Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal Reviews

Education in the lap of nature

Placement: You name the sector and its there in the placement record! Companies, for both SI and Placements, come here from sectors including but not limited to development, wildlife, environment, market research, rural, corporate, NGOs, forestry, paper and pulp industries, microfinance, etc. UNDP, UNICEF, Annapurna, WWF, Kantar are some of our top notch recruiters. You can find other placement related data at http://iifm.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/placementdata2016-18.pdf
Faculty: The faculty is excellent: highly qualified- both academically and professionally; most of them hold experience of more than a decade. The forestry subjects are taught by IFS officers, ensuring that you get the best of it from the best in service! Apart from regular faculty, we have guest lecturers as well- some are alumni, some industry experts, few retired IFS, etc. Teachers focus on both theoretical and practical aspects of the subjects.
College: Applicant must appear for CAT/XAT and score a decent percentile. The cut off for the same for CAT 2017/ XAT 2018 was 78, while it was 80 the following year. Once you register yourself at https://iifm.q4connect.com/iifmapp/web_login, and you are shortlisted for the PI, WAT process, you’ll be allotted a centre for the same. After the process, keep an eye on the official website at http://iifm.ac.in/ and the admission list will be out generally within a month. You’ll be given sufficient time to deposit the admission fee. The registration process finishes by Feb and calls for interview process are out by March and the process takes place in April. Final calls are out by May and session begins by June end. its a culturally diverse campus. We have several clubs/ committees- drama, literary, entrepreneurship development cell, sports club, mess committee, cultural club etc. We have 24*7 available computer centre; library, GIS lab, centre for climate change, etc. The campus is situated on a hill top and almost 60% is forest. Lot of greenery around; infrastructure is really good, resources are plenty- one just needs to master the art of utilizing them properly. The only aspect where IIFM lacks is placement figs- not as good as an IIM or other pvt college, but still a good ROI. Although the figures are improving every year, the Sustainability Management course students definitely have an edge over FM guys when it comes to packages.
Exam: Applicant must appear for CAT/XAT and score a decent percentile. The cut off for the same for CAT 2017/ XAT 2018 was 78, while it was 80 the following year. Once you register yourself at https://iifm.q4connect.com/iifmapp/web_login, and you are shortlisted for the PI, WAT process, you’ll be allotted a centre for the same. After the process, keep an eye on the official website at http://iifm.ac.in/ and the admission list will be out generally within a month. You’ll be given sufficient time to deposit the admission fee. The registration process finishes by Feb and calls for interview process are out by March and the process takes place in April. Final calls are out by May and session begins by June end.

A potential institute worth joining but hidden and under-rated.

