Before I give my views, I hope the people already studying in MBA colleges will give their rational views here. And the following views are based on my opinions. I must confess myself to be surprised by the ruckus created by the thread on n…
Before I give my views, I hope the people already studying in MBA colleges will give their rational views here. And the following views are based on my opinions.
I must confess myself to be surprised by the ruckus created by the thread on new IIM's. First and foremost I am not writing to undermine any institute. However, I will try to point at some basic facts that are related to MBA. Firstly, no matter how great the professors are their qualifications and knowledge cannot be disseminated to students by any process of transfusion of thoughts. My point being no matter how good or bad a professor, a student will have to study on his own. Secondly, the MBA bubble in India is definitely burst. There is no guarantee that you will end up in the higher packages of the past and this is true for not only the so called "Newer IIM" but also for the oldest institutes in country like XLRI which was estd. in 1949 and the IIM-A's and B's of the world. The majority of people with so called cream packages has fallen down over the years in percentage terms as well as numbers. In addition, some of these older institutes boasted a minimum salary of 10 lakhs not so long ago which is not the case anymore, inflation notwithstanding. Anyone who is expecting too much in current scenario is kidding himself irrespective of the college and let me tell you this view is shared by one and all even in the best of b schools, they may not write or confess it openly but when you get inside, you can recall this post and you cannot contend that you were not adequately warned. Thirdly, if someone has read IIM confessions page or for that matter non IIM confessions page, if you are smart enough at analysis and deductions to be amongst the best, I am sure you can realize that, the package or placement is irrespective of a lot of factors e.g. if you are a girl you have better chance of getting good salary, only top few people get the so called dream package and by top i do not mean highest cgpa (your academics, your personality play an important role), if you cannot converse and convey your points in English language, with a grammatical command, rest assured an IT or a consultancy firm will never pick you up and there are so many other factors. Fourth, the newer IIM's, well brand dilution is everywhere in India. And that is truly idiotic and if you look carefully it is just a business to earn money by way of imparting education. They do not teach you anything in an MBA what your commonsense cannot guide you to. In addition, IIM Indore has so many campuses. IIM in itself is diluted with so many IIM's, after 20 years there will not be any difference in IIM A or Rohtak or Ranchi or Raipur, and they will just be IIM's. Even ISB has multiple campuses now. MDI has come up with Murshidabad campus, I don't even know where that is! What do you see? A pattern. I will ask you one question, how many Harvard's, London School of Business and Wharton's are there in the world? You guessed it right, 1. Yes their intake is 800-900 but the pedigree and the channels are same and intact for past 200 years. They need to break- even and earn money too, so I am not too critical about intake. However, they make sure there is only one campus and no bone of contention among the students of same alma mater. Fifth, Ranchi is ranked best in new IIM's I do not even know, why? The place reeks in law and order distress, kidnappings etc. IIM- C mentored it, doesn't mean IIM C confers the degree. Having said that, it is a commendable job that people are ready to go to such a remote area for an MBA. I am sure they have done well with their link ups with various organizations. Their campus issue has not been resolved and yet they are at the top is worth some points. Furthermore, I never understood why such a step motherly treatment to Raipur. Rohtak and Ranchi fight for that R tag, which in all fairness goes to Rohtak as it started a few months before the other two R's, Raipur doesn't even try to fight for that R. However, Raipur has done well with the placements, at least equally well as Ranchi and Rohtak's first years, average was same 12.3 lacs. Yet not many takers. IIM Udaipur has done well with their campus as publicized in above thread and their IPR standards or whatever that means. Yet, in all fairness their first batch has an average salary of 9 something, while all R's in their first year were at 12 somethings. I understand logic of an IIM in Ranchi or Raipur, great economic belt of India on coal and steel sector, but tell me how many want to go to these companies for work after MBA when they seek 10 lakh plus package a life in metro and a hot wife to complement the whole deal? Here, Rohtak scores with its proximity to Delhi, the border being 45 KM or Udaipur because it is a tourist destination, the kind of exposure you get from these places will never be compared to Trichy, Kashipur, Ranchi and Raipur, no offence if I missed any new IIM, God knows there are too many. Rohtak, if I am not mistaken operates from some university campus in Haryana, which is pretty huge and more secure and boasts of unparalleled sports infrastructure (like all universities in Haryana), after all, Haryana provides us most of the medals in Olympics, if I am not mistaken. So Trichy has nothing new there, they share NIT Trichy's Campus, and at best they are equals here. IIM Ranchi people get to live in Asiad village, which must be cool in itself. IIM Raipur has good campus by the look of photos. Furthermore, colleges (IIM Rohtak, FMS, MDI, IIFT etc.) in and about National Capital Region makes are at an advantageous position as it is easier to approach companies, and this thought was shared by a couple of disillusioned IIM K and C graduates. And, I forgot the winner amongst all new IIM's: IIM Indore Mumbai campus. Well they are in Mumbai enough said, the way they can get placements no one else can. Finally, the conclusion. My only advise to people seeking admission remains derive your own conclusions. Udaipur's laudatory effort at IPR could be a moving point for some or Rohtak's obvious closeness to Delhi and it's same salary package as Ranchi or Ranchi being mentored by Calcutta and the economic backbone of Industrial belt or Raipur's same package as other 2 R's with good facilities or Trichy's director being on facebook and their better professors who can transfuse information without students studying and NIT Trichy campus. My point is simple, make your own choice, the two years of life you spend at a B school is a learning curve, you only learn from your peers and experiences. Make sure you make the best choice, by looking at things that matter to you and trust me placements are not the most important thing, when only top 10% of any b school get the dream ones, you may not be one of them. At the end, how many successful people you know went for an MBA degree? Live long and prosper.