With its HR program allegedly being the best in Asia, XLRI might be ranked as one of the top 6 management schools in India. Other areas of expertise like marketing and finance are also strong.
One of XLRI's major advantages, in addition to having a large alumni base, is that all of the HR directors at the country's top corporations are XLRI graduates. As a result, XLRI receives a fantastic placement. As most employers view it on par with IIM A, B, and C, this also helps if you wish to change jobs. It will be regarded as one notch lower when compared to IIM A, B, and C. Top IB and PE firms that exclusively visit IIM A, B, and C do not go to XLRI. But XLRI is a fantastic alternative if you are not interested in IB or PE.
Many reputable companies (in the financial and consulting industries) exclusively visit IIM A or B; XLRI is not among them. But even with fewer options, XL can help you get into the best companies. The batch size is one factor. The XL BM batch size (until the 2021 batch) was just 180, as opposed to IIM A, B, and C, which had twice as many.
The top-paying companies, generally belonging amongst the regular recruiters, are the multinational banks, usually offering job roles like investment banking (IB). Alongside that, the roles in Financial Marketing (FM), also pay well, considering the base destination is overseas. Now, this is in terms of direct conversion and not PPP.
There are several of these firms which are as follows:
In addition to the aforementioned companies, there are various other recruiters, mostly scattered in the private equity arena (and a few handfuls in venture capital) who often choose to recruit rather sporadically and are common and pay well. Carlyle, Blackstone, Apollo are to name a few of them.
Nonetheless, the recruiters of the companies listed above usually pay typically anywhere between 35 to 60 LPA as the base salary. Astonishingly, the bonus is often over and above this amount.
Rather than just academics, IIM Ahmedabad students are interviewed on an overall basis. That is various aspects like extracurricular activities, leadership skills and behaviour management are also tested in the interview round.
Social clubs and college societies are also a part of your interview. But not the most important part though. Some might get selected even without much involvement in clubs while some might not get selected even with much involvement in the same.
You usually are asked about your hobbies to which you can simply answer anything you like doing in your leisure time. It can be as simple as reading novels also. More than anything your confidence while answering the question matters the most.
Some well known alumni in the internet/e-commerce field are
Raghunandan G. - Founder of TaxiForSure, now acquired by Ola Cabs.
Deep Kalra - Founder of MakeMyTrip, one of India’s leading travel sites
Sanjeev Bikhchandani - Founder of Naukri.com, one of the first and most successful job portals in India.
There is a lack of prominent alumni in the technology field because of shortcomings on the part of IIM Ahmedabad. These include it’s curriculum and risk involved in the field.
It is true that a person’s caliber can in no way be judged from the Business School that they have graduated from. In practice, however, things work very differently.
The general assumption is that if a candidate has secured a top rank in one of the most challenging exams and studied one of the top curriculums in the country, then they are really good in their field.
IIM A, B, and C have been around for a very long time and its graduates have carved a niche for themselves in the corporate world. Most companies in India and many abroad have IIM A, B, and C graduates in top positions. The alumni spread the goodwill of these institutions in silicon valley and other parts of the world, leading to international repute. These institutions are ‘brands’. An IIM A, B, and C brand opens numerous opportunities for you.
Judging IIMs based on ROI solely is not wise. Most IIM graduates end up paying their loans in a period of 3 to 5 years. Also, keep in mind that salary does not remain constant, it keeps increasing each year. Even if you take a loan to fund your MBA, it will be worth it.
If you get the opportunity to study at IIM A, B, or C you should grab it at the earliest.
My sister was in Yogesh Jindal’s batch and had asked about his understanding of finance concepts. He told her that initially he thought finance was rather a tough one for him but he utilised the maximum resources available and managed to score good marks even without coaching classes. Some tips he shared along the way are:
Attending remedial classes: Remedial classes are organised by seniors who have already understood the concept. It helps in adding points to their CV while for us we get free knowledge from the best.
Group discussion: Make friends that will help you clear any doubts.
Preparing before the class: We usually ignore this crucial step. Preparing before the class helps in better understanding of the concepts
Interact with teachers: Take help from your teachers in case of any queries inside or outside the class. It’s better to clear doubts in the class than regret it later.
Yogesh Jindal did not necessarily employ extensive means to score well. He simply had put a lot of effort in basic things and paved his own way.
To compare the two IIMs let’s consider the following factors:
Alumni network: The alumni network of an institute depends on the duration of the establishment. The older the institute, the stronger and larger will be its alumni network. This is why IIM Ahmedabad has an upper hand in this aspect.
Placements: The placement opportunities at IIM Ahmedabad are much better than IIM Indore. Most reputed firms don’t visit IIM Indore and even if they do visit its campus, the number of recruits is very less than that of IIM Ahmedabad.
Peer: The diversity of academic and professional backgrounds of MBA students is what makes the course an amazing experience. IIM Ahmedabad enjoys a better quality of peer groups than other IIMs because most qualified candidates prefer it over other IIMs.
Rankings: Rankings-wise, IIM Ahmedabad is always on the top of the ladder much above IIM Indore.
Better student experience: All major activities on the campus are mostly handled by student bodies. This helps in the overall development of an individual.
Based on all these factors we can clearly say that IIM Ahmedabad is better than IIM Indore.
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.
IIM Ahmedabad has decided to give little importance to the bachelor's degree components from the shortlisting criteria and to apply it uniformly to all the candidates. The AR now will be computed on a scale of 25 (considering class 10th marks, class 12th marks, and the candidate's work experience) and the points will be pro-rated to 35.
The following formula will now be used for computing the Composite Score (CS):
CS = 0.35* Pro-rated AR Score/35 + 0.65* Normalized overall CAT Score
Pro-rated AR Score= [(AR score computed by taking 0 points for Bachelor’s degree)/25] * 35.
Quantitative Ability (QA) |
80 |
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) |
80 |
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) |
80 |
Overall |
80 |
The final composite score for general category students is 80.
A friend of mine faced a similar dilemma when he was torn between choosing IIM Ahmedabad (MBA) and Stanford (MS). He went for IIM Ahmedabad in the end. He considered the following factors before making this decision:
Geographical factors: If you want to stay in India then MBA from IIM Ahmedabad is the best choice. But if you are certain you want to settle abroad, MS from Stanford is a good choice.
Nature of career: Comparing the nature of both the courses, we find that MBA is a general one while MS is specific. MBA is related to business and management while MS is technical. Based on your interests and aspirations one can easily make a choice between the two.
If you are still unable to decide then know that you can pursue MBA in the US even after MS. The latter will offer you more opportunities.