IIFM Bhopal Admissions 2011-13

Hi Friends, We welcome aspiring IIFMights to this tread. The notification for the 2011-13 i.e the 24th batch IIFM Admissions 2011-13 is already out and application forms will be available w.e.f 1st week of October,2010. We are aware that you …

Hi Friends,

We welcome aspiring IIFMights to this tread. The notification for the 2011-13 i.e the 24th batch IIFM Admissions 2011-13 is already out and application forms will be available w.e.f 1st week of October,2010. We are aware that you must be seeking answers about IIFM and the multifarious opportunities bestowed, that are unique to this institute only.

So, here we go....

IIFM Genesis/ Introduction..
Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) is one of the best sectoral B Schools of India. It came into being on the recommendations of the FAO/SIDA Forestry preparatory Mission to India.IIFM was registered as a society in January 1982 and the 1st batch was admitted in 1988.The institute is under the purview of the Ministry of Environment and Forests,GOI, MOEF with direct access to resources from the ministry.It is situated in the City of Lakes ( Bhopal). The picturesque campus is spread over 240 acres with surrounding lakes, that add to its aesthetic beauty. The PGDFM program is fully residential and equipped with the best of infrastructure to facilitate a wholesome learning experience.IIFM was recently awarded The Dewang Mehta Business School award for 'Best Government B-School' for the year 2009.

"Forest"!! and an MBA in that. Sounds so boring!!

Actually many people out here point out that calling this institute a "forest" management takes away the credit from the variety this college provides. U can work in micro finance. U can work in core environment sector, u can work in conservation or u can work for livelihood for forest fringe dwellers and mind you none of that job is any more boring than a desk job. U can work against climate change, or may be some company dealing with alternate sources of energy. U will be a green manager. The job never becomes boring and on the other hand u get the feeling of doing something good for the mother nature. The word forest should not deter one from joining the institute. Core forestry is just the tip of the iceberg and there are hell lot of options available after IIFM.Package is not what u look for at campus placement at IIFM, it's the job profile. People have gone for PHDs, worked at policy making level or set up entrepreneurial projects. IIFM has a global recognition. It may not be known to common people, but it is known where it should be.

IIFM well would have been better if the F wasn't there.
The fees at majority of the colleges in India ranges from 6 lakh to 12 lakh including the IIMs. But the good thing with IIFM is that you pay only 3 lakh and enjoy facilities which are in tune with the best colleges in India.

Why should I join IIFM?
If at the bottom of your heart, u feel any of these or some of these...... u should join this institute....
You want to do an MBA which is world over recognized in its sector.
You are concerned about the fees which many B-schools charge these days.
You would want to be a green manager and hence feel good for having done something good for the society and Planet (the only green one).
You want IIM level facilities but couldn't join one of those institutes.
Government College is where you want to study at. ( IIFM is founded under ministry of environment and is directly funded by it.)
You want to study in a huge (240 acre) campus which is situated on a hill top and surrounded on three sides by lakes with greenery all around.
You are concerned with the placements and with recession on head you want to be sure of having atleast a good job on hand. (IIFM has had 100% placement since its inception and packages have always been on a rise barring recession period where it dipped everywhere but still the effort was more than commendable)

What specialisations and what are these jargons?
There are three main specialisations offered here at IIFM in the PGDFM course.
1)Development management- It is one of the hotter specialisations at IIFM, and more people tend to opt for it. Since it houses the "very in" field of MicroFinance which is arguably very best at IIFM.
2)Environment Management- Usually Environment sector is always lauded for its efforts towards the society, opportunities are immense and growth is good.
3)Conservation and Livelihood- It is one of those specialisations which attracts less people and some times people have to opt for it out of force rather than choice. Atleast 10 people have to opt for this field. But the point here is that it attracts the best packages at IIFM. Atleast that have been the trend till now.

What companies ?

