IIM A or B or C…Part 3

Here is another reply that we were given on the debate on whether to join IIM A or B or C…

Copied verbatim….
I think its a very valid concern which most of us also faced is last year.. further, this is probably the best forum get opinion on the impending decision as most of us left B and C to come here (while a very few people at B and C would have left A).. while that itself says a lot about the institutes, i will share with you guys how i made up my mind last year and how does it now seem in retrospect.

Standard personal-opinion disclaimer applies.

Placements:In terms of the number and type of companies, i think A, B or C are all more or less the same.

Alumni network: I was not sure of this, but my seniors at B only told me that A has by far the strongest alumni network. This i believe has a more long term impact on your professional growth.

Learning: IIMA is by far the most rigorous of the three. that was a natural deterrent for me, particularly after the laziest year of my life (DD at IITB). but one gradually gets used to the hectic schedule and the vertical learning curve. I wouldn’t have said this a year back, but most of the courses indeed add a lot of value to you

Peer group: As mentioned above, A attracts the best talent pool. call it herd mentality, but its a herd of the most brilliant people. joining it will only make your experience more enriching
punctuality, discipline, sincerity etc are some unsolicited virtues one inevitably acquires here.. but yeah, you wouldn’t care about them right now :p

Itna load mat lo.. there is no clear-cut right choice here.. the difference if any, is only marginal..

To sign off, i will just copy my super-tuccha’s statement here.. when I was trying to resolve my doubts -

“Unless you have extremely strong reasons to go for B or C, just take A. Its a lifetime superstamp on your sleeve.”

IIM A or B or C…Part 2

Part 2 of the series about whether to join IIM A or B or C. This was a reply sent to my immediate seniors by their senior.

Copied verbatim….
I joined in late and was just browsing through the group when I came across this. A lot has been said about the subject in the numerous mails before this. I really wonder why!

Is it that the multiple call getters want to act pricey and boast of having got through ABC when they already know where they will join? Now come on guys, we do not need managers to be so indecisive. Please do not compare IIM X with A. They are great institutions in their own right, but on par with A? Excuse me! Kindly wash your face and get a reality check. At the end of the day, person with 6 calls is equivalent to a person with an exclusive A call.

Or are these future leaders so immature that they want to relax for 2 years in a Bangalore pub or play on a Calcutta football ground? Come on guys, you gave CAT to do an MBA for god-damn-sake. If you are scared enough to think twice before joining A due to the academic rigour here (which I hope is not the case), then please go elsewhere. IIM Ahmedabad does not need chickens. We take a lot of pride in the premier status of our institute.

Anyways, since people asked for it, I thought I’d dole out my two pence.

Better late than never. For the record, I’m FoojZi – a PGP 3. I just thought I’d share my point of view on this ever raging debate that goes on in the mind of an ABC guy/girl. Let’s take it case by case.

*Academic Rigour*

A popular joke among the IIMs is that the A in IIMA stands for Academics, not Ahmedabad. True, very true. We study the hardest, we come out the best. The first year in IIMA is said to be one of the toughest experiences one might have in an entire lifetime. It prepares you for all circumstances ahead. B and C are also tough, but no where close to A. Scared? Better be. It is true. Muggo Fachchon Muggo is not said for nothing!

*Placements*

There is an old saying – Make hay while the sun shines! It is believed that there is little difference between the placements of A/B/C, except may be for 10 odd additional Day0s for A each year. Or is it?

The 3 were never really tested in the last few years when the recruiters came down for final placements. Leave aside C, they do not stand in the picture. The last 2 years had been bumper years for placements and hence little difference between A and B, though A maintained its lead quite clearly. However the scenario changed from this March when the situation normalised and the requirements were low. Some ‘trusted’ recruiters (names withheld for obvious reasons) took much lower numbers from B and did not even go to C. On the other side, at A, it was normal business as usual.

*Faculty*

A/B/C all three have quality faculty. Little difference there. Any place you go, you are sure that the best in the country would be teaching you. But then again, you have more than one teacher in a classroom. You actually have around 70 at a time.

*Students*

The students (YOU!) are the other 70 teachers in a classroom. Each year the best of the best come to IIMA. Almost everyone in IIMA also has a B/C call. On the other hand, there would be hardly 5-6 each in B/C who opted for those institutes over A.

