Anuj Kansal's Review on Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, [IIFT] Delhi

• I will be interning with SHOPCLUES, an E-commerce company. My stipend will be INR 40K per month.

Companies and Roles

• Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citibank, Nomura - Investment Banking and Markets ( Middle Office, Support, IT & Operations), Investment Research
• Shell, Boeing, Mahindra & Mahindra, Airtel, Reliance Group, L & T, TVS Motors - General Management/Strategy
• Corporate Executive Board, HP, Cognizant Business Consutling, CapGemini - Business Consulting
• ITC, Marico, Dabur, L'oreal, Pidilite, Akzonobel, Britannia, Godrej Consumer Products Limited, Johnson & Johnson Consumer, GSK Consumer Healthcare, SAB Miller, Hector Beverages - Sales and Marketing
  
  The avaerage salary figure for the final placements of 2014-16 batch is INR 18.2 lacs per year, the highest domestic salary figure is INR 29 lakhs per annum while highest international package is INR 1 crore per annum. 100% of the batch got placed.
  
  The alumni network of IIFT is very strong given the history of nearly 53 years. The alums of IIFT are not only present in India, but also are occupying key positions in companies outside India, especially in the field of Foreign Trade. Thus IIFT's alums have a global presence and they have made their impact on the world. What remains to be seen is how much more can this network be leveraged to raise IIFT's glory more and more.

• In IIFT Delhi, there are 3 hostels. Out of these, 2 hostels are located on campus namely OH and NH. The 3rd hostel , fondly called C9, is located at 800 m walk from IIFT Delhi campus.  The hostel rent for the 2015-17 batch is INR 47,000/- per student per annum on triple occupancy basis and INR 57,000 per annum on double occupancy basis. 
• The MBA full time course at IIFT is a residential program and it is compulsory for students to stay in IIFT Hostels. Having said that, if at all PGs are permitted, then the area surrounding IIFT is an education hub with JNU and IIT-Delhi in very close proximity. So PGs/other options are easily available at a rent of around INR 5k-6k per month.
• The food in college is decent. It's not the greatest, but mess food can and usually at most places is far worst. The cost per meal comes around INR 45-50 per meal.
• Quality of classrooms is fair. The classrooms lack enough power plugs and charging points under the tables. Same goes for Computer Labs. Library is a wonderful asset at IIFT and is easily one of the best. Dining Halls need a work around in terms of Renovation. Wi-fi is bad at IIFT with NKN yet to be implemented and often causes a lot of problems. Infrastructure wise, IIFT needs a lot of work and vigil.

• 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.