SJMSOM - IIT Bombay review

As I have varied work experience my target was to pursue a course where I can diversify my knowledge base through experiential learning and gain expertise in a few domains. The teaching pedagogy followed here involves case studies, presentations, assignments, and group discussions which help us to look at a single problem from multiple perspectives. Student to teacher ratio at SJMSOM is ~2.8:1 considering all the faculties (core, adjunct, and visiting). There is a semester system and in each semester there are 2 terms. Each term has mid-term exams, assignments, projects, and end-term exams. Though the course is rigorous it is not difficult to pass. One can get enough free time to focus on other aspects apart from academics as well.

A diverse set of roles was offered by the top companies from the domains like operations, supply chain, marketing, finance, IT, analytics, consulting, etc. Everyone was able to bag a good offer from companies like Amazon, Flipkart, JPMC, Nestle, P&G, HUL, Kearney, GEP Accenture, PWC, Google, Deloitte, etc. The average (3.03L), median (3L), and highest (4.4L) stipend increased by 26%, 22%, and 20% respectively.

In the initial months of the 1st semester, we go through the summer placement process where 100% batch gets placed within a few days and the average stipend for this batch was 3.03 Lakh. The special thing about SJMSOM is that 50-60% of the batch gets PPO from the summer internships itself and thus for the finals only half of the batch competes among each other. The average package for the Final Placement is 28.88 LPA and the highest package is 54 LPA with 100% placement. Almost all top companies from FMCG to Investment Banking participate in the placement process and there are ample opportunities for the students to get their dream roles.

The current fee structure is 348200 per semester without mess and hostel fees. Including everything it costs around 16L for 2 years. The fees were hiked just a few years back and still, it is lower than the majority of the institutes. There are scholarship opportunities for about the top 20 candidates. Apart from this, you can opt for live projects and winter internships as well throughout your tenure.

Being the part of IIT Bombay ecosystem is one of the best campus life one can get during an MBA. Fests are going on throughout the year on campus ranging from the Avenues, MoodIndigo, Techfest, E-Conclave, E-Summit, and many more. We have great infrastructure facilities available not just in terms of classrooms and library but also sports facilities, hostels, and other recreational activities. There are clubs and teams for all the domains which regularly conduct events and seminars all year long which helps in gaining live industry insights. The startup ecosystem at IIT Bombay is very vast with access to incubators, industry experts, professors, research facilities, etc. Being in Mumbai is also an added advantage where one has a lot of options outside the campus as well.

We are provided a shared room in the first year and a single room in the second year. All the hostels have provision stores, stationery, laundry, sports facilities, and a gym. The food quality at the mess is good and the variety on the menu is also satisfactory.

The complete admission process was seamless for SJMSOM as compared to other institutes. It starts with appearing for the CAT examination in which we need to score 90 percentile overall and 75 percentile in sectionals to be eligible in the open category ( www.som.iitb.ac.in ). The application forms opened around the first week of January and we applied from the admissions page of SJMSOM for the same. The shortlists were released around mid-February and the interviews were held in the first week of march through an AI-based interactive platform named Gather. We were also allotted PI Buddies who aided us throughout the process.

The admission process was conducted on the interactive platform named Gather where we were divided into different panels and allotted a buddy for aiding throughout the process. There was no WAT or GD for our batch. After shortlisting based on the application form we were called directly for the interviews. Initially, to prepare for this I first focused on the common questions like an introduction (most important), why MBA, and why this institute and then focused on my work experience, projects, and PORs. For gaining confidence in the same I had given 4-5 mock interviews during my preparation phase.