Careers360 held an MBA Tour 2022 to help postgraduate management students choose the best B-School. As part of the Careers360 MBA tour, directors, admission counselors, industry experts, and alumni of top B-schools in India answered all the queries and questions asked by students regarding admissions in right B-schools. In one such session held on January 9, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA)'s Professor Preeti Priya addressed students' queries on the admissions, selection criteria, cutoff, placements and other details regarding the institute.
Talking about the admission criteria in the Institute of Rural Management Anand, Prof Preeti Priya said, "IRMA as an institute is more focused on its processes. So we here are typically looking for the right set of aptitude and attitude in a candidate. Aptitude is captured through the CAT/ XAT entrance exam performance of candidates. Whereas in terms of attitude we are looking for people who are curious i.e. have intellectual curiosity in and about anything. People who are willing to learn and explore new things and who are enthusiastic about MBA. Students who not just look at MBA as another means of livelihood but consider it as a life option are considered ideal candidates for IRMA."
Also read: IRMA courses and fee
"Institute of Rural Management Anand always tries to capture diversity while selecting candidates for the IRMA PGDM Rural Management courses. Candidates who have done their 10th and 12th from aspirational Districts, and reached a stage where he/ she is writing for IRMA gets bonus points. IRMA also focuses on candidates from the North-East. Diversity bonus points are also given to candidates based on their gender," the professor said.
See Also: IRMA facilities
Regarding the preparation for admission test, the professor said, "IRMA basically shortlists eligible and qualified candidates based on the CAT/ XAT test scores. The cutoff percentile for the IRMA PGDM admissions is not released in advance, it is notified once the applications have closed. Institute of Rural Management Anand has introduced a Written Ability Test (WAT) in which the CAT/ XAT shortlisted candidates will have to articulate their thoughts on a given topic."
Talking about the cut-off for shortlisting students at IRMA, Dr. Priya said, "No, there is no fixed minimum CAT cutoff percentile for shortlisting students at IRMA. But if we look at the past record, candidates belonging to general category with a CAT percentile of 80 or more have been shortlisted for GD and PI round. IRMA does not consider the sectional cutoff. And the reserved category candidates are provided relaxations in the cutoff as per the Government of Indian guidelines."
IRMA gives preference to students from non-engineering backgrounds like agriculture, dairy, pure science, humanities, etc. "It is not at all difficult for students from arts background to cope with the IRMA curriculum. Many of our alumni were from the humanities background and have done well. The institute provides the initial grounding that is needed by students and helps them to pick up and become data lovers with time," the professor said.
Also read: IRMA Q and A
Regarding the placement opportunity, the professor said, "There is diversity in the kind of roles that companies offer to candidates from IRMA. If we talk about FMCG, the profiles that are offered to students are Brand manager and Sales manager. In the agribusiness sector the job profiles are related to sourcing and strategic planning. In the BFSI sector job profiles for which companies hire are product developer, risk manager, relationship manager, etc." The freshers are also provided equal opportunities in placements at IRMA as the experienced candidates. "If this was not the case we would not have Rs 15 lakhs as the median salary package at," the professor added.
Quick Links: IRMA reviews
Discussing about the internship opportunity at IRMA, Dr. Priya said, "Our internship recruiters and the final recruits have huge overlap i.e. they are more or less the same. If a firm is recruiting for a marketing internship, the student is expected to get a marketing analytics role. If they are getting an internship at a consulting firm there they might be running live projects among other responsibilities. Now at IRMA we are focusing more on data analytics, machine learning, big data, etc. to make the students industry ready."
The professor also talked about various courses offered in IRMA. "IRMA does not offer any speculation in the management programs that it has. The Rural Management program at the institute is a General Management program, where students get trained in all functional areas. So in the first 3 terms, core IRMA courses are taught to students and from the fourth term when electives start, they can choose subjects which are of interest to them. After which students usually make up their mind about the kind of role they want to get into," she said.
Regarding the Rural Management Flagship programme, Dr. Priya said, "At IRMA the Rural Management Flagship (RMF) program is open for freshers as well as people with work experience. While the Rural Management Executive (RMX) program is only for working professionals who have a minimum of 5 years work experience in a managerial position."
"People with 10 years of work experience in the banking sector can get into the RMF program at IRMA. It will bring diversity at the institute and also enrich the class group discussions. Hence the work experience is a plus for students wanting to get admission to IRMA and not a deterrent in any way," she added.
Talking about the importance of the IRMA Alumni network, the Professor said, "The institute has a registered alumni body that is IRMA Alumni Association, with which the institute runs a variety of things in collaboration. Here, we are building a theoretical underpinning of the discipline from actual practice in the real world, which helps to maintain an industry connection whether it be the corporate world, CSR world, government agencies, etc. where IRMA alumnus are working. Many of our alumni are working at very senior positions, which also helps to strengthen the IRMA alumni network."
The professor also guided candidates how to choose the right B-school. "While selecting a B-School candidates should look at just placement numbers but other things too like profile of faculty, kind of peer diversity, variety of careers the institute offers, return on investment, etc.," the professor said.
For details on admission criteria, selection process in IRMA, please visit the official website- irma.ac.in.
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored article and NDTV is not responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever to at all that is stated in the sponsored article and/or also with regard to the views, claims, specifications of the advertised product provided by Careers360. It is solely the responsibility of the reader to verify and confirm anything stated/ featured in the sponsored article before attaching any credibility to it.