16 students from NIT-T head for IIMs

Updated on: Thursday, May 05, 2011

The number of students from the National Institute of Technology – Tiruchi (NIT-T) gaining entry into Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) has increased in the last two years.

This time, sixteen students have secured admissions: three in IIM-Ahmedabad, two in IIM-Bangalore, five each in IIM-Calcutta and IIM-Kozhilode, and one in IIM-Indore. There could be a few waitlisted students also, according to NIT-T sources. Last year, the number of successful students, including waitlisted ones, was about 15. In the preceding years, the success rate was only in single digit.

The in-campus coaching facility has stood the students in good stead, sources added. Yet, not all the successful candidates had enrolled themselves for the coaching programmes. With knowledge of the pattern and the range of topics from which the questions are chosen, some could crack the CAT (Common Admission Test) through sustained preparation by themselves with newspapers and periodicals.

In fact, almost all these students who have secured IIM admissions had chosen to study further even after being selected for good jobs by prestigious MNCs in campus interviews.

T.P.Akshaya, an Electrical and Electronics Engineering student, for instance, had decided while in second year that her interest was in management. “I started preparing from then, keeping myself updated about aptitude with newspapers,” said Akshaya, who has secured admission to IIM-Kozhikode, but prefers joining XLRI considering factors like infrastructure and alumni base.

Another student Sudharshan Sarathy has decided to join IIM-Calcutta, which, he feels, is the best in the country to study Finance. “I look for a career in micro-finance and public policy. After finishing Post Graduate Diploma in Management, I plan to work for some time and then enter Indian Administrative Service.”

The interest engineering students take towards management need not be surprising, according to the Director of Indian Institute of Management – Tiruchi, Prafulla Agnihotri. After school, students mainly think about pursuing careers in medicine and engineering. They get to know the higher career scope in management later on, and start preparing for the CAT. Engineering students with higher intelligent quotient enjoy an edge over others with their mathematical background. For management institutions, engineering graduates add to the diversity. We look for candidates with diverse perceptions, said Mr.Agnihotri.

Unlike in developed countries where top-ranking business schools admit only candidates with work experience, IIMs and other management institutions in India, barring a few including the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, make admissions with undergraduate eligibility.

There have been instances of passed out students of NIT-T securing admissions in top-notch global business schools with the strength of their work experience in MNCs, observed A.K.Bakthavatsalam, Dean and Coordinator, Training and Placement, NIT-T.

16 students from NIT-T head for IIMs

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