Yes, 60 LPA is indeed a pretty decent salary for someone working in the IT industry. In fact, after 12 years do people even work for a salary anymore? I think their work-life needs other factors for motivation. These include your growth in the particular field, your understanding of the recent trends, you are being able to undertake risks successfully, or the recognition of things that might be beneficial for you in the long run. What I mean is after a long period of 12 years your salary is no longer the motivating factor. So instead of looking for a higher salary, focus on your own life and personal growth.

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 

• Student exchange programs: The top 3 IIMS have student exchange programs wherein almost 30% of the batch spends one term at a European B School. Also, IIM Calcutta is a part of CEMS. 25 students from IIMC are offered the most coveted CEMS MiM degree.

• Placements: Without any doubt, the top IIMs have the best placement drives than any other B school in India. All the major companies like McKinsey, BCG, Bain, and AT Kearney visit the campus and hire 50+ students every year. Even if the same companies visit FMS M, the roles offered are different. Also despite being good for marketing, the biggest giants in FMCG don’t visit the campus regularly. So top jobs are offered at IIM ABC and FMS misses out on this opportunity.

• Campus Life: With no hostel facility, FMS Delhi has non-existent campus life. Meanwhile, all the other IIMs have beautiful campuses, excellent infrastructure, and hostel facilities.

• Brand name: Without any doubt, IIMs have a bigger brand name than FMS.

• ROI: ROI or Return on Investment is higher for IIMs than FMS in the long run. Although due to the payment of loans initially, ROI will seem less than FMS(low fees), that’s not the case. IIMs provide better opportunities, global recognition, and an alumni base that add to the ROI value.

You won’t lose anything from joining IIMS over FMS.

No, I don’t think you should join IIM Bangalore and pursue MBA given that you are already receiving INR 20 LPA (base).

If your base is INR 20 LPA then the package should be around INR 25 LPA. An MBA from IIM Bangalore will also get you placed with a similar package maybe around INR 30 LPA. This does not make much difference considering the high fees you will have to pay. In Fact you will be leaving out the market risk, performance, opportunity costs and the increment that you will probably get in the next two years.

So an MBA from IIM Bangalore does not seem a good option since you are already working at an esteemed organization with an above average salary.

Yes. IGNOU is definitely not just a degree-making university. The quality of study materials is pretty good and it’s not easy to pass the exams. This makes it not the best but a pretty good university. Also, don’t forget the fact that it's the world's largest open university.

IGNOU is a well-reputed and recognized university. The degrees are also favourably accepted for employment posing no problem due to distance learning.

Another benefit one can avail from IGNOU is its affordable fee structure. You can spend only INR 50,000-60,000 on your graduation and still get placed at a major MNC. Ultimately it’s up to you to decide if the university is good or bad

Before choosing a college, try to make sure what you are really interested in. If it is MS then don’t go for any IIM. This is because you can pursue an MBA later in life if MS did not work for you. But you will not get the chance to choose Ms after your MBA. Also since it’s your area of interest, chances are you might find your talents and may want to work on them.

Now if you are sure about the course but confused about the IIMs, I will give you my honest opinion. The new IIMs are enjoying fame and glory owing to the achievements of their predecessors alone. They haven’t done much to attain the level of older IIMs. These new IIMs are poorly organized. The faculty is below average, the infrastructure is substandard and the teaching is pathetic. Yet they are here to claim the coveted IIM tag.

So if you are someone for whom the tag of IIM and its high placement matters only, you can surely go for a new IIM. But if you value education over institutions then base your decision on research.

No, the counselling procedure is the same for both CBSE and matriculating students. You will be counseled in the batches as per your cut off. But the cutoff calculation procedure is different for CBSE and matriculating students.

For State Board students Cut off= (math/2) + (phy/4)+(chem/4)

For CBSE students Cut off= (math) +(phy/2)+(chem/2)

Apart from this CBSE students get normalisation as it’s difficult to get such high cut offs. Under this, usually 5 marks are added to your cutoff.

I know a friend who had cracked ONGC and almost touched 100 percentile in CAT. He decided not to go for ONGC but rather to prepare for CAT. But as luck would have it, she couldn’t make it into IIM A B C. 

She did not give up and studied hard for the same and got into IIM Calcutta and graduated in 2016. After a couple of chances, she opened her own company in the conventional manufacturing space.

The conclusion from this experience is that you should forego the IIM Calcutta offers if:

• you want immediate monetary gains

• you do not want to take risks 

• you are not interested in entrepreneurship

You should go for IIM Calcutta if:

• You are looking for a brand name

• A huge IIM L network access

• If you want an opportunity to pierce into the corporate management space

• If you are interested in entrepreneurship 

It depends mainly on your risk undertaking ability and what you want from your job.