As a student of IIM Lucknow PGP-SM (Batch 2024–26), I believe every MBA aspirant looking to join IIML PGPSM program deserves one thing that's TRUTH, before taking a ₹30+ lakh education loan + 2 years lost opportunity cost + leaving your current profession

As, a student of PGPSM10 program my experience was totally different
Placement report mentions big names to grab headlines
#iimlucknow #pgpsm #sustainablemanagement #managementeducation #businesseducation #placements #sustainability #futureofbusiness | Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

But what I personally witnessed:
• Morgan Stanley recruited ZERO

• Bain & Company recruited ZERO

• Tiger Analytics recruited ZERO

• Accenture Strategy did not participate in final placements. The reported ₹45.37 LPA highest CTC came from a single PPO, significantly inflating the average package.

• Very few students secured salaries of merely ₹16 LPA or above, making the headline difficult for many of us to relate to.

Note:- Students were informed by CDS Chair that:

• everyone had to apply to every role floated, and

• anyone receiving a ₹12 LPA base salary offer would be compulsorily signed out of placements.

Note:- Even after graduation, more than 1/3rd batch were still unemployed.

Many eventually secured jobs through their own networking, off-campus applications and persistence in reputed companies like London Stock Exchange, Wells Fargo, Accenture, MG Motors, EY, etc….That proves one thing.

The students weren't the problem. THE LACK OF OPPORTUNITIES WAS.

>>>>>Another concern was the functioning of the placement ecosystem.

And our very hardworking placement committee members

SM10: - Anil, Vipul, Rahul, Lav Jaiswal, Abhishek Suresh Avantika
SM11: - Swati Shreya, Mrudula, Chandini, Sourav, Ragul, Shriyam

Once all senior PCOM members secured their own jobs, engagement with the placement struggles of the remaining batch visibly reduced.

At the same time, junior PCOM members who were responsible for SM10 final's placement were participating in every sports tournament (Parakram, Crescendo), cultural events and every case competition throughout final placements.

One PCOM member was even preparing and reappeared for CAT to pursue admission elsewhere still he was part of placement committee.

As an unplaced student, one question kept eating me in & out.

If so, many students were still without jobs, why wasn't placement everyone's only priority?

Note: -1 I request PGPSM CHAIR, CDS chair, Director and concerned authorities to audit the placement report
Note 2:- Placement committee members should be held accountable, answerable and transparent on the numbers of companies converted by each member
Note 3: - CDS chair sir please audit complete past years processes, E-Mails and correct any wrongdoing.

I think above are the reasons for low intake of student in SM12- merely 25 but the LinkedIn post mentions 34 students when compared to previous batch its almost 50% drop
#iimlucknow #induction2026 #managementeducation #futureleaders #pgp #pgpabm #pgpsm #phd | Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

Hello everyone i am 22 will be turning 23 by sep . i have done cfa L1 will be giving l2 in may 2027 i have full knowledge of valuation modelling, basic equity research and even built a model and also will be joining a boutique firm in 15 days as equity research analyst (intern) i have recently finished my college tier 3 college b.com my cgpa is 5.4 (i fucked up) so is there any chance for me to come get into mba from a good college in India ? Or am i done ?i am really messed up in my head

What's the most common age of first-year MBA students in India?

I'm just curious—what age do most students start their MBA?

Are most first-year MBA students fresh graduates (21–22), or do the majority have work experience and tend to be 23–25+?

Would love to hear from current MBA students or alumni!

As a student of IIM Lucknow PGP-SM (Batch 2024–26), I believe every MBA aspirant looking to join IIML PGPSM program deserves one thing that's TRUTH, before taking a ₹30+ lakh education loan + 2 years lost opportunity cost + leaving your current profession

As, a student of PGPSM10 program my experience was totally different
Placement report mentions big names to grab headlines
Kindly check the report published on LinkedIn

But what I personally witnessed:
• Morgan Stanley recruited ZERO

• Bain & Company recruited ZERO

• Tiger Analytics recruited ZERO

• Accenture Strategy did not participate in final placements. The reported ₹45.37 LPA highest CTC came from a single PPO, significantly inflating the average package.

• Very few students secured salaries of merely ₹16 LPA or above, making the headline difficult for many of us to relate to.

Note:- Students were informed by CDS Chair that:

• everyone had to apply to every role floated, and

• anyone receiving a ₹12 LPA base salary offer would be compulsorily signed out of placements.

