What Is The Difference Between PGP And PGP-ABM At IIM Lucknow?

Here’s how:

A) Campus Life: You will be in the same campus (Lucknow campus, unlike the PGP-SM students who live in Noida campus), same hostels, eat in the same mess and study in the same classrooms.

B) Placements: Unlike the FABM program at IIM-A, PGP-ABM has a combined placement process with the PGP students. There’s no difference at all. The companies don’t restrict application or selection. The past three placement processes that I have seen have had a sanguine placement for the ABM batch. It was a fair mix of companies from all domains.

C) Courses: In the first year, all PGP & PGP-ABM students have the same courses and are taught by the same professors in the same classroom. There’s no difference whatsoever, apart from the fact that ABM students have three additional courses(one course in each trimester) with respect to the PGP students in the first year.

In the second year, every student has an option of selecting electives. The ABM students have electives ranging from marketing, strategy, and operations to finance and economics, however, all second-year ABM courses will have a rural/agricultural aspect to it (as in the cases discussed in the class will typically be ABM aligned, but the theory and textbooks will remain the same). You can also choose a PGP elective of your choice in the second year. Besides, you also have the option of sitting through any number of PGP courses that you want to.

D) Clubs & Committees: Much like the campus life in general, there’s no differentiation that the ABM students suffer. It’s a level playing field for everyone, ABM or PGP irrespective. The selection criterion doesn’t account for your specialization. Every student body, from clubs & committees to the student senate has a fair representation of the ABM students as well.

E) Student Exchange: When it comes to the Student Exchange Program with International B-Schools, both PGP & ABM students have similar rules. Close to ~5% of the batch gets selected for the exchange program every year from both PGP and PGP-ABM students.

F) Future Prospects: While a B-School is a launch pad into the professional world, your progression thereon depends on how you perform in the corporate world. Whether you are a PGP student or an ABM student, your future career trajectory will purely depend upon your performance in the company that you join.

So, to say the least, I would quote a senior who had summarised his experience at ABM as, “A backdoor entry to IIM Lucknow”, and having spent close to two years in the campus, I believe that the best way to describe it because the boundary of ABM & PGP blurs right after you join Hel(L).

See you on the other side!
Good Luck.