[anand11]

My 2 years at ASB r sm of de best years of my life. I m foxed..thngs can be so exaggerated..i cnt believe. Innumearble number of passes, good facilities, excellent library, best faculty nd ya talking to anyne (girls/boy) are de order of de day. Some people have a habit of cursing the system where ever they go. Plz guyz dnt go by those kind of ppl. They desperately need to go to a mental asylum. Take a rational Decision.

[soverign]

Originally Posted by Suggest Joinasb

Life at ASB
What I m telling no one cn claim its false but they ill answer in a different wy may be.

• Don’t get pleased with the admission brouchure ….the huge infrastructure 500 acres …. Because it has nothing of its own, its all University property and 75% of the area we r nt allowed to enter and rest of the places we have time schedule to avail those places
• There is one college building ( seatin arrangements with neelkamal plastic chairs) ---with no tv, wifi, auditoriam---- a school like culture where you will be threatened to be rusticated if u r once late in class. Good it labs r there bt of no use as you cn only check mail (other sites blocked), you will find better libraries in other lower ranking MBA schools (the library that u see n our brochure is nt of our own its central library where u cn get engineering and spiritual books), no talking to girls, no cultural functions(except tabla and santoor and swami’s lectures—compulsory attendance)
• They have a perception that if these upcoming managers are given freedom, they ill exploit the college ethics and will have sex outside if we r allowed to go out and ill download porn if r given free access to sites ..(the cheap minded bugger swami rule). Do u think r there any other wys to do it…they r actually trying to minimize cost.
• They say since the university has a majority of south Indian students, they prepare south Indian foods. But the south Indians cannot eat the food.
• We came here to learn management skills but they teach us labour skills like to wash dishes, to have food in a plate where rice sumber rasam dahi pickles all gets mixed up nd u nothing bt have to eat. The other colleges atleast provides divider plates and spoons to eat.
• Some of the good faculties thst u see in the brochure has already left the college and you will find a lot of experienced faculties teaching … actually they r over experienced and they share their 1990’s experience…they r unaware of the strategies of today.
• A life like jail where security guard will scold or stare at u as if u r criminal, teat u like a prisoner…nd after tolleratin all these u may nt get a placement….u will be said to join PHD course under the university or Amma NGOl. “you r nt worth, that’s why u didn’t got placed”. The faculties have their own ego problems and the swami praises those who lick his toesthis is the culture here. Its hard to digest bt its true. They r misusing the name of Mata Amrita and doing their hardcore business.
• To my belief the main criteria should be placements..so check out placements before comin….nw 57 gt placed ut 120..2 months left fr the end for finishin the pg course, so its in my opinion rather than wastin 2 yrs in ASB… take up CAT test nxt yr nd join diff college. Some of our seniors misguided us… its we don’t want to misguide u..

What the damn hell yaar........ I hv already joined amrita....... coimbatore..... Is it so bad infra out there......... ???? ...... ANd what u said about placement...... shiit...... U scared me..... Still I think I will fight hard,, really hard to get my own pie.......Hey other current batches student and seniors of coimbatore.. Please put some light on current scenario of ASB.. So that we see hope....and rebuild our confidence....

[karunakaran_tk]

Dear Soverign

I write this reply directly addressing you. I do not know who this 'Suggest Joinasb' is, and it doesn't matter. I am an alumnus of ASB and am currently working with UBS, a swiss bank as an HR analyst.

You can have your confidence and hopes intact. There is a lot that Amrita can give you. Only if you are willing to take it. Me and a lot my friends and seniors miss every second of life at ASB and we so regret that we knew what it was worth only now. For one thing the author of this miscreant post has obviously twisted a lot of things you will see at Amrita. This can be your first lesson in marketing. You can twist the facts in anyway you want to suit your needs... (in this case, the author is obviously pissed off and equally mistaken)

I would like to take the pain and time to go through each of the things Mr/Ms Suggest Joinasb has posted

1. The campus is pretty huge. It houses an engineering school, a business school, an IT school and faculty housing and the hostels... and a few other buildings. Yes its the University that runs the entire campus, ASB is a part of Amrita University. I have no idea why that is a matter of concern. Yes you cannot enter the girls hostel... but I guess you can live with that... unless that is why one wants to do a masters in management... And if you want to avail certain facilities such as the swimming pool, there is a time slot. Now if you dont have a swimming pool of your own, pretty much every swimming pool has timings... So dont even bother about the first point.

