Why I Chose TISS Mumbai Over IIM Kozhikode And IIFT Delhi - Vivek Ranjan's Journey To TISS Mumbai

From Kolkata, I directly went to Mumbai as my IIT Bombay interview was just after 2 days. At IIT Bombay, the process was first an essay and then interview. I wrote the essay as nicely as I could. Then I went for the interview. I was the first candidate in that panel to be interviewed. In IIT Bombay, in each panel, there is a professor from one of the engineering department as most of the people who come to IIT Bombay for MBA are engineers (That’s true for every other b-school also!). This interview was a grilling one. They asked me all sorts of question that I expected. Whatever I learned in my engineering was completely drained out from me. Then some HR questions also like Why MBA? Why IIT Bombay to which I gave standard answers that every aspirant prepares. When I came out, I was quite sure of not getting selected here. After around 10 days I had TISS interview. So, I went back to home and came after one week again to Mumbai. Here, Essay and GD went decently and the interview was quite different. They asked me why I want to pursue HR and not some other fields like Finance, Marketing, Operations, etc to which I replied some standard answers. Then, they started asking me about the current political scenarios and my political views (I will not share my answers here for sure!). The interview went well I think. After this, I had a call from IIM Ranchi (PGDHRM) which takes a separate interview and is not under common admission process of new IIMs. But that was in April. So, I had to wait now for all the results. My wait came to an end when the first result which was IIFT got declared on last day of March. I made it to IIFT Delhi. I was very happy and went home after some time to celebrate with my parents (who were very happy as I got through their favourite college). Also, I had to prepare documents and make payment of 1^st instalment for IIFT. The day I made the Demand Draft, IIM Kozhikode results were declared. I did not expect anything good but of course like any aspirant I wanted to see the results. I logged on and what I saw was a shocker for me. I got IIM Kozhikode as well. My parents were happy but they were happier for IIFT than for IIM K. Then, I had to go to Kolkata for IIM Ranchi (PGDHRM) interview but just 3 days before my interview my father fell sick and I thought that I have already got 2 better converts, so even if I don’t go, it hardly matters. So, I did not go. Then after 2-3 weeks results of IIT Bombay came and after that TISS came. In TISS, I was at WL-2. So, I asked some people over facebook if I would get through to which people replied in positive. And finally, results of New IIMs came one by one. I was on the final list of all of them. Today, when I look back, I remember that when I started preparation, I thought that even if I get a decent college, I would be happy. But, by God’s grace, I ended up converting some top-notch institutions.

Then came the decision phase. My mom did not want me to go to IIM Kozhikode as it was very far away and she wanted me to be at IIFT Delhi. My father wanted me to choose either IIM K or IIFT Delhi. For IIT Bombay and TISS, neither of them was very happy. So, instead of asking other people, I thought of analysing the differences among these institutes. I knew about all of them, but to make a decision, I had to do it in a really serious way. When I listed the benefits and costs and other opportunities, I found TISS to be cheapest (around 1.5 Lakhs academic fees for 2 years), IIT Bombay to be a little modest (around 8 Lakhs) and IIM K and IIFT Delhi to be expensive (16-18 Lakhs). Then, of course, I looked for returns, which was almost the same across these institutes. Then, another dimension was the number of students which definitely affects placements. TISS was again the best in this parameter because it has an intake of 60 only. Another important USP which attracted me to TISS was the concept of fieldwork which gives an opportunity for 4 internships in 4 semesters in 4 different organizations in 4 different sectors and one 1 NGO internship and of course one summer internship. The last parameter was my development as a person which again favoured TISS as it is not a typical b-school and there are various other courses so peer learning would definitely be on higher side. Some people on FB and in Paagalguy told me to join HR only if you are interested and clear about it and HR has lower growth opportunities in future and many other things. But, I was convinced that this is the place where I want to go. HR in the main offering but there are various other things that TISS is offering me and as far as future is concerned, no one has seen it and "life is what happens when you are busy planning other things".

So, I made my decision final. I told my parents about it but they told me to think again but I told them that I am very sure. Even, the day when I was going for document verification at TISS, before entering the room, my mom asked me if I was sure of my decision and I can still join IIFT as its joining date was one month later. But, I assured my mom that I am very sure.

Now, today when I look back, a smile comes to my face which essentially says that I made the right decision because decisions are not right or wrong it’s the person making that decision should feel what is the right decision for him or her.