Insight into India's top HM college

IHM Mumbai is definitely one of the best colleges to study at if you want to pursue a career in the Hospitality industry. You will be treated with respect when you turn into alumni and your market value will definitely increase with a degree from here.

The entrance exam to be written to get into any one of the IHMs is the IHM JEE. It is a simple exam with basic math, science, GK, and Aptitude. I acquired an AIR 170 and got to pick from all the college. I especially chose IHM Mumbai because I wanted to graduate from the best college. This college is 60 plus years old and hence is a treasure for students aiming to pursue a career in the hospitality industry.

Through the three years, you will be trained completely on the four main departments in the hotel industry, namely, Front Office, Food&Beverage service, Accommodation Operations and Food Production. Every semester there are other subjects as well which include nutrition, Food Science, Communication, Hotel Accounting, Facility Planning, Strategic Management and so on. Since IHM is affiliated to IGNOU there are few subjects like Tourism studies, Human resources, Marketing and so on. Your second year will have a semester of Industrial training and in the third year, you will be required to do a research on a topic of your choice.

A semester in the second year is solely for the purpose of an internship. The best names of the hotel industry take in students from IHM Mumbai for training. This includes Taj, Oberoi, Hyatt, Sofitel, Marriott and so on. The stipend ranges from Rs. 1000-5000 but the experience gained is priceless.

All the big hotel brands conduct campus placement in IHM Mumbai. This includes Taj, Oberoi, Hyatt, ITC , The Park, Ferns, Accor, IHG and so on. Other companies like Thomas Cook, Red bricks, McDonald's, Domino's, Shopper's stop,Foodhall, etc. also visit. The positions range from entry level to Management Training programmes and the packages range accordingly as well.

The main event that the college hosts are the annual food and trade fair called Cornucopia. This is hosted mainly by the students with a number of food stalls and is open to the public. Celebrities are known to frequent as well. There are live performances and stalls are rented out to sponsors as well. It gives great first-hand experience to the students.

IHM Mumbai is a government college and hence the fee structure is very nominal and includes lunch in the college as well.These provisions for hostel and mess facilities for both NRIs and general student and these are also provided at a very reasonable rate.

I am personally not aware of any scholarship/ loan facility offered by IHM Mumbai.

The majority of the strength is definitely male. The college conducts various competitions throughout the year but the most awaited one is Kulture Kurry which is an inter-college cultural fest with a wide range of activities. It usually lasts for about 3-4 days.

The college has a proud array of alumni. Any five-star hotel you visit in India will have IHM Mumbai graduates working for them. A lot of the alumni come down to meet staff and new students especially during Cornucopia, the food and trade fair.

There are seven internal practical assessments for each subject and one mid-term exam for theory. The internals carries thirty percent weightage. This is finished off by the finals each semester which has seventy percent weightage. There are also IGNOU exams which are five subjects throughout the whole course.

You can apply to write the exam both online or you could also procure the form from your closest IHM. Once you apply, you have to just go to give the exam and wait for your AIR. According to the rank procured there are three rounds of online counseling after which you will be assigned a college. After this, it's simple. You just complete your registration process and pay the fees for the first semester and your seat is confirmed.

The college is one of the first of it's kind and hence has very well experienced staff with ample knowledge and experience in the hotel industry. The faculty definitely puts in best efforts to impart both practical and theoretical knowledge to the students.