*Courses*

All IIMs offer excellent courses. But where IIMA scores over others in the first year is with Written Analysis & Communication, Managerial Computing and Spoken Business Communication among others. These courses really help you in your summer internships and are a differentiating factor between an IIMA guy and an IIMX guy.

*Parties*

There are monthly Ramp parties in IIMA. The Cultural Committe takes care of that. B has it’s own variant – LSquare and so does C. But no ways does A lag behind on this front. And contrary to popular perception, Gujarat might be dry but IIM Ahmedabad isn’t. Ask me!

*Extra-Curricular Activities*

Leave aside academics, and we have an annual itenary of extra- currics. Yes the academic rigour might prevent some from participation, but then it’s your choice. No one stops you from anything. T-Nites, Chaos, Diwali, Holi, etc etc etc. We have our own package here. B and C might score a tad above A in this regard. But there are plenty of student clubs at IIMA to take care of that.

*Sports*

Everyday you will see WIMWIans playing football/basketball /badminton/ cricket/other games on campus. IIMA defeated IIMB 7-4 in last year’s sports meet called Sangharsh. The meet as held after nearly 20 years. See, we are not just better at business.

*Business Meets*

Confluence is the name of the annual business summit of IIMA. Year after year the prize money, the number of participants (both domestic + international) , the moolah and the rest is much higher and much better at IIM Ahmedabad than any other institute on the continent. A participation certificate at Confluence is a big CV point for other institutes’ students.
Confluence >> Vista (B)
Confluence >> Intaglio (C)
Also, there are other events like Amaethon, Insight, International Marketing Conferences, Venture Capitalist Conclaves, Avtaran and the likes happening around the year at A. You’ll know more about them on campus.

*Business Networking*

Some say that networking with alumni is the one of the most important parts in an MBA. True to some extent. And understandably, the IIMA Alumni network is the best of the lot. IIMC comes close. IIMB lags behind at No 3 in this.

*Exchange Programme*

IIMA has, by far, the best exchange programme among all IIMs. It has the most number of exchange seats and the best diversity among all institutes with seats available in even South America apart from the regulars of North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. This year a dual degree programme with ESSEC has been initiated.

*Culture*

Each institute has its own. B and C are also fantastic at this. But the dorm culture at IIMA is like none other. Come to the fachcha meets and you will know the tempo shouts. Come to IIMA and you will be rechristened with a dorm name. Come to a dorm and you will celebrate your Birthday like never before. Unlike hostels of 200 students, we have smaller dorms of sizes 20- 40. This facilitates greater interaction and bonding at the dorm level. You make friends for life. And the student mix in a dorm has a great variety as well. So you not only learn in the class, but also outside as well.

*The Brand*

You all must have seen the B-School rankings. A ranks Numero Uno by a long margin!

In a lighter vein, just imagine this scenario — Year 2010. It’s been one year since your MBA and an old family friend comes and visits you after 5 years. Your father introduces you to him, “Mera beta MBA hai. Pichhle saal hi graduate kiya hai IIM se.”

The visitor says, “Arre waah bete! Yeh to bahut achchhi baat hai. Kaun se IIM se MBA kiya tumne?”Very proudly you say, “IIM B/C se uncle”. And casually he replies, “Bahut badiya bete, bahut badiya. Lekin kya hua tha, A nahi mila tha kya?”

Period.

My own personal story in May-June 2005. I was also faced with this decision then. C seemed to be the chillest of the lot and a lot of my college friends were there. B, my then girlfriend lived there and I loved the city. And A of course was A. But then I thought that this MBA I will do only once in my life. Why shall I look for small advantages now! I want to go to the best and be one of the best. For help, I called up my NSIT/DCE friends in B and C who had gone there before me. I asked them A/B/C. They plainly said to me, “Yaar, we came to B/C because we did not get the chance to go to A. If you were an outsider, we would have pitched and told you to join our institute. But since you are our friend, we will tell you the reality. Whatever the reasons may or may not be, GO TO A.”

Right then, my choice was clear.

I ask all you incoming fachchas to travel back to November 2006. Think about the day you wrote CAT. Think about your dream institution then which you wanted to join. You will have your answer.

