IIMB or IIMC???????

[MavericK]

Originally Posted by alcatraz

IIMC has the most beautiful campus of `em all...........while IIMB is in the best city of `em all........hope it helps!

IIMC more beautiful than B ? Dude hv u seen both of 'em ?

[rajeev_r]

abhi... thanks a lot ...that just makes me more confused
----
r.

[abhi_jain]

Originally Posted by rahulkedia

if it helps..bangalore is the bestest city in the world !

Well i guess too much of importance is attached to the city by the students while the main thing shud be the institute one is going to... But like i said its anyone's personal call and after year(s) of hard work to make it thru, I guess it is ones own choice to work harder and reach the heights or to enjoy and have fun

Either way

ATB

[glow=darkblue:ae5bd93638]Abhishek[/glow:ae5bd93638]

[abhi_jain]

Originally Posted by rajeev_r

abhi... thanks a lot ...that just makes me more confused
----
r.

Well.....if u r confused ...then i guess my post did serve its purpose

On a serious note the post was intended to show that if u have to make a choice then you can't expect to get the best of everything except at IIMA...

Among IIMB & IIMC the choice is of better placement at IIMC or hip-happening environment at IIMB.

Hardwork & efforts are reqd. at both the places to get the top grades ....but ya at IIMB the pressure is slightly more , grace to its faculty

But where ever you go, my take is - make the best of the opportunity that you have.

ATB

[glow=darkblue:19e745f5b7]Abhishek[/glow:19e745f5b7]

[the STIFFmaester]

Well , the fact that Bangalore is a better city than Cal ( I gree btw ) isnt too immprtant , considering the fact that you probably wont have any time to leave the institute in the first year considering the hectic course load .

Nikhil

[Garuda]

Hey guys,
Just my opinion on the issue, personally i feel both the colleges are equally terrific ( i hafta admit i have very lil info bout either of them apart from what i've read thru articles/news/etc.) and i just spoke to two of my cusins,one is from C and one is from B.

The verdict - the faculty, infrastructure, reputation, it all doesnt really matter cos both of em are just bout equal. It all boils down to how hard u work once u get into the institute. And thinking bout it,i guess that makes perfect sense.

Theres still time,and i'll need to take the personal opinion of people who were in the same situation ( i wudnt really call it a predicament) last year.

Cheers guys,its a choice of plenty, thats always good

Regards,
Garuda

[hereiam]

nice predicament to be in id say just toss a coin.if its heads go to b else go to c on a more serious note,if it is finance ur looking for,go to C.if u looking for it go to b.the reason being the kind of learning u can get from ur peers.happy decision making.

[jon_arbuckle]

sorry ! will post later.. got some probs .. cant attach a file

[bonzibuddy]

Note: Regarding the placements comparisions, I have used only the data from the Placemnet Reports of the Two institues, therefore, there should be no complain.



First of all congrats for being in the position of being in such dilemma, a dilemma many would envy you for. Not many people get this opportunity J



Having said that, it’s also important to realize that this is a big decision related to your career and the need to make an informed decision cannot be more important.



I needn’t mention that B & C are a part of what is called the Big Three of Indian Management education. And rest assured these three are far ahead of any other institute in the country. And it’s after that that any comparisons start between them…..



Now here I try to give a few facts that may help you towards making the decision. Broadly I will cover the areas

• Teaching Methods
• Student Life
• Fudging of data/reports
• Final placements
• Summer Placements

• Teaching Methods:

Both the institute follow a mix of Case based and Theory based teaching as against IIM A’s total case based teaching. A typical example of a course evaluation can be:

Course: Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management at IIM C,

The evaluation is

8 Surprise quizzes: 24%

Portfolio Management: 25%

Case study: 15%

Class participation: 6%

End term: 30 %



Okay… that was 1 extreme. Actually it totally depends upon professor. There can be courses which have just one project, or 1 Mid term and One end Term on which the evaluation is based.



