Somaiya Vidyavihar University Mumbai Answered Questions

The placements have been very good this year. The highest package offered was Rs 21 lac, while the lowest has been around 6 lacs. The average package has been around 9.4 lacs. As for the GD, just read one newspaper daily, especially the editorial page. This will help you form an opinion about various topics. Also try going through the business news. For the PI, be thorough with what you've written in your candidate profile form and sop, especially your hobbies and interests. Be sincere about what you're saying. That should be enough.

The main difference between the two programs is that the PGDM program is fully autonomous, which gives much more flexibility in terms of curriculum and activities. Moreover, you have courses in PGDM which offer specialization right from first year, such as Retail Management and Financial Services. The placements are common for both PGDM and MMS. The average package this year was 9.4 lacs.

While both institutes are at par regarding curriculum and placements, SIMSR has two distinct advantages: ROI and Location. SIMSR has always maintained low fees, which enables the students to get good ROI, as the placement packages are similar to those in TAPMI. Location plays an important role in the deciding the kind of guest speakers and peers a college can attract. Being in the heart of Mumbai, SIMSR is in a position to call industry leaders to interact with the students. Moreover, it also helps in interacting with other top colleges via participation in various events. This factor also enables students to bag live projects to enhance the experiential learning, which is crucial to MBA. This is only my opinion, as these factors were the reason I chose SIMSR over other colleges last year.

The fees for your first year will be Rs 4.4 lakh. They may vary slightly in second year. The hostel and mess fees come to around Rs 1.4 lakh per year. You can expect the total fees to come to around 12 lakh for the course.
As far as TAPMI goes, it's on the same level as SIMSR, in terms of placement and batch strength. However, being in Mumbai, SIMSR has a location advantage. Moreover, you can also get a better ROI in SIMSR, owing to lower fees.