SDM Institute for Management Development PGDM Review By Monik Dhawan

SDMIMD is a well-known B-school. It is because of the infrastructure and how they impart education. Joining this College made me realize how I would have missed out if I had chosen a different College as I hail from Delhi and there are enough Colleges. I felt it right to join this well-maintained campus. I was fortunate enough to get admission as the cut-off is high, maintaining the standard of the College. I joined the PGDM course in management studies, which I knew would enable me to get a dream job. You will find people from all over India joining this College, showing how SDM Institute for Management Development is so popular among students. The PGDM here is equivalent to MBA as sometimes it's been misunderstood that PGDM is not a valid MBA degree.

Studies and learning are taken very seriously in this College, and those who take admission get into the groove of learning. The atmosphere was such that every one of the faculty and others on campus had one goal: to work hard and achieve our goal. The curriculum wasn't hard, but there were several projects, seminars and presentations that needed to be done to get the internal marks that everyone wanted. Hence, all of the students were on their toes to achieve the best. Every semester there were exams apart from various tests and assignments given in the flow of every subject taught. Passing was easy here, but getting the required good grades was tough at SDMIMD.

The faculty were equally inspiring as they taught us the concept and worked on developing our personalities as part of the 'personality development program'. All of them are highly qualified with a lot of experience in teaching backing them. The curriculum will be taught in any College, but understanding and getting to follow the concepts that the faculty tried so hard to impart to us was well worth it. We need to build organizational skills, leadership and working team skills which our professors duly impart with life lessons. It helps a long way for management students.

SDMIMD Placement cell officers made sure we were trained enough to face the campus placement interviews. Big companies arrived on our campus to select candidates, and many were chosen. This initiative helped several students not to worry about placements as it is the cause of a major headache to look for jobs while your friends are already drawing a salary. Both IT and non-IT companies came to choose PGDM graduates, and most of the students selected ended up with a good pay package. Those who missed would get when the next set of companies would come by, so there wasn't anyone who would not have received an offer letter to take home before completing their course.

The hostels were there on campus, and outsiders had a choice of staying at the hostels or looking for accommodation elsewhere. The number of students has increased and the College is readying to build one more hostel for girls and two for boys on the campus. The locals, however, would have to travel from home to reach College and study. The hostel facilities would be only for those who came from other towns. I think those who haven't stayed at the hostels would have missed out on the hostel life, as during student life, staying at the hostel is just not fun but a part of learning life lessons too. I enjoyed this part of campus life the most.

The campus is well-maintained, and you can make a difference when you check out the other campuses. The College is not as new, but they have maintained a particularly good computer lab. The auditorium has also been revamped to fit in the digital equipment. There were smart classrooms with inclusive ACs, and smart boards used for teaching by the faculty. A huge library with a lot of reference books related to our subject and otherwise, with a ridiculously small reading area. The canteen wasn't that great. This sums up most of the College infrastructure as there are a lot of open spaces on the campus.

This isn't a College for those who love extracurricular activities as the main focus was on academics, and not much thought got put into events and other programs that usually form a part of College campus fun. There was that annual fest that wasn't as inclusive as it was based on the local theme when people from other states were part of the student community. We couldn't invite other College students to the campus, which was strictly off-limits, but after College hours, we went to other campuses and had fun. However, apart from that, this is College for you if you want to study and get a great job.