IIM Lucknow - what to expect

Eligibility :- Graduation -> CAT Exam -> WAT/PI Generally, the above-mentioned procedure is the standard way of admission into IIM Lucknow. However, the admission process taking place during the pandemic era differed slightly, wherein the entire process was online and WAT was scrapped. The weightage for various components for WAT/PI shortlisting is : CAT (60%) + 12th (10%) + UG (10%) + Work Exp. (10%) + Acad. Diversity (5%) + Gender Diversity (5%) Weightage for the Final score after WAT/PI is as follows : CAT (30%) + 12th (5%) + UG (5%) + Diversity (Acad + Gender) (5%) + Work Exp. (5%) + PI (40%) [WAT still not included as per latest guidelines]. Disclaimer: Minimum PI marks must be 12. Sectional cut-offs : (VARC-DILR-QA-Total) Gen: 85-85-85-90 EWS: 77-77-77-82 NC-OBC: 77-77-77-82 SC: 55-55-55-70 ST: 50-50-50-65 PWD: 50-50-50-65 Reservation is as per Reservation policies for admission to Central Educational Institutions (CEIs).

IIM Lucknow has a strong faculty across all domains, a.k.a., marketing, finance, strategy, operations, It & systems, data science, etc. A given class size of a given faculty is around 50-65 students. All faculty members in the college have doctorates in their respective fields of expertise, with almost all professors engaged in research work. The review system needs some serious retrospection and overhaul. There are mid and end-term reviews collected through physical forms but how much it affects the professors individually to better their methods, needs transparency. Exams are held on time, with the schedules being released around a month prior to the examinations. It is moderately easy to pass most examinations by paying attention in class and light revisions. Some subjects are challenging and require dedicated efforts to score above/average.

All top companies visit the campus, including MBBK, Accenture, Deloitte, PWC, KPMG, P&G, HUL, etc. During summers, selection processes include write-ups, case solutions, guestimates, group discussions and interview.

Placements are offered by the college itself, with 100% placements attained in all of the previous months. Summer placement interviews happen around the month Sep-Oct. Winter placements happen in two stages, lateral placements (HEPP) for experienced candidates and final placements. HEPP happens during the month of December and finals happen during January. Top companies in all sectors visit the campus, the top domains being consulting, finance, and marketing. The highest packages have been around 60LPA INR and the average hovers around 29LPA.

The annual fee is around 9.6 lahks INR, excluding mess fees. Mess charges are around 20k per tri-semester. There are merit-based as well as need-based scholarships available. There are regular live-project as well as internship offerings by private firms, many of them being paid, coming through placement committees or other committees.

MBA is a residential course, the entire junior and senior batch stays inside the campus, giving rise to an extended IIM Lucknow family. The active presence of numerous clubs and committees on the campus makes sure that every week is loaded with some or other event. There are multiple sports meets and cultural fest organized by CCAs on the campus. The annual fest, Manifest Verchasva, is held in the winter season (Jan-Feb). The campus boasts a resourceful spacious library, with seating amenities for a large number of students. Classrooms have facilities in place for physical as well as online classes, but much of this equipment has started to show age. IIM Lucknow campus has huge cricket and football fields in addition to different sports courts. There are a plethora of outdoor as well as indoor games available to the student community. Placements, mess, food junctions, and many other facilities are managed solely by student committees.

Hostel rooms are single occupancy ones, with boys and girls having separate hostels. Bedding furniture, mattress, table, chair, and wardrobes are provided in each room. Staffs are available for cleanliness purposes at every hostel. The mess provides quality food with dishes from across the country. Non-veg is served twice a week, with paid options available at other times. Hostel fee is incorporated into sem fees. Mess fees are collected sem-wise separately.

The process was held online during the Pandemic era, and the only grading method used by the colleges was personal interviews of candidates. Questions ranged from undergraduate streams, at times deep diving into certain topics and initiation of thoughtful and practical discussions regarding the same. Questions can also be expected from any points mentioned on the admission form. Some questions include introspections into oneself. In addition to this, questions can be expected about current affairs, global as well as national and general knowledge. Most of the time the interviewer expects a calm and composed response from the candidate, delivered in a confident manner.