2. If you have serious issues with Neelkamal furnitures, point two could be a problem. Most classrooms are not very flamboyant but it serves the purpose of classrooms. You have TV rooms in hostels and wifi in the college building will give u access to the intranet site with a lot of educational material. IT hubs provide access to a whole lot of sites. Some sites are blocked but the post is a lot exaggerated. I could satisfy all my social networking, mail, and educational needs there. Some of my friends even had their entertainment needs satisfied there. Utsav is the major cultural event in ASB that happens once every year, I heard from a junior recently that there are more cultural programs these days on a monthly basis. I don't feel the need to address 'no talking to girls' claim. I am still laughing....

3. I dont know where he got the insider information about the Ashram's policy on not providing free access to internet. Speaks volumes of the author... You are going to get access to all the internet you will need.

4. South Indians cannot eat the food??? When I visited coimbatore last time, I visited the campus and had a meal at the mess. I personally miss the food there. But yes, don't expect it to be as good as home made. When you are making food for 3000 ppl, it wont taste like home.. But I had put on weight by the time I was out.

5. I think the author mistook B-school accommodation to be a five star hotel stay. Soverign, there will be certain things you will have to do such as washing your dishes, which I think is more of a character building thing than labor. I hope you understand this. If the problem is with divider plates and spoons, bring them from home. Its not that expensive.

6. Some of the faculties might have left campus recently but the cream remains. You can trust them to teach you what you need to be a good manager. I still keep learning from them. Me and my friends feel blessed to have been under their guidance. And I will not talk about their credentials as I am too humbled before them to do so.

7&8. Remember placement is a criterion to look at, but only one of many criteria. And be more reasonable and situation conscious when you ask for top class placement. One of my contacts who was working with Lehman Brothers, an alumni of IIM A was laid off giving him a notice of two hours. These are hard times and even the best of schools are finding it hard to find jobs for their students. The fact is, there are no jobs out here. How would companies do a campus placement when they are busy thinking about how to lay off some more people? Placements are not healthy this time, but the school is trying hard is what I can gather. Last year, my batch was placed by end of January. By the time you pass out, situation would have improved outside.

And one more thing I would say - wherever you are in life, dont be blind not to see what is there for you to take. I was blessed to see some of the invaluable things at Amrita and I still cherish it. And I regret about other things I failed to see then but those which I am aware only now. Have belief in your abilities, see only that matters, and don't cloud your mind's clarity with what is not relevant. I hope sometime Sugesst Joinasb realizes the same. I will and I am sure many more ASBians will definitely pray for him.

All the best for your MBA and let me know on a later day about your life at Amrita.

Regards
Karunakaran TK

[quilon1982]

Hello.....
Suggest Joinasb seems to be a really frustrated guy/gal..... But may I suggest that he/she is not necessarily correct in almost all the points raised. My friend Karunakaran has given a reply as comprehensive as it is possible and I have very little to add.

Some of the issues (like the plate issue) are really laughable, i must say. Why cant he/she make sure that his dahi and pickles and other stuff don't get mixed up? After all they keep them in different vessels... And btw, washing one's own plate is not such a big task, is it? (You are required to wash only one plate, if you use only one..I promise! )

As for the point no: 1 , I cannot remember ASB not being a separate building, honestly. Its true that everything there belongs to the University and you have to take permission to use the conference hall etc., but I don't remember a case where it didn't allow us to hold our meetings on time.

Point no: 2 is spot one with the Neelkamal chairs. But I for one believe that what is happening in front of you is more important than what is supporting your hind part.... Not allowed to talk to girls??! Gimme a break, yaar....are you telling me that I spent half my time in ASB with creations of my imagination? No cultural progs??! Unless you are a fan of DJ parties, you won't have too much to complain about. As for internet, students don't get access to the Wifi network, but you can always get a Reliance or Tata Indicom modem to go with your lappy (I had a Reliance Modem, which I rarely used)

As for the food, I agree that it is not to the liking of most Non Southies
and even some of the Southies, but its not as horrible as it is made out to be... But then, we told you upfront that if you cant put up with south style veg food, please dont go there, didn't we?

