While a lot has been written about picturesque lush green campuses, festivals and life on campus, this article comparing two of India's top B-schools will refrain from reinventing the wheel, and you may go through the articles cited below to know about those aspects. They have been intentionally left out not only because a lot of literature is already available about them but also because, given the fact that we are comparing two institutes which are among the best B-schools in India, these things are more or less at par, it is also fairly subjective and depends upon how a person spends his life on campus. Moreover, they do not even form a proper basis for comparing B-schools of such high repute.
Disclaimer - The author, who is a current student of a top MBA college in India, has requested anonymity for reasons personal to her. This article refrains from making any concluding remarks regarding any of the above-mentioned institutes. While both institutes are among the best B-schools in India, this article has been written solely for guiding the aspirants in making an informed decision. Hard facts have been provided with references to help the students in making the correct career choice. The article does not intend to glorify or defame any of the above institutes.
Let’s begin with the things which matter most to the aspirants –
Placements.
IIM Indore vs MDI Gurgaon - Placements
Under this head, I will cover both the summer placements and the final placements as well. The following are links to the Final and Summer Placements reports for IIM Indore and MDI Gurgaon:
Summer Placements
Going by the most recent summer placement reports the key figures are as follows:
| Parameter |
MDI Gurgaon |
IIM Indore |
| Number of students |
359 |
547 |
| Highest stipend |
INR 3.2 Lakh |
INR 4 Lakh |
| Average Stipend |
INR 2.1 Lakh |
INR 1.54 Lakh |
| Median Stipend |
INR 2.0 Lakh |
INR 1.5 Lakh |
| Number of companies |
98 |
150 |
Quick Inferences
- While the highest stipend is higher for IIM Indore, so is the number of students.
- As a matter of fact, IIM Indore has the largest batch strength among all premier B-schools in the country for both summers as well as final placements, which results in higher competition for the opportunities compared to MDI Gurgaon where there are relatively lesser students, and hence, higher chance of landing your dream internship/job opportunity.
- For MDI Gurgaon, out of 359 students, 60 students had specialization in HR, so they only have to compete among themselves as for PGPM the competition is among the remaining 299 students which is just about 55% of IIM Indore’s strength. Therefore, a student is more likely to land his/her dream internship/job opportunity in MDI Gurgaon as compared to IIM Indore.
- The next two important data points with respect to summer placements are the average and median stipends received by the students. As shown in the table above, both average and median stipend is higher for MDI Gurgaon, which tells us that more students at MDI Gurgaon received a higher stipend as compared to IIM Indore, and if we were to ignore the outliers i.e. the highest stipend, in this case, the average and median stipend figures may plummet further.
- The next data point tells us about the number of companies that visited these institutes for summer placements this year. For MDI Gurgaon the companies made an average of 3.67 offers per company compared to 3.64 at IIM Indore.
Final Placements
Going by the most recent final placement reports, the key figures are as follows:
| Parameter |
MDI Gurgaon |
IIM Indore |
| Number of students |
342 |
607 |
| Highest CTC |
INR 40.79 LPA |
INR 40.5 LPA |
| Average CTC |
INR 20.13 LPA |
INR 20.79 LPA |
| Median CTC |
INR 19.82 LPA |
INR 19.4 LPA |
| Number of companies |
106 |
200 |
Quick Inferences
- While the numbers are very close to each other, the highest and median CTC is higher at MDI Gurgaon while average CTC is higher for IIM Indore.
- IIM Indore has the largest batch strength among all premier B-schools in the country for Final Placements, which results in higher competition for the opportunities compared to MDI Gurgaon where there are relatively lesser students and hence, a higher chance of landing your dream job.
- For MDI Gurgaon, out of 342 students, 60 students had specialization in HR, so they only have to compete among themselves as for PGPM the competition is among the remaining 282 students which is just about 46% of IIM Indore’s strength, therefore, a student is more likely to land his/her dream job at MDI Gurgaon as compared to IIM Indore.
- The next data point tells us about the number of companies that visited these institutes for summer placements this year. For MDI Gurgaon, the companies made an average of 3.23 offers per company compared to 3.03 at IIM Indore. Hence, on average, a company rolled out more offers at MDI Gurgaon as compared to IIM Indore.
