India's Most Desirable Business Schools - InsideIIM User Rankings

So, after 5 years of swatting away requests for a ranking from our users, we have finally given in. We did a simple thing. We asked our users - only those registered as CAT/MBA Aspirants on the platform to tell us how desirable each of the 48 of India's top business schools is on a scale of 1 to 100. (The only other piece on Business Schools Rankings was done by us 5 and half years ago here. Interesting how things have changed since then.) So, what is this list? It is the degree of desirability InsideIIM's users attach to each business school. This is purely based on how badly they want to join each school in relation to others. This ranking is NOT a comment on placements, academics, research or the quality of professors at a business school. Clearly, this ranking ONLY reflects the brand each of the schools in this list of 48 has created for themselves in the mind of an Aspirant who will join b-schools in 2018. The ranking below will tell you how India's brightest students are likely to make decisions when choosing business schools to join. Please note that there are issues such as fees, location, batch size, domain specialisations, etc. which are taken into account when a student makes a decision. Hence, it is not necessary that everyone follows this ranking when finally accepting admission. Not everyone will get calls from all of the schools listed here. Even after getting interview calls, they will get final admissions only from some. The actual decision making is a lot more complex but our list will give Directors, Admissions Chairpersons, Student Media Committees plenty to think about in terms of how their brand is perceived. MBA Aspirants will also know where other top students are likely to join. Please note Current Students at Business Schools and or Alumni have had no say in this list directly. They may have influenced Aspirants but the votes were given only by MBA Aspirants. In order to prevent media committees and admissions teams to game this survey, we conducted the survey in stealth mode. Here's the list! *Baby IIMs include - IIM Nagpur, IIM Jammu, IIM Sirmaur, IIM Sambalpur, IIM Amritsar, IIM Visakhapatnam, and IIM Bodh Gaya Here's a consolidated list of the aforementioned schools with their fees, gender diversity data, and their batch size.

Ranks	B-School Name	Mean Score	Type	Zone	Fees	Gender Diversity(% of women)	Batch Size
1	IIM Ahmedabad	93.33	Government	West	₹1,878,000	30.39%	441
2	IIM Calcutta	90.54	Government	East	₹1,900,000	31.30%	460
3	IIM Bangalore	89.74	Government	South	₹1,870,000	28.15%	405
4	FMS Delhi	87.15	Government	North	₹20,960	18.89%	217
5	XLRI Jamshedpur	85.98	Private/Trust	East	₹2,000,000	27.47%	364
6	IIM Lucknow	83.44	Government	North	₹1,406,000	30.09%	462
7	ISB Hyderabad	78.3	Private/Trust	South	₹3,027,475	31%	905
8	IIM Kozhikode	77.87	Government	South	₹1,600,000	28.88%	374
9	IIM Indore	75.42	Government	West	₹1,300,000	39.45%	545
10	IIFT Delhi	74.9	Government	North	₹1,570,000	32.34%	167
11	SPJIMR Mumbai	73.99	Private/Trust	West	₹1,460,000	41.32%	242
12	JBIMS Mumbai	73.76	Private/Trust	West	₹210,000	12.23%	139
13	MDI Gurgaon	70.24	Private/Trust	North	₹1,886,000	NA	NA
14	IIM Shillong	64.52	Government	East	₹800,000	12.36%	178
15	NITIE Mumbai	62.68	Government	West	₹626,500	NA	NA
16	SJMSoM IIT Bombay	60.52	Government	West	₹899,504	46.02%	113
17	TISS Mumbai	57.86	Private/Trust	West	₹238,600	32.84%	67
18	NMIMS Mumbai	57.81	Private/Trust	West	₹1,800,000	32.57%	697
19	IIFT Kolkata	57.17	Government	East	₹16,25,000	NA	NA
20	IIM Ranchi	56.8	Government	East	NA	35.63%	247
21	DoMS IIT Delhi	56.55	Government	North	NA	NA	NA
22	SIBM Pune	56.22	Private/Trust	West	₹1,825,000	NA	NA
23	IIM Rohtak	56.03	Government	North	₹1,050,000	9.54%	262
24	IIM Trichy	55.64	Government	South	₹13,20,000	13.41%	179
25	IIM Udaipur	55.55	Government	North	₹1,072,700	23.61%	233
26	IIM Raipur	54.15	Government	East	₹1,232,200	NA	NA
27	IIM Kashipur	51.99	Government	North	₹6,29,210	NA	NA
28	VGSoM IIT Kharagpur	51.94	Government	East	₹731,330	NA	NA
29	MICA Ahmedabad	51.83	Private/Trust	West	₹1,350,000	46.67%	180
30	DoMS IIT Madras	50.06	Government	South	₹3,00,000	NA	NA
31	SCMHRD Pune	49.02	Private/Trust	West	₹1,545,000	41.41%	227
32	XIM Bhubaneshwar	48.91	Private/Trust	East	₹1,540,000	NA	NA
33	IMT Ghaziabad	48.17	Private/Trust	North	₹1,650,000	33.33%	543
34	Baby IIMs*	47.96	Government	Multiple	₹1,000,000	NA	NA
41	K.J.Somaiya	43.92	Private/Trust	West	₹800,000	41.11%	360
42	Great Lakes Institute of Management	40.48	Private/Trust	South	₹1,046,000	NA	NA
43	IMI Delhi	39.95	Private/Trust	North	1,541,000	NA	NA
44	TAPMI Manipal	39.62	Private/Trust	South	₹1,400,000	NA	NA
45	SDA Bocconi Asia Center	35.47	Private/Trust	West	₹2,050,000	38.10%	84
46	IFMR Chennai	34.66	Private/Trust	South	₹1,200,000	NA	NA
47	Welingkar Mumbai	34.2	Private/Trust	West	₹860,000	NA	NA
48	SOIL Gurgaon	30.81	Private/Trust	North	₹1,463,817	NA	NA

