CET is around the corner and I find myself traveling back in time to my moment of truth last year, when I enrolled into the Sydenham Institute of Management. I was the last student who managed to get into Sydenham. When I secured my seat, I had the option of Welingkar and K.J. Somaiya, colleges of which not a single seat had been taken by any student till my turn. I thought I was very fortunate to get into Sydenham as the seats at Jamnalal Bajaj and NMIMS were over and Sydenham was the obvious choice then. I was proud to become part of a class of the top 130 ranks from CET that year.
 
Being in a B-School has a distinct advantage since one gets a first hand experience of what life would be like at the end of two years and Sydenham more than lives up to this. We believe that the "students are our greatest asset" and at Sydenham everything from organizing lectures to the placements is handled completely by the 11 student committees (Pretty amazing on-the-job training, right?).

Remember that adage "I hear, I forget; I see, I remember; I do, I understand". Well that's the motto that defines our institute's learning culture. Management is not about theory, but how well you can relate what you learn in class with what actually happens in the corporate world. That's why we have a visiting faculty of 81 professors, each a highly respected professional, to help us think beyond the walls of the classroom. In addition, we've had a high average of about 2 guest lectures per week for the past 8 months (Now, that's value addition).

Sydenham also follows the much talked about case study approach, with presentations being made every week and a whopping 79 live projects being undertaken by the 'Research Cell' in collaboration with companies like Cadbury's, Wipro, etc.

I felt proud, when I read that our annual management journal had been compared to the Harvard Business Review (HBR) and that I was a part of it.

I feel optimistic about my future as I see most of my seniors securing excellent jobs. The maximum offered package was Rs 8 lakhs while most of the ex-students are drawing a salary of well above Rs 3.5 lakhs! I was told it pays to be at Sydenham and I wondered how. With big corporate companies like HLL, TCS, McKinsey, Marico etc coming to campus for final placements this year, my question was answered for sure!

Management is a lot of hard work - yes! But we somehow manage to find time to let our hair down - we've got cultural and management events like Simerations, Impetus and Alumni Meet. Have these last 8 months been worth it? Of course!

I can see a change in myself - greater confidence, better handling of pressure and better time management. In a time where management institutes are dime a dozen and an MBA degree has become more about oomph and glamour than actual learning, I'm glad I got into a place that really makes a difference.
- Vikram Maheshwary

• The batch size is 107 of which 73 were placed as on 24th March 2003
• The Highest Offered on campus was Rs. 8 Lakhs p.a. by TAIN Consultancy
• The Highest Accepted on campus was Rs 5.3 Lakhs p.a. offered by Marico
• The Minimum Salary allowed is Rs. 1.8 Lakhs p.a.
• The Average Salary comes to Rs. 3.6 Lakhs p.a.
• The Median Salary is Rs. 3.7 Lakhs p.a.
• The Mode Salary is Rs. 4.0 Lakhs p.a.