WHY DID I FINALLY CHOOSE IRMA RM 26

I’m still not completely at peace with the “rural” tag attached to my MBA. It’s taking time to process, and honestly, I don’t yet know how long it’ll take to fully accept it. When I first started preparing, I had a very different picture in mind—corporate offices, formal suits, structured roles. Sales or rural finance was never part of that imagination.

But the path that led me to IRMA wasn’t random—it was shaped by a series of decisions, doubts, and realities I had to confront along the way.

I come from a biology background, with no exposure to tech or finance. I’m a fresher, and this was my first serious attempt at CAT preparation, which I started around June. Scoring around 90 percentile left me at a crossroads: should I take a drop and aim for 99+, or should I move forward with what I had? At 24, the idea of a drop year came with its own pressure—age, uncertainty, and the fear of wasting time weighed heavily on me.

Then came IRMA. I had a genuinely good interview experience and converted the call. Around the same time, I also secured admits from GLIM (Chennai and Gurgaon), GIM (HCM), TAPMI Core, and Welingkar. Choosing between them became overwhelming.

To make sense of it, I went back to a simple question: Why do I want an MBA?
The answer was clear—placements. My biology degree alone wasn’t going to get me a ₹1 lakh+ monthly salary. Stability and ROI became my primary filters.

Schools like GIM and GLIM were extremely tempting. They had polished branding, corporate exposure, and the possibility of companies like Big4. But no alumni, LinkedIn said on a written note that 100% placements are there. No one said there was no inflation in reports. Some say the actual figure is 13, a few 14. But none agreed with what's written on the site saying 15 lpa average

This led me to a more uncomfortable but important realization: at the end of the day, students from tier-2 colleges are competing with candidates from top institutions like the older IIMs and XLRI—for the same consulting roles or product positions. The question I had to ask myself was: Would I realistically be able to outcompete them, both in skill and brand advantage?

That’s when the idea of niche institutions started making sense. Colleges like NIA, NIBM, and IRMA may not have the same broad corporate image, but within their domains, they are leaders. More importantly, they offer something crucial—consistency in placements. That reliability gave me a sense of security that many tier-2 private colleges seemed to lack.

Even then, I couldn’t completely let go of the idea of taking a drop. But recent placement reports and discussions about unplaced students—even in newer IIMs—made me think more pragmatically. Getting into top IIMs would require a near-perfect percentile. And even if I managed that, there was no absolute guarantee of landing a ₹2 lakh/month role, especially given the current economic conditions. I need 98 percentile to get a call from Sambalpur, 98.5 for Vizag. Vercel says 99.99 + for BLACKI. will drop at all give me the real hope of 2 lakh per month. Sambalpur to Udaipur to Jammu, all are struggling with placements and indian economy looks to go downhill every year. Isn't this too much of a risk?

At some point, I had to weigh ambition against risk.

Choosing IRMA was not about giving up on bigger dreams—it was about choosing a path that offered stability, given my background and current standing. I’ve started preparing myself mentally to adapt to roles in sales or rural management, even though they weren’t part of my original plan.

Do I still think about consulting? Yes, sometimes. It feels like a distant goal now—something uncertain, maybe even unattainable. But for now, I’ve made a decision that feels practical, even if it doesn’t feel perfect.

Maybe time will tell whether it was the right one.