IIM Shillong Vs IIM Rohtak - A Comparative Guide

IIM Rohtak and IIM Shillong are considered to be the next best options for an MBA after the tier-1 management institutes such as IIMs BLACKI, JBIMS, FMS, IIFT  MDI & SPJIMR. IIM Shillong was the 7th IIM to be established and is considered to be an old IIM, even though it was established over a decade after the last old IIM, IIM Indore. IIM Rohtak is the 8th IIM to be established and is considered to be a new IIM as it was established in 2010 along with IIM Udaipur, IIM Ranchi, IIM Trichy, IIM Raipur, IIM Kashipur. Therefore, these management institutes have grown over a short span of time to become some of the best institutes in the country, making them an ideal choice of B-Schools for aspirants. In this report, I will try and bring out the differences (and similarities) between these two institutes, which should help you get a clear picture of what these institutes have to offer. Note - All placement data presented pertains to the placement reports for the Class of 2018 unless specified otherwise.

Rankings:

As I have mentioned in the previous reports, rankings are not the best way to gauge the quality of an institute. There are a lot of other elements that need to be factored in before making a career decision. However, I reiterate that rankings give a starting point for comparing two institutes, and provide something to talk about with pride.

2018	InsideIIM	MHRD-NIRF
IIM Shillong	14th	11th
IIM Rohtak	23rd	18th

It is clear from rankings that the two IIM's feature in the top 20-25 management institutes of the country. The MHRD Rankings are on the basis of the graduation outcomes parameter, which seems to be the only reliable parameter to go by. IIM Shillong does better than IIM Rohtak in terms of rankings, probably owing to its status of an old, ergo, more respected IIM.

Course Fees and Placements:

In this section, I will present both the fees as well as the average and highest packages offered by the two institutes. This will help you gauge the ROI better.

2018	Fees	Average package	Highest package
IIM Shillong	13 Lakhs	15.51 LPA	26 LPA
IIM Rohtak	12.6 Lakhs	11.7 LPA	30 LPA

Other highlights of from the Final Placements: IIM Shillong:

• 169 students participated in the placement process, and 41 firms made offers to students.
• The median CTC stood at Rs. 16 LPA, and the top 50% of the batch had an average package of Rs. 18.5 LPA.
• Banking & Finance, and IT & Analytics were two of the most preferred sectors for students.
• Recruiters such as Deloitte (Consulting), Tata Group, ITC (Sales and Marketing), Yes Bank, RBL (Finance), Amazon (Operations) etc. were present for the Final Placements.

IIM Rohtak:

• The average package for the top 50% stood at Rs. 14.6 LPA, while the top 25% got an average package of Rs. 17.4 LPA.
• Sales and Marketing saw the maximum number of placements (29%), and new recruiters included ABG, Amul, Dell etc.
• Finance followed S&M, constituting 26% of the offers. It was also the highest paying domain.
• Consulting was the most sought-after domain, with 100 students applying for Consulting roles.
• Over 90+ companies came for recruitment this year, including EY, Accenture, Yes Bank, Amul, Amazon, Google, Dabur etc.

Note - In terms of ROI, both these institutes do fairly well. IIM Shillong has a distinct advantage in terms of average packages offered (overall and top 50%), while Rohtak takes the cake with the highest package amongst the two premier B-Schools. But an important point to note is the pace at which IIM Rohtak is growing, with the addition of huge brand names to its list of recruiters. Another point to be noted is that Shillong loses out on recruiters (41 in number) perhaps due to its location. Rohtak, on the other hand, has seen a 75% increase in the number of new recruiters that visited the campus.

Batch Strength:

Batch strength is an important factor that must be considered while selecting an institute. In the case of these two IIMs, luckily, the batch strength is relatively small as compared to an NMIMS or even the old IIMs. A smaller batch strength means lesser competition, but also means that the alumni base will be smaller as compared to an institute with a batch intake in excess of 600 students per year, especially since these two institutes are very new in comparison to all tier-1 institutes and a majority of tier-2 non-IIMs. The data below is for the Class of 2018 and Class of 2019.

	2018	2019
IIM Shillong	178	178
IIM Rohtak	154	262

IIM Rohtak has increased its batch intake significantly (by almost 70%). It could be a sensible and advantageous decision to join either of these two institutes which have two of the smallest batch strengths in tier-2 B-Schools.

Batch Profile:

IIM Shillong:

• 39% of the batch consisted of freshers, and 25% of the batch had 1-2 years of work experience.
• 72% of the batch consisted of Engineers, while 12% of the batch was from a Commerce background.

IIM Rohtak:

• A whopping 43% of the batch consisted of freshers at IIM-R, and 38% of the batch had work experience of 1-3 years.
• Majority of the batch at IIM Rohtak consisted of Engineers.

Note - For freshers, both IIM Shillong and Rohtak are lucrative options, with a large percentage of the Class of 2018 consisting of freshers. This also explains the popularity of the Sales and Marketing roles at Rohtak.

