S P Jain Institute of Management and Research abbreviated as SPJIMR (
which is unrelated to 'S P Jain Global') is a unique institution and a well-known brand within the Indian b-schools. Its uniqueness comes from the fact that it pays a lot of attention to the profile of incoming students as compared to the scores in examinations. Additionally, it accepts CAT and XAT scores and not just one score. It allows you to choose your specialization (
Finance, Operations, Marketing, Information Management) before taking admission. It allows flexibility for you to do your minors in areas other than your specialization. The interview is not one-on-one Personal Interview instead a Group interview which is a totally different experience as you face the interview along with 5/6 other aspirants such as you though way different than you.
Since the results were announced for PGDM on 1st March 2018, I tried reaching out to the alumni and students of SPJIMR to collect data points in order to make a decision for accepting the PGDM in Finance offer. Though I am still in confusion for reasons better know to me.
PGDM or MBA is a decision that one takes with proper thinking and analysis.
1. Mostly because the MBA is a costly degree and comes with a decent debt on a majority of students and;
2. It is the second degree and perhaps the last academic degree for most of the people (
as rarely people go for FPM/PhD or other advanced degrees after their business degrees).
The fun in this entire process of MBA interviews and selections is that you self-introspect and get to know yourself better both in terms of your purpose and aspirations. SPJIMR admission process is based on holistic evaluation and not very one-exam score dependent which actually augments this self-reflection exercise (
A 90+%ile can fetch you admission at this place provided you have the profile).
My experience of interacting with SPJIMR alumni and students has been amazing. The student coordinators during the interview at SPJIMR on 23rd Feb 2018 were so supportive, cooperative, welcoming and affable. The entire process was so seamless because of their ownership and execution. They even cared for arranging food, cookies, tea, water, etc. for all of us. Their attitude during the entire process speaks a lot about the values that the institute has instilled in the students. Not even a tinge of arrogance I was surprised at this it is easy to find bragging alumni of IIMs/IITs (
though not many are like that). Even when I reached out to the alumni after receiving the finance offer to seek answers to some of my queries and doubts, they demonstrated so much patience & empathy. '
Courage' & '
Heart' are the two things that they write on their wall but this is what they actually care to adopt in their lifestyles as well. I'm in love with these people. The professors were so chilled out as well. Though they may grill you (
or at least those who join) incoming first year to train you to become better managers and at least they will impart a more humane experience. Dean Ranjan Bannerjee said in one of his videos,
SPJIMR is an experience. It surely is and probably a wonderful one. The clarity and vision of the Dean are amazing.
They are striving to create a world-class university in their own way, one that has '
local relevance' and '
global impact'. I graduated from another such aspirational and burgeoning place, a young IIT on the banks of River Sabarmati at Gandhinagar in Gujarat and it aspires to become a world-class university as well and for that reason, I could immediately resonate with their vision. I'm pretty sure SPJIMR would be a world-class place. Why did I choose to write this? For one reason. I may choose to accept the offer or perhaps decline it for another brand which I might perceive better and more aligned with my career goals. But, I am very sure that SPJIMR would have a pretty unique and amazing campus life as juxtaposed with other b-school campuses in India. They have built a culture and value system that is bound to create leaders who have superior managerial skills, impeccable business acumen, empathy, technical and analytical competency. There is no doubt that they are going to be an even more valuable brand name in the future because of this culture and value system, and their systems and innovative pedagogy. I want to appreciate and thank all Adcom members, student coordinators, alumni, faculty who have been so approachable and supportive till now. Best of luck to all those who consider joining and accepting the offer.