[amazing_maverik]

Life in a B-School is tough .I have been writing blogs since last five years and a good number of my articles have hovered around B-Schools.Circa 2008, and well,i had finally landed up in supposedly one of the top B-Schools of the country.The B-School admissions season is in and through this post I plan to share a few bitter truths about the "B-School".

1.If you don't like chalk and talk method better opt for a B-School which uses case method of teaching like IIM,Ahmedabad or go for an institute like SP Jain where the proportion of experienced fellows is slightly on the higher side.

2.Do your own research,believe me even sites like Cool avenues,Pagalguy can't be trusted and that because the fellows who post there are always the member of media and PR cell of the college and its their job to brag about their college.Believe me,except these fellows, no one has the time or inclination to go and post non sense.Good institutes don't need to brag and they don't do either be it officially or unofficially in online forums, magazines etc..Good means IIMs,FMS,XLRI and a couple others.

3.Never ever join a second grade course in a A-Grade college.The Management bug bit me and i did that mistake.Lots of institutes enamoured by HR, Retail, Rural Management etc. are opening up MBA equivalent courses in these areas.Do a lot of research before you even apply for these courses.You'll always be the poor cousin of the flagship course and that sense of inferiority kills you.There are always specialised institutes for such courses like MICA for advertising and PR ,IRMA for rural management.

4.Don't blindly trust the placement statistics.It can be fudged (read statstical jugglery),See the companises instead.For example, if two college show average of 10 lakhs PA then the college having respected names like HUL, P&G etc.may be trusted.Then,there is this whole KPO/Back office thing.Like some colleges have Mckinsey Knowledge centre on campus, but thats not Mckinsey.Similarly, be careful when you see names like Deutsche,JP Morgan etc.

5.Don't go by the marquee qualifications of the faculty;after a term or two you might realize that the one with an MA from a non descript university teaches better than a BTech from an IIT or for that matter an MBA from IIM.

6.Go for trusted sources;sometimes consulting students studying in the institute helps but it is not foolproof as in the name of brand and stuff they will unknowingly mislead you.But,consulting ex-students or current students helps definitely.

7.In most of the B-Schools the real education is very less;you waste a lot of your time in doing things which may add no value to your skills.I don't know about other B-Schools but in my institute,your grades are directly proportional to the amount of buttering you do.Its unbelievable but its true.Marks are not given on merit and so is the selection process to various in-house student committees.

8.Most of the relationships in a B-School are strategic ones,yes you guessed it right even the so called "Love related ones"
Friendships happen,they break depending on need and your ability;like for example if you are a commerce graduate and financial accounting has this presentation worth 30 marks in 1st term,you'll find students flocking to you to be in the same group as you.You'll see those lines about being relationships being made here and stuff,don't get carried away by that.Having said that,its all about groups in B-School and the adage "one who is a part of every group belongs to none" is sadly true.

9.Grass always looks greener from the other side.Behind the dollar dreams and beautiful glass buildings 24*7 Connectivity of B-Schools lies the real world,where exists loneliness,sadness and absence of good human beings.People here cry in loneliness sometimes in front of their classmates.I know its unbelievable,but true.The result-behaviours bordering on insanity like binge drinking,endless smoking and its not limited to that.My sincere advice to all those who are genuinely good human beings,please don't join a B-School.There are a thosuand other things that you can do.

10.Inspite of all your research and faith on your abilities,if after landing in a B-School you realize that it isn't worth it then what are you going to do?Thankfully,you have a recourse i.e. leave the institution!!!Your money will be refunded,if its a good institution and its not advisable to go to institutions that don't refund,simply because through this they are making it clear that its all about money for them!.
However,that realization must dawn within a month....

For any clarifications you may PM me.

[kingpintps]

I dont know about the reality of any of these so i can't quite comment on their validity or not, but I'd like to respond to the last 2-3 points you made.

7. Buttering(or as I'd put it influencing) is a part of life. People do it and to be honest it needs to be done to get ahead. Political intent is human nature, you cannot say it is specific to B-schools. Of course its extent varies and so does level of control. You'll see the same thing everywhere - school, colleges, workplaces. Obviously, people who do not do their work properly attempt to influence their seniors more than those who do, but in the end it all evens out.