A slight difference is the so called Quantitative heavy teaching of IIM C. IIM C is based on MIT Sloan model and is hence more quant focused than IIM B. It is argued that is the reason for perceived finance strength of IIM C. That can be true as I myself was in a workshop by Amit Boardia of Deutsche Bank(an I Bank) and he specifically said that we favor IIM C guys because of that dy/dx factor.



But again, it should not be the reason for Commerce guys to scare away from IIM C, as almost every time there are 1-2 guyz in top five from Commerce Background. Last year the topper of IIM C was a CA. But yes, IIM B might be slight easier for Commerce guys as will IIM C be for engineering guys. The point to note here is the word “slight”.

• Student life.

This is something in which both are unique some and different some, and none can complain to be superior in one aspect or other. For each unique thing in one there is a compensating factor in other. Both have similar clubs … e.g. Marketing club of IIMB which organizes Marketing fair, which is organized by Marketing Cell in IIMC. So on….



Regarding the sports, IIM C had the IIMC – XL meet, which used to only of its kind in the country. IIMB from this year started IIMB–K meet. But then it becomes difficult to match the enthu and spark of a 30 year tradition with newly started sports meet.

One example is that of my friend, whose boss and super boss both being from XLRI passed out 7 yrs ago, the first thing that they tell him is so XL beat IIMC by 13-4 this time. Them keeping the track after so many years says it all. It’s like India –Pak match compared to India with some else team.



Where IIM B scores is the B factor, with some students getting attracted because it’s Bangalore- The pub city. That is an advantage. But then with the few hours given at B-Schools to indulge in self pleasure dwarfs this advantage. Calcutta with 10-15 pubs/restaurant more than fulfils the demand of those few after exam weekends. Presence of 30 -40 more pubs at Bangalore make little use.



Okay then those are a few difference, but hardly so strong one to decide in favor of any one institute…..

• Fudging of Data :

Okay I am placing it so much above because this is something which I feel reflects very badly on Institute of such great repute.



To start with, Deutsche Bank, DB for short is one of the highest paying, most respected Investment Banks that visit only ABC in India, one of the revered Slot 0 Companies that come to the campus. It made 2 offers & got 2 accepts both at IIM A & C and 1 offer & 1 accept at B. Initial information that floated out of B was that DB made 3 offers and got 1 accept. 3 offers for any slot 0 company is or sure good. But it turned out to be fudged information, the true being that it was 1 offer and 1 accepts. DB on getting this information rang up IIM B and threatened with dire consequences, including canceling its next year visit there until this information is refuted.



Three years ago too IIM B had to go through same embarrassment when it quoted its Avg. salary at 7 Lpa, while all other where around 6, A & C being at around 6.5(remember, those days economy wasn’t so good). Afterwards, they revised their figure to around 6.5.



All I am saying is that, Institute of this great repute should not indulge in this kind of things. And it does put the news that comes out of B a bit suspicious.

• Final Placements:

Needless to say that both of them are just high up there. But then this world is real and it’s difficult for two things to be exactly equal.



As far as Indian companies are there, B & C both are as big as it can get. It is the foreign firms for which the differences exist. These companies come in what is called as Slot 0 in these institutes. This slot is the “Dream” job slot. This slot is traditionally reserved for international I -Banks and Consultancies (McKinsey, BCG, ATK). This year both had 16 slot 0 companies.



One valid point is that how big a difference can be there if say out of 250 students around 50 get through Slot 0. The answer to that is apart even though you might not land up in Slot 0, if a campus has better slot 0, the curve of placements shifts upwards. Thus, for the same position, you will definitely get a better placement at the place having a better Slot 0.



Few Insights: ( I will be focusing only on difference, rather than stating whole of the slot 0 scenario, which trust me would put other B-Schools mouth wide open.

• • Dresdner KW or DrKW, a very famous I bank, visited both IIM B & C, but it made 0 offers at B, though it will figure in both Institutes list of 16 Slot 0 Companies.

• • McKinsey made 8 offers at IIM C and got 7 accepts, while making 4 offers at B and getting 3 accepts. Last year the figure was 7 at C and 4 at B. They made 5 offers at A this year as well as last year.

