Flame School of Business MBA Review By Keyu Parekh

I completed my MBA from Flame School of Business in 2019. I spent 2 years at Flame and it is better than various average colleges in India. My review may not be for the ones during under-graduate programs from the university but I will give an honest opinion as to the fees and all are quite high at the University. For some, it may be a setback that no non-veg food is allowed inside the campus. Eggs are allowed though but nothing apart from that. The Business school of the University has a lot to offer. The seats are limited and for me, it was frustrating as I couldn’t choose my desired subjects. Education is the top priority as the Business school is far from extracurricular activities. Sports are not mandatory but students are being encouraged to play and participate and the University has built a world-class sporting infrastructure.

Academics are no doubt the biggest thing at the University. The attendance buffer though even for MBA students was not high. All we had to do was indulge in some projects or include sports in our schedule and we will have enough excuses to miss the classes. HR was not my dream but had to choose that because I had no other option. The attendance was counted hourly and that was a bit strange. Students did get in some sort of tangled due to that. The practicals and all were not just held in the University but taking us out for industrial visits was quite common. The exposure that I got at FLAME was unbelievable but yes I couldn’t get my desired choice of subjects.

All the faculty members were quite experienced and had some of the best degrees on offer. HR faculty had to indulge us in 8 hours of practicals every week and therefore we didn’t have much theory headache. The University has produced some quality students but was a little mesh if you compare them with top B-Schools of the country. Flame though never claims to be the best University and has never promoted its MBA programs like many other Universities in Pune. Some of the faculty were selfish as they had different rules for different students. The non-favorites were badged into submissions more than ever and this was one of the severe drawbacks.

This time around the industrial tours and interaction with some of the best in the industry was not just a gimmick. We were given training and all that helped during the placements. 80% of the students had the last laugh at the University because they ran away with a package worth 8-10 lakhs. Also, we fell in love with Pune and all the placements were in Pune itself. One just had to be a little serious and placements are not far.

MBA is a pure residential program and the hostel on that account became a compulsion. The hostel blocks were beautiful and MBA students were given rooms on a twin-sharing basis. For the second we were to choose our room partners as during the first year the students were chosen randomly. This was a help as the one with whom we had good camaraderie eventually shared the room. Each room had a balcony and there was a nice lawn in front of the hostel building. We could spend time on lawn even during the twilight. There was a boundary which couldn’t be crossed but if we stayed in the limits the hostel was never boring. The food was good as it didn’t just have a Maharashtrian menu. Yes, Chowli ki sabzi was served more than it should be but otherwise, there’s no problem with the food. The staff hostel was nearby so loud music and partying at the hostel was not possible.

The Business school was allotted a separate building. The building was fully air-conditioned and the classrooms were high quality. The campus was huge and each department of the Flame University has its own buildings. The college was located near the mountains and the view from the college was epic. There was a Kund (small pond) inside the University campus and sitting there with friends in the evening was a joyful ride. The University had 6 canteens but were average. However, just 200 meters from University there was a Tapri or a small Dhaba that served food to remember. The University cricket ground was from another planet. The picturesque ground was so well maintained as it was daily watered and the curators took care of the main and the practice pitch. There was a student corner (PLAZA) that had TV and sofas and students can use that until 10 pm.

2 years passed by in split seconds it seemed. I wanted to have more pie but were done before we even realized it. The campus was a new experience as I never stayed far from my family before. There were not many events and I never even participated as submission took the better of us. Life was pretty easy because yes there were rules in place and I am sorry but you will have to follow them.