Raviroop Singh Kohli     

Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore

“I love every little stream as much as I love the wide-open sea.”

Hometown: Patiala, Punjab

Fun Fact About Yourself: I love folk music and dance. I was featured on FM Radio, Jodhpur on Army Day (India) – 2019, where I discussed life in the Army and gave a live song performance with a fellow soldier playing the guitar.

Undergraduate School and Major: B.Tech (Electronics & Communication Engineering), Punjabi University, Patiala

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Indian Army, Captain

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of IIM Bangalore’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? The culture at IIM Bangalore’s EPGP program is one of healthy competition and learning. The institutional policies emphasize, and the program is structured around, actual learning and learning outcomes, rather than grades alone.

What has been your favorite course or extracurricular activity at IIM Bangalore? What has been the most important lesson that you have learned from it? Events that happen most frequently on the campus are the guest lectures and panel discussions with industry and subject experts. It has been a wonderful experience listening to the who’s who of the different sections of society – academicians, business executives, civil servants, judicial officers, journalists, and writers – here on the campus. The most important lesson I drew from these conversations is that management theory works, but management theory alone does not work; every manager works it in his unique way.

What makes Bengaluru such as great place to earn your MBA? Bengaluru is home, both to the well-established corporates and gutsy and innovative startups. It offers immense opportunities to network with professionals from diverse fields, and to learn from them about the industries they come from and post-MBA opportunities in those industries.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far. Trained new personnel in the unit to become missile firers, one of whom went on to become a missile firing instructor. Also, I transformed the selection process for the best firers from subjective to a data-driven quantitative process, using new performance indicators and different firing scenarios.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far. Notwithstanding the packed MBA curriculum, I have participated in all cultural and sports events organized on the campus. It helped me build close connections both within my own batch and across various other courses offered at the institute.

What is your class’s favorite hangout away from school? Why do you gather there? Since many of us, including me, are new to the city, we like to explore new places every time we go out. However, MG Road and Koramangala figure quite often with their fancy breweries and gourmet eateries.

What do you hope to do after graduation? After graduation, I hope to land a program/project manager role, preferably in the e-commerce or FMCG business.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into IIM Bangalore? I would advise aspirants to, first, focus on the GMAT. Keep the GMAT and application deadlines at least two months apart. Now, you can limit the college and interview specific preparation while working on the GMAT. After the exam, learn about the program from the college website and alumni. Forums like Poets&Quants can provide insights on various aspects of the college, the course, and an MBA, in general. This will be of help while writing the essays. Also, do check out GMAT Club and other such forums for the interview experiences of the earlier candidates. It will help you align your interview preparation to the requirements of the college.

DON’T MISS: MEET IIM BANGALORE’S EPGP CLASS OF 2024