Is IPM worth it? A guide for parents

3 Nov 2026 · 3 min read · Draft - not indexed

The pitch is easy to say: your child gets into an IIM at 18 instead of applying at 22. The decision deserves more than the pitch, so here is what the institutes themselves publish, and what we would want to know if it were our own child.

What the commitment actually is

At IIM Indore the programme runs five years, divided into 15 terms of three months each. Years 1 to 3 cover foundational subjects; years 4 and 5 are management studies taken alongside the postgraduate students. A student finishes with a Bachelor of Arts (Foundations of Management) and an MBA, awarded as a dual degree. There is a social internship at the end of year 2 and a business internship between years 4 and 5.

At IIM Bodh Gaya, entered through JIPMAT, the five years lead to a BBA and an MBA, with semesters for the first three years and trimesters for the last two, plus a compulsory Rural and Social Immersion internship after year 2.

So this is a five-year decision made at 17 or 18. That is the real question in the room, not the exam.

The exit option matters

IIM Bodh Gaya states that a student who exits after three years receives the BBA. That is worth knowing before you start. If your child changes direction at 20 — and some do — they leave with a recognised undergraduate degree rather than nothing.

Ask each institute you are considering what its exit provision is, in writing.

What it costs

IIM Indore publishes Rs 6,00,000 per annum for years 1 to 3 for domestic applicants, with years 4 and 5 charged at the prevailing postgraduate programme fee. The institute says the figure includes lodging, lecture access, internet and library, and that it is subject to revision.

IIM Rohtak publishes a registration fee of Rs 4,937 and an Offer Acceptance Amount of Rs 1,00,000 which is set against the first-year fee, with the programme fee in a separate document on its website. It also states that a withdrawal before the registration date is refunded after a Rs 1,000 processing deduction, within 150 to 180 days.

Plan on the published figures, and confirm them for your cycle rather than ours.

How many seats there really are

IIM Indore lists 150 sanctioned seats for domestic applicants. IIM Rohtak lists 198 seats for its 2026-31 batch, including 10% reserved for EWS candidates. These are small programmes. Treat IPM as one route your child attempts seriously, alongside a plan B, not as the only acceptable outcome.

School marks are not a side issue

At IIM Rohtak the final merit list is 55% aptitude test, 20% Class XII marks, 15% personal interview and 10% Class X marks, with a minimum of 60% in Class X and Class XII (55% for SC, ST and DAP candidates). Nearly a third of the decision is school performance.

This is useful for a parent, because it means the advice you were already giving — do well at school — is also exam strategy. Any coaching that asks your child to neglect boards for test preparation has the arithmetic wrong.

Questions worth asking any coaching institute

1. Who actually teaches the class, and will that person change mid-year?
2. How many students are in the batch?
3. What happens after a mock test, specifically?
4. Can I see the fee structure and the refund terms in writing before I pay?
5. Whose results are these, and can you name them?

On the last one: we publish named students with their own percentiles on our results page. If an institute shows you a round figure like a 98% success rate, ask what the denominator is. Most cannot answer.

What we will not claim

We will not give you a success rate or a placement figure, because we cannot evidence one. We will tell you what we teach, who teaches it, and what it costs, and we are happy to say when a child would be better served elsewhere.

If it helps to talk it through, ask us for a callback and we will speak to you rather than to your child.