IIM Indore vs MDI Gurgaon - Location
The next important thing which an aspirant considers while selecting a B-school is the location. The location plays a very important role in deciding the kind of exposure that the student will get on campus and the kind of opportunities he/she will have on campus other than summer internships and final placements. These can be in the form of live projects or competitions being floated out by various companies or even attending seminars, conferences and other networking events organized by various companies.
Speaking of location, Gurgaon hosts more companies as compared to Indore, so students at MDI Gurgaon seem to be at a slight advantage over students at IIM Indore. Many corporate shows, seminars and other networking events also take place in Gurgaon on a regular basis which gives students the opportunity to attend, network with corporate people and capitalize upon these connections to get opportunities to work on live projects and even job opportunities at times.
Also read - InsideIIM MBA Rankings 2019 - The Top MBA Institutes In India
IIM Indore vs MDI Gurgaon - Peer Group
MDI Gurgaon is one of the very few premier B-schools to offer admission purely on the basis of merit, along with XLRI Jamshedpur and SPJIMR Mumbai. The average CAT percentile of the current batch is a whopping 98.76 percentile, which is the highest across all B-schools in India and testifies to the quality of the peer group that you would interact with.
This becomes a very important criterion because unlike graduation courses, a large part of the learning at a B-school happens through peers, so it is very important that you have a great peer group as that will determine how well you learn more than half of the things taught at a B-school.
IIM Indore vs MDI Gurgaon - Alumni Base
MDI Gurgaon was started in 1974, while IIM Indore began commenced its first batch in 1996. There is a large gap of 22 years which has created a much stronger alumni base for MDI Gurgaon as compared with IIM Indore. And as you will learn in your corporate journey networking is equally if not more important than your performance on the job to succeed in the corporate journey and reach the top rungs of the corporate ladder.
IIM Indore vs MDI Gurgaon - Exchange Program
IIM Indore has collaboration with about 30 different institutes all over the world while MDI Gurgaon has collaboration with 80 such institutes all over the world. All of these institutes have been listed on the respective college websites. While the list is quite impressive for both the colleges, the numbers simply indicate that given the smaller batch size and a larger number of international collaborations, a student at MDI Gurgaon has a slightly higher chance of attending a foreign university of her/his choice at MDI Gurgaon as compared to IIM Indore.
IIM Indore vs MDI Gurgaon - Fees
MBA from MDI Gurgaon will cost you around Rs. 21 lakhs, while that from IIM Indore will cost you around Rs. 17 lakhs. The return on investment, in either case, is very good. Even so, you may like to revisit your financials to see which program suits you better, given your financial situation.
Also read - How Many Days Will It Take To Recover Your MBA Program Fee?
IIM Indore vs MDI Gurgaon - Student-Run Mutual Fund
While this may not be a make or break criterion, it seemed worthwhile to mention for all the finance enthusiasts and future investment bankers reading this article. IIM Indore has a student-run mutual fund called Voyage Capital. Presently, it manages an investment portfolio of close to 5 lakh INR. Similarly, MDI Gurgaon also has a student-run mutual fund called Unnati, and presently it handles an investment portfolio of about 41 lakh INR. Not only is Unnati the oldest student-run mutual find in the country but it is also the biggest student-run mutual fund in India. Its investment portfolio is bigger than that of all the other student-run mutual funds put together.
IIM Indore vs MDI Gurgaon - HR Program
HR is a specialization in very few premier B-schools. Both MDI Gurgaon and IIM Indore offer a specialization in HR. While IIM Indore started the HR program in 2018, MDI Gurgaon started the HR program in 2004, and within a span of just 15 years, it has built a reputation of being one among the best HR programs in the country. So if you are an HR admit, this piece of information may assist you in making the correct decision for your career.
Conclusion
A lot of data has been provided in this article regarding several different aspects based on which you may evaluate your decision of selecting which B-school is right for you. I would like to reiterate the fact that both of these B-schools are among the best B-schools in India and if you secure an admission in either of these, it will surely be a major boost for your career.
I hope this article has been helpful in clearing some doubts you may have had and hope you make the right decision. All the best!
Editor's Note - The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Team InsideIIM.
You may also be interested in reading - IIM Indore vs IIM Kozhikode, Comparison of other B-Schools