The above list looks at the desirability quotient of 48 Business Schools in India. This is an Aspirant's perspective. It has always been an important question for us at InsideIIM - to decode how Aspirant's decide which schools to join. We believe a large part of the rankings above can be ascribed to the kind of stories and communication that comes out of a business school. There are also clear indicators around fees, batch size and 'perception' of placements. IIM Ahmedabad leads the pack. No other school has yet managed to create the kind of brand IIM A has. But there are more interesting questions that one can explore. K before I? SPJIMR before JBIMS? New IIMs after NMIMS Mumbai and TISS Mumbai?  And here's what we think...

1. IIM Calcutta before IIM Bangalore : This could be because of the selection criteria. IIM Bangalore insists on Work Experience. Check here. Whereas, IIM Calcutta doesn't even consider Graduation scores and percentages of an applicant. Fresher and performed poorly in graduation? IIM Calcutta (Selection Criteria) is the b-school for you. Most numbers of aspirants fall into this category. There is also a significant case for an extremely well connected IIM C alumni body that helps create a brand for the business school globally.
2. What about ISB? : A lot of ISB alumni claim that it is not fair to compare ISB with the other business schools in India because they are 1 year and that you need at least 2 years work experience. However, the fact is that most MBA aspirants and most recruiters do compare ISB with other business schools in India. This is reflected in the way students apply as well as how recruiters structure their MBA hire programmes. And hence the 900 plus batch size along with the large fee (even after accounting for the saving of 1 year) makes it a little less desirable to join ISB than it used to be in the mid-2000s.
3. FMS Delhi at 4 : FMS' desirability is higher than XLRI and IIM L, I, K. We believe this ranking is particularly because of the ROI factor! For about INR 20,000, you get an MBA Degree and high-quality placements at FMS Delhi. No wonder the Selection Criteria didn't hamper the desirability quotient of the b-school!
4.   IIM Kozhikode before IIM Indore : Two words - Batch Size. IIM Indore's batch size has made a serious dent to its desirability quotient. With IPM students included, this year the batch size was more than 540 students!
5. SPJIMR before JBIMS : Both the colleges are excellent in their own way. And SPJIMR Mumbai is marginally ranked higher by the aspirants in comparison to JBIMS Mumbai. Could this be because of the fact that SPJIMR does profile-based calls as well? Is it also because you have a better chance to get into SPJIMR Mumbai as more seats are available for open category candidates and candidates from outside Maharashtra?
6. New IIMs after TISS Mumbai and NMIMS Mumbai : Perhaps brand tag of IIM isn't everything. And MBA aspirants are wise to this. Both TISS and NMIMS have their own exams, also, the fees for NMIMS is much more than that of the New IIMs. Despite these possibly limiting factors, aspirants perceive New IIMs slightly undesirable compared to the TISS and NMIMS Mumbai. TISS, of course, has the ROI factor + small batch size factor to its advantage too. Plus, it's considered to be the second best college when it comes to HR specialisation.