Over the last 20 years, a large number of organizations have participated in Summer Internship and Final Placements. Some of them are:

ABN AMRO Bank
Action Aid India
Aditya Birla Group
Aide-et-Action
Asian Development Bank
Asia Carbon
ATREE
Axis Bank
CARE India
CCFID
Confederation of Indian Industry
Citibank
Crompton Greaves
CSE
Dabur
Development Credit Bank
Disha Microfinance
Earthy Goods
Ernst & Young
EXIM Bank
FINO
Grameen Koota
HDFC Bank
ICICI Bank
IFMR
IMS Learning Resources
India Bulls
Indian Institute of Sciences
IOCL
ITC
IUCN
Jungle Lodge and Resorts
Lupin Human Welfare Research
Foundation
NABARD
NCDEX
Olam International, Singapore
ONGC
Orient Paper Mills
Oxfam India
Planet Finance
PRADAN
Price Waterhouse Coopers
Proctor and Gamble
Sir Ratan Tata Trust
SKS Microfinance
The Energy and Resources Institute
UNDP
UNICEF
Wipro
Winrock International
World Bank
WWF India

Apart from exceptional contributions to the above organisations, IIFM alumni are creating waves in academics and research. Some of our Alumni are IAS,IFS officers. Many are Fulbright and Ford scholars pursuing further studies in their area of interest.The industrious students have won accolades in various B School contests. The most prominent being a presentation opportunity at the 'Yale_UNITAR Conference 2010'.

That's good but I still don't want to take a risk.!!
The choice is always yours, but the fact is that IIFM is not a risk, it is a win win situation for you. But still best of luck for your future. May god give u best of luck with the IIMs.

Sound really good. I want to know more!!!
Admission
Admission process is divided into two phases:-
1)Written test conducted by IIMs ie CAT.
2)GDPI conducted by IIFM at Bhopal itself.


GD topics?
Generally the topics are just like what are there in other MBA colleges, but sometimes there are topics which are from the three specialisations, like conservation, finance, etc.

Do they grill in PI?
Grilling is not done in the interviews, and the interviewers don't know your cat scores. The scores in PI are awarded on your personality, your interest in IIFM, the questions are of generalist nature, and your technical knowledge. Very basic and chilled interview. Mantra is to be confident and have a good answer for why IIFM.

Specialisations offered:
Development Management
The Course offers a specialization module in Development Management to provide young graduates an insight about the changes in the rural environment so that they can better utilize their skills in developing sustainable rural livelihoods and help in easing the pressure on natural resources. The module focuses on skill development in areas of rural enterprise development, rural finance including microfinance, rural marketing, rural retailing and natural resource management. The focus is not merely to ingrain a sense of 'rural reality', but also augment the decision-making capacity in the students with respect to flexing conventional models of finance and spatial analysis towards a more comprehensive rural solution

Environmental Management
With global warming and climate change turning certainties and of immediate concern to today's age, it has become crucial for companies to incorporate environmentally responsible management systems into their mainstream business. Also, as local solutions to global environmental problems find increasing favour with policymakers across the world, there arises a need to develop efficient market interventions to capture the entire social costs of environmental externalities. It is in this light that the specialized module on Environmental Management finds a place in the Course, and envisions the creation of developmental capacity in the students in areas of CDM and carbon trade, environmental economics and modelling, risk analysis ,finance and auditing.

Conservation and Livelihood Management
The keystone of the Institute, Conservation and Livelihood Management seeks to synergize the strong bases in forestry built over the first year of the Course with the wider field of Natural resource-Community linkages. Understanding that community play a key role not only in conservation but also livelihood generation through such conservation, the module converges the scientific principles of responsible natural resource management with the customized needs of individual communities - using the increased leverage of catalyst organizations - to bring about a holistic solution to social problems in the environmental domain

Everything said and done, we invite you to shoot...

Our insights on life@iifm...
LIFE @ IIFM

(Disclaimer :Inputs from the post of MightyIIFMRocks on pagalguy thread 'IIFM Bhopal Admissions 2010-12' are incorporated in this post)

can someone tell me whether iifm considers a years gap after graduation as a negative point, and hence it hinders admission??

hey hi ppl!!am not sure whether this question was covered earlier. but anyways someone please clear it. i saw about the placements in iifm. and saw that wwf was a recruiter. i want to have a career in wildlife conservation/management. is that beign covered in iifm.? and what is the work profile for wwf india?? and also what other companies come to hire in this field(wildlife management/conservation).

