N. L. Dalmia Institute of Management Studies and Research PGDM Review By Jasleen Kaur

N. L. Dalmia Institute of Management Studies and Research was established in the year 1995. This institute came as the savior for people staying outside the suburbs of Mumbai as this college is located in Mira Road. I got admission in this college with my CAT score and the college accepts Maharashtra CET score as well. That’s the only way to enroll in the college. The fees of the college is in at par with the other B Schools of Mumbai. Thus it’s on the higher side but don’t have a choice as its same for all the B Schools in Mumbai. The College was established by late Shri Niranjanlal Dalmia. Initially the college has Marwari quota which was later taken away and now the admissions are purely on merit basis.

The college recently hired Bloomberg Lab to advance their campus and Bloomberg established their finance lab with as many as 12 Bloomberg terminals. Also, we are proud of the fact that our college passout, Mangalam Maloo works with CNBC TV 18. Hopefully now, more and more students from our college will feature in various business channels in the future. The college campus is quite small and that’s the only drawback as there are just 2 buildings inside the college campus. The buildings though are glass buildings and only a few B Schools in Mumbai has that distinction. In MBA, you hardly get time for extracurricular activities but wasn’t the same with N.L. Dalmia. Our Professors made sure that students are groomed for all walks of life. Many students who took admission in the college already had a job experience and therefore that made it easy for us as studies became easy. College gave me some of the finest memories that are irreplaceable. Will always be thankful to N. L. Dalmia Institute for shaping my life the way it is now.

The syllabus was following the Mumbai University pattern. The classes used to start at 8 am and lasted for 5 pm in the evening. I was staying in Goregaon so hardly stayed after that in the college and rushed to catch the local. The schedule was a way too hectic and even on Sundays the management used to call us and conduct extra classes. Seminars were conducted almost every month as many businesses, sporting, and Bollywood personalities visited our college and shared their experiences with us.

The college gives the highest mettle to studies and therefore the attendance were as compulsory as anything. Students were not excused and once you join this college means forget the social life for the next 2 years. The course was divided in 4 semesters and had 7-8 subjects in each semester. I don’t know whether I should say this or not but some of the subject were totally irrelevant but were still included. The professors though did a great job to make sure that they finished the entire portion on time.

Arguably some of the finest faculty and all the courses has different faculty. This was the best part and were also easy to approach on and off the campus. The faculty was clear that even if 1 of the students has any doubts the classes were extended and the doubts were solved. This shows the professionalism of the faculty. Faculty was highly rich in knowledge and not just the curriculum but also taught students the ethics that one should follow in the corporate world. It’s difficult to pinpoint one of the teachers and therefore it's’ safe to say all were my favorites.

Faculty made the students and they are the reasons why we all are at better places in life. Faculty always inspired us to enjoy the practicals and get indulge in the projects. Faculty taught us the importance of team work and the teams were made and tasks were given during 3rd semester. That is why I would rate 3rd semester as my favorite semester.

As many as 20 listed companies from corporate space visited our campus. The placement record for over the years has been over 90% and hopefully will be 100% in time to come. Companies such as Citi Bank, Crisil, TCS, HUL, Zee Media, and ITC were among the top recruiters during our batch. I always wanted to work in the bank and therefore I showed interest in Kotak Bank and garnered a package worth Rs. 9 Lakhs per annum. The average package during our batch was around Rs. 8 lacs per annum and the highest package went to one my friends Rohit who earned a Rs. 14 lakh package with HUL.

However a special mention to our placement cell who guided us throughout on how to crack the interview. 2 months before the teacher got engaged with us and all the students were asked to contact the placement cell of the college. I gave my choices over there and was groomed accordingly for over 1 month. The dividends of which finally paid off as most of us got placed to the desired corporate. In placement, I can proudly say Dalmia is indeed one of the best in comparison to other colleges.

The college has its own state of the art hostel but unfortunately though only for boys. I used to stay at my maternal uncle’s place as I was not allowed private accommodation by my parents. If, the college is listening please get a girls hostel as well. The boy’s hostel is fantabulous as the rooms are spacious. Also the management has taken complete care in maintaining the hostel. As my friends told me that the hostel bathrooms too are very hygiene and the hostel building also has various indoor games facility as well. Also there’s a common TV area which has a 52 inch LED. Though students hardly had time for that. The capacity is 120 and the strength including all courses at any point in time is over 1000.

Thus the hostel is meant only for the ones who has any form of approach. It’s not meant for everyone. The hostel also has a mess which provides a good enough food. The students were not a part of hostel were also allowed to have their lunches in the hostel mess. Mira Road is not a good place to reside and therefore many of friends who came from various parts of India used to stay in Borivali. There are various Paying guest facilities along with individual flats in Mira Road, Dahisar, and Borivali. One other option for girls is MTNL ladies hostel as some of the students used to stay there.

College has one huge white building that is the main building and one building that is glass coated. The infrastructure is something that is first of its kind in Mumbai. Yes the campus is compact but it can easily accommodate the strength that college has. The parking space is also compact and sometimes many students have to park their vehicles nearby college campus. Enough of negative there were enough positives. High tech classrooms, full air-conditioned and also digital blackboards. The whole campus is Wi-Fi enabled. The library is tiny but can fit nearly 100 students at a time. There are numerous books but I wonder, we even had time to touch those. The portion enough was so lengthy that we only went to library for group studies.

The auditorium was spacious with a seating capacity of 800 students. College campus has 2 canteens but again they too are quite small. However, I must say that they served the best coffees. College canteen was definitely the best place to unwind. Building was recently renovated and thus it looks fresh and the management makes sure that it keeps updating the building.

90% of my time in college was spent in classrooms only for that matter you can ask any MBA students and they will have the same old story. I made some great friends in the campus and even made friends with my teachers and seniors. The seniors in the campus were prompt and always ready for help. Students from all sects of the society and all corners of India can be easily found in our college. College also hosted a fresher and farewell party and it left all of us numb during the farewell. We were asked to pass on the baton to the fresher who gave us a befitting farewell. The story was the same when we were fresher as our seniors welcomed us with open arms.

The life lessons that Dalmia College has taught me will stay with me forever. The faculty was top-notch and co-operative. College also hosts a fest every year and only the first year students are allowed to be a part of that. I though denied being a part of it as I hardly had any talent to showcase but the students who had some showcased their moves. That 1 week at least gave us a sigh of relief as we got some time off studies. All in All, N. L. Dalmia Institute is the reason why I have achieved what I have today. I owe my all success to my college.