Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, [IIFT] Delhi

The class timings usually begin from 9:15 a.m. in the morning and may extend up to 6:30 p.m. in the evening. There are usually 3 sessions/lectures (2 hrs each) on an average; however this might get extended to 4 to 5(rare ocassions) sessions. The teaching methodology imbibes the best practices being followed in institutions of repute across the globe. A lot of emphasis is given to classroom participation, brainstorming and group dynamics. Almost all the subjects employ the case study mode of imparting knowledge which also opens doors for engaging classroom interactions. The overall experience in the college is very enriching and helps groom the individual in a holistic manner. All the possible domains of management- Finance, Marketing, Operations, Consulting, Systems, and Trade, are handled by one club each. These clubs impart domain and industry-specific knowledge via Knowledge Transfer Sessions. Also no management education is complete without practical learning and hence the regularly scheduled competitions-case studies, Group discussions, quizzes, etc. Live projects from various corporates in all domains are also brought by clubs, which ensures significant industry exposure.

• Our classes start at 9:15 AM and run through the day till 6:30 PM.
• Methodology followed is Case Based and teachers have a wide experience in industry as well as academia. 
• The overall experience is extremely satisfying as we get a holistic growth that goes beyong the realm of lectures and theory. We have numerous clubs and cells ranging from Finance,Marketing,Trade,Opertaions and for the start-ups,  we have incubation cell as well.

LIfe at IIFT :

Most of us start out early enough (if you're not brushing off an all-nighter) with the eternal trilemma of sleep vs. food vs. showers. The first class starts at 9:15 a.m. typically, with each class being two hours. If like me, you find getting up more than 5 minutes before class criminal, you scurry away to the cafe/dhabas and catch a quick breakfast in the 15 min. breaks. Last class is typically 6:30 p.m. (this can vary too), so you could be solving international marketing cases in the morning, followed by macroeconomics before lunch, global supply chain management after it, and finally studying a foreign language of your choice from 4:30-6:30 p.m. This would mark the end of your official academic schedule.AKA The Start of your actual day.

At any top B School, the official academic sessions are just another part of your day, with as much going on outside the lecture halls.

After you break over tea and snacks, is when things get interesting. The choice of activities at B School is typically maddening (you're not getting your money's worth otherwise!), with everything from sports to competitions to parties, or just endless discussions overchai-sutta. As a Student Council member, I typically attend to work post class, which could be talking to media houses, inviting speakers for events like TEDx or answering aspirant queries. Meanwhile some of my friends hit the gym, some others are working onexclusive corporate competitions, some more are solving real life problems with live projects and yet more others plan the numerous campus events. This is not taking into account those who manage the various domain-specific clubs and cells on campus. They could be creating content for magazines, talking to corporate honchos for interactive sessions, analysing the impact of the latest policy changes on the economy, or developing case studies on the latest digital campaigns. IIFT has 6 Clubs & 7 domain specific cells, working around the year across verticals.


A day B School lasts well into the night, with midnight being when most students let their hair down, when not working through the night on corporate competitions. This could be anything from traditional quizzes presided over by an aged monk, to midnight futsal, to random bouts of Pictionary & mafia. Midnight is also awaited for the vigorous celebrations, marked by cake-wash and highly kinetic wishes to back. Parties are a native species endemic to IIFT, with routine sightings across the audi or the nearby Hauz Khas Village. Guitar strumming is known to spontaneously occur, with open-mic’s drawing bathroom singers of all colours.

A Nescafe kiosk serves as the rallying point for late-night discussions ranging from the Syrian crisis, to the stubbornness of the cows on Delhi streets. More peaceful, loving souls are often observed either exploring the beautiful campus, or may even be at the Academic Block till late night. Rumour has it this may something to do with the Acad Block AC. A divine being known only as "Diwaan Sahab" has been coming in religiously at 5 a.m. sharp, everyday, for over a decade. The brain meltingly good bun maska & chai here is the breakfast of those champions, who've fought through the night, and now are heroes. Or at least very happily well-fed & sleep-deprived.

