Here are a few possible reasons why SPJIMR placements are better than or equally good as IIMs
It's important to note that these reasons are just based on speculations and it cannot be exactly determined why some placements are better than others.
If your CAT score is above 99.90 percentile, you will have a decent chance of getting an interview call from IIM Calcutta.
IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore assign good weight to past academic records for the interview shortlist. You need to have a consistently good record throughout your 10th, 12th, and graduation to get a call from IIMA and B. Having relevant work experience of a minimum of 2 years is also important if you are targeting IIMB.
I think IIM Calcutta is not as recognized or talked about as IIMA or IIMB because it did not gain fame from Bollywood. Bollywood movies have been shot at IIMA and IIMB. So they are more talked about than IIMC. It has nothing to do with its own facilities. That being said, some amazing features of IIM Calcutta are
Top notch alumni base
Beautiful campus: The campus of IIM Bangalore is not an average one. Its beautiful infrastructure and location give it a surreal ambiance.
Amazing Placements: IIM Calcutta is the best for finance placements. Reputed banks like Merrill, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and Chase, Goldman Sachs prefer students of IIM Calcutta over IIMA and IIMB. For consulting IIM Calcutta has all the top 4 Mckinsey, Bain, BCG and AT Kearney.
So nothing about IIM Calcutta is less than other IIMs. It just lacks the general fame, not the works.
Surely IIM Calcutta is the oldest and yet stands out the most from other IIMs. But trust me it has nothing to do with its campus, alumni, education, placement, extracurriculars or any other features. All the IIMs are equally good in all these aspects.
What makes IIM Calcutta different from them?
In reality, IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore welcome students only who have been toppers throughout their life. Their academic reports are flawless. Be it their 10th or 12th or Undergraduate. They have never seen failure in their lives.
But in the case of IIM Calcutta, it has both genius students with flawless reports and people who have great CAT scores but below average undergrad or 10th and 12th scores. IIM Calcutta welcomes a mixed crowd and this is what sets it apart from other IIMs.
At IIM Calcutta, you will find peers who have failed or been to the lowest level once. But they have climbed the ladder of success with determination. Studying alongside people with such qualities makes education much more than just learning your subjects. You grow as a person. You don’t find people here, you find profiles. A manager needs to have these qualities in order to excel.
All the IIMs are great but it’s only IIM Calcutta that welcomes a mixed crowd.
In my opinion, the IIM APDS is just an average course. ISB Hyderabad course is much better. It’s better to do Data Science courses from technical universities rather than Management colleges like IIM. Also, the IIM APDS course is quite expensive and more like a BA course than Data Science. It focuses more on Business Mathematics/ Business case study discussion than how to explore a data set.
ISBs course best among these courses because it has all the things that are required:
Brand
Faculty
Industry Connect
Curriculum
Alumni
Also this course has more time for all the subjects and capstone projects too. The only drawback is the high fees.
Let’s consider the effect of graduation scores in summer and final placements separately.
Summer Placements:
During these placements, the recruiters don’t have your MBA profile to judge you. So they have to take your graduation score, past academics, and other criteria into consideration. The summer placements are largely based on what the candidate has achieved till the time he joined his/her MBA program. This is exactly why placement committees request that students utilize the time before joining the institute to improve their resumes. You can upscale yourself with work experience, your education, your extra-curricular activities, etc.
Final Placements:
During these placements, the students are almost about to complete their MBA. This means their profile has improved through various on and off-campus opportunities. These opportunities include research projects, work on industry projects, and summer internships. So now your CGPA in your MBA program and performance in these activities carry more importance than your undergraduate CGPA.
So we can say graduation scores matter in summer placements but not much in final placements.
IIMs can be broadly categorized into two categories; the first comprising IIM ABC and the second comprising IIM KIL. The total fees will be around 16-18 Lakhs or a few lakhs more for these IIMs. As far as the average package is concerned for IIM ABC, it is around 19-20 Lakhs while for IIM KIL it is merely 2 lakhs less. The highest CTC is around 60-70 (International) for these IIMs.
Coming to JBIMS, we get to witness a much higher ROI. This is because the average package is almost similar to these IIMs while the fees are much less. Also, it is a Mecca for Finance enthusiasts. JBIMS has many notable alumni that carry its brand name proudly. Some of them include
So yes, the salary packages of certain IIMs might be slightly higher than that of JBIMS but considering the ROI factor that slightly differs doesn't really matter.
I know a friend who had cracked ONGC and almost touched 100 percentile in CAT. He decided not to go for ONGC but rather to prepare for CAT. But as luck would have it, she couldn’t make it into IIM A B C.
She did not give up and studied hard for the same and got into IIM Calcutta and graduated in 2016. After a couple of chances, she opened her own company in the conventional manufacturing space.
The conclusion from this experience is that you should forego the IIM Calcutta offers if:
you want immediate monetary gains
you do not want to take risks
you are not interested in entrepreneurship
You should go for IIM Calcutta if:
You are looking for a brand name
A huge IIM L network access
If you want an opportunity to pierce into the corporate management space
If you are interested in entrepreneurship
It depends mainly on your risk undertaking ability and what you want from your job.
I will mention the placement statistics of both and let you decide if IIM Calcutta has placements as good as that of IIM Ahmedabad.
Particulars |
IIM Calcutta |
IIM Ahmedabad |
Highest Package |
INR 1.15 CPA |
INR 1.15 CPA |
Average Package |
INR 35.07 LPA |
INR 34.36 LPA |
Top Recruiters |
Avendus Capital, Citi Bank, HSBC, Goldman Sachs |
Emaar, A91 Partners, BCG, PwC, KPMG, HSBC |
Total Offers |
573 |
280 |
Following are my insight from the above comparison:
So I don’t think there is much difference between the placement scenarios at IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta.
My brother is doing his PGDBA from IIT KGP and he was rather afraid of programming and coding when he started the course. If you're stuck in the same situation, then my only advice is to enroll in the course with an open mind and a desire to learn to program if you don't already know-how.
Coding Experience: There is always a first time of everything. Now there are numerous MOOCs available online that can assist you in taking the initial step. The discipline of analytics (technical side) necessitates solid coding abilities, and therefore if you want to pursue a career in analytics, you should start learning the necessary skills now.
Work Experience: It is not necessary to have prior work experience to enroll in the course. However, relevant analytical experience aids in extracting greater value from the course.
According to your assessment of your interests, you have a preference for fields involving mathematics and statistics. Analytical science is an excellent fit in that regard. I would recommend that you go into MOOCs like Coursera, audacity, and your willingness to learn more about this field. You will obtain a better understanding of the field and would be able to decide if this is a good fit for you or not.