Now let's look at this list in another way. Let's dissect it based on whether it is a Government owned Institute or a Privately owned Institute. Rankings - Private/Trust Owned Business Schools

B-School Name	Mean Score	Type	Zone	Fees	Gender Diversity	Batch Size
XLRI Jamshedpur	85.98	Private/Trust	East	₹2,000,000	27.47%	364
ISB Hyderabad	78.3	Private/Trust	South	₹3,027,475	NA	NA
SPJIMR Mumbai	73.99	Private/Trust	West	₹1,460,000	41.32%	242
JBIMS Mumbai	73.76	Private/Trust	West	₹210,000	12.23%	139
MDI Gurgaon	70.24	Private/Trust	North	₹1,886,000	NA	NA
TISS Mumbai	57.86	Private/Trust	West	₹238,600	32.84%	67
NMIMS Mumbai	57.81	Private/Trust	West	₹1,800,000	32.57%	697
SIBM Pune	56.22	Private/Trust	West	₹1,825,000	NA	NA
MICA Ahmedabad	51.83	Private/Trust	West	₹1,350,000	46.67%	180
SCMHRD Pune	49.02	Private/Trust	West	₹1,545,000	41.41%	227
XIM Bhubaneshwar	48.91	Private/Trust	East	₹1,540,000	NA	NA
IMT Ghaziabad	48.17	Private/Trust	North	₹1,650,000	33.33%	543
K.J.Somaiya	43.92	Private/Trust	West	₹800,000	41.11%	360
Great Lakes Institute of Management	40.48	Private/Trust	South	₹1,046,000	NA	NA
IMI Delhi	39.95	Private/Trust	North	1,541,000	NA	NA
TAPMI Manipal	39.62	Private/Trust	South	₹1,400,000	NA	NA
SDA Bocconi Asia Center	35.47	Private/Trust	West	₹2,050,000	38.10%	84
IFMR Chennai	34.66	Private/Trust	South	₹1,200,000	NA	NA
Welingkar Mumbai	34.2	Private/Trust	West	₹860,000	NA	NA
SOIL Gurgaon	30.81	Private/Trust	North	1,463,817	NA	NA

In this case, it's clearly XLRI Jamshedpur that is leading. XLRI Jamshedpur has one of the best programs for HR in the country and an equally good program for BM. But it's interesting to note that NMIMS Mumbai's Batch Size of almost 700 students does not affect it's desirability quotient in a major way! It is interesting to note that most InsideIIM Users would opt for XLRI over ISB. We have already explored the possible reasons above. Rankings - Government Business Schools

B-School Name	Mean Score	Type	Zone	Fees	Gender Diversity	Batch Size
IIM Ahmedabad	93.33	Government	West	₹1,878,000	30.39%	441
IIM Calcutta	90.54	Government	East	₹1,900,000	31.30%	460
IIM Bangalore	89.74	Government	South	₹1,870,000	28.15%	405
FMS Delhi	87.15	Government	North	₹20,960	18.89%	217
IIM Lucknow	83.44	Government	North	₹1,406,000	30.09%	462
IIM Kozhikode	77.87	Government	South	₹1,600,000	28.88%	374
IIM Indore	75.42	Government	West	₹1,300,000	39.45%	545
IIFT Delhi	74.9	Government	North	₹1,570,000	32.34%	167
IIM Shillong	64.52	Government	East	₹800,000	12.36%	178
NITIE Mumbai	62.68	Government	West	₹626,500	NA	NA
SJMSoM IIT Bombay	60.52	Government	West	₹899,504	46.02%	113
IIFT Kolkata	57.17	Government	East	₹16,25,000	NA	NA
IIM Ranchi	56.8	Government	East	NA	35.63%	247
DoMS IIT Delhi	56.55	Government	North	NA	NA	NA
IIM Rohtak	56.03	Government	North	₹1,050,000	9.54%	262
IIM Trichy	55.64	Government	South	₹13,20,000	13.41%	179
IIM Udaipur	55.55	Government	North	₹1,072,700	23.61%	233
IIM Raipur	54.15	Government	East	₹1,232,200	NA	NA
IIM Kashipur	51.99	Government	North	₹6,29,210	NA	NA
VGSoM IIT Kharagpur	51.94	Government	East	₹731,330	NA	NA
DoMS IIT Madras	50.06	Government	South	~3,00,000	NA	NA
Baby IIMs*	47.96	Government	Multiple	₹1,000,000	NA	NA

