The Indian Institutes of Technology and Management [IIT’s and IIM’s] can be considered as the twin towers of Indian Education. While one promotes Quality Technical Education the other promotes Quality Management Education. IIT Kharagpur was the first IIT to be setup in India in 1951 whereas IIM Calcutta was the first IIM to be setup ten years later in 1961. Currently there are 16 IIT’s and 13 IIM’s in the country.
My journey into the hallowed portals of IIT and IIM
I first became aware of IIT’s at the end of my tenth standard. I go to know that IIT’s have a separate all India entrance exam called the Joint Entrance Exam [IIT -JEE]. During my first year pre-university I enrolled into a two year coaching program offered by Brilliant’s Tutorials based in Chennai. I used to receive the study material through post but did not make much progress. At the end of the first year of my pre-university I came across another coaching program offered by Agrawal’s Classes based in Bombay. I joined this coaching program also and received this study material also through post. I found there were many advantages of Agrawal’s coaching program over Brilliant’s. For one Agrawal’s program was of one year duration to be done in the second year of pre-university unlike Brilliant’s which was a two year program. Also the study material of Agrawal’s was much more concise and of higher quality than that provided by Brilliant’s.
A few months before the actual IIT JEE Agrawal’s conducted a nationwide mock test in which I fared reasonably well. It was that performance which gave me the confidence that I could clear the actual exam. This was a major reason for me being successful in my first attempt for IIT JEE in which I secured a rank of 969. I decided to enroll into IIT Kharagpur with Chemical Engineering as my choice of engineering discipline.
I first thought of studying management in IIM’s in the final year of my engineering at IIT Kharagpur. IIM’s conduct a separate all India entrance exams called the Common Admission Test popularly called as CAT. Students who clear the CAT are then called for a Group Discussion and Interview where the final selection happens. I appeared for CAT in my final year of engineering but failed to get any Interview calls from any one of the IIM’s. I then joined the cement industry as a process engineer. After working for three years I appeared for CAT again and this time I got interview calls from IIM Bangalore and IIM Lucknow. But I failed to clear either of the interviews. Next year I again appeared for CAT along with exams for other management institutes like SPJain, XLRI, XIM and BIM. I got interview calls from IIM Bangalore and SPJain but failed to clear the interviews yet again.
Meanwhile I shifted from the cement industry to the software industry as a software developer. After I shifted to the software industry I applied for the Post graduate programme in software management [PGSEM] offered by IIM Bangalore. Though I cleared the entrance exam I once again found myself short in the interview. The next year I enrolled into a distance management programme offered by ICFAI. I did not find the course appetizing and abandoned it. I then enrolled in another distance management programme offered by Brilliant’s Tutorials called as MPower. I pursued it for a few months but then I had to travel abroad on work and again I had to abandon this programme also.
It was only after another five years of work life that my desire to study management got reignited. This time I decide to take the Graduate Management Aptitude Test [GMAT] whose scores are used for admissions to management institutes around the world. I got a good score of 710 after minimal preparation. I applied for admission to a university in Germany and got provisional admission. But I decided against pursuing the same. I then applied for Executive Management Programme at IIM Ahmadabad using my GMAT score. I was called for the interview but my interview jinx with the IIM’s continued. The next year I reapplied for the same programme and was called again for the interview but I decided to give the interview a miss.
Meanwhile I obtained Project Management certification offered by Project Management Institute [PMI], a globally recognized body. After a couple of years I enrolled for a six month online certificate programme in entrepreneurship development offered by Symbiosis. I completed this successfully. After another couple of years I enrolled into a six month certificate programme in Supply Chain Management offered by IIM Calcutta. This was a video based learning programme with infrastructure support provided by NIIT. There were two campus visits as part of this certificate programme. Most importantly there was no interview as part of the selection process! I was finally able to realize my dream of entering the portals of IIM’s through this certification programme. I successfully completed the programme and obtained the certification from IIM Calcutta.
As can be seen from above my route to enter IIT was straight forward but I had to take a very circuitous route to enter IIM’s. But my experience in studying in these two great institutes has certainly enriched my life and I would cherish these as lifelong achievements.
