IIM Kozhikode and IIM Lucknow are both highly reputed institutions in the field of management education in India offering top-quality education. However, they seem to have some differences in terms of their focus areas and curriculum.cIM Kozhikode focuses more on research and academics with an upper hand in the areas of finance and economics. IIM Lucknow on the other hand is known for its focus on management education and its strong reputation in the areas of marketing and human resources. My friend was a student of IIM Kozhikode but stayed at IIM Lucknow for a while so he had a picture of both the institutes.
Both institutes have a strong alumni network and good placement records. Ultimately, the choice between the two will depend on the individual's interests and career goals.
Your percentile is not the only deciding factor for IIM Kozhikode admissions. I have seen instances where people with 99.78 percentile couldn’t make it while people with lower percentile and CGPA made it into IIM Kozhikode.
This is because IIM Kozhikode prefers a balanced score in each section and a good overall score. It even considers your 10 and 12 marks. They also pick students from versatile backgrounds.
Low CGPA is not an issue for admission into IIM Kozhikode. Your overall score should be appealing enough to get you in.
IIM Kozhikode’s MBA in liberal studies is a fresh change from the traditional MBA. It helps in the comprehensive development of students. Moreover, IIM Kozhikode has the best faculty when it comes to Humanities & Liberal Arts in Management.
Some amazing features of this course are:
It teaches the students soft skills like management, empathy, leadership, etc which go a long way over hard skills like complex excel models, and well-researched reports taught in traditional MBA.
The course is a good choice because of its content. You will have to select many of the Humanities & Liberal Arts electives to complete their degree requirements.
Companies considering HR, or Consulting roles will definitely prioritize you.
IIM Kozhikode’s MBA in liberal studies offers a fresh perspective and is not a bad choice.
IIM Kozhikode offers 4 medals in total.
3 for top 3 GPAs- Based on scholastic performance
1 for Best all-rounder- Based on many factors like review, Faculty review, Extra Curricular, Case competitions, and studies.
For the top 3 medals, all you need to do is excel in academics, and score the highest CPA.
For All Rounders you need to be good in everything. Be it studies, interactions, or extracurricular activities, you need to be good in literally everything to bag this medal. Having good relations with everyone will definitely help you get this one.
Placements at IIM Lucknow are better than at IIM Kozhikode. But it seems the placement reports exaggerate the actual figures. Many students remain unplaced at these big B Schools making many questions their credibility.
Particulars |
IIM Lucknow |
IIM Kozhikode |
Number of offers made |
534 |
571 |
Average CTC |
INR 31.03 LPA |
INR 39.2 LPA |
Highest domestic CTC |
INR 58 LPA |
INR 61.5 LPA |
Highest international CTC |
INR 56 LPA |
- |
Median CTC |
INR 29 LPA |
INR 26.5 LPA |
Top Recruiters |
Microsoft, Myntra, Vodafone |
Amazon, Microsoft, Accenture |
Percentage of Students Placed |
100% |
100% |
The above table will help you in comparing the placements of the two IIMs.
XLRI BM is the better option. It is an old B-School and ranks right after IIM A, B, and C. It has a large and varied alumni network. You will find XLRI alumni in almost every reputed companies.
XLRI BM has a smaller batch size. So, it’s easier for students to get decent job opportunities. XLRI placements are great. During the 2022 placement drive, the average CTC received by the students was INR 30 LPA.
Considering the excellent infrastructure and faculty members these institutes offer, it gets really difficult to choose any one of these for higher studies. However, some of the factors would be helpful for you to make the decision.
Ranking:
XLRI has reportedly ranked 1st among the top private management universities by Outlook India 2020’s evaluation reports. IIM L was ranked 4th by NIRF in 2020 and IIMK was ranked 6th for its MBA program by NIRF in 2020.
Admission:
Aspiring students have to clear exams including GMAT, XAT, and CAT in order to get admission at XLRI for its MBA program. There are around 600 seats available for various streams. The estimated course fee remains to be around 5-10 Lakhs.
Those who want to enroll in the MBA program at IIM K, have to clear the CAT exam.
To take admission to IIM L, students have to clear CAT, GMAT, and GATE. For PGDM courses, students have to clear GMAT, XAT, CAT, and GATE.
Placement:
XLRI:
XLRI offers 100% placements to the students.
