Baby IIMs vs Old IIMs
Every Year MBA Aspirants deal with the confusion regarding which college to opt for especially When he/she receives an offer from Baby IIMs. In this article, we will walk you through the deal between old, new, and baby IIMs, what or where the difference is, and if you have cleared a baby IIM, should you join it or consider appearing for CAT next year. Let’s Begin.
Old Vs New Vs Baby IIMs
The old IIMs in existence, are popular as BLACKI IIMs, an acronym for IIM Bangalore, IIM Lucknow, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Calcutta and IIM Kozhikode, are Tier-1 IIMs. Then seven new IIMs were born in 2008 and 2011. These are called the new IIMs or Tier-2 IIMs. They are IIM Shillong, IIM Rohtak, IIM Ranchi, IIM Udaipur, IIM Kashipur, IIM Trichy, and IIM Raipur. Then again, six IIMs, IIM Visakhapatnam, IIM IIM Nagpur, IIM Amritsar, IIM Bodhgaya, IIM Sambalpur, and IIM Sirmaur born in 2015, and IIM Jammu in 2016; these are popular as Baby IIMs or tier-3 IIMs. Overall, there are 20 IIMs in total.
What is the difference between these IIMs?
So other than their age, some key differences between these IIMs make students prefer one category over another. We have tried to sum it up in 6 parameters. Starting with
IIM Average Package
When it comes to old IIMs, the average package is around 30 lakhs+, but when it comes to new and baby IIMs, the package difference is not very significant. Both of these categories have average packages of around 16-17 lakhs. If the average package is your only parameter and you are fine with new IIMs, then baby IIMs are not far behind.
Here is the table showing the highest and average CTC for all the baby IIMs for the year 2023.
| Name of IIM | Highest CTC (INR) | Average CTC (INR) |
|---|---|---|
| IIM Nagpur | INR 64.00 LPA | INR 16.74 LPA |
| IIM Visakhapatnam | INR 32.65 LPA | INR 16.61 LPA |
| IIM Bodh Gaya | INR 48.58 LPA | INR 16.00 LPA |
| IIM Amritsar | – | INR 16.51 LPA |
| IIM Sirmaur | INR 64.12 LPA | INR 14.45 LPA |
| IIM Sambalpur | INR 64.61 LPA | INR 16.64 LPA |
| IIM Jammu | INR 64.00 LPA | INR 16.50 LPA |
Difference in Recruiters:
This is where the difference between the IIMs comes to the surface. Any older institute has an advantage in this aspect, as these recruiters only visit colleges whose alumni have worked excellently for them. This is why some recruiters like McKinsey and BCG only visit old IIMs rather than others. Making Old IIMs with the best recruiters with big names, and so is also the case with new IIMs now. But when it comes to Baby IIMs, they struggle in this aspect. Although the average package is similar between new and baby IIMs, recruiters in Baby IIMs are mainly startups and not established firms. Still, they do give good roles and great packages.
Difference in Roles
Students of Old IIMs enjoy excellent roles, whereas new and baby IIMs have to make some compromises. Roles like Front-end investment banking, front-end consulting, and area sales manager in an FMCG company all of these roles are exclusive to old IIMs. New IIMs can expect back-end consulting, back-end investment banking roles, and area sales executive roles in an FMCG or an area sales manager in an FMCG company. Baby IIMs can sometimes not even get these roles, the consulting companies that visit baby IIMs mainly give IT consulting projects to these candidates, and roles for finance and other domains can be scarce. Mostly IT companies, or Banks and Insurance companies visit the campus for marketing.
Alumni Network
Alumni Network is an important parameter that comes in handy post-MBA when looking to switch jobs or change industries. An Alumni from your college would give you more preference over other candidates, making your life easier. More established IIMs have a Strong established Alumni Network, whereas baby IIMs struggle in this parameter. Although with time, they would also reap the same benefits as other IIMs.
Student Exchange
Both Old and New IIMs have good student exchange programs in Europe and other countries, but Baby IIMs struggle in this aspect; although all of them have student exchange programs, there are not many options, seats are very few, and the colleges are also not very renowned. This is an important parameter to consider if you are looking to study abroad for a semester.
Campus Life
Both Old IIMs and New IIMs have their permanent campuses built, and you can live the campus life you expect, but in the case of many Baby IIMs, that is not the case as of now. The permanent campuses are still under construction, which is undoubtedly a significant compromise.
Who should definitely join Baby IIMs?
Freshers who don’t have a very good profile and don’t have a job offer in hand.
If you are a fresher who does not have a 95%+ academics in 10th, 12th and graduation or a stellar CV, chances are even a 99 percentile won’t fetch you calls from the old IIMs, and there is not much difference between new and baby IIMs, you would just be wasting a precious year and there are always the chances that the CAT won’t go as expected in the next attempt and even the offer in hand would be no more.
If you have cleared CAT after 3rd or 4th attempt.
CAT is an aptitude test and IQ is a major factor, if it’s already your 3rd or 4th attempt, it does not make sense to keep going and accept what you have in hand.
Who should consider skipping Baby IIMs and appear for CAT next year?
Working people already having a job of 10-12 LPA+ CTC
Unless you are looking for a change in job or industry, doing an MBA from a Baby IIM does not make much sense as you won’t gain much in monetary aspects after this 2 yr. Program. Not only would you have to pay the college fee of approx. 16L, but you also won’t be earning 12L for both years. Making the opportunity cost to do an MBA from a baby IIM of 40L.
Freshers who think they can do better next year and have a job in hand.
Candidates who think they’ve been unfortunate this year for any reason and can gain some industry experience if they choose to skip MBA this year can do so and may be in a more advantageous position next year.
Students for whom Student exchange and campus life matters.
As already discussed, baby IIMs struggle in these parameters, and it could be a big deal for some students, so they can consider reappearing for CAT next year.
Candidates that want front-end roles and a great package.
If you are a CA or someone who is only interested to do an MBA because of roles like front-end investment banking, consulting or an area sales manager in an FMCG company and have a good chance of making it into old IIMs, if you get a good percentile, skipping a baby IIM becomes a more viable option.
I hope now you have clarity as to whether joining a Baby IIM is worth it or not. Thanks for reading the article, and check out our other MBA-related articles.