Somaiya Vidyavihar University Mumbai Answered Questions

The main difference between the two programs is that the PGDM program is fully autonomous, which gives much more flexibility in terms of curriculum and activities. Moreover, you have courses in PGDM which offer specialization right from first year, such as Retail Management and Financial Services. The placements are common for both PGDM and MMS. The average package this year was 9.4 lacs.

The placements have been very good this year. The highest package offered was Rs 21 lac, while the lowest has been around 6 lacs. The average package has been around 9.4 lacs. As for the GD, just read one newspaper daily, especially the editorial page. This will help you form an opinion about various topics. Also try going through the business news. For the PI, be thorough with what you've written in your candidate profile form and sop, especially your hobbies and interests. Be sincere about what you're saying. That should be enough.

While both institutes are at par regarding curriculum and placements, SIMSR has two distinct advantages: ROI and Location. SIMSR has always maintained low fees, which enables the students to get good ROI, as the placement packages are similar to those in TAPMI. Location plays an important role in the deciding the kind of guest speakers and peers a college can attract. Being in the heart of Mumbai, SIMSR is in a position to call industry leaders to interact with the students. Moreover, it also helps in interacting with other top colleges via participation in various events. This factor also enables students to bag live projects to enhance the experiential learning, which is crucial to MBA. This is only my opinion, as these factors were the reason I chose SIMSR over other colleges last year.

KJ Somaiya, also known as SIMSR, is one of the oldest colleges in the country providing an MBA education. The college has a fully autonomous PGDM program, which has 5 branches today: Core, International Business, Retail Management, Communications and Financial Services. The curriculum is set by the college and is highly flexible. It is revised every year, based on feedback from students, faculty and industry. The faculty is some of the best you'll find,most of them having vast industry experience or a PhD. Moreover, the students are also given guest lectures by a host of industry captains, top faculty from other colleges and celebrities. This enhances the holistic development of students, which the college is known for. The placements have been excellent this year, with the average package being 9.4 lakhs. Top brands have come on campus with a variety of profiles, which has enabled the students to get a great start in the field of their choice.
As far as HR goes, I myself intend to take it up as a specialization. For HR, you will need to enroll in the Core program. The HR faculty is very good, and we also have a dedicated HR committee, which is student driven. This helps the students interact with the faculty as well as eminent HR speakers and executives who are invited to speak at events held by the committee.
Ultimately, a lot of activities in the college, including placements are student driven, which gives us a hands-on experience in management and learn experientially.

The fees for your first year will be Rs 4.4 lakh. They may vary slightly in second year. The hostel and mess fees come to around Rs 1.4 lakh per year. You can expect the total fees to come to around 12 lakh for the course.
As far as TAPMI goes, it's on the same level as SIMSR, in terms of placement and batch strength. However, being in Mumbai, SIMSR has a location advantage. Moreover, you can also get a better ROI in SIMSR, owing to lower fees.

In the candidate profile form, you can fill as many specializations as you want depending on how clear you are. For example, if you're clear that you want marketing, you can put only that. Also, please note that the specializations you put now are not at all binding. You will be free to choose a different specialisation in your second year, depending on which course you're in.