Home » Blog » 5 Things that surprised me when I entered IIM Bangalore

5 Things that surprised me when I entered IIM Bangalore

Wednesday, July 3rd, 2019

With the stone architecture, connected hostels and access to Bangalore city, IIMB is one of the best places to study in India. In 2019, IIM Bangalore was ranked as the #1 college for Management Studies. Here are the Top 5 Things which surprised me when I entered IIM Bangalore:

1. IIM Bangalore Campus and its vibe

Tucked not so far from Koramangala and Indira Nagar, the campus of IIM Bangalore is serene and relaxing. As the weather in Bangalore is one of the finest within India, if you are moving from Delhi or Mumbai, you will fall in love with the campus and its greenery almost immediately. The 100+ acre campus was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect B. V. Doshi and you will almost immediately recognize the popular spots from the movie 3 Idiots – the hostels, L square, and water tank.

2. Summer Internships matter a lot

Summer Internships or Summers as they are called matter a lot in IIM Bangalore, like in any other IIM. Your immediate career i.e. the first 5 years of your Career after IIM depends a lot on your Summer Internship and whether you can convert the internship to a pre-placement offer. Most people choose within the first year of the MBA course and it is an important decision. Clarity of thought and discussion with seniors will help you figure out whether you would like to be in Finance, Consulting, Strategy, General Management or Marketing.

3. Resume Making is an important and grilling exercise

In the first 3 months of joining IIM Bangalore, you will spend a lot of time making your resume or thinking about it. It comprises of endless nights and multiple iterations of refining your resume. Students discuss it amongst themselves and take inputs from seniors and mentors. The idea remains to give the best impression you can in a 30-second look of the resume. Most resumes got through an unrecognizable transformation in both contents and presentation i.e. your resume before writing the CAT Exam and after the resume upgrade process is like you in casual weekend clothes vs you in a pinstriped suit. Every line of the resume is verified by the Placement Committee (or Placecom) in an elaborate verification process.

4. Average Work Experience of the Batch

Almost 75% of the batch in IIM Bangalore had less than 2.5 years of work experience and less than 10% of the batch had students with 5+ years of work experience. The mix of work experience leads to good coordination amongst people in Group Projects, Case Studies, and Presentations. People with more than 2.5 years of work experience add a new perspective to learning for freshers and help them learn through their experiences.

5. Class Participation

Being attentive in class is quite uncharacteristic for students in their Undergrad, especially for Engineering Students. In IIM Bangalore, many courses have specific weightage for Class Participation i.e. for contributing to case studies and discussions Class Participation requires you to study beforehand and brings everyone on the same page in terms of understanding of the topic. Class Participation also helps people to express their views publicly and helps generate collective insights. You will soon realize that for some students Class Participation is a cake walk and for introverts can be a heart pacing activity.

I hope, reading this blog helped you in learning more about IIM Bangalore. Wish you the best for CAT 2021 and hope you bell it.

About the Author: Gaurav Parashar is the Founder of Exambazaar and studied PGP at IIM Bangalore and BTech from IIT Bombay. He can be reached at [email protected] for advice and help.