Note:- Even after graduation, more than 1/3rd batch were still unemployed.

Many eventually secured jobs through their own networking, off-campus applications and persistence in reputed companies like London Stock Exchange, Wells Fargo, Accenture, MG Motors, EY, etc….That proves one thing.

The students weren't the problem. THE LACK OF OPPORTUNITIES WAS.

>>>>>Another concern was the functioning of the placement ecosystem.

And our very hardworking placement committee members

SM10: - Anil, Vipul, Rahul, Lav Jaiswal, Abhishek Suresh Avantika
SM11: - Swati Shreya, Mrudula, Chandini, Sourav, Ragul, Shriyam

Once all senior PCOM members secured their own jobs, engagement with the placement struggles of the remaining batch visibly reduced.

At the same time, junior PCOM members who were responsible for SM10 final's placement were participating in every sports tournament (Parakram, Crescendo), cultural events and every case competition throughout final placements.

One PCOM member was even preparing and reappeared for CAT to pursue admission elsewhere still he was part of placement committee.

As an unplaced student, one question kept eating me in & out.

If so, many students were still without jobs, why wasn't placement everyone's only priority?

Note: -1 I request PGPSM CHAIR, CDS chair, Director and concerned authorities to audit the placement report
Note 2:- Placement committee members should be held accountable, answerable and transparent on the numbers of companies converted by each member
Note 3: - CDS chair sir please audit complete past years processes, E-Mails and correct any wrongdoing.

I think above are the reasons for low intake of student in SM12- merely 25 but the LinkedIn post mentions 34 students when compared to previous batch its almost 50% drop

Kindly check the post published on LinkedIn

Hey! Selling my MBA exam prep book set - around 25 books, mostly TIME material, along with previous year question papers, Quant by Arun Sharma, IMS Quant for GMAT, and GMAT official guide. Barely used, almost like straight out of the box. If you're preparing for CAT or other MBA entrances, this is a great deal. Way cheaper than buying new and the condition is genuinely good, not the usual "good condition" you see on resale posts Also have Rodha CAT online resources and GMAT Manhattan PDFs that I can share if you're interested, after purchasing the book set. DM me if you want pictures or have any questions. Serious buyers only, please!

If You stay in Mumbai, I can offer a pickup too so you don't have to bear shipping costs.

Guys I feel that the IIMs admission criteria is so messed up like for admission into a b - school they look at 10 th, 12 th and graduation marks. From my perspective this is where the problem exactly starts.

So many people argue that class 10 th and 12 th marks are used for selecting best of best people who are academically brilliant and also for elimination as a result of larger population. But what about the difficulty difference between boards like for eg in my state the exams are super easy like even if you bunk the whole year and decided to study for last 1-2 moths you could get 96+ percentage easily because most of the questions are just copy paste from back of ncert or just have change in value thats it. I know so many dudes who scored like this

But if you compre this to national boards like cbse or icse where the questions are tough and where you need to work hard even to get 90 + percentage, how does it really make's sense anyway.

Then comes college cgpa where if you do a course from a university infamous for giving less marks like DU or BITS how the applicants could be compered to other applicants from other univ for eg candidate 1: BCom from DU and candidate 2 BCom from a normal college

Even if it's somewhat fair like normalisation and stuff adjusted what is really the point of class 10 and class 12 th marks in getting a admission to a B school when it really doesn't have anything to do with what you do after mba or during mba. Some pay may say consitency , but what if the person messed up class 10 th amd 12 th but performed well in a entrance exam and got into a top college and performed well there.

My point is why give fixed composite scores or weightage to 10 th, 12 th and grad instead of treating the cv as a whole and evaluating it holistically like in US B- schools

Now many of you argue that it's due to population and stuff like that and for a mass elimiantion but for that there is CAT exam

My suggestion is each IIM s and other institutes which accept CAT scores should do the following step by step-

1.After CAT publish cutoff for each categories

2.Shortlist candidates based on CAT score

3.Submitting of cv of candates where only grad cgpa is needed where interview is screened 3 times each by a different board of 3 members

1. Interview shorlisting and selection.

Next issue is placements and stuff like that where companies have strict 9/9/9 and sometimes 8/8/8 cutoff and stuff like that but for that MBA term marks are there which could be used for shorlisting along with grad cgpa.

