Want to take admission in IFMR GSB? Read this

In a conversation with Shiksha, experts and faculty members at IFMR Graduate school of Business, KREA University (IFMR GSB), Sricity talks about the detailed procedure of admission to Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme and also the criteria based on which students are placed. Here is the edited excerpt:

Q: What is the eligibility criteria for admission in MBA course at IFMR? And, what is the admission process?

A: Any student who meets any of the below mentioned criteria is eligible for admissions at IFMR:

• Must be either graduate of full-time degree course or in the final year of undergraduate degree course.
• Candidates from Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutions are also eligible to apply as per the UGC policy and notification.
• Applicants born on or after January 1, 1993 and on or before December 31, 2000 are eligible to apply.

Eligible applicants are required to take any one of the standardised entrance exams, including CAT 2019, XAT 2020, CMAT 2020, GMAT and GRE. There is a different cutoff score for each entrance exam which is given in the section “Application Screening”. For instance, for CAT and XAT the cut off is 75 percentile and for CMAT, GMAT and GRE cut off is 85 percentile. From among the entrance exam score given by the applicant, the best score will be considered subject to meeting the eligibility cut off.

While entrance exam scores are an important component of the admission process, they are not the sole criteria for admission. Shortlisting for Personal Interview (PI) will be based on parameters such as academic performance in Class 10^th and 12^th, undergraduation and performance in the competitive exams. These are called qualifying parameters.

Admission to the programme will be based on combined scores of qualifying and interview parameters which include work experience and extra-curricular activities.

Work experience is not mandatory. Candidates with work experience of less than or equal to 36 months, as on the date of deadline for application, can apply.

Q: What is the total fee for two-year MBA programme?

A: The total fee of two-year MBA is Rs 13.2 lakh and additional Rs 1.5 lakh per year for students who need accommodation and living expenses. We also offer merit based scholarships to students.

Q: In which cities the GD & PI rounds are organised and what are the important upcoming dates to be kept in mind?

A: For working professionals, the deadline to apply for admissions in February 4, 2020. The GD & PI rounds will be held in Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru. These rounds are expected to be conducted in the last week of February.

On the other hand for general students, the deadline to submit online application is March 3, 2020. The GD & PI rounds will be held in the third or the fourth week of March in cities, including Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Pune and Vizag.

The fee for online application is Rs 1,500 for both working professional and general students.

Q: On what basis students are selected after qualifying quality parameters?

A: The offers are made to students based on their competitive exam scores, academic performance, written ability test and personal interview. Applicants must have 60 per cent in competitive exams and academic performance and 40 per cent for WAT and PI.

Q: Can you share some insights on placements?

A: IFMR has a great track record of placements. Recruiters such as Philips, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Deloitte actively participate in the placements season. The highest package offered till date is Rs 18.8 lakh per annum to a student from 2017-19 batch.