What makes TAPMI different from other Indian B-schools?
TAPMI’s management programme is known for its academic credentials, rigor and high student involvement. The delivery of the programme is considered to be regular and systematic. One can see this through the good number of full time faculty members (25) TAPMI has, of whom 70 percent are PhDs and the rest having a solid industry background. The intensity of the full time faculty is one of its differentiator. Besides that the programme emphasizes on the core and extra curricular activities.
The student involvement and collaboration with faculty in writing cases and to work on research papers is also another factor, which separates it from others. These activities are a regular part of the programme.
We constantly try to bring improvements in the programme and the curriculum. The curriculum is revised and there are theme-based innovations such as Management-in-Practice, student’s faculty collaborative research, BrandScan and documenting Market Research experiences, NGO stint, outbound experience and others. In brief, quality, innovation, relevance and rigor are the ingredients that go into the programme and the institutional culture.
What is the reason behind accepting GMAT scores during admissions? Has that helped getting in more international students on board?
This is only a recent addition. The process started when an applicant wanted to be a part of TAPMI but he could not take CAT and so was going to miss out on the opportunity to study at TAPMI. That was the time we considered the idea of accepting GMAT scores. We still don’t add many students through GMAT. We decided to have the GMAT scores to provide opportunities for those who could not appear for CAT for one reason or the other.
Further, it helps in spreading the word around about the institute. Possibly in the next few years, we will be able to get more number of students through GMAT. Such numbers could also include students from the Middle East, South Asia and Pacific. We have not made any serious attempts to admit international students in a big way, but we are keen on such admissions in the coming 2-3 years.
Can you elaborate on the selection process followed by TAPMI?
TAPMI’s selection process is rather elaborate and frankly, relatively time consuming. The complete selection process takes about nine months, between July and March. It commences with the release of an advertisement to receiving the CAT scores and conducting Group Discussions and Personal Interviews.
The specific details of Group Discussions and the Selection process are as follows – the entire process of selection takes about 10 to 12 days depending on the number of candidates short-listed for the process; usually about 1,500 students are called and there are about 20 percent absentees. We normally interview about 1,200 students for 120 seats out of the total 8000 to 10,000 applications we receive.
On an average, we do conduct interviews for about 100 students in at least 8 to 9 panels simultaneously followed by the Director’s panel. The interview with the Director’s panel lasts for an average of 5 minutes. The GD itself is elaborate, the process of group discussion and its summary writing are considered for selection along with an extempore, panel interview, Director’s panel interview plus rating of the application. All the weightages are taken into account in drawing upon the short-listing of candidates for admissions.
What is the reason behind not having varied centers across India for GD-PI sessions and instead calling students to Manipal?
We think that Manipal being a small town and not a metropolitan city must be seen by all the candidates before they decide to join us, subject to their selection. It has its own benefits. However in the process, we might lose a few hundred students. But considering the cost-benefit and pros and cons, inviting students to Manipal, we consider it as a more suitable option. This decision is also based upon our many years of experience. We tried going to other centres in 2005 but the results were not very different from what we are doing of inviting people to Manipal.
What top five qualities do you look for in prospective students?
The five qualities we look for while selecting students include clarity of purpose and its expression both in writing and speaking. The other thing would be a broader understanding of the world and his or her perspective on the same. We also look at the academic records, which ought to be reasonably good. In terms of personality we expect our students to have a point of view at the same time an ability to communicate well. Moreover, a pleasant approach and a positive body language make a difference to one’s chances for shortlisting.
What kind of jobs are being offered to TAPMI students? What has the placement trend been over the last two years in terms of sector and specializations?
To start with there has been an increase in the number of well-known companies visiting the campus. Around 20 percent average rise in the salaries for students. Also the shortest possible time of completion of placement last year, it took only 33 hours by 39 companies, 189 offers for 128 students. Four companies did not draw even a single student. Also each student had at least two job options to choose from.
The specializations in the order of importance (during placements) were marketing, including marketing of services like banking and insurance and IT products and services, finance and rating agencies, equity research and consulting, IT and systems, becoming a blended specialization with the above. The hardcore IT specialization is rather less preferred.
Even though the numbers were less for HR, they are showing a continuous increase over the years and the placement records have tremendously improved. I would also give credit to the IT, ITES and other service cectors for the improvement in our placement figures.
Placements at TAPMI are dominated by finance-related jobs. What does TAPMI offer to students who opt for other specializations like Marketing, Human resources?
It is no longer true. It was so in the mid 90s. TAPMI is known for its good faculty in the Finance area. Right now marketing dominates with more number of students opting for it along with best of faculty to guide them.
As I mentioned, HR is also catching up. As the demand increases, some of our talented students who want to make a difference in their careers are opting for this specialization. We will see more of such students in the coming years.
Could you tell us about TAPMI’s new campus? What are the latest facilities offered to students?
We have already started the construction of our new campus. It is fairly large in size covering approximately 42 acres and is fully residential for faculty, staff and students. It also has wi-fi and other necessary facilities. The new campus has aesthetically designed buildings, a student-friendly environment including a student centre with all the provisions including few shops, a gym, yoga and meditation centre and indoor games. There are provisions for outdoor games such as football, volleyball courts and cricket. There would also be a tennis court. More importantly, the location of the campus is an attractive proposition – on a hilltop, overlooking a green and beautiful valley.
What are the challenges TAPMI has been facing? Is being situated in Manipal pose as a hurdle for TAPMI’s growth as compared to its contemporaries?
At the moment faculty shortage in certain areas and the turnovers pose a challenge for us. However, we hope it to be just a temporary phenomenon as we are building a new campus and over the years our reputation has improved as well.
Being away from the main city and industry could be a constraint as logistics pose problems. In that way Mumbai has an advantage over us along with the learning, practice and industry interaction they get which also draws upon a number of experienced people from the industry. But we try to compensate to some extent by more number of full time faculty and innovative methodologies of interacting with the industry for both students and faculty.
It is said that TAPMI has expelled several students in the past few years. Could you share with us the reason behind the same?
It is totally baseless and bears no evidence on facts. I can tell you in the last fifteen years, people who are asked to leave or withdraw in the program were not even ten. Out of which in 2003, we had asked five students to discontinue from the program for wont of minimum grade point, that is 2.5 in the first year. Last year, we had one such student who scored 2.03 and we have asked him to repeat the first year and he joined back. The five students who were asked to withdraw were because that year the academic council of the institute decided not to allow students for repeating as they tend to be less motivated. Nonetheless after some review, it was decided to allow students to repeat the program but by case-by-case approach.