Like every other engineering graduate, I had no idea where I wanted to go and what I wanted from my life. Being a mechanical engineering graduate from an average private institute, I was lucky enough to find a job without even sitting for a rigorous placement drive. I was offered a job in a start-up and to my luck, it was the kind of work that I loved to do. One year and half of scrupulous work made me realize that I wasn’t growing as expected: personally or professionally and my dream of launching a start-up was lost somewhere. This is when I decided to buckle up and get into a good business school. My idea of going into a b-school was fuelled by the desire of getting to know people from diverse backgrounds and learn in a competitive environment. So that, one day I could launch a start-up, catering to social causes.
I still remember that long night when I emailed my boss about my plan of quitting and preparing for CAT-17. To my surprise, he was supportive enough to respect my decision and to this date, he is one of my support systems. I started preparing for CAT, which is a little stepping stone in the path of an amazing and challenging life in a good B-school.
I started preparing for the exam, three months of preparations and mock tests for the mayday. 26th of November was the day for which I have been preparing this hard, things went haywire when a generator caught fire at the examination centre and filled the whole exam room with smoke. I was certain that this might be the end of the road and I will have to appear for CAT one more time.
Then came judgement day and I scored decent marks but wasn’t sure about getting shortlisted by any of the IIMs. I always had new IIMs in my mind, as my profile was not strong enough to get into the older ones and getting into new IIMs will also provide me the opportunity to experience a premier institute growing. To my luck, I was shortlisted for all the new IIMs and a common admission process was the last barrier between me and the IIMs. I tried really hard to prepare for the interviews, but couldn’t. Contrary to the reviews that I got, my interview went really well and it was my first interview experience.
Selecting a b-school from the choices that I had was the real task at hand. From continuous googling to never-ending dinner time discussion session, it was a whole new experience. Choosing between IIM – Raipur, Kashipur, Ranchi, and all the other new IIMs was not an easy task. Like every other aspirant, I had to choose between name, faculty, opportunities, campus life, location and what not. Comparing these colleges by rankings was no good as all of them are on par. In the following paragraphs, I have explained in detail why I chose IIM Raipur over other new IIMs:
Campus:
It might sound weird that I chose IIM Raipur because of its campus, but I have a strong reason to support that argument. As IIM Raipur is functioning in GEC Campus, Sejbahar, the infrastructure is limited to one building. But, as we all know, how rigorous an MBA program can be, from staying awake up till 5 in the morning and then again going back to classes at 9:30. The proximity of hostels to classes in one building campus turned out to be a USP for me, as I could easily wake up at 9 and still attend the classes without any hassle. Also, placement of hostels makes it easy for us to interact with the rest of the batch and seniors, after the classes. By the time we shift to the new campus, I would have been already accustomed to the fast-paced life of an MBA student.
Faculty:
This was one of the strongest reasons why I chose this institution. In my opinion, IIM Raipur has one of the best faculties that I could ever have the opportunity to learn from. Highly distinguished and supportive faculty makes my life easy at the campus.
Seniors:
Before joining the institute, I interacted with a lot of seniors and I found them pretty amazing. From responding to my lamest questions round the clock and helped me to strengthen my decision of joining this distinguished institute. Even after joining the college, their guidance and support are unparallel and I hope I could do the same for the next batch.
Climate:
Coming from Delhi, Raipur feels like heaven with an average temperature of 30 degree Celsius as compared to over 40 degree Celsius in Delhi. Moderate climatic conditions were also one of the reasons, why I chose Raipur.
Apart from the aforementioned reasons, the institute offers great placement opportunities which is one of the biggest takeaways from an MBA program. Overall, I believe I have made the right choice of investing two years of my life in this distinguished institute. Not only I will be able to hone my skills to become an able manager, but also I have secured my future.
Which ABG company would you like to work for and why?
I would love to work for the Aditya Birla Group, and I am tremendously interested in Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited. The fashion and retail industry has always captivated me, and I have had an immense curiosity in getting to see it up close, and being a part of it.
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited attract me because it is a paragon of successful operations, which would teach me the lesson of efficiency and make me a more able manager.
The sheer quality of brands that Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited holds under its umbrella are just an icing on the cake.
Shivankar Adsul is a first year student at IIM Raipur