2 years at SIMS (MBA)

All I have to say is that if given a chance to relive my MBA days I would love to do that. I honestly do not have any bad remark about SIMS. We have a our unique SIMS way of life which you would understand only if you are associated with it.

I had given the SNAP exam and though my score was not very high I got an admission because of my Army Background. SIMS secures 80-90% seats of Defence background students. My father was posted in Pune during that time and I had luckily applied to the college.I specialized in Marketing and Systems. I felt that marketing is a challenging and stimulating program of management. I was passionate to work in the Marketing team of any company and strengthen my marketing and client servicing skills. SIMS was a great platform where I got the opportunity to hone my skills.

Our course curriculum was very detailed and covering all the important subjects and courses in management. Since the MBA programme is of two years. In the first year we study all the common subjects which are same across all the specializations such as finance, HR and operations. And in the second year we study the specialized subjects. Like I studies all marketing and information systems related subjects.

I did my internship with the Business Standard new paper and print media organization. It was quite a learning experience for me. Initially I was not very excited since the stipend they offered was very less around Rs 4000 for 6 weeks. IT was a pure door to door sales job and I went around streets and knocking doors to sell the business standard newspaper subscriptions in Mumbai. I was doing sales for the south mumbai region. In a span of 1.5 months I got around 20 subscriptions. This was quite an accomplishment for me from when I started I was expecting how would I manage to sell newspaper subscriptions. The area was not known to me but I took this summer internship and my project as a challenge and went around the streets walking and also taking the local and finally convincing clients to buy the subscription.

SIMS (Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies), Pune has got excellent placement and job opportunities. All top notch MNC come down to our campus for recruitment. Also many local IT firms from Pune and Mumbai also come down for recruitment.

In my 2 years at SIMS, there were many college events that were celebrated. We had guest lectures, public speakers coming down to our campus of several occasions to enlighten the students about the various industries. We also had various intercollege fests where students from all other B-Schools also participated and competed together at a common forum.

The fee structure is absolutely nominal. Being a college for defence personnel the fee structure has been kept nominal and affordable for all service class families and their wards.

Yes students with a good CAT or SNAP score are offered scholarships. However I am unaware about the details of it. You can find further details on our sims.edu website.

Campus life was simply amazing. Being a resident college where we stay together and study together the college takes good care of our needs. We can participate in various on campus activities that are carried out regularly. Swimming, badminton, Basket ball, Yoga, Aerobics, carom, table tennis, Inter and Intra-college debate competitions, We were also shown movies on Saturdays and apart from these activities many other competitions were held within the campus that kept the students tempo high and exciting.

SIMS hostel are decent and in good hygienic condition offering basic amenities such as comfortable bed, spacious rooms, cupboards, study tables, various sports facilities and courts, canteen and coffee shop. The Canteen/ Mess food is quite decent better than what I have heard in many famous colleges. The food is made keeping in mind students health and hygiene. We were also taught not to waste food and try to take appropriate servings to avoid wastage of food. We were offered breakfast, lunch and dinner.All this is inclusive in our one time annual fee of college. And apart from mess we also had a separate canteen where we could buy and eat snack items as per our choice.

The SIMS Alumni network is really strong and we are lucky enough to stay connected via our alumni meets conducted every year. Each year the Alumni team of SIMS comes up with new and innovative ideas to bring all alumni together and build the connect much stronger. Students can benefit a lot through this. Our Seniors have been quite supportive in helping us with placements and bringing more companies on campus.

SIMS is a part of the Symbiosis International University and the exam pattern is followed same across the university. We had 4 semesters or main exams as well internal exams. It was a very structured style of examination giving students sufficient time to prepare for the exam during each semester. Just like other B-Schools we too have a CGPA system where a weighted average of all 4 semesters is taken into account to calculate the final GPA in the 4th semester. We also have a 50% passing criteria that is CGPA above 2.0 is compulsory to get distinction and get promoted to the next semester.

Our faculty was quite good. We had a mix of professors/lecturers who were guest faculty and some of them were the in house faculty of the college. Luckily I was been taught by all knowledgeable professors. MBA classroom sessions are very interactive and our faculty was expert in making every lecture interesting in the way they conducted the session. Specially our Marketing faculty was really good, They would hold quiz, Q&As, group discussions, group brain storming activities where we would be given cases studies to solve in a group of 5-6 students and then present our ideas and proposals. The sessions were overall interesting.