@ user26...a years gap does not matter, provided you can justify the same if asked...be prepared with an answer and possibly avoid saying that you dropped, as you were preparing for CAT..

W.R.T. WWF..the organisation participates in the summer internship process...They were approached last yr and a student was selected for a stint in Washington D.C...However he could not join them due to VISA hurdles...They recruit people with relevant experience only..at the same time, if you perform exceptionally well during internships ..they might as well absorb you..

hi seniors..firstly thnx 4 startin this thread.....i jst wanted to noe whethr getting a cal wuld be difficult with nt so good acads......i realy want to make it to iifm...its d oly reason m focussed on CAT..n...is it very difficult to get a cal if u dont get above 85 percntil...n i really envy al u guys out der at iifm..

aathi13 Says
hi seniors..firstly thnx 4 startin this thread.....i jst wanted to noe whethr getting a cal wuld be difficult with nt so good acads......i realy want to make it to iifm...its d oly reason m focussed on CAT..n...is it very difficult to get a cal if u dont get above 85 percntil...n i really envy al u guys out der at iifm..


First of all IIFM is a different type of place,here more emphasis is given on your dedication to work in the sector it caters. so according to my experience a not so good acads shouldn't be a problem if you truly are dedicated. A percentile above 85 may get you a call(but again that depends on this year's no. of applicants and others factor) but it is desirable to get a good %tile to be sure.

thanks for the quick reply..
i would like to know more about this particular sector( wildlife conservation/management) and its scope in iifm, career prospects if i study in iifm(for a career in wildlife management/conservation). i'm from a engg background and just graduated and working in a manufacturing company.. i dont have the relevant work ex in wildlife management/conservation.. so is that a problem?? i got a call fromm iifm last time, my score was also high(97.3) but didnt attend the gd/interview(:banghead::banghead: )and i badlywant tomake amends and get in this time.. and in that particular field. so seniors please throw some light on this..

dear friends
go ahead, fill the form
great career ahead in serving nature.
one of its kind management institute in south east Asia.
regards
jaideep

dear aspirents
go ahead for great career in the feild of serving mother nature .
we are with you
quaries are awaited

jaideep




yes you people should kuril man ,.,..,iifm is trully a very nice place to be ,.,.,i am more than happy with my decision to be here even when i was selected for a few more good b-school .But there is only one thing that you need to take care of ,.,.that is "why iifm?".if it coroporate lifestyle, deep pocket that attracts you rather than environment and development , i would advice you that iifm is not made for you .

hello guys,
this is my first post in this new thread...and trust me when i say this...it feels awesome to be on this side of the conversation, and the least that i can say is i know what it feels like to be on the other side...and this goes for all the people who are seriously considering IIFM.
Firstly a word of caution: getting into this institute is not easy, no matter what people say. a decent CAT score may get you a GDPI call, but the bed of roses ends there, this year there were many 90+ percentilers who could not convert the call, so i will personally suggest that you maximize your cat score to the extent possible, coz it has 70% weight-age.
secondly guys, there is a perception that if you study in IIFM then you should not aspire for a very high salary...or a fabulous job. All i can say for this is that it is not true...it all depends upon exactly how much salary do you want to draw from your first job...what is the amount that you consider 'very high'...as Aman has mentioned the average salary in the post recession period was 7 lacs...and now that the market is recovering there is no reason for pessimism regarding the future placements.
so think about it?...
and yes before you decide, do visit our campus once if you can...believe me people it is an absolute treat to spend two precious years here in the lap of nature...everyday here comes with a new experience...
rest of the story will unfurl in my successive posts...
till then keep thinking...and if possible go through the previous year's thread...
with best regards,
deepanjan

Great job Aman taking the initiative of making this thread for the future aspirants....as stated above by Navneet, Deepanjan,Ravi and Rajesh this college is only for people with an inclination towards this sector if you don't posses one you would be wasting 2 years of your life , however rest assured if you do have an affinity for this field there is none better place than this .....

