Calling all IIM Calcutta PGPEX Applicants:(2017 Intake) Class of 2018

Hi All,

Thanks for taking this initiative with your busy schedule .

What's the role of Academics as I do not belong to Super Elite group(in terms of Marks) in 10th, 12th and B Tech. Instead I fall to the group of Mango people, I have 76.8 % in 10th ,64.2% in 12th and 74.8% percent in B.Tech.

I am currently working with TCS with overall experience of 101 Months ,around 3 Years of Onsite Experience(Finland,UK and USA) for different Clients. Will this add weight to my Average looking Profile?

I have not yet appeared for GMAT but I am thinking to go for a Career shift from this monotonous IT Job.

Also I see on many Forums that the Average Score needed for IIMS is more than 720 or so, Do i need to score heavily(750+) to compensate for my average Academics.

Do I still have a chance or in IIM C, please suggest and help accordingly.

Regards
Amit

Hi, Please evaluate my profile.

I am 33 yrs Old. I am yet to give my GMAT. After 3 mocks I have reached 600. I am targeting 730- 740 and I have plans by end of June to get this on the real GMAT.

Acdemics: So So
MBA (2011)- Marketing- ICFAI- 7.26 CGPA
BE (Mech) (2007) - 55%
12th CHSE State Board (2001)- 56%
10th ICSE (1999) -63%

I am a working Management Consultant with 8yrs of experience with average academics.
Extra Curricular - 12th- Sports - Played Table Tennis- Won District Level Championship,
Engg. - (Mech) -Played Football for College Team participated in University championship,
NGO-Along with my parents started an NGO for aged people
MBA- 2009-2011 ADOBE 2010 Summit- Represented Esberi Technologies as a Marketing Executive. Branding activities at the booth to attract customers

Yes this would be my 2nd MBA. I did my first one from ICFAI Business School Kolkata. I did a Marketing Specialisation. I was working in steel plant (1yr) with 18hrs a day work schedule. Somehow after 7 months I realised I can't be doing core Engg. work. Not my cup of tea. So decided to go for an MBA, tried getting through CAT but failed miserably to balance my studies with work. Quit my steel plant job joined start-up in Bangalore as a marketing executive for a print media magazine ( 1yr). Gave my CAT got a humiliating score but got through IBSAT and got a seat at Kolkata. I was lucky to have a phenomenal Mentor cum Teacher (Currently he looking after IIM Ranchi Executive Batches), due to whom, even after having lost 2years during ENgg (Due to financial troubles with my father's business. He went Bankrupt) I was able to get into Management Consultancy.

Currently working as a Senior Consultant- Corporate Advisory- Management Consultancy Practices, Mott MacDonald India. I have worked across 12 different sectors (Including Renewables- Solar). Executed over 40 plus consulting projects for SMES, Maharatnas like GAIL etc, International Clients like Meyer Burger, UB Ostan etc in the following specialities- Technical Due diligence| Viability & Feasibility Study| Market Strategy | Strategic Market Assessment and Entry strategies | Competition Analysis| Data Analysis | Market/Business Plan | Go-To-Market Strategy| Market Research | Market Sizing & Demand Estimation | Market Forecast | Market Estimation |.

My key responsibilities- Project Management | Report writing and communication with client | Proposal preparation | Presentations | Client Management | Technical & Market Analyst | Training and Mentoring

Now, coming to WHY 2nd MBA
We prepare reports which are a requirement for Banker's to fund various projects. Implementation part we don't do hence we have no control on the outcome. Just Excel models and in-depth analysis but whether it will work- WE PUT IN CAVEATS if it doesn't(This is something which is frustrating at times. Have to be blunt here). Having been associated with Management Consulting for last 6 years and having been through various facets off consulting assignments- this has always been limited to Market and sometimes Technical aspects like Right sizing, Capacity planning; I have come to realise I need to upgrade my skills in-order to break into STRATEGY CONSULTUING where they actually see the OUTCOME of their work. This struck me when I wanted to change my Job and applied to the likes of BIG FOUR and gave interviews. Though I was considered but it was more to do with Internal teams and not the client facing ones. I thought to myself and asked what was the issue. I realised I didn't have two Things
1) Finance Knowledge. It easy to say I can learn on the job, which I am doing but it is in limited capacity. With project Life cycle of 3 to 4 weeks and timeline crunches it is rare that I get opportunity do a through and through financial assessment. Even If I do learn I will take few years and that's not adding any value to my career progression
2) During the course of my interviews, I interacted with many people and then I realised that my Current CTC was very low in comparison to my peers in similar role - as low as 56% lower. So if I were to get hired in the CONSULTING DOMAIN I needed to justify my demand for this 56% hike and that is possible if I can give a holistic view points on businesses but that's not possible without understanding the financial nitty-gritties. Honestly, I didn't expect anyone to give me this.

