As a professional who was looking to give a push to his career, I had the same doubts regarding SIBM Bangalore when I made it to the first shortlist of every Symbiosis MBA college except for SIBM Pune.
I scored only 70 percentile in my CAT and 90 percentile in my CMAT which were not good enough scores to get me a seat in a Tier 1 or 2 college. Fortunately, my SNAP score (94 percentile) was good enough to get me a call from Symbiosis colleges, most of which were Tier 2 MBA colleges.
SIBM Bangalore may not have a big campus, but, it provides you with innumerable opportunities. As a SIBM Bangalore student, you will undergo great personality development. There are various co-curricular activities that you can be a part of.
You can join various clubs and committees or go for roles such as Bloomberg Champion or Student Research Assistant. As a student, you will be at the center of all the college activities.
SIBM Bangalore is an amazing place to grow as a person and become even more confident and active in grabbing the opportunities that come your way.
Both the institutes belong to Symbiosis International University, are famous for placements and other facilities provided. Candidates must qualify for the entrance exam and the following interview and GD for admission. SIBM Banglore and SIIB Pune have an entrance called SNAP.
Admission: Similar admission procedures are there at both institutes. Admissions are based on strict eligibility criteria. Candidates should pass graduation with 50% marks. Final year graduation students can also apply. Qualification in SNAP is compulsory. SIIB Pune IB seat intake is 120.
Placements:
SIIB Pune: When focusing on the placement details, SIIB has 100% placements in the 2018-20 batch. Major recruiters from different industries like American Express, Nestle, Marico, Crisil, Danfoss, Bisleri, Nielsen, etc visit the campus for placements.
SIBM Bangalore: It also has high placement rates. Regular recruiters include AB InBev, Accenture, Bisleri, Britannia, Dell Technologies, TATA motors, ITC, etc.
The institute offers interactive sessions with leaders of top companies throughout the year.
Both the institutes offer scholarship schemes to support their students. The scholarships are based on merit. A fee waiver of 50% is available for the students.
ROI should not only be looked at from the monetary aspect. Rather, ROI should also include the overall personality development of a student. This is because as an MBA student, one does not only invest money but also devotes valuable time for the course.
SIMS Pune has a lesser fee than SIBM Bangalore. For an MBA, SIMS Pune has a fee of around INR 10.5 Lakhs for general category students. The children of defense personnel are charged a lesser amount.
On the other hand, SIBM Bangalore charges around INR 19.1 Lakhs from Indian students of all categories. SIMS Pune has a larger alumni base and a greater industry connection. This is because SIMS Pune is very old in comparison to SIBM Bangalore.
In terms of ROI, SIMS Pune is better because of its lesser fee.
However, do consider these facts before arriving at the final decision-
After considering all these points, I finally decided to go to SIBM Bangalore for my MBA.
SIBM Bangalore and SIOM Nashik, both share good repo among MBA colleges. Both colleges are Accredited with NAAC “A” Grade.But on comparing each other SIBM Bangalore has an edge over SIOM Nashik. In terms of Placements SIBM student has fetched 25 LPA as highest package but SIOM Nashik’s highest placement package is 17.7 LPA.SIOM is a core operations MBA college whereas SIBM has 7 streams for MBA. For those who want to pursue operation management then SIOM Nashik is a better choice.
The table mentioned below gives a brief overview of both institutes:
Aspects |
SIOM Nashik |
SIBM Bangalore |
Year of Establishment |
2005 |
2008 |
Fees |
6.8 L/ Year |
8 L/ Year |
Entrances Accepted |
SNAP |
SNAP |
Highest Package (2020) |
17.7 LPA |
25 LPA |
Avg. Package |
11.73 |
10.26 LPA |
Top Recruiters |
Deloitte, Amazon, Genpact, BAJAJ, IBM, TATA, Infosys, ACG, HFCL, Zycus |
Aditya Birla Capital, Accenture, Genpact, Infosys, Oracle, PepsiCo, Wipro, Infosys, Cisco etc. |
No. of Students |
136 students |
207 students |
Selection Criteria
Admission to both the colleges are on the basis of marks scored in the entrance examination- SNAP. Candidates selected on the basis of marks scored in entrance examination will be further evaluated on the basis of performance in Group Exercise, Personal Interview and Written Ability Test.