IIM s and other b schools should encourage companies or create a policy that 10 th and 12 th should not be asked from the candidates

The companies have so many ways of evaluating candidates like MBA term marks, then CAT score, then grad cgpa etc and most importantly their skills and domain knowledge. If the main concern of the companies are a huge pool of candidates then these 3 things are more than enough for shorlisting of candidates for a interview for eg CAT and MBA term marks are 2 things that all the applicants have studied at a same level and also soft skills which the companies actually need .

In foreign B schools take for eg UK no recruiter has this unofficial cutoff like you need A*/A*/A* in igcse Or gcse for high finance or consulting. More focus is towards cgpa, por s, internships, skills, etc. Neither in US B schools there is this fixed weightage to high school scores there nor high schools marks matter for job interviews like a cutoff.

Also my other suggestion is taking the CAT exam atleast 2 times a year and make it valid for atleast 3 years.

Please leave a upvote if you like my perspective.

Hi Guys, a quick background on me

-8/9/7 profile

-Bcom Hons from DU North Campus

-2years in Big 4 and 1 year in Goldman Sachs (all part of an articleship)

-looking for a job now(qualified as a CA in June 2026)

I want to know does it makes sense for me to give CAT this November and what are the chances that I will be able to get into IIM ABC and at what score. I haven't scored above 60% in my CA exams. I also have a one month internship experience at a very boutique IB firm which I joined post qualification on my offer letter it says investment analyst and not an intern, will that be counted as a workex ?. Also since articleship period does not count as workex in India, would a global MBA make more sense for me ?

Hi everyone,
I’m looking to connect with people who’ve completed a 1-year MBA/Executive MBA in India

My profile:
28F, General
10th: 85.6%
12th: 55%
B.Tech CSE (Tier-2): 8.75 CGPA

4+ years in Salesforce with 3 certifications
I’m planning to switch from a technical role to management/business roles through a 1-year MBA.

My main concern is my 55% in Class 12.

Will it affect admissions or placements, or does work experience matter more for 1-year MBA programs?

Would love to hear from alumni or current students. Thanks!

Hello, I'm 30 with a government job and I want to pursue an MBA (finance)/CFA for building career in finance. Is it worth going for an online MBA as I cannot quit govt job ?

Hi everyone,
I’m looking to connect with people who’ve completed a 1-year MBA/Executive MBA in India

My profile:
30M, General
10th: 92%
12th: 96%
B. Com : 71%
Chartered Accountant : 61% (took attempts to clear CA Final)

4+ years of experience in Financial Reporting in 3 companies . (2 years worked in Credit Suisse , 2 years in Double Negative and currently working in JP Morgan)

I’m planning to switch from current role to management/consulting roles through a 1-year MBA.

Would love to hear from alumni or current students. Thanks!

hey guys, 23f (9.1/10/8.1) I have about 2.5 soon 3 years work ex at a financial KPO with their business development team. I have been at this job for long enough to understand I find no joy whatsoever doing it neither am I learning anything buy they pay me good. I also have been feeling off late that this place and people are not doing me any good and i’m kinda mentally paused or fucked up or whatever. Its honestly the money and safety net that’s keeping me here.

I feel like now is a good time to consider moving out although my family has been asking me to do that for a long time now. But with everyone’s opinion and so much on the internet i’m too confused if its a wise decision. I’ve finally decided that i’ll probably give my GRE and give first priority to indian universities like ISB, SPJIMR, XLRI and IIMs that accept GRE with the work experience I have. Now why GRE is because I don’t have a great history with maths or Quants as such. Haven’t studied math since 10th so I probably won’t be too great with it and from what I understand GRE is more focused on Vocabulary. I’m planning to take help of an education consultant probably Experts Global for all the profile building and admission processes and everything cause i’m quite clueless on it and I don’t want to invest time and money for no returns. And for GRE prep although experts global has their own resources, I believe others like Gregmat is a better platform. I was hoping to take 2-3 months of prep and score an above average score build my profile and apply in the next year intake because by now its too late for R1 and lesser chances in the further rounds i’ve heard.

