IITs have started inviting application for their Ph.D programme and within next few months IIMs and other B-Schools would be doing the same for their Fellow programme (equivalent to Ph.D). My inbox is filling with many queries from aspirants. This series of posts is an attempt to answer them publicly for the sake of a larger audience.
Q. IITs or IIMs - Which is better?
Ans. Never judge IITs/IIMs with their B.Tech/MBA programmes. Picture is so complex when it comes to research. Let me give you some examples.
- Based on research quality, Operations Management Group at IIT Madras is ranked in top-20 in the world. The only two Indian professors, who have been consistently ranked in top 15 POM (production and operations management) researchers in the world are from IITs (IIT-M and IIT-Kgp).
- If you want to do research in Neuromanagement (e.g. Neuroeconomics is a hot area and attracting many researchers), don't look at anywhere, you better go to IIM Ranchi.
- When it comes to Game Theory (Economics), then ISI Delhi, IISc Bangalore, etc. are far ahead of any other Indian institutes. Life is beyond IITs/IIMs also
So, instead of asking "Apple or Banana - Which is better?", you better ask "which vitamin do I need and what is the best source of that?". Therefore first decide your research area, shortlist some of the institutes, go and meet scholars working there, talk to them, even talk to professors also before you come to the conclusion.
Q. My CGPA, CAT score, work ex are XYZ - What are my chances?
Ans. There is no universal formula which can be applied to all institutes. CGPA, CAT score, work ex do matter but the requirement widely varies across institutes and sometime within the same institute across various functional domains. So, if you feel your credentials are above average (be optimistic), then go ahead and apply.
If your credentials are below average (less than 60% marks, score of less than 85 percentile, no work ex, etc.), then you can still try your luck, if you feel you are good researcher.
will be writing Part-2 shortly....