The hostel accomodation is one of the best you can get among comparable b-schools. Single rooms, bathrooms which rarely run out of water, 24 hour power supply etc. make them worth the money.

Its true to some extent that the security at the gates will treat you without much appreciation (esp if you turn up drunk). But then, it is not entirely unexpected in a campus which houses an engineering college as well. And I must add that Amrita has a strict NO RAGGING policy. Retribution will be swift. (You will see seniors who are scared of the word 'ragging' )

As for placements, I can only say that a B-School is only as good as the job market. If IIMs can find it difficult, so will tier 2 ones. Our batch was fully placed before we left the campus, but some of us (including yours truly) lost their jobs in the aftermath of the global economic meltdown. But to blame it on the BSchool will be childish. If you are good enough to get to Amrita, you are good enough to get a job outside as well....

And to add to all these minor points, what we really learned from two years in ASB was more than the sum of its parts. I am not really a devotee or Ashramvasi, but I believe that the two years I spent in ASB is the best thing to happen in my life. I don't know how to explain it, but I must confess that Amrita does leave an impression upon you......

PS: To all those who have joined ASB and wondering whether they did the right thing: Please keep an open mind and proceed towards ASB. Its not the building or the chairs or internet hubs that makes an MBA.....its you and the people around you. And you will undoubtably find some great people out there.. All the best.

Mayan R
ASB Batch 2006-08

[proud ASB-alumn]

hi to all u prospective ASB joinees..
firstly.. let me say something to Suggest Joinasb.. man... seems u have got it all messed up in your life to take notice of all the good things which have happened to u in ASB.. never mind.. life give us more chances than we can even imagine.. and i sincerly hope that whatever it is which has made u so miserable, goes away...
now coming to the life at ASB, i completly agree with what KK(karunakaran) and Mayan have said.
ASB has one of the best faculty u can get in India.. true that some of the faculty left, but still the existing professors are competent enough to teach in any of the IIMs if they wanted to. and the experience they have, regardless of when have they gained is priceless.. and Suggest Joinasb.. before u say something like they dont understand todays' strategy.. u should know first understand what strategy means and only then u can probably understand what they are trying to teach u..
coming to placements.. Suggest Joinasb.. it hurts me to say this but do u consider urself to be called an MBA afterall.. do u read any of the newspapers let alone the likes of ET, Business std etc... are u not aware of whats happening in the business world.. and if u still think placements is what decides the quality of the institute.. look at whats happening at ISB (if u didnt know what ISB stands for..Indian school of business..), there are close to some 100 students still unplaced.. and consider this.. they all have experience in excess of 3 years.. now do u say ISB is not a good college.. think of it..

i dont think one needs to explain about petty issues which bothers Suggest Joinasb like the Nilkamal chairs, cleaning ones own plate in which he eats and likes...

people thinking of joining ASB... u can ask any alumni of ASB and they would vouch for what i say.. ASB is a place where u get character and attitude. dont base ur decisions on what this poor Suggest Joinasb has to say.. think for urself..

all the best to all my prospective juniors.
regards
a proud alumni of ASB.

[soverign]

Thank you very much all the alumnees...... to give a perfect view of ASB.......... Though I agree that a single post like "suggest join ASB" shouldnt damage the confidence of a management student........ But it surely can generate few bad impression of ASB to those who are newcomers....... If a student of ASB hv this kind of notion about his own bschool....
Let me say then......... before joining ASB I hv scanned most of the datas available ....... which shows it as a very decent one......BUt one thing is for sure that a bchool cant made ones future untill he devotes himself to learn management.........And about placement...... it have to go with market trend........
With regards to all alumni of ASB............

[menongal]

hii all..
let me first tell you all...i am one who is very proud of beind an alumni of ASB...The college gives you alot...a lot to cherish..
i think the guy is all frustrated in life that he finds the good things about Amrita to be bad..and he has exxaggerated them too much...
Washing plates.gate pases..they dont make your life miserable...
If a student cant be sincere to the Institution i dont think he can be sincere to anythin g and can be happy or content with anythig in his life..so my dear friend..cheer up...start looking life with a good and openmind...
The faculty there is a very strong team and they contribute a lot to each and every student of ASB...
my friends have mentioned all the facts abt the college..and they have cleared all the false things mentioned by the guy Suggest Joinasb