Placement: IIFM has 100% placement record since its inception. Organizations like WWF, TNC, Kantar, Pradan, Paper industries, Forest based organizations, Government agencies and other NGOs of wild-life and development sector are the top recruiters. For Summer Internship UN, World Bank, WWF, Government agencies, NGOs and so on are regular recruiters. The average salary was around 7 Lakhs and the highest being around 14 Lakhs (2018-2020). Packages being offered are decent.
Faculty: IIFM has a very good student to faculty ratio of 1:7. All the faculty are qualified, well known in their fields and carried out a lot of research work. IIFM hires IFS officers as professors on deputation basis so that students can get field exposure through them.
College: IIFM is a premier institute of India providing a unique flagship course Post Graduate Diploma in Forestry Management (PGDFM) and a budding and demanding course Post Graduate Diploma in Sustainability Management (PGDSM) for all educational background students. Core areas of IIFM are Natural Resource Management, Development Sector, Forestry and allied sectors. It the best place for the people who are interested in these sectors irrespective of their bachelors. IIFM is not just another B-School, it is the integration of general MBA and Forestry (&allied), Development, NRM, Sustainability sectors. “Life is not a destination, but a journey”. And the journey so far at the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, has been nothing short of a fascinating dream. One of its kind in the country, IIFM grooms the future “Green Managers”, who are not just well versed with management mantras but also show concern towards the environment. Using a unique pedagogy, IIFM does not limit its students to classroom teachings but immerses them into nature for real-life learnings. Students’ life at the campus is a roller coaster ride filled with memorable moments. The colossal campus situated on the curves of the hill is beyond imagination and mesmerizes with its charm. Beautiful natural growth which wraps itself in yellow during summer; dresses in lush green during the monsoon and welcomes you into this magical world. Not only fellow classmates but also in-house fauna like snakes, peafowls, squirrels and friendly visits of the leopard teach you different aspects of life. Here students are subjected to a constant academic rigour. Walking into a surprise quiz is always around the corner, late-night preparations and timely submission of assignments become part of life. But constant support from the esteemed faculty at the institute, who are pioneers in their fields of expertise makes learning experience here a joy. Students get the opportunity to apply their classroom learnings at various student-run clubs, which include Entrepreneurship Development Cell, Nature and Photography Club, Adventure Club, etc. Students get to work on the field during Open Learning Days and Field Works. This helps them understand the real-time situations and they can actually put the theoretical knowledge into practice. Skipping meals could be a tough task as the student-run mess serves delicious healthy meals catering to the diverse crowd here. Inmates from diverse backgrounds at the hostel make peer learning more effective. Annual institute fests, inter-college competitions make the campus atmosphere lively. Constant academic pressure which is a part of MBA studies is calmed by nature here. Going on nature trails into grasslands and thick tree cover around the campus, gazing the riverside dawn and dusk, one loses track of time. A diverse and inclusive culture of the institute derived from nature makes life at IIFM a bliss. This is a journey to cherish. Pros 100% placements. A unique course in South Asia. A lot of opportunities in these fields but there is not enough manpower. One can jump into general MBA sectors also (but it dilutes the motto of IIFM). Cons One has to work hard during the initial years of work-life. Less package compared to top general MBA graduates but decent enough (It’s not fair enough to compare IIFM with other MBA colleges).
Exam: Admission procedure IIFM accepts CAT/XAT score Apply online IIFM shortlists candidates based on CAT/XAT cutoff Next stage is WAT and PI. For WAT mostly abstract topics will be given and PI will be mostly about yourself, the current issues in the above said sectors and about your surroundings/native/state. If you clear those, bingo! you are in.

Best place to walk-in with all your heart and soul.

Placement: This year the Highest Package offered is around 14 Lacks CTC in the FINTECH sector. We maintained an average CTC of 7.5 Lacks.
Faculty: Each Faculty has a different pedagogy, few prefer case-based method, few prefer a practical approach.
College: Indian Institute of Forest Management has one of the most beautiful campuses in the entire educational setup here in India. It is located on a hill, on the back we have massive grasslands and the Kaliasoth reservoir. We have world-class faculty at our disposal with one of the best students to faculty ratio. The curriculum is diverse, we study subjects from Marketing to Forestry, From Finance to Environment and this reflects in our placements as well, we have recruiters such as WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) to organisations such as HDFC bank. From NCCF (Network for Certification and Conservation of Forests) to Investment firms such as Northern Arc Capital. We have a strong alumni base across all the sectors. Overall Learning is good. This year we recorded an Avg. Package of around 7.5 Lacks (CTC) in our Placement week. We have maintained a perfect placement record i.e. 100% since the inception of the institute.
Exam: Initial shortlisting is done on the basis of C.A.T and X.A.T score which is followed by rounds of Written Ability Test and Personal Interview.

Education in the lap of nature

Faculty: The faculty is excellent: highly qualified- both academically and professionally; most of them hold experience of more than a decade. The forestry subjects are taught by IFS officers, ensuring that you get the best of it from the best in service! Apart from regular faculty, we have guest lecturers as well- some are alumni, some industry experts, few retired IFS, etc. Teachers focus on both theoretical and practical aspects of the subjects.

A potential institute worth joining but hidden and under-rated.

Faculty: IIFM has a very good student to faculty ratio of 1:7. All the faculty are qualified, well known in their fields and carried out a lot of research work. IIFM hires IFS officers as professors on deputation basis so that students can get field exposure through them.

Best place to walk-in with all your heart and soul.

Faculty: Each Faculty has a different pedagogy, few prefer case-based method, few prefer a practical approach.