Now, question- Why not Executive - (Those Monthly or weekly certification courses). Personally I feel it will not add value to me because these courses are job specific and mostly funded by Employers. So the personal perspective is out of the window. What if some one like me wants to do Strategy Consulting and my Company does only a part of it and not the whole. If I were to look for jobs based on certification and no real experience then it defeats the purpose of the certification.

That's why in my opinion a fulltime 1year MBA is a good option I believe.

These points drove me to seriously consider a 2nd MBA and that to it had to be a 1year MBA from a prestigious B school and specifically in the domain of Finance (Major) plus Marketing (Minor). Here I am only considering ISB and IIMs .

I am open to criticism
Regards,
Ritesh

Hi Thanks for opening this thread. How is the placement in Consulting domain ?

Hi Amit,

Thanks for putting in your query.

For admission to PGPEX, academics need not play a big role. The basic idea is that certain weak areas of your application should be compensated by other strong areas of your application say something exceptional you have achieved in your organization/ extracurriculars . As it is, for PGPEX, major emphasis is on the work experience you have had. And yes, onsite (international) experience does serve to your advantage.

Many people have been able to transform/change their career paths after entering into PGPEX. The program allows that but it also depends on how strong your conviction is. If you are willing to , then there is nothing to stop you from achieving it.

Regarding GMAT, I can tell you that average gmat score for current batch was 690. So people with 650 or below scores also have made it. So average score of 720+ is a myth.You need to aim as high as possible as a good score increases your chances of selection, but it is certainly not a hindrance. You just need to have a balanced application in order to succeed.

You certainly do have a chance at IIMC. I would encourage you to go through the PGPEX website , share your queries with us and start forming your strategy.

Regards,
Kunal.

Hi Ritesh,
Official placement stats for batch 2015-16 are not out yet on the website. But will be shortly. But I can tell you that placement in consulting domain has in general been good last year.

Hi Ritesh,

What I mostly feel the difficult part for 2nd MBA's is to convince others why they need another MBA, what value will it add. And you have already demonstrated that you are aware of that part. With MBA you want to transition your career to strategy consulting. And that is very much possible. We have a lot of precedents where people were able to change to Strategy Consulting through sheer hard work and dedication while in the 1-year program.

Regarding your profile, it looks good. I would certainly encourage you to apply to IIMC as it is one of the best known for Finance. I agree with your point regarding monthly or weekly certifications being worthless. It is good to start a subject afresh in a b-school, gain that knowledge and apply that knowledge elsewhere (in other subjects/electives of your choice). When you enter b-school you will find that the subjects you learn in 1st term,2nd term .. you will be applying those concepts in later terms. Without application, knowledge is worthless and b-school gives you opportunity to apply that knowledge.

Also, regarding your career objectives, you can very well mold finance courses with marketing courses through plethora of electives that are offered here at IIMC.

Hence, I certainly encourage to apply to 1-year programs. They will certainly be an enabler to accelerate towards your career goals.

Regards,
Kunal.

Hi All,

Adding to what Kunal has mentioned in the above posts, the approach taken by IIM C while evaluating prospective candidates is a holistic one. So it does not matter if you have poor academics as long you can prove your alignment to the program. Play on your strengths, highlight them. We have had people with a previous MBA degree as well. So even that should not be a point of concern. Finally what counts is your fitness for the program. So work on that.

Additionally, do update your school profiles and the stage of the admission cycle you are in. This ensures that the real time application summary is up to date and paints a true picture of how the admission process is moving and where you stand in the applicant pool. All the best to everyone. Give it your best shot !!

