IIM in the Himalayas-A Sirmaurian's perspective

I chose the course because it aligns with my short term and long term goals. The course covers the basics needed to run a business or to be a business manager. The curriculum is designed by some of the brightest minds in the country and focuses on what are the demands in today's rapidly changing scenario. The case based pedagogy tries to bring out the best in ourselves and stimulate peer to peer learning. When it comes to evaluation, there is a mid-term exam and an end-term exam in each of the three terms in a year. Apart from these, there are multiple quizzes which are conducted from time to time. Also, the class participation of the students and evaluated along with other projects and presentations for each course and subject.

More than 100 companies come to campus for recruitment and summer internship. So far, some of the big names include ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Fujitsu, Accenture, Tech Mahindra and many more. Currently I am in first year and I have not done my internship.

The tuition fee of the institute is high, when we look at it from the average income perspective of most Indians, but it is justified if we look at it from a value perspective as the value addition provided by the two-year course is immense. The tuition fee remain unchanged for a batch but there are hikes usually once in a year and the rate is not very high. The complete cost of the education is 1600000 INR. You can avail scholarships provided by various ministry of the Govt. of India and various other private entity like IDFC First Bank and HDFC Bank. You will have to complete a summer internship programme after the 3rd term to get promoted to the 4th term. The placement committee facilitates the internship programme.

IIM Sirmaur's annual fest is Sierra which is conducted during February of each year. Apart from these, there are many case competition and events organised by various clubs and committees. There is an inhouse library with an extensive collection of a variety of books, journals and magazines and a comprehensive online database. Classrooms are equiped with all the technology needed to enable interaction among peers and also with the faculty. There is a sports ground for playing football and cricket. Also, there is volleyball court. There are also facilities for indoor sports and games and there is a gymnasium as well. All the committees are student run. Some of them include the Placement Committee, MessCom, CSR Cell and Cultural Committee. Apart from these, there are numerous clubs for various domains like marketing, finance, operations, etc.

We don't have a permanent campus at the moment. But we have all the necessary facilities in our temperory campus, which is located in Paonta Sahib, Himachal Pradesh. Boy's hostel is located around 5 kms from the Campus while girls are provided accomodation within the campus in 2 buildings. The meal quality is not that good. Sometimes there are complaints from many students about the quality of food provided. This is one really bad aspect of the hostel.

You need to have a bachelor's degree with minimum 60% marks. You will have to clear CAT exam which is conducted by one of the main IIMs once a year in November(usually). Based on the CAT score and the admission criteria which differs as per the IIMs, you will get WAT PI calls. After the PI, the final list will be declared. IIM Sirmaur follows Govt. of India's guidelines for reservation. I feel that diversity is one thing that the admission committee can work on and the cut offs need to be higher.

For IIM Sirmaur, there were no GD but there is a personal interview that is conducted as part of the Common Admission Process(CAP). CAP is a common process conducted by one of the new IIMs for admission in one of the 9 new and baby IIMs after they are shortlisted based on the CAT score and the profile. The questions are based on the current affairs and from the subjects I studied during my graduation. Since I studied economics, a lot of questions were coming from economics background. There were very minimal questions about my work experience. I prepared by watching youtube videos and the materials shared by the admission committees of a few IIMs. They usually send these preparation materials once you are selected for the PI round.