GLIM Chennai review

At the time of joining, GLIM was the only PGDM institute which offered Analytics as a specialization. And it was close to my home as well and it is very well known and I had heard lots of positive reviews from many people. I also looked it up on Quora and Pagalguy and was pretty happy with what I saw. The admission process included shortlisting based on entrance exam scores followed by a written test and also an interview. The interview took place sometime in February in Bangalore and I got in around March 24th, 2019. Pros include friendly staff, good exposure and infrastructure for learning especially for analytics. I don't have many negative points. But if I were forced to talk about one, I'd probably point out the placement head - there's a general feeling that not much effort is being put in in terms of negotiating a good package. But then again, it's not easy, especially in these times.

The courses offered for finance and analytics are really great. There is a little bit of overlap but then, after the terms end and you look back at how much you've progressed, you would realise you have actually learnt a lot - be it knowledge or analytics tools. The faculty is top-notch - you have highly experienced industry experts from well-known institutions and organization offering classes. Obviously, there are some faculties who are hard to follow, but generally, barring a couple of courses, I have been extremely happy with how classes have been. Generally, classes have a maximum of 80 students for one faculty with a teaching assistant. You'll have a midterm after 10 sessions and an end-term after the 20th session for each subject. Exams wouldn't be too difficult if you pay attention in class.

Internships are a good way to gather experience in the domain you want to get placed. However, not many well-known companies come for internships. You'll have 4-5 really well-known companies offering good stipends and a lot of students do internship even without stipend. Towards the end, it feels as if the people in charge just want to push you into whatever is available and they don't even give you a say. If you don't like the company that they are forcing you into and you voice that opinion, then they make you sign a sheet saying you'll take care of your own internship. Thank goodness this doesn't happen for placements.

The institute provides 100% placements. They have some really good and well-known companies which turn up for placements and provide good salaries but most of them are staggered upfront and they take in about 50-60% of the students. After this, there's a drop in terms of salary as well as the popularity of the company. But still, the role and salary offered is not bad. Our batch's placecom has been extremely helpful. However, the people in charge of bringing in companies could have done a better job in terms of package negotiations.

The entire was 16L split equally over 2 years and paid at the start of each year. I haven't taken any scholarships and I'm not aware of any as well. However, the management does get you in touch with institutions which provide financial assistance if you are not aware of any.

The campus is pretty big and is quite peaceful. You have grounds for playing cricket, basketball, tennis, badminton and various other sports. There's also a shop called grab n go where students can just hang out and talk. There are a gym and a table tennis and snooker place as well and in the evening, after classes are over, the campus would be buzzing with a lot of activities. There are various committees in which you can be a part of - Placemen Committee, Marketing committee, analytics committee, Admissions committee. Each committee has its own events. However, except for placecom, Events committee and maybe Adcom during Admissions time, most of the other clubs don't do much except during their events. As far as fests go, the college's L'attitude is lacklustre in terms of attracting people but is a fun outing for the students on campus. And also, CIECom's Paisa Vasool is the best even on campus with a lot of fun and learning experience mixed into one.

Each student has to stay on campus. Each room is a twin sharing room and is very spacious and comfortable with Air Conditioning. You'd be provided with a cupboard, a table + chair and also a locker. The mess provides food thrice a day. On top of this, students can order food from the mess a-la-carte if they don't like what is getting served. The food is really good but is very monotonous. So gets a bit boring pretty quickly. There's no registration process for the hostel.

Initial shortlist for the first phase is from CAT scores. If you are shortlisted, you had to go through a written test and PI both of which shouldn't be too difficult. My PI felt like a chat in a cafe more than an actual interview. They just asked me about myself and my work experience. There would also be a phase 2 for people with a lower cat score after phase 1, depending upon how many students had actually opted for GLIM.