Hi all,

Placement Stats for batch of 2015-16 are now available on the website. Go to the below link

https://www.iimcal.ac.in/programs/pgpex ... statistics

Cheers
Kunal

ok threadmasters, I work as an assistant vice president at a global bank in india and have 9 years + experience with an engineering degree (B.Tech) with 66%. I am planning to take up GMAT (for which have already started to prepare intensively) in the month of August to enable me apply to IIM-A PGPX for round 1 deadline - 12September. So now i will add IIM-C's PGPEX as well to my goal .

The deadline for IIM-C submission appears to be last week of october which is sufficient time. So I can apply to IIM-A's round 2 in november and IIM-C's only round within end of october just in case my GMAT is not up to the mark in August by re -taking it in September End. Cheers. Hope to get more support from you people.

Hey all,

Here's the first group photo of our batch of 68!!

Hey friends! Please be informed that the admission process has started for PGPEX 2017-18 batch. You can check the website or start your application through the portal https://iimcal.ac.in/pgpex-application-form-instructions

Kindly let us know if you face any issue during submission process or have any specific queries regarding admissions.

Hi,

I am planning to apply to IIM-C PGPEX this year.

The deadline for the application is 25th of October.
I am yet to give the GMAT exam - so what would be the last date on when i can possibly sit for GMAT.

Hey arindam!
You can take the GMAT on 25th Oct and apply with the unofficial GMAT score also. Just remember to send the recommendation links to your referees before 25th Oct.

Hi,

I will have nearly 16 years of IT experience in a top MNC which would also include 5+ years of international experience by Apr 2018 when the next batch of PGPEX starts. Based on current batch profiles, can someone tell if this will be more than the usual experience for PGPEX and is there any cap on maximum experience in IIM-C ? Also, with the above experience profile, what sort of a GMAT score would I need ?..Thanks

Hi

I applied for IIMC PGPEX program 2015-16 and was offered admission. However, I did not join because I wasn't relived from my current job. I conveyed the same to the admission committee at that time. I am applying again for 2017-18. There has been no significant change in my profile since my last application except that I have grown two years older. I have prepared a SOP which is more or less the same as my last SOP and it is so because nothing much has changed regarding my goals, reasons and profile. However, I am afraid if that would leave an impression that I haven't made enough efforts to write the SOP and have just copied from last application.

Please guide.

Regards

I am unable to give gmat before September for work related reason. Planning to give it on 8th October.
In the application form of this course, following line is mentioned

GMAT - Graduate Management Admissions Test (taken within last 36 months)
GMAT programme code for PGPEX is 9CP-HT-99. This score must be sent to IIM Calcutta through Pearson VUE within the application deadline.

Does this mean:

1. I have to select the course for reporting the score on GMAT day and if i do not select, then the score i write in application form become invalid
2. The official report card is sent 20 days after the test. So, technically my scorecard will not be sent before the deadline

Now I was under the impression that one can apply with unofficial GMAT score..
Someone please clarify.

Hello

This is Alok
Indian
My life can be divided into 2 parts pre 2010 & post 2010

post 2010
GMAT 750(Q51 V39)
Total 6.5 years exp --> 4.5 years at job + 2 years entrepreneurship (Coaching Institute)
Currently working as Senior Design Engineer (Domain expert in metro trains & High speed trains) (R&D of automobile & transportation products)

Pre 2010
But my past is not that great
10th - 84%
12th - 49%
BTECH - 6.3 CGPA in Mechanical

Apart from this I have worked for relief flood victim in 2005, 2014 & 2015 ( we are a group of friends & some locals)
I have won awards in singing, Cricket, Badminton
I work for 2 NGOs (one for blind child & another for children education)
I have won at least 12 awards during my job
I have some designs which are now implemented metro trains in India
Also some patents I have as a team
Have experience in B2B sales with success rate of 100% (1/1)

How should I rate my chance of getting admission to any of these courses
IIM Ahmedabad PGPX Applicants:(2017 Intake) Class of 2018!
IIM Bangalore EPGP 9 Aspirants (Class of 2017 - 18)
IIM Calcutta PGPEX Applicants:(2017 Intake) Class of 2018

Regards
Alok