It is tough to choose between SIBM Pune and IIM Shillong. SIBM is quite an older institute and also a reputed one. It was founded in the year 1978. It has a good placement report. The average package offered at SIBM Pune is 21 lac per annum.
IIM Shillong, on the other hand, is a dream B-School for many. First of all, it is an IIM. The name will be going to remain with you for the entire of your life. IIM Shillong also offers excellent placements. The average placement at IIM Shillong is 22 lac per annum, and the highest salary offered is 55 lac per annum.
If I had both options, then I would have gone for IIM Shillong. The first reason is the IIM tag, and the other is that Shillong is the best place to spend two years of my life.
There are almost the same given opportunities in both the institutes during summer, Laterals and Final placements. Well, there are two things you need to focus upon:
A few selected firms would not accept ABM students for the process (read Top 3 Consulting and Investment Banks and a certain Indian FMCG firm).
You will have to do ABM courses in your 2nd year with an option to take 2-3 electives, whereas in PGP you will be provided almost 15 electives.
Some facts regarding both institutes so that you can make better choices out of them.
Categories |
IIM Lucknow |
IIM Shillong |
NIRF ranking |
4th |
30th |
Course Fee |
10.5 lakhs/year |
8 lakhs/year |
Highest salary package |
54 lakhs |
48 lakhs |
If you want to do Marketing or General Management or end up in consultancy, then IIM L ABM is a good course because ABM 2nd year courses are nothing but Marketing, and so you don't miss out on anything compared to a PGP student. But go for IIM L ABM if you want to seek financing or operations.
IIM Shillong boasts of a spectacular placement scenario with a record of 100% placements. There is no major difference in the packages offered to freshers and working professionals. In fact, IIM Shillong’s USP is its high ROI. With fees considerably lower than other IIMs, it offers similar packages. This is why it has become the most preferred new IIM these days.
Many activities are conducted to enhance the placement scenario at IIM Shillong. Some include
The placement statistics are as follows
Particulars |
IIM Shillong Placements |
Number of Students |
250 |
Number of Recruiters Participated |
73 |
Number of New Recruiters |
43 |
Highest CTC |
INR 55.22 LPA |
Average CTC |
INR 23.10 LPA |
Median CTC |
INR 22.28 LPA |
Major Sectors |
IT and Analytics |
Some of the top recruiters include
Some major positions offered were in consulting, product management, retail management, risk management, sales and marketing, planning and operations and supply chain management, analytics, business planning, investment banking, were provided to the students.
Be it fresher or not, MDI Gurgaon is definitely a better option than IIM Shillong. I have drawn a comparison between the 2 B Schools based on the following parameters
Fees: The fees of the PGPM program at IIM Shillong stands at INR 14.6 Lakhs whereas that of MDI Gurgaon is INR 24,47,400. While some might comment on the huge difference in fees, the ROI at MDI Gurgaon is worth it.
Placements: The table below compares the placement statistics of both B Schools.
Location: MDI Gurgaon has a location advantage over IIM Shillong as it is located in the commercial hub in contrast to the North-Eastern location of IIM Shillong.
Though I have given my opinion about MDI being better, the final decision is yours to make.
At present, the overall CAT cutoff at IIM Shillong for general category is around 90 percentile, and the sectional cutoff is 75 percentile. This is just the minimum required percentile. The call is received by candidates who have a strong academic background other than a good CAT result. The next steps after the CAT exam are WAT and PI.
For the final shortlisting after PI round, IIM Shillong assigns 30% weightage to CAT score, 40% to PI score, 10% weightage to work experience, and 15% to class 10th and 12th score. You can check the 2023 CAT sectional cutoffs for various categories at IIM Shillong.
You are asking whether you should take it or not so I will assume that you are planning to take a drop year otherwise. However, preparing and attempting CAT again is not a cakewalk. It requires a lot of determination and motivation and still does not guarantee that you will get a call from an old IIM.
IIM Shillong is rather a good choice for finance. You can contact some of its alumni to get more information on the same. Since your profile is good, Indore is also a good option for you.
But if you are adamant about joining the old IIMs, then focus on one single goal. Getting maximum percentile in CAT. Start preparing as soon as you decide to drop the year. Anything above 99.7 will guarantee you a call from one of the older IIMs. I have seen many people attempt CAT 3-4 times just to get into their choice of IIMs.
It all comes down to your determination. Like I said, dropping a year requires a lot of determination, so choose this path wisely. Else consider the various other options you have.
Here are my ratings for the IIMs
The above rankings have been done on the basis of age, placements, and research. I don’t think these factors are enough to rank IIMs.
Another major parameter of comparison is the duration of the establishment.
Most of the FT rankings and online rankings are based on this parameter. In reality, every IIM has top-notch faculty, infrastructure and placements m. Yet the new IIMs will take some time to reach the top.
One of the major USPS of IIM Shillong is the diversity of electives it offers. Anyone who hasn’t decided on a domain can have a peek into the various angles of the business sector and then make a healthy decision.
The courses offered are flexible, comprising a blend of Marketing, HR, Operations, Finance, etc. This enables the students not to specialize in a single domain only. As far as HR is concerned, I have listed down some highlights of this particular domain at IIM Shillong.
At the end of the program, you will have developed a detailed knowledge of terms, concepts and insights.
There isn’t any valid reason for choosing IIM Shillong over the newer IIMs. This is because their establishment time is pretty much the same and not much can be compared. Rather than comparing, I can list down some points as to why you should choose IIM Shillong
The alumni base however is very small obviously because it’s a new IIM. I don’t see why you should go for IIM Shillong and not any other second-generation IIM. But if you compare it to the baby IIMs that have been recently established, it’s definitely a better choice
No, there aren’t any foreign exchange programs available at IIM Shillong. It’s a relatively new IIM and lacks in this aspect.
However, the PGPEx-MBIC program is a joint program between IIM Shillong and the Ocean University of China. Under this program, the students from IIM Shillong go to OUC, China for a period of 4 months. This is part of the international immersion, which also includes a 2-month internship in China. The course is open to foreign nationals as well.