If anyone of you has any queries, feel free to mail me. I will be happy to help you out.

IIM A or B or C…Part 1

Cleared CAT. Got multiple calls. Partied. Now a decision to be made, which IIM should i join. For me the answer was simple. I had to join IIMA. It was dream since my second last year of college. And today, 4 years later when i have a chance to join it, i am not gonna let any reason like back-breaking academic rigour or anything else deter me from joining A. But for many others choice is not that simple. Hence a lot of debate around which IIM to join.

Here is the first part of series involving which IIM to go. These are replies that i got from my seniors at IIMA.

Copied verbatim…..

Meant only for an adult and mature audience. Parental guidance advised.

An MBA is like a marriage. You’re happy and excited when you’re getting married, but it doesn’t take much time to realize you were better off as a bachelor.So in that sense the institute is like your wife. You are stuck with it once you’re married.In this case… your spouse is always going to be more famous than you and as much as I hate to say this “you shall be using your wife to further your career!”

Continuing this analogy a little further… since most of you have met your wives not more than once or twice, this essentially is an arranged marriage for you (the smart ones ofcourse believe in love at first sight)

So the people in this group are lucky enough to have the option of marrying A or B or C. My friend from IIMC compared these to Aishwarya Rai (A), Bipasha Basu (B) and Celina Jaitley(C). The choice is yours whom you want to marry.

However there are a couple of small little issues:
1.) You have to share your wife with 300 other people.
2.) You can’t marry all three of them,
But that essentially is the choice between A, B or C. You could marry Ms. A and introduce your wife as being world famous in India. One who is undoubtedly “the most beautiful woman in the world”. One whose face is recognised throughout the world. Essentially she represents the Indian woman to the world. Or… you could marry a certain Ms. Basu with whom you could have a lot of fun! But you’d often end up saying “Well.. she’s beautiful in her own way.” Or… you could marry Ms. Celina. No doubt she’s beautiful but one for whom you would have to say “So what if she can’t act. She has the potential!”

If you were hoping for a serious answer to the A Vs. B Vs. C query… please ignore what I’ve written before this, but do read on.

Frankly… I really do not see how anyone on this group is capable of answering this question. None of the members of the groups has had the good fortune to experience more than one of these institutes. If anyone answers it, its only based on what we “hear”.In my personal opinion there is almost no difference between A or B or C. They area all good and bad in their own ways. Most people get almost the same jobs across these three campuses. You essentially put the same total effort across the two years (IIMA sends GPAs of 1st eyar to companies during pacements. C sends for 4 terms and B for 5 terms. So the others work for a longer time). So the crap that we hear that we work really hard at A and don’t at B or C is just that…”crap”. Yes, we do work very very hard in the 1st year. But then we don’t HAVE to work hard in the second year.

Going back to my analogy: The choice is essentially “Do you like to do it fast and aggressive and heated.” or “Do you like to do it simple and sober and slow… at your own pace” (pun unintended). Anyway… 2 months into marriage most people like their neighbours’ wife more

On a serious note…An MBA is much more than just classroom studies or projects. unfortunately many of us do not realize this. Irrespective of whether you join A or B or C, you would get infinite opportunities to explore things. Most fail to pick them. An MBA gives you a different perspective to look at things. When someone said “An MBA is just common sense thrown in with a lot of jargon”, she couldn’t ave been more correct. Only that we generally do not use common sense. MBA teaches you how to use common sense logically and consciously.

Please think for yourself why you want to do an MBA. You answer could be “to get a high paying job” or it could be “I want to listen to some great people talk” (yeah.. Lalu Yadav is not the only one who came to our campus) or it could be “My girlfriend’s dad is an MBA and I need to do it for her” or anything more weird like “personality development”, etc etc. But you should know WHY you are doing an MBA. It’ll help you take much more from an MBA. Do NOT enter a B-school the way we enter engineering schools or any other bachelor’s degree course. You would do yourself and your batchmates a favour if you are mature enough to know why you are doing an MBA and what you want at the end of the course. A certain level of maturity is expected for the post graduate course.

Remember “Child marriage is illegal and doesn’t do no good to anyone”

Aaah.. and incase you happen to find out which one of A, or B or C is better (mature answers only please) do mail me and I will arrange a nobel prize for you.