Lloyd Business School PGDM Review By Sourav Manchanda

In terms of management colleges, there are plenty of them in Delhi/NCR. LBS has the best faculties as most of them were hired from XLRI/IIMs and other top B-Schools. The college doesn’t give an assurance letter, but the placements were great as 90% of the students had the placements. MBA and PGDM are different from each other in some ways, and I being a part of their PGDM program can say that PGDM is better than college’s MBA program. Mostly because more project works were given to us, and we were taken on more tours than MBA students. People tend to shy away from PGDM as MBA sounds bigger and better. The reality is different, though, and during the counseling, when one of our professors pitched for the PGDM program and what it brings to the table, it was a no-brainer for me to enroll for PGDM as MBA has limited seats and were filled first. The college’s target is not the placements but to make students ready for the corporate. They will go hard on their students to the extent that sometimes one may feel like chucking the college.

The college has a personal entrance, while it accepts various other entrance scores as well. CAT score of 80 or more is healthy as per college standards, and if you are in that bracket and looking for a college in Delhi/NCR region, LBS can be looked upon. There are opportunities for live projects and a nice summer internship in big corporate houses to ensure we learn what corporate needs. Student’s skill sets were developed through a lot of practicals and competitions among students. The teaching style was unique as it may be in many other management colleges, but it was a completely new experience for me.

All are well educated and know exactly how to make students sharper. More than the books, it was the skill set that the faculty worked upon. The number of students were high in PGDM, but the number of faculty was no less as there were 30 or more to take care of nearly 600 students. Hence, 20 students per teacher is a nice ratio, especially in a course that is more about skill development. Choosing specialization needs a lot of thinking, and the faculty helped us out with that. After gauging our performance in the first two semesters, they gave us a clear idea of what specialization can make us perform better.

Banks and IT companies have emerged as the fastest-growing corporate in Greater Noida. The college has tie-ups with various such companies. TCS hires the maximum, and the second number is of banks. Many start-ups and international companies call centers have made their way to the college of late. Placement figures become irrelevant once you start working in companies like TCS or Kotak Bank. I was happy with the kind of opportunity that was provided as the placement figures were, to be honest, not that impressive. On and average, PGDM students had the package in between 4 to 6 LPA.

This is where college needs to come good as there are many other colleges of the group, but still the college doesn’t have any hostel in the campus that has space to have some. The college has arranged accommodation facilities at different places for both boys and girls. For locals, too, it becomes difficult as daily traveling consumes a lot of time. The college ends at 4 pm, and the rush in the metros post 5 pm is immense. We had to leave immediately once the classes were done. The crux of the matter is that if the authorities try to incorporate a hostel inside the campus, many students from NCR will also enroll to avoid traveling.

A three-building campus is all as the college is occupied with greenery in all four corners. The buildings were nice and has a nice set of facilities as each building had a gym, common room, and nice washrooms. A coffee vending machine was also there, and the breaks between the lectures would see students moving towards the common area, which was buzzing like a fish market during the breaks. Sports have been given a lot of importance in almost all colleges today, and LBS has taken care of it in a big way. Nice playground and giving students free time to go and have a ball was a nice gesture by the college.

Life was not as fun as you would have during your graduation years. The competitive nature of the course kept everyone on their toes, and we all had a purpose of coming to college on a daily basis. Projects, seminars, and internal competitions made us think about that as soon as we woke up daily. This drill gave me a sense of belief as even though it looked tough, I knew this is how my life would be for the rest of my time on earth.