IIM C welcomes new PGP batch (2009-11)

3rd August 2009

Press Release

On June 22nd, the 2009-11 batch of IIM Calcutta’s Post Graduate Programme commenced its course. The 408-member batch is the largest across the seven Indian Institutes of Management, and includes students in its two flagship PG courses, viz. the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) and the Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Management (PGDCM). The PGDCM programme, the first of its kind in India, is in its 16th year, while the original PGDM course is seeing the 46th batch. The intake this year went up from 304 for the 2008-10 batch to 408 this year. PGDM has a batch strength of 370, while PGDCM has 38 students. The batch includes 389 students who have come through the IIM-CAT examination, while the remaining 19 are overseas students. There has also been a marginal increase in the number of female students this year; more than 10% of the students are female this year as compared to 8% last year. The batch has seen an increase in the number of students with work experience. This time, there are 63% of the students who have worked before. The average work experience is 27 months. Over twenty of the students have formerly held jobs which paid over Rs. 20 Lakhs per annum, thus valuing the potential upside of an education at IIMC over the salaries they were paid. The batch, whose average age is 24 years, has defined new standards in various areas. Among the overseas candidates, the average GMAT score (the qualifying reference exam) is 728, one of the highest seen for any college in India. A similar story governs students who have come through CAT. There are three students who have scored a hundred percentile in CAT, with another 62 with over 99.9 percentile.

There has also been an increase in the number of students with multiple offers from leading IIMs and other B-schools opting for IIMC.

The 2009-11 batch boasts of diversity which varies from highly accomplished sports persons (national level basketball, chess, swimming, rowing and archery competitors) to people who have worked with firms such as the World Bank and the Reserve Bank of India. There are those who have been participants at the Indian Idol, taught as rock-climbing instructors, those who are working on starting butterfly farm chains; there are others who have been involved in massive projects such as the modernizing of the Bangladesh Railway System. At least seven of the students have their own startup ventures. A large number of the students have spent their time working with NGOs on various issues such as rural upliftment and education of slum children. Many of them are looking at these fields as a permanent career option.