The PGP-FABM specifies no strict limit on marks to be obtained except for at least 50% in graduation from a university recognized by the UGC. Also, any candidate from any background can apply for the course except that students not from agricultural sciences or agricultural-related disciplines will have to submit a special form under the application procedure and must demonstrate a strong interest in agricultural, food, rural, and allied sectors.
Selection Procedure:
Even if it is not the flagship PGP program, it is still a very demanding course and thus competition is very high. So, a good CAT score along with an excellent interview presentation will help you secure a seat at IIM Ahmedabad.
This might be disheartening but the truth is you will never receive a call from IIM Ahmedabad even if you score 100 percentile.
Other top institutions give less importance to past academic records, you can aim for them. 99.7+ in CAT and 99.5+ in CAT XAT will ensure high chances of your selection in such institutions i.e. FMS, MDI, XLRI.
In general, it is a good idea to gain work experience before doing an MBA due to the maturity that gives you. At IIM Ahmedabad, a lot of placement opportunities ask for at least 18 months of work experience depending on which field you are opting for. If you are a fresher, you are going to miss out on those opportunities.
So, having work experience is definitely an added advantage. It does not sound like a good decision if you are going for a Masters in Business Administration and have not been to any workspace personally. Peer learning is an integral part of management education. You will be able to contribute more to that only if you have valid word experience. So, it definitely makes sense to defer for a fresher or student with less than a year of work experience.
A friend of mine attended IIM Ahmedabad. Based on his experience, here are a few points you should take into account for your preparation.
Apart from the basics, here are a few suggestions that should help you in preparing.
These exams are very challenging. Failures are a very common thing here. Just don’t feel discouraged if you fail. Keep trying and keep your confidence levels up.
There are a lot of things that are the best part of being in IIM Ahmedabad other than the salary
There are some extremely talented, hard-working, and humble people that you will meet in the college who will give insights about varied things. There are also students who do exceptional at sports, dance, music, dramatics, literary activities, etc. There are a lot of things to explore at IIM Ahmedabad.
It is difficult to answer this question. The demand for managers in India is continually plummeting and it is foreseeable that nothing would eventually happen even if the Indian business schools stopped producing any more managers.
Around 99.99% of the work done by management degree holders in India can be done by absolutely any graduate. So, introducing any other profile other than that can be a far-fetched dream already.
The lowest package of IIM Ahmedabad is probably 0 LPA. IIM Ahmedabad offers many courses like Agri-Business Management that do not have many recruiters. Also, because of reservation, the quality of graduates at IIM Ahmedabad has been definitely diluted.
It is quite apparent that if you haven’t met people who actually studied in either of these institutions. That’s why this answer is based on my graduation batchmates who successfully managed to secure a seat at IIM Ahmedabad.
Comparing the two IIM Calcutta and Ahmedabad, both the institutions have a big alumni network and claim to be at par. However, that doesn't mean that both are identical or similar because the internal factors matter a lot.
Here are some insights about these IIMs you must have a look at before deciding.
However, in your case, if you want to wait for IIM Bangalore's waitlist to proceed, do check the past years’ records. Check if the waitlists of the past few years have created a huge difference for the waiting candidates. If not, go for any of IIM Calcutta or Ahmedabad without giving a second thought.
The reason IIM Ahmedabad was not given the Institution of Eminence tag was that it focuses only on management studies without having prominence in any other field of study. In other words, IIM Ahmedabad specializes in one type of education and is not diversified enough to be considered a full-fledged university due to which the Institution of Eminence tag was not accorded to it.
The Institution of Eminence scheme was started by UGC and currently, 10 public and 10 private universities enjoy the tag. All the universities in this list are very much diversified academically and offer a wide range of courses; the IITs are also very well-known for their management programs apart from engineering. This is an area where IIM Ahmedabad falls short of.
However, it should be noted that IIM Ahmedabad already possesses a wide range of special benefits such as 25% admission of foreign students and faculty, permission to conduct its classes online and it also receives funding from the government like an Institution of Eminence university would get. So the fact that it does not have the tag makes little difference.
Both are among the top 10 B-schools in the country and each of them excels in certain areas. Picking out a simple winner among them is not really a great idea to identify their true potentials. But still, let us try to compare between the two on some aspects –
Categories |
IIM Ahmedabad |
XLRI |
Placement Percentage |
90-100% |
90% |
Highest CTC |
40 LPA |
40 LPA |
Average CTC |
24 LPA |
25 LPA |
Recruiting Companies |
Google, Microsoft, Accenture, Infosys, etc. |
TCS, HP, IBM, Dell, etc. |
So, in the end, it depends on you, what career path you want to choose to determine which institute is better suited for you. You would not regret getting into either of the institutes.
Overall, you need to target around 98-99 percentile for scoring an admission in IIM Ahmedabad. However, the required percentile to get into IIM Ahmedabad keeps on varying every year, so it depends on each year’s cut-off. Your bachelor’s specialization also holds some importance. IIM Ahmedabad also considers the 10th and 12th percentile. Along with the CAT score your marks, the other things that are important are your category and your work experience.
You will also have to work on your critical thinking and analytical skills. This will help you in GD-PI rounds to perform well in the interviews and Impress them with your personality, sincerity, and dedication.