We also host the upcoming Ultimate Warriors League, which will be in it’s 8th edition this year (read: nearly as old as the actual IPL!) . UWL is a full-fledged franchise based sports championship, with IPL style bidding that goes on for close to 7-8 hours with 150-180 players going under the hammer, across 12 disciplines!

Finally, at some point usually closer to dawn than dusk, you'll find a few hours of waiting while you sleep, till you can start all over again :)

 

• The day at IIFT Delhi starts with classes from 9:15 am. In the early days of MBA however, it can start as early as 5 am( you see, MBA rigour ). Lectures are normally of 2 hours duration each interspersed with a gap of 15 mins between any 2 consecutive lectures. Number of lectures in a day vary usually from 1 lecture to 4 lectures. Assignments are a regular feature of most subjects taught here at IIFT and they can vary from a very detailed financial analysis or cost structure analysis to a very lively skid depicting business world scenarios during Mangerial Communication classes. Projects are a part of IIFT's curriculum for almost all the subjects and carry a sizeable weightage for the overall grade in each subject. One or two subjects also feature a mid-term exam while every subject has its end term exam carrying 40 marks weightage. The rest of the 60 marks are internal assessment which is cumulative of marks of Quizzes, assignments, projects, and class participation. It depends upon the professor as to how he/she allocates the weightage to these different components.
• The method of teaching varies from professor to professor. While some professors practise Case study methodology, others follow Power Point based pedagogy. The overall Quality of teaching is good given the large amount of teaching experience that the professors have (many of them being Ph.D in their respective fields). The role of fellow students is most crucial in shaping up the lecture environment and that's where IIFT scores given the immensely talented and competitive students that it attracts. The professors make sure to answer any subject query asked to them and provide their full support through their inputs to the students in case study competitions.
• IIFT plays host to a lot of corporate competitions as well such as Airtel, Colgate Palmolive, Mahindra etc and also features in list of select B-schools for which such competitions are open. IIFTians work hard and party harder. The cultural activities go on round the year and there is always a constant interaction between juniors and seniors. Sporting activities are a usual phenomenon on campus. Thus the overall experience at IIFT Delhi has been great so far and I only expect it to get better and better.

• The main student body is the IMF ( International Management Forum ) which comprises of a President, General Secreatry, Cultural Secretary, Media Coordinator, and Alumni Coordinator.
  There is a Cultural Committee named Melange(Junior team and Senior team), Media Committee( Junior team and Senior team), Alumni Committee(Junior team and Senior team).
  Apart from them following Clubs exist at IIFT 
  1) CAPITAL - The Finance Club
  2) BRANDWAGON - The Marketing Club
  3) SYSTEMIX - The Systems, Consulting and SMAC Club
  4) BLASH - The Trade Club
  5) SOCRATES - The Consulting Club
  6) SCOPE - The Operations Club
  Also, the following Cells exist at IIFT 
  1) MRC - Market Research Cell
  2) ERC - Equity Research Cell
  3) PHI - Pharma, Healthcare, and Insurance Cell
  4) INFRA - Infrastructure Cell
  5) E-CELL - Entrepreneurship Cell
  6) KOSHISH - Social Awareness Cell
   
• The main festival on campus is QuoVadis which is held in January every year. It is IIFT's annual management cum cultural fest.
  As of now, IIFT does not have its own Sports fest owing to lack of space.
  Apart from these, IIFT hosts various Business Conclaves and Summits. IIFT is also a Guest at major Industrial Body Conferences such as ASSOCHAM.
• Life at IIFT in general is Good. Obviously there are aspects that can improve, but then there are some issues with every B-school. It's a balanced mix of Academics, Sports, Cultural activites, Corporate Competitions, Live Projects etc. One thing is that you learn to stay on your toes 24x7. Rest it's completely upon you that how much burden you want to take on yourself during MBA. Getting involved in various activities such as projects, competitions, committees, Sports etc have helped me a lot in learning various skills.
  Hostel life is very good. There is music and lots of music. People from different parts of India, having different culture, habits etc, yet staying happliy under one roof. There is no dearth of food options ( whatever the time be ). Thus it's a good blend here at IIFT Delhi.