SPJIMR Mumbai: The Science and Art of Attracting Bright Students, before IIMs!

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
October 20, 2018
SPJIMR attracts not just the usual CAT or XAT toppers, but the real life achievers as well with its unique profile based admission process. Knowing that ‘quality’ of a candidate can’t just be measured by CAT or XAT scores alone, SPJIMR is way ahead of IIMs in offering admission to bright candidates from all academic disciplines with its unique Profile based Shortlisting process.
SPJIMR Profile Based Shortlisting

Realizing that it takes more than IQ to be a great business leader, top IIMs have taken many measures to improve the ‘diversity’ and ‘profile’ of their batch. One B-school that understood that ‘quality’ of a candidate can’t just be measured by CAT scores alone and is way ahead of IIMs, having implemented unique profile based admission process decades back, is Mumbai based SPJIMR. As a result, it has attracted not just the usual CAT toppers, but the real life achievers as well. Let’s find out more about unique admission process at SPJIMR, and how it can help you.. 

But before we talk about SPJIMR, let’s survey what IIMs have done in the area of Admissions in last few years. IIM Ahmedabad has reduced the CAT score cut offs since 2017 from 90 to 80 percentile and increased the weightage to diversity and profile; IIM Bangalore, Calcutta and Lucknow have drastically reduced the weightage to CAT scores in admission. As a result, candidates like Mehak Sharma, a professional golfer of national level; Nitin Pal, an international chess player; Purvi Edara who studied Psychology; Akanksha Choudhary,Winner of Miss India Elite; Aditi Agarwal, Fashion Designer among others got admission offers from IIM Ahmedabad and other IIMs.

Click here for SPJIMR Mumbai Highlights, Rankings, Program Fees & Placements, and to Ask your QuerySPJIMR Admission Process
SPJIMR Mumbai has consistently been achieving the goal of offering admission to bright candidates from all academic disciplines with its unique Profile based Shortlisting process. The innovative approach of profile based shortlisting differentiates SPJIMR Mumbai admission process from other top B-schools. A candidate who has applied for admission to SPJIMR has the opportunity to get shortlisted even before the declaration of CAT/XAT exam result viz-a-viz the candidate who is shortlisted much later and only after declaration of entrance exam result.

What is Profile Based Shortlisiting?
Shortlisting of candidates for admission at SPJIMR happens in two phases. In both phases short listing is done on the basis of profiles. There is no change in the criteria. Key features of Profile Based shortlisting are:

  • The first phase in shortlisting is the profile based shortlisting process.
  • Applicants are shortlisted on the basis of their profiles before submission of entrance test scores like CAT or XAT score.
  • The profile based shortlist is based on Consistency of academic record, Relevance of work experience for the specialization, Versatility & achievements
  • The Applicants, shortlisted in the first list are called for an early interview as well.
  • The candidates who are shortlisted on the basis of profile are expected to meet the qualifying scores in at least one of the entrance exams as a qualifier.

As per the SPJIMR Admission Criteria, a candidate will be considered for SPJIMR Mumbai admission on the basis of his/her profile and CAT 2018, XAT 2019 or GMAT (taken between January 2016 and December 31, 2018) exam scores. The scores will be taken into account when the results are declared.

Process is beneficial to both the Applicants and the Institute
Profile Based Shortlisting Process is beneficial both to the Applicants & the Institute as this unique selection process offers the opportunity of early interviews to candidates and avoids overlapping with other interview calls during the admissions season.  To the SPJIMR, it gives an opportunity to stagger interviews and ensure that the interview process remains robust even though numbers being interviewed are large.

Quality Assessment in the Process
Profile Based Shortlisting process assesses not only the intellectual readiness in terms of academics but also emotional readiness, work- experience, extra-curricular activities and aptitude for and befitting the Institute’s mission of value-based leadership.