9. Again, this just reflects the reality of the world today, and to be honest it depends on the strength of the character of the person and how he ends up handling all the pressures. Everyone has a good and a bad side, there is just a difference in the extremities of either one and I dont think you can generalise any.
People have to face up to it at some point in their life, and not joining B-School is no solution. You'll find such people everywhere you go, and its a virtue to be able to deal with it properly.

10. Refund is a tricky thing. I think in today's business environment, it generally is not feasable for most organisations to refund money. Giving a refund after the session begins, is very hard for any college, since it means an empty seat and puts pressure on the investment they have made in running the batch.
Management is about making right decisions at the right time after doing proper research, and if you can't get it right at this stage of a career, it will become only harder.
I dont think one can call any college money-hungry just because they dont do a refund, its just a matter of business and ethics. I mean you wouldnt expect a refund in a business deal just because you made a bad decision in the first place, unless you have very valid reasons or some law has been broken.

[amazing_maverik]

Thanks to kingpintips for airng his views.
Now i would like to give certain arguments w.r.t. his reponses.

In corporate world,buttering does exist but one never becomes a leader in the orgnaisation by virtue of that,You can at best go till VP levels by "influencing" as you have mentioned it.During my stint here, I have interacted with several corporate bigwigs and my stance has only been reaffirmed.I have always believed in the system of merit,so it was indeed a bit of a surprise to me.But, I take your point with a pinch of salt.

I have found not a single person here who has learnt to handle the pressures and secondly,ethical values are always beneficial in the long run even though in short run you might be disappointed.In these hard times,it has assumed even greater significance and companies have incorporated techniques in their recruitment procedures to judge these qualities in candidates.

In my institution two students left the college after around 20 days of classes and a part of their money was refunded.The seat remains unfilled till date.Secondly, AICTE has laid down certain norms in this regard for institutions and they are bound to obey it.

[Apurv]

What amazing_maverick writes is mostly true. Let me add my perspective of the same points he puts forward.

1. The quality drop after roughly the Top-10 b-schools is HUGE. The really rockstar faculty teaches in maybe the Top odd 10, after which the quality reduces considerably. More than that, the quality of students too takes a major beating. The b-schools itself restrict any growth of students because of their single-minded focus of creating 'employable' students at the cost of many other important aspects of maturity. Not only are the curruculums completely designed on industry feedback, other things like the leeway allowed to students on the campus too get influenced by some random thing some company will fill in the placements feedback form. As a result some b-schools have extremely random and shady rules like not allowing mobile phones on campus, restrictions on sleep hours, food, etc etc for people with average age of 23 years. The environment is pretty much regressive in b-schools. Very few people come out 'enriched' - though all of them have a higher paying job. Voila.

2. This is true for any institution of society, not just colleges.: Most people at large are sheep. They will suck up to every avenue that promises them short term gratification. Whether it is for grades, appraisals at the workplace, relationshps, etc etc. Mediocrity is the way of life for a lot of things out there. Even in the US b-schools, the standards drop steeply after the top 5 or 6 b-schools. Of course, even after the drop in standards their top 20 or 30 b-schools manage to be better than ours.

3. B-schools in general are not for idealistic people. There are very few b-schools in the country where the environment and administration lets you be. With the exception of the older IIMs and a handful others, there is heavy peer pressure on 'fitting in' and generally tending to the average mediocrity index of the class. People on the outliers are ostracized through many methods.

If your tolerance level of these things is not high, don't join a b-school - you will either end up being greatly disappointed - or discard your ideals for new ones. People try to justify it by calling themselves all sorts of corporate adjectives like 'dynamic' - which is just a euphemism for being malleable as well as ductile as people.

4. Even though I have written about all these negative things of b-schools, you ought to realise that you don't really have a choice if all you're looking for is a cheap MBA degree. If you really want a GREAT education, take greater risks and apply to the really good schools in Europe or US. You always have a choice.

But if all you want is Rs 11 lakh CTC at the cost of Rs 7 lakh in fee and 2 years of your life, don't expect Ivy League standards or anything near it.