Some of the top recruiters are Aditya Birla Group, Amazon, Microsoft, are ITC, JP Morgan, Ramco Systems, Accenture, Sapient, ATG Tires, Lodha Group, RPG, Udaan, P&G, Colgate Palmolive, Ola, Myntra, Samsung, C K Birla, Power Finance Corporation among others.
The highest and medium salary packages remain to be around 50 LPA and 12-15 LPA.
IIML:
It offers 100% placement to its students.
The top recruiters are JCB India, Bosch, Apparel group, Tolaram Group, RPG Group, and more.
The highest and the medium salary range remain to be around 54 LPA and 23 LPA.
IIMK:
Students get 98% placement and the highest and the medium salary package remains to be around 40 LPA and 18 LPA.
Some of the top recruiters who offer internship and job opportunities are Cognizant, Wipro, Amazon, Airtel, City Bank, Deloitte, Nestle, Bosch, Microsoft, Raymond, and more.
All the institutes offer boys and girls hostel accommodation inside the college campuses. The rooms are spacious and well-equipped with necessities such as an iron bed, almirah, study table, attached bathroom, and more. Apart from these, all the campuses offer modern facilities and advanced digital features with good faculty members.
EPGP course at IIM Kozhikode helps IT professionals learn important facets of business such as finance, marketing, HR, organizational behavior, operations, and strategy.
IIM Kozhikode is the best for EPGP. Of the many benefits offered by this course, the diverse knowledge and brand value of IIM top the list.
My cousin is an IIMK EPGP alumni. Today she is an IT professional with 14 years of experience. According to her some major pros and cons of this course are as follows:
Pros-
Surreal campus
Excellent professors for finance, marketing, and operations.
Students from diverse backgrounds make it a more appealing experience.
Workshop at the end of the year helps in practical lessons.
Second year offers the option of electives. So you can choose different topics from different streams based on your interests and career.
Cons: The only con is that campus visits are as rare as 4 in 2 years.
The EPGP course at IIM Kozhikode is extremely beneficial for an IT professional’s career growth.
Whether attending IIM Kozhikode is a good decision or not, you can know only after knowing the pros and cons of the same.
Pros
Campus: IIM Kozhikode is well known for its resort-like campus surrounded by lush green scenery. The natural ambiance helps students get a breath of fresh air amidst back to back classes.
Faculty: The faculty at IIM Kozhikode is not as responsible as the older IIMs. This means you are responsible for your own education. They do provide excellent classes but they treat you more like adults and you have to be your own motivator.
Hostels: The hostels are the best in the country. The safety here is top notch. The public and hostel toilets are very clean.
Academics: The academic rigour is as good as that at the other older IIMs. IIM Kozhikode offers a number of interesting courses in the second year like Strategy of Poker.
Placements: All the usual recruiters that you find at other older IIMs visit IIM Kozhikode. In addition, there are a lot of opportunities to work in the Middle East.
Student activities:There are a large number of student activities on the campus of IIM Kozhikode. There are clubs for Dramatics, Photography, Astronomy, Fine Arts, Quizzing, and a host of other extra curricular activities.
Cons
Slow decision making:IIMK has not had a Director for more than 2 years. So, a lot of decision making has become slow.
Increasing batch size: The increasing batch size might affect key resources like canteen facilities, water, and internet bandwidth.
Limited sports facilities:The IIM Kozhikode campus has limited sports facilities. The students have to go to the nearby NIT to play Badminton and Tennis.
Food:If you are a vegetarian, there would be limited options for having a meal outside the campus.
The pros weigh out the cons and it’s actually a good decision to join IIM Kozhikode.
While selecting an MBA college, all the other factors become secondary to placements.
Top MBA colleges have similar visiting companies and almost equal average packages. What makes a difference is whether you will be shortlisted for recruitment or not. The minimum grade requirement depends upon the average score of the respective batch.
Considering your academic record, you are an average student. At IIMK, the average batch score is around 90%. This is because it has some of the most brilliant students. But it is difficult for an average student to match such high grades. Especially because of the system of relative grading at IIMK.
NITIE follows absolute grading, and the batch average is around 80%. This makes it a haven for GEM. NITIE does not only cater to the supply chain industry, although it is the biggest name for this sector. Its graduates do very well in other sectors like Marketing as well.
Thus, I would recommend you select NITIE over IIM Kozhikode.