Indian Institute of Management MBA Review By Kapil Maheshwari

IIM-Kolkata is rated as one of the best colleges in Asia and rightly so as the studies, faculties, infrastructure, and everything about the college is just worth mentioning. The college never paid heeds to such praises and has continued to follow the process. This is what we were taught during our studies that just do your process and results will come. Scoring the highest percentile in CAT is the only way you can have a life at this college. There are absolutely no back-door entries and the admissions parameters are simple, get in the merit list and take your seat. I don’t know whether this college needs any praise or not because I don’t see any point in criticizing it for no reasons. I will be fair that the college has made some of the finest CEOs, Entrepreneurs and that itself is enough.

The college academic sessions made me isolated for 2 long years. The classes lasted some 10 hours and after coming back to the hostels we had to bring the study material so that we can stay with the syllabus. The syllabus is so vast that completing in a semester is demanding. The college professors were easy going but little do they know that as a student it is impossible to clear all the subjects in one go. The college has made sure that the MBA course which duration has to be completed in 2 years can at max has to be completed by 3 years. One unheard thing about IIMs is that nearly 5-10 percent students fail to clear the exams and have to leave the college without degrees in their hand.

Needless to say, that they are experienced and gold medalist from the respective Universities. They are the best in the world that is why the college is the best. The infrastructure, the college reputation holds no meaning if the faculty is not great. Having said that IIM-Kolkata has the greatest of them all. What innovations they brought on and every time they felt that they are running hard on time, they accelerated in a way that students didn’t felt left out. What a great chemistry they shared with each one of us was outstanding. I wish I could take few names but just want a deep mention on their help on and off the classes made me their biggest fan. The students that enter IIMs are intelligent and the faculty was aware of it and they made sure that the fast pace is maintained as all of us will be placed in cities where we will have to adjust to fast paced lives.

During our batch, we actually broke the records of IIM-Ahmedabad as well. The highest package that was grabbed during our batch was of Rs. 60 lakhs. I did my MBA in HR and wanted to make sure that some banks like my skill set and was glad that I was trained well by the college to crack the interview and finally bagged the placement with Citi Bank. It was a dream come true for me as working in an international bank is challenging but the college fine tuned me to make sure that I give my best. I wish I could blow my own horns but will owe all my success to IIM and their teaching staff. The package is the highest in terms of numbers at IIM-Kolkata. There’s just one college that beat our college is IIM-Ahmedabad. Thus, I don’t think numbers are even necessary.

First of all, can't we call them apartments as they were unlike hostel rooms. Ask me I was staying in a hostel during my BBA days and if that was hostel then this should be termed heaven. What great rooms and every room had a balcony and the view was just so amazing. There are 3 boys hostel in the campus and I stayed at the Old-hostel which is a co-ed hostel. There is a separate girls hostel as well and around 5-6 hostels for married people. The college made sure that once we are back we have a tight sleep and therefore all the rooms were air-conditioned and also has the best set of beds as well.

The campus size was humongous if I am allowed to say that. Over 100 acres for sure and has all the facilities one can ask for. The classrooms are renovated after 4-5 years so I am sure they must have been changed by now. The greenery at the campus was no less than an army cantonment. To top that was a lake where snakes resided is what I heard but never saw with my own eyes in my 2 years at the college. As I have said the college had the best facilities or maybe some less in comparison to others but one thing that is worth mentioning is the night canteen. The late-night coffee helped me get out of IIM in 2 years or else I would have stuck there for long.

Classes, hostel and back to classes. It’s simple at the IIMs and therefore one should never worry. At Jolka was our life for the 2 years as I talked to my parents every 3-4 days. Interacting with friends at the campus and our talks were also related to study as there was nothing else that we could have done at the IIM-Kolkata.