5. Online forums are often haunted by b-school PR teams who only tell you what they want you to hear but only to an extent. You can get past it by (1) asking the right questions and (2) using Forums in the right manner. Don't just use Forums merely like a Question and Answer platform. Make friends on the forums in b-schools and gain perspectives by closer engagement with people. On Pagalguy, you still have people from the IIMs logging in regularly, though they might not be posting as much. Catch hold of these guys and ask for their perspectives. People around here go out of their way to help. Also like amazing_maverick said, consult b-school alumni. Once people pass out of a b-school, their passion levels for the alma mater generally come down and they are able to provide a more objective opinion than currently studying students.

Cheers and all the best!

[GildroY]

@ Apurv and amazing_maverick

Please don't get me wrong, I am a working professional (BTech-CSE Graduate-Software Engineer) and it has been a good two years of job.

What all views you have put up here, really sound negative. And negative enough to alter the focus of any individual aspiring for an MBA degree. But I have a few doubts:

[1] If the stay at an MBA college is so much of a pain, frustration lacking any value addition as such then why so many people and specially those already working and happily married to the jobs go for this 'Gold Rush'.

[2] It is absolutely true that the colleges focus industry needs and try to maar innovation and critical thinking to an extent, but then this is what is required. If the companies wont get what they need from a management trainee, they wont pick u.

[3] Majority of the junta (and specially those with work-ex) go for an MBA to get a platform of opportunities where they could get into the shoes of top management jobs in the same domain (field like IT in my case) from where they start as freshers, which otherwise would take much more efforts than put in for entrance exams like CAT (trust me, I can bet on that) and hell lot of time (even 10 years to become an AM or Dir from SE).

Reasons like enriching management skills, entrepreneurship, joining NGOs, is all bull shit crap vomited just for the sake of getting admitted to a b school.

[4] The most important reason is the 'TAG' stigma. It may sound a bit degraded and negative but thats how one lives in the chaos called India where to hell with merit, what counts more is your cast and college name. No matter what you did in the two year of stay in the college, but if it was an IIM or XLRI you are bound to be a role model, a local celebrity.

[5] Last, its about money, sheer money. Its undoubtedly the driving force for all the aspirants, no matter what they say, but in the end its the money which guarantees social, emotional and of course financial stability.

Cheers ...

[rgblogs]

Great Discussion! Some Point from my side....

1. Okay, if I believe in all these negatives about B-School or MBA Education. Which other profession or degree is clean with all positive points? I have done B.Tech and it is all about graduate degree prerequisite for MBA admission. Zero knowledge added and only rote memory work. (I dont know about IITs or NITs)

2. Tag thing is bitter truth in Indian Education System or Society. It was there when I was preparing for Engineering entrances and same thing gets repeated now, when I am preparing for MBA Admissions. Once you clear IIT or IIM, you become hero of your family else if anyone else clears, you are zero. You are lucky if no one around you is IITian or IIMian.

[ameya_ahr]

Okay before i begin .. i must tell you that i really do not have time to be typing all this ,. but am doing this only to make sure that no aspirant gets misguided .. and since link to this thread was sent to me by one of my closest friends .. who is also an aspirant .. i felt even a greater

need to reply ..
First my intro .. I am in IMT Ghaziabad .. Finance (It really was the hottest choice when we

started our MBA journey..but I did have my own reasons for taking it up.. anyway) ..( Batch

of 2010 ) .. and i am not in our Media committee .. i am in International Relations .. (And

boy do we rock ! -- sorry for surrogate marketing . .lol ) ..
anyway ..
so first of all "the truth" ...
What the 1st guy (i think mavrick . .) said is absolutely true .. the life in a b-school is tough

.. in fact CAT and GD PI is the easiest thing of the whole story ... it really is not for those

weak at heart .. Now talking about the truth .. i have been through almost everything .. and

maybe more of what maverick talked about .. failing in relationships.. getting annoyed by

the buttering .. crying in loneliness when u're surrounded by 100s of people .. feeling that

this whole MBA thing is a big hoax and nothing else .. all of this .. and most importantly .. i

have been disturbed by the mere amount of alcohol and smoke that Bschoolers find around

them .. (this is true for all Bschools) and being a teetotaller is a little hard (I havent given

up.. still a teetotaller.. lol ) .. anyway ..
but the good point is . . once you are engulfed into this whole experience .. you realize that

everyone .. YES .. everyone goes through these feelings .. and there is some sort of

