Can the placement figures only give credibility to an institution? I have been grappling with the idea since I joined MICA a few months back. I come from, what I believe, one of the best engineering institutes of our country. From all the years I spent there, I hardly found people struggling for placements. And the top ones always got the best, the industry could offer. But when I look back now, I can hardly identify a professor who has had a lasting influence on me or a course that I can name that changed my way of thinking. And I look now, in MICA, where each class of a few professors has so profound influence on all of us that we can not but be amazed.
Falguni ma'am, our professor for Advertising has changed the manner we converse in our daily lives. When your instructor doesn't have to teach you theory and can give you examples in a flow faster than you can even process, you know you are in good hands. (Not to elucidate her social influence but she has more Twitter followers than the Chief Minister of Gujrat). Harish sir, our professor for Brand Management teaches you with such passion that you finally understand in your veins how hard and vivacious a process it is to build a Brand from a mere commodity and no further do you need a Kotler, because you don't need to study what you now believe in. Panda Sir, our professor for economics, has left no class without making a prediction which hasn't come true in the business world. An amalgamation of comedy and fury, he has a cult following which you can only understand once you have attended even one of his classes.
I could go on and on about these people who make MICA, the Mecca of Marketing. The intention is still not that. One should always look at the final output and evaluate how one turned out to be. Because that is what matters in the end, right ? In words of Ashutosh sir, "If you didn't transform, what use the grueling journey called Management Education". To answer this, I let the results of a few of the largest competitions in India respond to you. And I mention again, the following are only the 2016-17 achievements - Winners : Mahindra WarRoom, Colgate Transcend, Titan Elevate, RB Mavericks, FCB ULKA Comstrat, Marico Faceoff, WAT Consult, Tolaram Leadership Programme, National Finalists - Reliance The Ultimate Pitch, Wild Card Winners - HUL Lime, Winners - SNU Gulf Oil Case Study, IIM-A Limelight, SP Jain Brando, SIBM Pune Market Shastra, SIBM Pune LMS, XLRI Legalize (We won all top 3 awards here :D), XLRI Circus Maximus and many others at IIM-L and IIM-C which I can't even remember. I am not boasting here, but perhaps you can realize that when we breathe marketing in and out, what difference can it make.
Let's now end this long post in words that our dear Panda sir has made us so strongly believe in - "Money matters. But money alone does not matter. Other things do matter."
Disclaimers:
First, I never mentioned MICA does not have good enough placements. We have Google, Amazon, Star... etc etc as regulars. You may find the long list on the website. Second, I intentionally did not mention about the crazy and extravagant culture at MICA as there are already a few posts covering that. Third and the most important, I am neither a part of the T.I. nor have been influenced by any of its members. These are my own personal views and anyone, including MICAns are free to disagree on any aspect. Thanking you for reading ;)
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