Conclusion
Both the colleges are good colleges. On one hand, SIBM Bangalore offers more specialisations and has greater highest package while on the other hand, SIO Nashik has better RoI and Better Average Package.
It is difficult to predict your chances of converting your calls from SIBM Pune, SCMHRD, or SIBM Bangalore as apart from a good percentile in SNAP there are various factors that are taken into consideration during the selection process apart from the percentile in entrance exams. These factors include academic background, work experience (if any), performance in Group Exercise (GE), Personal Interview (PI), and Written Ability Test (WAT), among others.
Particulars |
SCMHRD Pune |
SIBM Pune |
SIBM Bangalore |
SNAP Score |
50% |
50% |
50% |
Group Exercise (GE) |
10% |
10% |
10% |
Personal Interview (PI) |
30% |
30% |
30% |
Writing Ability Test (WAT) |
10% |
10% |
10% |
Total |
100% |
100% |
100% |
Having a 98.0456 percentile is a good score and puts you in a competitive position for the admission process but that does not guarantee the final call as WAT weighted is important and big enough to ignore.
So, to increase your chances of converting your calls, you should prepare well for the GE, PI, and WAT rounds by improving your communication and presentation skills, staying updated with current affairs, practicing writing essays, and answering interview questions.
My friend is an alumnus of FORE. According to him, FORE is a better choice in comparison to SIBM Bangalore. For this, he cites these reasons-
On the other hand, we can also say that SIBM Bangalore has the advantage of a reputation created by the older SIBM Pune. SIBM Bangalore has done well in recent years. Many HR recruiters have faith in the Symbiosis brand.
Overall, both SIBM Bangalore and FORE are good institutions. However, FORE is a better option.
Comparably, SIBM Bangalore is better. The institute stands out because of its unique pedagogy.
In terms of resources, academics, and placements, SIBM Bangalore is better than SIIB Pune.
Not just the SIBM Bangalore placement records, most placement records at all the B-schools are inflated by around 20-30%. The placement committee increases the average CTC to look higher than the previous year. Also, the average CTC does not include people who remain unplaced. If a student gets two offers, both are included in the average. If a student gets a high-paying off-campus placement, the colleges include it in the placements report
Even the highest package is not correct in most cases. It can be an overseas offer and may have a 5-year retention bonus added to it. So if, say, the base salary offered is 15 LPA, you will get 2 Lakhs every year if you stay for 5 years.
Details of the offers are not made public which gives liberty to the colleges to twist facts to their advantage.
To get into SIBM Bangalore for your MBA will cost you around INR 19 Lakhs. As a student in a tier 2 college, you will most probably end up with an offer of INR 7 to 9 LPA. It is rare for students to get very high packages.
This is the reality of placements that I wanted to share with you as a former placement committee member.
You can do an MBA from SIBM Bangalore however, arrive at your final decision after considering everything.
Yes, GIM, FORE, KJ Somaiya & SIBM-Bangalore all these B Schools enjoy 100% placement percentages. Speaking about figures, the highest and average packages of the mentioned colleges have been tabulated below.
College |
Average Package |
Highest package |
GIM |
INR 12.1 LPA |
INR 30.2 LPA |
FORE |
INR 14.04 LPA |
INR 41 LPA |
KJ Somaiya |
INR 10.98 LPA |
INR 26.50 LPA |
SIBM Bangalore |
INR 10.60 LPA |
INR 32 LPA |
More than figures, the deciding factors for your choice of college should be your interest, strengths, area of specialization and most importantly why you are pursuing an MBA.
My friend is a pass out of SIMS. According to her, some features of SIMS are
All these features make SIMR one of the best B Schools of India.
GIM, FORE, KJ Somaiya, and SIBM Bangalore offer 100% placement support to the students. It is a bit grim to figure out the lowest packages as they do not provide exact information. In fact, none of the colleges could guarantee a job from their side; instead, they could assure plenty of opportunities. The aptitude, capacity, and performance in the interview play a chief role.
Let us have a deeper look at SIBM Bangalore-
Many giant recruiters approach the college every year, and most of the applicants get placement in the first half of the academic year. The technological advancement in the classrooms, student-centric learning process, skilled and capable scholars, strong alumni network, and international links make SIBM one of the leading management institutes in Bangalore.
Based on these facts, you can choose SIBM Bangalore. Whatever decision you make, choose wisely.