The fact that certain IITs offering MBA programs are ranked higher than newer IIMs is quite interesting. NITIE Mumbai has a better desirability quotient than all New and Baby IIMs. Clearly, Baby IIMs at the bottom of the pile tells you that they haven't made a very good first impression and the stories trickling in from across the New IIM campuses don't sound very promising. We now look at the list Geographical Zone wise.   Rankings - East India

B-School Name	Mean Score	Type	Zone	Fees	Gender Diversity	Batch Size
IIM Calcutta	90.54	Government	East	₹1,900,000	31.30%	460
XLRI Jamshedpur	85.98	Private/Trust	East	₹2,000,000	27.47%	364
IIM Shillong	64.52	Government	East	₹800,000	12.36%	178
IIFT Kolkata	57.17	Government	East	₹16,25,000	NA	NA
IIM Ranchi	56.8	Government	East	NA	35.63%	247
IIM Raipur	54.15	Government	East	₹1,232,200	NA	NA
VGSoM IIT Kharagpur	51.94	Government	East	₹731,330	NA	NA
XIM Bhubaneshwar	48.91	Private/Trust	East	₹1,540,000	NA	NA

  Rankings - North India

FMS Delhi	87.15	Government	North	₹20,960	18.89%	217
IIM Lucknow	83.44	Government	North	₹1,406,000	30.09%	462
IIFT Delhi	74.9	Government	North	₹1,570,000	32.34%	167
MDI Gurgaon	70.24	Private/Trust	North	₹1,886,000	NA	NA
DoMS IIT Delhi	56.55	Government	North	NA	NA	NA
IIM Rohtak	56.03	Government	North	₹1,050,000	9.54%	262
IIM Udaipur	55.55	Government	North	₹1,072,700	23.61%	233
IIM Kashipur	51.99	Government	North	₹6,29,210	NA	NA
IMT Ghaziabad	48.17	Private/Trust	North	₹1,650,000	33.33%	543
IMI Delhi	39.95	Private/Trust	North	1,541,000	NA	NA
SOIL Gurgaon	30.81	Private/Trust	North	1,463,817	NA	NA

Rankings - South India

IIM Bangalore	89.74	Government	South	₹1,870,000	28.15%	405
ISB Hyderabad	78.3	Private/Trust	South	₹3,027,475	NA	NA
IIM Kozhikode	77.87	Government	South	₹1,600,000	28.88%	374
IIM Trichy	55.64	Government	South	₹13,20,000	13.41%	179
DoMS IIT Madras	50.06	Government	South	~3,00,000	NA	NA
Great Lakes Institute of Management	40.48	Private/Trust	South	₹1,046,000	NA	NA
TAPMI Manipal	39.62	Private/Trust	South	₹1,400,000	NA	NA
IFMR Chennai	34.66	Private/Trust	South	₹1,200,000	NA	NA

Rankings - West India

IIM Ahmedabad	93.33	Government	West	₹1,878,000	30.39%	441
IIM Indore	75.42	Government	West	₹1,300,000	39.45%	545
SPJIMR Mumbai	73.99	Private/Trust	West	₹1,460,000	41.32%	242
JBIMS Mumbai	73.76	Private/Trust	West	₹210,000	12.23%	139
NITIE Mumbai	62.68	Government	West	₹626,500	NA	NA
SJMSoM IIT Bombay	60.52	Government	West	₹899,504	46.02%	113
TISS Mumbai	57.86	Private/Trust	West	₹238,600	32.84%	67
NMIMS Mumbai	57.81	Private/Trust	West	₹1,800,000	32.57%	697
SIBM Pune	56.22	Private/Trust	West	₹1,825,000	NA	NA
MICA Ahmedabad	51.83	Private/Trust	West	₹1,350,000	46.67%	180
SCMHRD Pune	49.02	Private/Trust	West	₹1,545,000	41.41%	227
K.J.Somaiya	43.92	Private/Trust	West	₹800,000	41.11%	360
SDA Bocconi Asia Center	35.47	Private/Trust	West	₹2,050,000	38.10%	84
Welingkar Mumbai	34.2	Private/Trust	West	₹8,60,000	NA	NA

  Please Note: This desirability quotient is based on the perception of InsideIIM users and what they think of these b-schools.   P.S: XLRI Jamshedpur, IFMR Chennai, SDA Bocconi Asia Center, MICA Ahmedabad, SPJIMR Mumbai are Business School Partners At InsideIIM.