The Post Graduate Program in Management (PGPM) offered by the Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM), Gurgaon is an excellent program and lives up to the reputation that Great Lakes has built over the years. GLIM provides a great course curriculum with top-notch professors to learn from which are similar in both the Chennai and Gurgaon campuses. Some of the advantages of the Gurgaon campus are as follows.

• The location of Delhi-NCR gives an excellent opportunity for industry interactions and networking.
• The course curriculum includes mandatory live project opportunities with corporates which is easier to find in this region.
• The college also focuses on emerging areas such as E-commerce, Business Analytics, etc. which are taught by top industry practitioners.

Apart from that, you can take a look at the placement statistics for the year 2020-21 here.

So, you should definitely choose GLIM Gurgaon campus for PGPM with its unique advantages.

One of my friends from school is an alumnus of Great Lakes. According to him, the institute has a very good 1-year PGPM program.

There is not much difference between the faculty of Great Lakes and that of institutes like XLRI, IIMs, ISB, etc. Teachers from other countries also visit the campus. In addition to these, the methods of teaching are always being updated and enjoy high acceptance in the industry.

The following table gives a brief overview of the institutes:

You can make decisions based on your preference of location, convenience, budget, etc. Thorough research goes a long way.

Since its establishment, Great Lakes be it Chennai or Gurgaon has been delivering premium quality management education at par with recent industry trends.

As per the official rankings, Great Lales Chennai ranked 31st among management institutes by NIRF 2023 and 11th among private colleges by IIRF Ranking 2023. On the other hand, Great Lakes Gurgaon was ranked 62 out of 125 colleges by NIRF in India in 2023 and it was 52 out of 125 colleges in India in 2022.

However, these rankings are highly transparent and misleading. Either the ranking parameters are not credible or the institutes refuse to participate resulting in exaggerated figures. So it's best to talk to alumni to get a better picture and don’t just rely on rankings.

Analytics is the science of extracting insights from sets of raw data using statistics and Business Analytics used by committed organizations to the data-fueled decision-making process.

You will explore data to find new patterns and relationships between different variables with the help of statistical excavation and structuring by quantitative analysis. Then you will predict the results by predictive modeling and predictive analytics.

PGPBA is a course for executives hence it is scheduled on weekends. It doesn't offer any placement assistance either. But if you're truly inclined, it'll be more like an added skill on your resume. Your excellence with this degree will depend on your work experience and your chosen domain in analytics.

The Business Analytics program is much better than the executive course and if you go for a full-time one, then it'll be even better for your career prospects. Also, Great Lakes does have a good national reputation and the faculty and the syllabus would be the same at all the centers.

This one year Pune PGPBA is a full-time course and part of SCMHRD. You will get a lot of hands-on experience on various processes linked with Marketing, Operations, Risk, Human Resources, Finance, Digital Marketing, and Hadoop.

One of my close friends attended Great Lakes at Gurgaon and here are some tips based on her experience.

• You will be evaluated based on their GMAT/ CAT/ XAT/ CMAT scores, previous academic performance, essays, work experience (if any), and performance in the personal interview.
• The selection process is built in a criterion that facilitates evaluating academic abilities, standardized test scores, rank, integrity and ethical values, and diversity of background.
• At Great Lakes, there are no fixed cut-offs, you will be evaluated in a multidisciplinary way. Profiles are considered completely although the test scores are important, the selection is more emphasized on well-rounded candidates with an overall strong track record.

In 2020, the required CMAT cutoff at the institute was 85%. So, you are eligible for the institute but try to make your profile better as the CMAT score alone is not enough to get selected for admission.

I have a friend who is also an MBA Finance enthusiast. He was shortlisted for Great Lakes, Gurgaon- specifically for Finance. My answer would be more conversational and definitely does not intend to be any sort of advice as eventually, it is your call.

For studies, Great Lakes is a good choice to opt for. But here, what happens to be even more prioritized is the job profile of working under Finance.

The industry of Finance specifically has a range of 10% of jobs to offer along with 50% reserved for marketing and for operations, which is 30%. Last year, 21% of the recruiters were from BFSI out of only a small range of 10% were provided a job in Finance. Others are compelled to opt for sales. Many students end up opting for it as MBA Finance leaves them indebted and they are in dire need of a job to pay off the loan.

If you have enough confidence, do go for it. But then, if you consider yourself to be and stay your average self, there is something you need to work on.