About XLRI

XLRI has always been among the top-five B-Schools of India and the best B-School when it comes to HR. Not to mention, despite being in HR, the opportunities offered are wide-ranging when it comes to placements and you are open to sitting for almost all roles offered on campus. Placements, coupled with great brand value and a very strong alumni network make XLRI a top-notch institute that can provide the best exposure any MBA can give. The culture is also vibrant, with great committees to work for, great peers to learn from who come from the best undergrad colleges in the country, and professors who are aware of state-of-the-art tools, techniques, and methodologies that can make one a desirable commodity in the industry. XLRI has a long legacy and is the oldest B-school in India, and almost all HRs in all big companies are from XLRI. Not just the HRs, but some of the best people who occupy the C-suite of corporations have gained their MBA from XL which gives it a unique edge over others.

The course curriculum is quite up-to-date with the college identifying industry needs and making sure there are subjects and training offered to make students job-ready. Almost in every class, you would listen to a professor mention how whatever they are teaching would be used by us once we start our summer internships and even on our full-time jobs. The college leaves no stone unturned and some of the best professors in the country teach us the best stuff. Be it subjects like law, which is very much used once you work in large FMCG corporations like HUL or Nestle, or subjects like Compensation and Benefits, or even Performance Management Appraisal, are taught by the best professors and the learnings are reinforced through good Harvard Business Review cases which are discussed in classes. You are able to make a lot more sense of how the dots are connected once you start as an intern or an employee. Even subjects that are usually taken for granted like Excel are taught to us in detail.

There are companies such as Colgate-Palmolive which will offer 160,000 per month, Uber with 1,60,000, top management consultancies with 1,50,000, and many others with 120,000+ stipend. The roles may vary from consultant to HR to Data Scientist. Basically any role one can think of or any company one might want to get in would be present in XLRI.

There is just one word for placements - superb. The name XLRI is a brand in itself and recruiters are going to line up and fight for a slot to hire from campus. So placement should be the least of anyone's worries while visiting. The best names in management consulting such as McKinsey, BCG, Bain as well as in Investment Banking such as JPMC and Goldman Sachs visit every year. Be it FMCGs, fintech firms, product management roles, anything, and everything is available. Not even a single student goes unplaced. The median and average packages are both close to 24 lacs per annum.

There are various scholarships available. Two of the most popular are the Aditya Birla Scholarship for which top-20 students on campus are eligible and the O.P Jindal scholarship, which is awarded to the top 5 students at the end of the first year. Many other merit-cum-needs or simply needs-based scholarships are available. A lot of detail can be found in the college brochure on this subject. The fee is close to 25 lacs for a two-year program. Campus jobs are the USPs of top B-schools in India and XLRI is no different. With a median stipend of 120,000 per month in summer internships and a median package of 24 lacs per annum in the final internship, anyone is well-poised to pay off any loans they take to sponsor their education.

There are various clubs and committees on campus and a plethora of opportunities for extracurricular activities as well. XLRI conducts the largest management fest of India, Ensemble Valhalla, every year in the month of March. Apart from soul-touching performances by the biggest names in the entertainment industry, it features some of the best B-school contests with the largest prize monies one could bag anywhere in any such competition. The library hosts a wide option of books and subscribes to the best journals such as EBSCO and PROQUEST. The classrooms are also well-equipped with state-of-the-art amenities. The sports culture is vibrant and there is healthy competition between XLRI and IIM-C every year. Apart from this, the Bodhi tree, which is our official band never fails to keep everyone entertained. Some of their best works could be found on YouTube. Overall, the campus has a great vibe with an engaging and active social life.

The rooms are spacious and well ventilated and there is single occupancy. The meals offered too are decent in quality. You get an option to chose from both vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals. The hostel fees are inclusive of the total fees you pay and so is the mess fee. For the mess, you have to pat 18,000 per term but that included does not cross the 25 lac mark mentioned in one of the previous answers.

There is a group discussion on a topic and then we have to write an essay on the same topic once our discussion gets over. The time allotted for the discussion is 20 minutes while that for writing the essay is 10 minutes. In my case, the topic of the group discussion and essay was "The more you get to know about other aspects of management, the less interested you will be in HR". This was followed by a PI. One should be prepared on why they want to pursue an MBA, what they expect out of an education XLRI can offer, why they should be selected and if they are applying for an MBA in HR, they should be prepared on why HR interests them. Apart from that, be prepared with your graduation subjects (especially important for freshers) and what you did at work (in case you have work experience). Also, make sure you are very well versed with general knowledge and current affairs.