One of my friends was fortunate enough to appear for the FMS Delhi interview and shared her experience of the same.
Her profile looked like this
Her interview was conducted offline and she had to reach the campus early. After the documents verification procedure, she was escorted to a room with 2 female panelists, one of which asked her to introduce herself.
Luckily, she was waitlisted in 81 and converted to the 2nd Waitlist.
I think I am the right person to answer this question as I have worked with graduates from the aforementioned top B Schools in India and my brother was a student at ISB. With the combined experience and knowledge I have, I dare to comment that ISB is an overhyped B school in India. What makes it stand is its amazing infrastructure, founding members, and the whole Western-style education. However, if you look at its academic style, I don’t find it very appealing. It fails to prepare students well and does not meet the standards of the 4 IIMs (ABCL) and XLRI.
Placements-wise one can comment that ISB is a notch better than XLRI and FMS but it is on the same level as IIM Lucknow.
Ultimately, the brand value of a business school is a matter of personal opinion and is subjective.
FMS Delhi is one of the Top B-Schools in India, often compared with IIM A, B & C. FMS Delhi has the best RoI, low fees of INR 2 Lakhs, and a batch size of 251 + Supernumerary Seats (for batch 2024-26).
FMS Delhi MBA Admission is based on various criteria such as CAT Scores, Academic Scores, Statement of Purpose, Extempore and Personal Interview. Getting admission to FMS Delhi is not an easy task; it is highly competitive as it's one of the top management institutes in India. Here are some tips on how to prepare for admission:
Prepare for CAT: Admission to FMS Delhi is based on CAT Scores, so you should start preparing for the CAT a year or more before the exam, which gives you enough time to cover the syllabus and practice thoroughly.
Prepare for Extempore and Personal Interview: Apart from CAT scores, FMS Delhi takes Extempore and Personal Interview into consideration. You should prepare for Extempore and PI topics and work on your Communication Skills and Confidence.
Stay Updated: Keep yourself updated with what's happening in the world, like in business, economy, and politics. As it is important for Extempore and PI rounds.
Getting into FMS Delhi requires dedication, great marks, hard work, and good communication skills.
There is no question at all if you are optimising for salary in the short term. On average, you would earn more at IIM Ahmedabad and Bangalore than at FMS. In the long run, it will be much more dependent on you and a little bit on the profile you want to work in. However, ceteris paribus and on average IIM Ahmedabad or IIM Bangalore will earn more or as much as an FMS grad. Choose A or B if you want to maximise your placement salary.
Whether you should optimise for placement salary is a different question, and the answer depends on what you want to do with your life.
This might seem like a shallow statement but when you look at an average student from a top-tier college and an average student from a lower-tier college the difference that you witness would not surprise you if you just look at their CVs.
It’s not as if they have done something exceptionally great but the CVs of students who get selected in top management schools like top IIMs, ISB, XLRI, FMS, SPJMR, and JBIMS are highly analytical. They know how to quantify their achievements and in the end, that’s all that matters. It’s all just numbers and data.
Typically, the students have impressive academic records and have been part of numerous non-academic avenues that have helped them in understanding the importance of extra-curriculum activities.
Some might have told you that most of the students who go to these top colleges have work experience but that is not true. You do not require work experience to get into your dream college. If you’re looking to get into one of these top management colleges and do not have an exceptional profile, just start focusing on your speed and accuracy for the written examination and polish your CV. Highlight the things that have impacted you and that you think would help you in becoming a better manager in the future.
No, choosing FMS Delhi over IIMB or IIMC is definitely not a good decision as you will be missing out on so many opportunities. Some of them include
You won’t lose anything from joining IIMS over FMS.
Here is the comparison between the latest placement statistics of NITIE and FMS.
Particulars |
NITIE |
FMS |
Highest CTC |
INR 78.20 LPA |
INR 1.23 CPA |
Average CTC |
INR 25.27 LPA |
INR 34.1 LPA |
Top Recruiters |
Asian Paints, Britannia, Colgate-Palmolive, Dabur, Godrej Consumer Products Limited(2022) |
Accenture Strategy, Airtel, Amazon American Express, Bain & Co, BCG, etc |
Both FMS and NITIE give an edge to each other in terms of placements with FMS having a slight advantage over FMS.
Rather than asking which is better IIMA or FMS you should be asking what is better for you.
My friend is an IIM Ahmedabad pass out. She had got offers from IIM Calcutta, Lucknow, and FMS as well. Yet she chose IIMA because it was her dream college. One year into IIMA she realized some major shortcomings.
The only significant feature here is its excellent placement. This is also the reason why it attracts so much crowd. But this fantasy is also short-lived. As soon as you land a job, you have to start paying back the excessive loan for years. For instance, you land a package with CTC 20 LPA. The in-hand salary would be around 1 lakh and the EMI standing at the end of every month would be 50000. After reducing EMI and personal expenses you get little for yourself for several years despite your hard work. Despite graduating you will be stuck in the same life for years.
Now considering FMS it has the following merits that make it a tad bit better than IIM Ahmedabad
Your batchmates from FMS will be enjoying life, and fulfilling their dreams and you will be still stuck in the same circle of paying back loans. So the brand value is just not enough. I don’t think spending 20 lakhs on any Indian B School is worth it.
Being in FMS Delhi is fun, tiring, exhausting, and thrilling all at once. The baggage of memories and emotions you will carry from here is huge. It will be a rollercoaster ride with many ups and downs.
Lastly, you will have a lot of memories and nostalgia to carry with you throughout the rest of your life.
FMS Delhi registration will start soon and will continue till the second week of December 2022. As per the FMS Delhi 2023 admission, candidates will be shortlisted on the basis of scores obtained in CAT 2022. The CAT score required for getting a call from FMS Delhi is mostly 99 percentile. After this shortlisted candidates will have to appear for GD-PI and extempore.
If you are a GEM (General Engineer Male) you will have to face the maximum hurdles. You will need a minimum of 99.3+ percentile along with 95+ percentile in the VARC section.
If you are a GEF(General Engineer Female) then you will get an additional 3% once you are through the interview round.
But the overall target to get a call remains the same for everyone i.e.99+ percentile.