ISBR Business School PGDM Review By Ankur Manavadariya

I got my PGDM degree from ISBR Business School Bangalore. Our college is stationed in Times magazine for being in the best 100 universities for MBA in India. MBA was always on my mind, and going abroad was my initial plan, but as destiny would have wanted it, I had to Masters's in Bangalore. I wasn't a bright student, which led me to join ISBR, where admission criteria are minimal. Thus, you are one of those who need an MBA degree and a stable job, ISBR is not a bad option. The college asks for various scores, but at the end of the day, you will get your admission letter if they think you can pay fees and the other charges they ask each semester in the name of college funds and social activities. ISBR also conducts its own aptitude test, and even to get a seat from the management quota make sure you have appeared for that entrance. I have with this given you all the information on how to take admissions here.

At the beginning, it felt waste as the classes were much longer and I saw many students who were just like me. Not interested and confused on whether to continue or not. There were no efforts made by the teaching staff to make the course interesting but come the second semester, and we had a lot of activities, and most of them study related. As a student of its course International Business, we had live interactions with students of foreign universities. I hope they took us there but never mind as a lot of MNCs who have come to Bangalore have not given up on their core values and we were taken to some of those industries. They wanted fresh MBA students to help their organization understand the local channel, and most of us were picked through that. Luckily all this happened before the Covid outbreak as the students who missed out there virtually had no placements in hand.

The faculty was helpful in one way or the other. The program was such that we were outside most of the time after the 2nd semester and faculty would accompany us. They taught everything with care and the same kind of things were assembled back in the college if we had any doubts left. As young aspirants, we were taken seriously and they portrayed our true potential. It is fair that most of the MBA students are at the college only for the job and believe in passing exams somehow. This is not the reality as MBA is more of practical learning, and one has to be in it to understand the concepts of the program. A teacher can take you to the river, but you will have to drink water on your own.

The Covid-19 has taken the jobs of many and our batch students were the victims of that. Companies were invited in January but half the students already had jobs. The placements were going smoothly but before the final round could complete, the Covid arrived and everything had to be stopped. The other programs didn't have the same issues as ours because it wasn't a pool placement, but different companies came for different courses. We were the last and, due to Covid, were the only ones who missed out. The college authorities promised students that once the Covid scare goes, they will arrange for their placements, but it hasn't happened and I feel sorry for the ones who denied working in start-ups and are now left with no jobs. It has more to do with Covid than the college because the college's placement record is good.

There is one boys and one girl's hostel provided by the college located at 2-3 kms from the college. The hostel environment is nice but being a local boy, we were not allowed and had to meet our hostel friends outside the building only. After a tough day they had a pretty easy life at the hostel, and the hostel authorities provided only vegetarian food. The menu was a mix of south and North Indian dishes as North Indian students come in bulk every year. Central facilities at the hostel include a clean dining hall, TV room, and pure drinking water machines. That's all I know about the hostels.

ISBR is located in the electronic city, which is a little distant from the main city of Bengaluru. With the metro being operational, the connectivity has become seamless. The building is great and is a glass building that is adjacent to the Biocon office. The campus can be termed small but has facilities to spare. There are three buildings in all with an MBA building at the left-hand side of the campus. The open amphitheater was small but the place where we had the maximum fun. The computer lab, library, the canteen had the red colour theme on them as that is pretty much the colour of the college.

A sense of urgency was seen once I was at the campus. Every day we will see each other's faces and know who has done the assignments and who hasn't. So, we used to gang up and make the faculty busy on something else, and it was so fun that it felt like we are back at school. The college has sporting values, and irrespective of your course, you are asked to pick a sport and play that for at least half an hour daily. The college's orientation program and the annual fest were as rocking as a rock show.