Foreign Exchange Opportunities:

IIM Shillong: While it may not be a conventional form of foreign exposure, IIM Shillong offers its students to visit foreign countries in the month of January, as a part of the 10-day Study Abroad Programme that was launched in 2016, when students visited NTU Singapore for two weeks. The most recent batch went to IESEG Paris as a part of the Study Abroad Programme. IIM Rohtak: IIM Rohtak allows its students to visit their partner institutes, Singapore Management University, California State University, Kelley School of Business. There is no data to confirm the duration of this visit.

Infrastructure:

IIM Shillong: Currently, IIM Shillong is operating out of a temporary campus in Shillong, called the Mayurbhanj Complex. However, the campus will soon shift to a permanent 120-acre campus space next year in Umsawli. The current campus in Nongthymmai consists of the main building, auditorium, library (Exim Bank Knowledge Centre) and student dorms. Since the 2-Year PGP is a residential course, IIM Shillong provides its students single and double occupancy rooms on campus. Within the dormitories, there is a basketball court, badminton court, and a gym.   (Source - IIM Shillong Instagram account) IIM Rohtak: IIM Rohtak is currently operating from the Maharshi Dayanand University's campus, and will soon shift to its new and permanent campus which is spread across 200-acres and was inaugurated by Vice President Naidu at the 7th convocation ceremony, March 2018. The Class of 2020 will be the first incoming batch at the new campus. The new campus, located in Sunaria (outskirts of Rohtak), consists of hostel rooms in the form of flats (each flat consisting of 4 rooms), along with other facilities. (Source - IIM Rohtak Instagram Account, Quora)

Campus Life:

IIM Shillong: IIM Shillong has various opportunities for students to participate in cultural activities and be a part of various student clubs and committees, such as ConQuest (Consulting Club), i-Cube (Entrepreneurship Cell), Amateur Golf Club, Markathon (Marketing Club), Op-Era (Operations Club) etc., along with a vast number of student committees. KhlurThma is IIM Shillong's Management Fest, with students participating in various events such as a Consulting Competition (Corona), Case Study competitions (entHRal), Parliamentary Debate (Coup-De-Grace) etc. However, the most famous and eagerly-awaited event at IIM Shillong is the Annual Golf Cup and is the flagship event of IIM-S. Reputed golfers and corporates participate in the event, so what may seem like a sporting event is also a huge networking opportunity.

IIM Rohtak:

Much like its older counterpart, IIM Rohtak provides students with an opportunity to participate in various fests and be a part of exciting student committees and clubs, such as FI Club (Finance and Investment), exploR Club (Visual Arts), Marque (Marketing), Strategy and Consulting Club etc. Infusion is IIM Rohtak's management, cultural and sports festival. It is a 2-day event and consists of many competitions such as Operazione by the Operations Club, Prodyogiki by the Analytics Club, Marketing Ace, Dance competitions etc.

Location:

IIM Shillong: In terms of scenic beauty, IIM Shillong beats the majority of B-Schools; there is no institute more homely and beautiful than the IIM Shillong. Even the view from classrooms is mesmerizing. At the time of writing this article, when NCR is blazing with an average temperature of 44C, Shillong enjoys a cool and soothing 22C with a splash of rain. For its climate and scenic beauty, Shillong has earned itself the appropriate nickname,  'The Scotland of the East'.  However, the location has ramifications that are often dismissed by students of IIM-S. With the closest airport and railway station in Guwahati that is 120 kilometres away from Shillong, recruiters are clearly not willing to travel from one state to another, as the numbers suggest in the Placements and Fees section. The silver lining here is the use of e-recruitment, where recruiters can conduct interviews via video conference calls and can give presentations via video. IIM Rohtak: The city of Rohtak is a part of the National Capital Region and is located in Haryana. It is 70 kilometres (2 hours) away from Delhi, and 250 kilometres from Chandigarh. Therefore, in terms of ease of recruitment and proximity to major corporations, IIM Rohtak has a clear advantage. Although Rohtak has no airport, the closest one is the IGI Airport (66 kilometres). The city is well-connected via its Railway station and various bus services to-and-fro from the national capital. It is clear that while these two IIMs are quite young, they are swiftly growing to become even more respected and elite in their stature. With both institutes shifting to new permanent campuses, it is likely that this growth will become exponential in the years to come. Amongst tier-2 institutes, this report makes it lucid that IIM Shillong and IIM Rohtak are front-runners and it would be sensible to join either of the two and get that IIM tag, especially if you are a fresher.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Take a look at more B-School comparisons:

1. IIM Ahmedabad vs FMS vs IIM Bangalore vs IIM Calcutta
2. SIBM Pune vs NMIMS Mumbai
3. MDI Gurgaon vs JBIMS Mumbai
4. SJMSOM vs NITIE Mumbai
5. IIT Chennai vs IIT Roorkee
6. FORE vs KJ Somaiya
7. IMT Ghaziabad vs XIMB vs SCMHRD
8. IMI Delhi vs Great Lakes Chennai

If you have any B-School comparison suggestions or have any suggestions for this report, let me know in the comments below! This article was last edited on June 4th, 2018 (14:30 PM)