As mentioned earlier the only thing you can do now is concentrate on your CAT exam , give it your best shot , get a call and if you have a passion for this sector there's nothing in this world that can stop you from landing here .....ofcourse along the way me and my batchmates would be more than willing to help you all just as our seniors did it for us last year ..........

cheers

Varun Mohan
PFM 2012

Great job Aman taking the initiative of making this thread for the future aspirants....as stated above by Navneet, Deepanjan,Ravi and Rajesh this college is only for people with an inclination towards this sector if you don't posses one you would be wasting 2 years of your life , however rest assured if you do have an affinity for this field there is none better place than this .....

As mentioned earlier the only thing you can do now is concentrate on your CAT exam , give it your best shot , get a call and if you have a passion for this sector there's nothing in this world that can stop you from landing here .....ofcourse along the way me and my batchmates would be more than willing to help you all just as our seniors did it for us last year ..........

cheers

Varun Mohan
PFM 2012





well said varun ,.,we are more than willing to help anyone who woul end up with any query in mind .Though our papers are going on ,.,.but i couldn't resist myself to showcase some of the thing that IIFM is gonna offer you

1>100% placemen
2>Heaven like surrounding , world class infrastructure, you will fall in love with this place ,.,at the very time you come here for your interviews(to add this i have been to a lot many b-school .,.,and this is what i analysed)

3>If you are eager to work in the field of development or environment ,,.,no other place could give you a better platform .

4> IIFM is a gem of the few sectoral b-schools you might have heard of.

5>If you are someone like me ,.,who wants to be in the lap of nature ,.,.iifm is gonna offer you the same .,.,.full fun ,.loads of work ,..,then again fun ,.,



for now concentrate on your cat ,.,.a good score will help you a lot.

hey guys pleasee clear this doubt.

i would like to know more about this particular sector( wildlife conservation/management) and its scope in iifm, career prospects if i study in iifm(for a career in wildlife management/conservation). i'm from a engg background and just graduated and working in a manufacturing company.. i dont have the relevant work ex in wildlife management/conservation.. so is that a problem??

@ user26....wildlife conservation is a sensitive area..and hence organisations prefer some experience... nevertheless you get ample opportunities here to fill that gap by way of internships, paper contributions to international journals,international and national conferences... for all these you need to make an effort...

engg to wildlife is indeed a shift worth noting...but one needs to remember that interdisciplinary knowledge plays an important role ..it will definitely be appreciated ..you can make use of your engg background in the field of wildlife conservation also...

as regards guidance, our experienced Faculty members are always there...they have been associated with various organisations, contributed several international papers on the subject and know the ins and outs of the sector.

different career prospects exist in research, academics( need to have a phd and IIFM is the best bet..IIFM brand makes it easy to obtain international scholarships)... wildlife conservation organisations..,advocacy..etc...one should remember that the field is in the nascent stages of development and the scope will increase in the coming years....would suggest you visit these sites...http://wcsindia.org/,http://www.wildlifetrustofindia.org/,http://www.worldwildlife.org/,http://www.junglelodges.com/after you have gone thru these..u'll definitely get a deeper understanding of the sector...

Jungle lodges and resorts come in for direct placements..but they are indirectly related to conservation of wildlife...this can be a good start...

my experience till date...guys who are focussed on a particular area generally land up in the organisation of their desire..

@ aman
thanks!!
can you give me details abt ppl who are placed in wwe (from iifm)??and also abt people who are specializing in this sector from the current iifm batches ??? i would like to know more abt this particular field.. and once again thanks.


it's wwf instead of wwe...will try and get the contacts of seniors in this field...

thanku sorryabt the spelling mistake... bit sloshed rite now anywyas thanks.

hiiii seniors can you please tell me what was the cutoff last year?

wrong post