth. There were 14 to 15 main faculties and an equal number of subordinate faculties. The College managed to make us study from at least 25 or more faculties. If one says that chopping and changing don't work, then SDMIMD has proved them wrong. All the faculties together looked like settled outfits. The faculties capitalized on their experience as marketing is not about books but practicals. We were given hypothetical situations in classes and used to experiment in at least one class daily. So, the faculties were not satisfied until we turned pro; and I think, I should give enough credit to our faculties for making each one of us pro.

If one says that the Covid scare hasn't hit them, they are indeed lying. Many students were placed before Covid, but those who were left had to wait for their turn till September 2020. I was among those, but luckily off-venue placements were organized because I was in touch with many of them and saw a lot of congratulatory messages being exchanged. So, I suspect that most of the students who missed placements in the first round were placed in the round of September. So, College has done their bit by not just making us pros but also by making us placed in top companies where we can add some value.

The hostels were great as right next to the hostel building was the lone garden on the campus. The hostel was pretty and tidy. One room per person meant no roommates and we could do anything that we wanted. I am a bit messy and my parents were unsure whether I would be able to stay with someone else. Luckily, there were only single rooms and rooms that had all the required things like a table, chair, cupboard and most importantly, attached washrooms. Oh sorry, the most important thing is the Wi-Fi and luckily it was also there.

The campus is spread over 10 acres and is filled with trees, gardens, and a couple of buildings. The administrative block was where our final classes were held, and the subordinate building had a mini-theatre and a state-of-the-art library that is accessible to many prominent libraries around the world. There was a convenience store on campus that sold daily essentials. There was a student interaction room on the campus and also medical facilities on campus. The cafeteria was average, though it served both North and South Indian dishes. Again, the gym was quite small and no extra charges had to be paid to use the gym.

I had a vintage time at SDMIMD and it was so unfortunate that Covid disturbed many of those things. It was a very long route to get back to the College post-Covid because the main events and all were about to happen; our farewell also didn't happen but luckily the graduation ceremony was organized following all the protocols.