disturbance in someone's life .. no matter how great it looks from outside .. and this is

where you start to learn to deal with all the problems .. you start to realize that corporate

life is going to be even more demanding .. even more hard to believe .. and even less value

adding than you think it will be ..
and this is when u need to step up and decide for urself .. what are you going to do with

your life ? and the moment you see that phase coming to you in a bschool you will have

accomplished what you started out for.. many people go out of bschool without having

experienced this .. and they surely keep failing till they do . and this is irrespective of the

bscool u r coming from..
maybe all this was a little too hard to comprehend ..
let me put it in simpler words..
life for me, in my 2nd term was really hard .. all these aforementioned feelings started to

haunt me day after day .. till i cracked ! one day my roomie entered the room only to see

half of the room on the floor and half the stuff broken .. that was me .. in utter frustration !

but then came the third term, where my life changed in a big way.. now i am in control of

how i spend 19 hours of my day (6 hours of classes in college) .. and now i really feel that i

am "IN CONTROL" of not only my present .. but also my future.. i could not have done this

withoutt IMT .. and without my peers.. (a lot of whom,initially, i hated from bottom of my

heart) .. i already know what i want from my life, how i am going to achieve it .. and all the

things feel like falling in place .. day after day .. week after week .. life has surely become

harder .. i only get to sleep for 4-5 hours a day at the most .. and still the work does not

seem to end .. and am sure all tthis will pay off one day .. in fact .. as i type this my nose is

running .. i have fever .. out of over exertion .. but what the hell .. i aint stoppping for

anything or anybody ..
I only hope that I keep going on .. and that my peers in my college start feeling the same

way . the peer learning would reach new heights ! and trust me, going by what our faculty

says, finance (they say) is the best class in the batch .. and yes.. i have surely seen the

toughest of competitors in my class.. and yes, surely. . many have lost track .. just like

maverik has .. just like I had (in the past) .. but the day this will change for them would be the one they'll remember for the rest of their lives..

All the best .. I hope u tried to understand what i have written .. although i know a bit of it was out there .. and abstarct but it was about feelings .. so it had to be that way ..
Got a lot of work .. may not even return to this thread now ..
So cheers. and all the best .. Maverick .. buddy i hope you find direction in this maddening world of a bschool soon .. i can feel you.. all the best ..

[CodeGuy]

This is something really disturbing to read considering bieng an aspirant for a MBA

BTW Which college are u from looking at location i assume its XIMB..

This is one main reason we need people of all types when we are studying.. Some are more happening.. some dont care about studies, some are very good friends but maybe not good in studies.... Now when these so called B Schools choose students every1 wants people who are serious and just keep studying maybe this is one possible reason for such things.

[amazing_maverik]

Nice to see perspectives coming from all sides!
@ameya_ahr:Am in the most powerful committee of my college.But, in the name of brand & stuff i wouldn't like to speak blatant lies.As regards your institute or for that matter any other B-grade college,people realize it doesn't really matter in the long run .So, don't mislead people & do surrogate marketing here.Your institute already charges you lakhs for that & uses it for that only(see the Ads in the left side of this website).

As regards having control on life, B-schools(Atleast mine) make sure that you waste your time in class studying some irrelevant things(a lot of those in my specalized course).So, the result is people studying in the so-called top B-school don't know the name of the vice-president of the country or for that matter The Chief Justice.Try & do this test on your batchmates.Am damn sure more than half of the whiz kids won't be bale to answer that.In this time of recession, a nationalised bank that came here as a recruiter had asked this question to a hapless candidate!The candidate was a finance bond but Basic GK

Don't ever join a specialised course for the institute's brand name.Try & avoid Private institutes.How many of you have heard about EDII,Ahmedabad?Its as good as any private B-School & cost of education is also less.
Aspirants PM me for queries or assistance!
Maverik

[kennyj_43]

I guess its not just applicable for just B schools. Its applicable every where in life.

Originally Posted by amazing_maverik

Life in a B-School is tough .I have been writing blogs since last five years and a good number of my articles have hovered around B-Schools.Circa 2008, and well,i had finally landed up in supposedly one of the top B-Schools of the country.The B-School admissions season is in and through this post I plan to share a few bitter truths about the "B-School".