• • All three Consultancies –McKinsey, BCG and ATK made their highest offers at IIM C. (highest including A too)

• • HEDGE FUNDS, have till now came to both A & C campus while they still have to debut at IIM B.

Where the firms debuts is imp because - as a first option, they will go according to what they perceive of the institute, after which they may diversify in coming years – so the choice says a bit bout the imgae of the school outside India.

[bonzibuddy]

............... Continued

• • The firms that differ in slot 0 between B & C are:

Investment Banks:



UBS I Bank. (United Bank of Switzerland) – Only IIM C

IFC (World Bank) - Only IIM C

Capital One – Only IIM B



The Dresdner KW case I have already mentioned, though it features in both the list.



Also IIM C hosted the largest no. of Investment Banks among A, B & C.



Private Equity:



Sun Group International – Only IIM C



General:



British Petroleum Singapore – Only IIM B

GM Shanghai – Only IIM B

• • The no. of foreign offers in IIM B & C are:

IIM B – 52 & IIM C – 59







As far as slot 0 offers are concerned, IIM C had around 55 offers while B had around 45 offers in slot 0.



Last year (2004) the Slot 0 figures for B & C were

IIM B: 16offers

IIM C: 23 offers

• • The international Image of IIM C is that of a Finance and Consult campus. This is further substantiated by the fact that when it came to Private Equity and Hedge Funds, both debuted at IIM C campus. Private equity is considered well above I-Banks as a career. The big I-Bankers aspire to come in Private Equity Firm. The international giants General Atlantic Partner (GAP) and SUN Group International, till now recruiting only from Ivy League US B-Schools, both came only to IIM C in summer and final placements.

Summarizing:



IIM C has an edge as far as Investment Banking and Consults are concerned, which gives it an edge in slot 0 as well. For other part, it’s almost same.

Slot 1 onwards subtler difference does exist, but again, they are just that -subtle. If anyone needs info on that as well, please to pm me.

• Summer placements:

How are summer placements important?? Because lot of slot 0 companies only come for summers and then recruit via giving a PPO (Pre Placement offer). So the best chances that you have at the Big Guns like Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs are via Summer Placements only.



Summer Placements can be summarized point wise as:



Regarding Slot 0:



i. General Atlantic Partner(GAP) visisted only IIM C, and its a big thing(First entrance of a Private Equity in Indian Scenario, debuting at IIM C)



ii. IFC (World Bank) only at IIM C



iii. Gratmore Hedge Funds also visited only IIM C



iv. DPWN visited only IIM B



In Investment - Banking:



v. Lehmann: NY, London, Tokyo and HK all visit IIM C, while in IIM B London Does not goes. Also NY visited B for the first time, while it has been quite regular at IIM C.



vi. ING Investment Banking - NY, visited IIM C only



vii. JP Morgan: Both London and HK visit IIM C while only London goes to IIM B.



viii. Merrill Lynch : Of the two big I-Bank fame, visited only IIM C



ix. Goldman Sachs : Of the two big I-Bank fame visited only IIM B





Again beyond Slot 0, i.e. with Indian companies, B & C both are as good as it can get.











Now the BIG QUESTION, where does this all lead to? This was just for providing facts, which I have tried my best to, putting points in favor/against both sides



One valid point, which I have said earlier and will repeat again, is that how big a difference can be there if say out of 250 students around 50 get through Slot 0. The answer to that is apart even though you might not land up in Slot 0, if a campus has better slot 0, the curve of placements shifts upwards. Thus, for the same position, you will definitely get a better placement at the place having a better Slot 0.



One major thing that came out this year is the Deutsche Bank case which puts IIM B in very bad light, giving a bit of substance for people who claim that IIM B indulges in very aggressive marketing.



Finally, I also said earlier and will again say that, B & C both have the ability to catapult you to the very top. But then again, this is a big career decision, and you do need to make an informed choice. Why even avoid a subtle difference when you have the choice.



Have a happy decision making