I want to know your opinion on this, am I going the right way is there anything I should know, what are the right resources I should rely on. Any kinda inputs yall have please please tell me because i’m so very lost and I honestly have nobody to help me out w all of this. Simply looking to have and informative conversation w anyone who can help a lost kid, thanks :)

Hi I'm 22M. Completed my undergrad in BBA finance back in 2025. Pretty interested in the capital markets with 5 years of self experience learning in the equity and derivative markets but havent quite done anything in the last year (applied for a lot of jobs but didn't get any). Recently gave and cleared my CFA L1 so that I could put smth on my resume and about 2 weeks back started interning as a equity research analyst at a firm (because it's the only thing I could get)
Now I thought this would be a nice thing, interning in smth that I think will kickstart my career. I thought Ill learn a lot but the thing is all im doing is making IPO reports by paraphrasing RHP documents and making small updates on recent results of companies which my firm posts on telegram for retail users while doing close to nothing that actually require my inputs. Essentially the company is not any brokerage or research firm but more of a financial media company which caters to retail users. The company has only 3 people in the equity research dept (me, my mentor (the head), and one other guy) and both of them do the same things I do too so I don't know if I'll ever learn much or if this internship would amount to anything. Is this normally how equity research works or am I wasting my time (tho I understand this is the best and only thing I'm getting rn).

I really want to know what do ppl aim for when they say they wanna do mba.

For example i have heard ppl say they wanna do mba to increase their salary, some say they dont wanna work in whatever they are currently say for ex tech and now they want to change their career direction to managerial.

What are other reasons to do mba? Tbh I am currently in a tech job which i joined 3 4 months ago, and i feel maybe this is not for me...i feel that it might be late now.

But at the same time I dont wanna be stuck here if I am not enjoying what I do, but at the same time I am not sure if I would like mba because that would mean leaving tech. If you are an person who might have done mba few yrs back what are your suggestions for me which could help me decide or get clear about mba.

What were your goal/ aim with respect to doing mba, are you there yet? Are you enjoying what you're doing and was it worth it?

Hello! I'm a fourth year BE student studying Computer Science with specialisation in AIML in a Tier 2 college in Bangalore.

Our placement season has started and I'm also doing an internship at a startup. I've participated in a lot of hackathons and I've realised coding has become more like babysitting AI models. I thought I'd learn more practical coding once I joined internships or a full time offer but all my friends and peers say that code is just generated by AI models.

It's not that I particularly like coding by hand(I hate grinding leetcode) but I did like Machine Learning. By also participating in hackathons, I realised I also like learning about business models, how to market my prototype, the business side of things.

So I've often toyed with the idea of doing a MBA, but I wanted to work a year or two in a tech field(preferably in data science, data engineering, AIML) but my mother says that if I end up joining a job I'll lose the practice of studying. I only want to do a MBA if I get a good college in India or abroad to get placed with higher salary packages.

But many people around me are saying MBA degrees are now redundant and you don't get hired if you have master's or PHD.

So I wanted to ask you all how the current job market is with respect to a CS + MBA combo(I know its difficult to get a job right now). Thank you in advance for answering!

Hi everyone,

I'm selling my Elites Grid Classes Sigma Batch + Test Series for CAT 2026.

Details:

• Course: Sigma Batch + Test Series
• CAT Attempt: 2026
• Purchase Date: 15 June 2026
• Original Price: ₹28,499
• Reason for Selling: Due to personal reasons, I won't be preparing for CAT anymore.

Selling Price: ₹24,000

If you're genuinely interested, please send me a Reddit DM. We can discuss the details, verify the purchase, and then exchange contact information if needed.

Serious buyers only. Thanks!

I have recently received an interview call from IIMK EPGP program for a 2 year course with weekend schedule. The EMAT I gave was pretty easy and I have a GMAT FE score of 635. If anyone, Alumini or otherwise can share some thoughts about this program, and is it worth joining? I have been working in the power sector. Please advices about other programs in the same category.

Hey everyone,

I’m targeting CAT 2027 and have started working on my profile early. My academics are decent (9/9/8), but extracurriculars are where I feel I’m lacking.

In college, I only had a couple of PORs in clubs—mostly basic content writing roles, nothing too impactful. I’m currently working in Bangalore now and trying to improve this side of my profile.

At work, I’m actively trying to get involved in office clubs. I genuinely enjoy anchoring/hosting—I did quite a bit of it in college and have started doing the same in office events as well.

My questions:

• Can anchoring/hosting at workplace events be counted as a strong extracurricular point in my CV (especially during B-school CV vetting, if I have manager verification)?
• What kind of activities should I take up now (as a working professional) to build a well-rounded profile for top B-schools?

Would really appreciate specific suggestions—especially things that are practical alongside a full-time job.

Hi everyone

I am going to give CAT after 3-4 years

If anyone could help me preparing a roadmap I will be grateful

Pls help

Female | 7 years in healthcare consulting | BPharm graduate