In terms of job opportunities, IIM is far superior.

IIM A, B, and C would have an average placement of around 22 LPA, whereas ISI would have 16-17 LPA. However, you must keep in mind that you would pay at least INR 20 lac for your IIM degree while receiving a 65k stipend and contingency grant from ISI for free.

You might start out as a data scientist, financial analyst, or consultant if you join ISI, and you would advance along that career vertical. IIM exposes you to a much broader range of roles such as FMCG, general management, and so on.

In terms of higher education, 40-50% of ISI batches pursue Ph.D. programs in the US/abroad, while nearly 100% of IIM batches pursue jobs. Going straight to a Ph.D. after IIM is difficult due to the large educational loan (assuming you take one). However, many of them pursue Ph.D. degrees at various business schools around the world.

However, these institutes (ISI and IIM) are incomparable because one teaches statistics, and the other management. These are two very different topics. So it all comes down to what you want to do with your life.

It is, indeed. By far.

Whether you want a tech role, a front-end IB role, a PE/VC role, trading, algo trading, a hedge fund or quant role, a risk manager or a financial regulator role, or even a research career in finance, IIM C is by far India's best offering. It has a cutting-edge Finance Research and Trading Laboratory, multiple terminals throughout the campus and the laboratory, the largest annual research output by PhDs in India, and much more.

In terms of both absolute placement rates and batch percentage, IIM C has the highest placement rates in India's finance industry.

Definitely joining IIM Calcutta over IIM Lucknow is better. In fact the huge difference in fees is exactly the reason why IIM Calcutta is worth investing in more than IIM Lucknow.

Some advantages of joining IIM Calcutta over IIM Lucknow are:

• IIM Calcutta is among the top 3 while IIM Lucknow is below.

• The placement opportunities at IIM Calcutta are way better than IIM Lucknow. Check the recent placement reports to verify the same.

• Professors with publications in International journals are way higher in IIM Calcutta than Lucknow.

• IIM Calcutta has a better batch quality as it has a higher cut off on CAT %ile.

• IIM C Alumni networking and culture is enviable even by IIM A and B. So by paying more fees you build relationships that are priceless and last a lifetime.

I wouldn’t say choosing IIM Calcutta over IIM Lucknow will ever be a bad decision. Your 7 extra lakhs Rupees will pay you back tenfold times.

To begin with, when comparing two IIMs, the question is which is better, not which is the best.

The answer to this question is, of course, subjective.

• IIM Calcutta is a more established institution than IIM Lucknow, and it consistently receives higher rankings. As a result, according to any layman or literate man, it will be better than IIM Lucknow.

• IIM C is superior in terms of finance specialization and placements. IIM L is superior in terms of marketing specialization and placements.

• IIM C is calm, whereas IIM L is frenetic.

• IIM C fees are significantly higher than IIM L fees.

• IIM C has a high percentage of engineers who go there, whereas IIM L has a wide range of academic disciplines.

• IIM C Has more alums than IIM L. This is also a significant feature of how old the college is.

Choosing PGDBA over a regular MBA program is definitely worth it. With technology becoming the foundation of every company today a regular MBA program is not sufficient. You need to be well versed in data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. This is when PGDBA comes into picture. This course offers a perfect knowledge of handling data to meet the competitive edge. 

I have listed some major benefits of the PGDBA course that might assure you of its worth.

• The course helps to automate things and take a more technological approach to every business decision.

• This course will provide you with the brand name of 3 best institutes all together. This makes it better than the regular MBA program.

• Interacting with faculties of 3 different institutes does not stagnate your thought process. The diverse opinions help you add to your ideas.

• This course will enable you to open your own technology based start-up.

The only major disadvantage of this course is the lack of management skills you will develop. Although you will study management, not as much as you could have studied in a regular course. But this in itself is not a factor big enough to hinder your success.

Yes, the academic rigour of IIM Calcutta is more than IIM Bangalore. But to a very little extent. Overall the impact is very little.

The academic rigour at any institute is affected by:

• Batch-size

• Curriculum structure 

• Grading 

IIM Calcutta has the largest batch size. So the academic rigor is higher than other IIMs. Also, it has the fastest academic year. There are no breaks between terms, and midterms are wrapped, in most years, within 3 days with 2–3 exams per day. IIM Calcutta has a Grading scale upto 9 with grades very spaced out within the batch, and competition for superior grades often heats up towards the end of Term 3, with average performance spiking up as everyone wants to score high.

The rest is for you to judge. But keep in mind that the competition vigor at every IIM is the same.

Only the full-time PGP courses of IIM Calcutta or XLRI are valuable. All other degrees/certificates are the only means of earning money by the institutes. 

• They have no real value in real life or the corporate world. 

• They won’t be very useful if you want to learn.

• They add no value to your CV

• You will not be considered alumni of the institute

So these certificate courses/ part-time programs/ Executive programs carry no real value at all. Most people are misled to believe that they might add value to their CV. 

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.