Are placement statistics for new and baby IIMs really as bad as reported, or is it fear mongering?

The reality around placements at newer and baby IIMs is genuinely nuanced — and while some of the anxiety in circulation is overstated, the core concerns are not unfounded.

From IIM Udaipur, an alumnus confirmed reasonably strong final placements — approximately 50 students unplaced — with solid company interest on campus. The acknowledged weak spot, however, was the Summer Internship Programme (SIP) side, where struggles were more visible. That distinction matters: final placement numbers and internship placement numbers tell very different stories, and conflating the two can distort the picture in either direction.

Where the concerns are more substantive is at the baby IIMs. An IIM Jalandhar alumnus described an average package of 12 LPA against a programme fee of 22 lakhs, calling it — in his own words — "the dumbest decision." That's a hard number to argue with from a pure ROI standpoint. From another baby IIM, we've seen reports of 130+ students unplaced at the time of reporting, with the expectation that the figure would improve by March through continued placement cycles. An observer tracking IIM Amritsar's outcomes cited approximately 89 unplaced students, with a reasonable suspicion that even this figure was understated in official disclosures.

The broader market context matters here. In our experience tracking placement cycles over recent years, the "tier 1 or nothing" sentiment has hardened considerably — and experienced professionals we've spoken with tend to agree that market conditions genuinely deteriorated over a 3–4 year window, making outcomes at lower-ranked programmes increasingly difficult to defend on paper.

That said, the picture isn't uniformly bleak, and it's worth weighing the other side carefully. A baby IIM student offered a grounded counterpoint: average packages in consulting hovered around 14 LPA, and 18–19 LPA in sales and marketing — below expectations, yes, but not worthless. Strong performers at these institutions were still securing roles at 30 LPA+ at companies like Microsoft and Siemens. Most students, he noted, do eventually place — often by August to October — with active college support continuing well past the formal placement season. From NMIMS alumni perspectives, a similar framing emerged: 130 out of 650 students unplaced translates to roughly an 80% placement rate — a figure that, in context, was described as a "job well done" proportionally.

The picture that emerges is that newer and baby IIMs make sense under specific conditions: if you're targeting a particular domain where the college has genuine recruiter relationships, if you're willing to put in the work on profile development independently, or if you're using the degree primarily for a career pivot. They are a much harder proposition for someone already earning 10+ LPA who is evaluating the move on straightforward ROI logic.

From experienced professionals we've seen weigh in on this consistently, the practical guidance is to avoid anything outside the top 10–15 institutions — IIM A, B, C, ISB, FMS, XLRI, MDI, SP Jain — given current market softness. Multiple voices across the spectrum also made a point we find worth highlighting: GPA matters less than most students assume. What recruiters increasingly respond to is practical project implementation and demonstrated problem-solving. And perhaps most importantly, students at any institution — but especially outside the top tier — need to treat proactive job searching as a personal responsibility, not something campus recruitment alone will handle.

So: fear-mongering, partly. Real concern, also partly. The honest answer depends heavily on which institution, which domain, and what you're walking away from to get there.