Preferred Candidates in Profile Based Shortlisting
The preferred candidates who are considered for profile based shortlisting process by SPJIMR are:

  • Applicant must possess a strong and consistent academic background
  •  Various factors such as overall profile, relevant work experience for the specialization chosen (if any) and versatility and achievements are also considered
  • Although work experience is not mandatory for 2 years PGDM program at SPJIMR, those with up to five years of work experience are also considered in the process
  • Fresh graduates with excellent academics, extra curricular activities and notable achievements are considered for profile based shortlisting

Student Friendly Process: Starts in January
Profile based shortlists are announced in the beginning of January. The candidates are invited to book slots for their interviews in Mumbai. 

After the profile based shortlisting process, the candidates are required to add the entrance test scores of CAT/CAT/GMAT as it is a qualifier for final selection. Submission of entrance exam score is common to both profile based and profile + score based shortlists. The admission offers for finalized candidates are made in the first week of March.

100% Applicants Eligible for Profile Based Shortlisting
All candidates who apply for admission to SPJIMR by November 23, 2018 and have registered for CAT/XAT/GMAT are eligible to be included in Profile based shortlisting process.

However, the difference is in the interview dates. The candidates who are shortlisted on the basis of their profile are given the opportunity to appear in the first phase interviews which are held without the availability of entrance test scores.  The candidates who are shortlisted on the basis of their profile as well as entrance test score will be called for interview after declaration of entrance exam result.

The final selection list is based on a composite score, which takes into account the applicant’s profile, academic record, entrance test scores (CAT/XAT/GMAT), relevance of work experience (if any) and performance in the two rounds of group interviews. 

Programme Intake: 276 Seats
The intake of the PGDM programme is 240. Additional 36 seats have been sanctioned for PIO/OCI and Foreign Nationals. The maximum total intake of the programme is up to 276 seats.

Moderate Cut Offs Attract Best Qualified Candidates  
Not shying away from announcing the qualifying standards in admission process, SPJIMR Mumbai does not peg its cut offs very high. It helps hundreds of such applicants, who have excellent profile but due to any momentary reason, miss the high sectional or overall score in the entrance exam, to be considered for admission. SPJIMR, Mumbai gives higher emphasis on other quality parameters in its admission process. The candidates above the minimum cut-offs in the CAT/XAT/GMAT will be considered for all the subsequent stages.

Entrance Exam
Section-1: Cut off (Qualifying Percentile)
Section-2: Cut off (Qualifying Percentile)
Section-3: Cut off (Qualifying Percentile)
Overall Cut off percentile
CAT 2018
VARC - 75
DILR - 75
Quant - 75
85
XAT 2019
English & LR-75
Decision Making-75
Quant - 75
85
GMAT (1 Jan 2016 to 31 Dec 2018)
Verbal- 75
Quant- 75
--
85

While there are many factors, this success can be attributed to three key areas at SPJIMR Mumbai: Profile-based student admissions, Unique teaching-learning methodology and Innovative placement approach. Placements at SPJIMR, Mumbai are close to IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta whereas they are much higher than IIM Indore and IIM Kozhikode.. Read More about the innovative placement approach at SPJIMR

Profile-based student admission is a unique process that was pioneered at SPJIMR and is yielding good results. The core belief is that entrance exam scores are not the only determinants of future leadership potential of a candidate. Candidates ​in every batch possess a diverse set of skills - This has brought about a unique selection/admission procedure that looks beyond the ultra high scores demanded by other B-schools to look at other invaluable skills a candidate might have in their repertoire.​ 

SPJIMR wishes to look at the candidates from a holistic perspective and not just focus on test scores.​ Noted for its pedagogic innovations, SPJIMR uses unique teaching-learning methodology and is moving ahead with its mission of influencing practice and promoting value-based growth.

From this article, it will be clear to you that profile based admission process at SPJIMR is an innovative approach leading to admission despite moderate CAT/XAT scores. Next few articles will discuss the academic rigor, student life at SPJIMR.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on SPJIMR Mumbai.