ISBR Business School PGDM Review By Chirag Gehlot

ISBR was chosen as Christ had a tough criterion for admissions, and I didn't qualify for that. ISBR was referred to me by one of my friends who already studied International Business here. I have no issues studying here because placements may not be right up there or the facilities which Christ, IIM Bangalore, or the other top B-Schools of Bangalore has may not be there but there was peace and some good faculties who gave us the liberty to study the way we wanted. The skill set and the mind development are the two things that have been taught in PGDM or MBA and they have both been taught brilliantly over here. Even the placements at ISBE were great but many of the students already had their businesses to look after, so they came here to hone their skill sets rather than looking for a stable job after studies. Though ISBR has an entrance test, there are ways to pay caption fees and take the admissions.

We had to study 80% of the final semester online and trust me, that was the time when I realized the real value of ISBR. The classes here are compulsory; and I have cursed the College many times for that, because I was not at all happy with early classes; and sometimes the classes went beyond the allotted time. We were taken on tours for 2 days twice every semester and the seminars looked so boring that I didn't enjoy them initially as I was not used to studying this much. If one thinks that once the College timings are over, we can have our time, then, sorry friends; the real struggle begins then as a lot of assignments and a gist of the next class have to be prepared in advance. So, if one is tough, then only, they should join the PGDM program.

PGDM in International Business had international faculties as some of our professors passed out from Edinburg and other famous business schools in the UK. The International Business course had some interesting subjects, and to teach those interesting subjects some of the best professors were hired. Our professors didn't believe in theory alone, and therefore getting us ready through practicals was their mantra of making us ready for the future. We were already asked about our businesses as the maximum number of students were from a business background. Since we were from the textile industry, our professors gave us tips on how we can contribute to our businesses through the course. So, the faculty help was immense, as I never imagined I was going to get that kind of help from them.

Placements in general at ISBR are great, but due to Covid, the placements were shaken a little. Still, the class group saw many texts being exchanged on placements. If it wasn't for the Covid, the placements for International Business would have seen some international placements, too. The placement session started in January 2020 and after the 3rd semester got over in December our placement training started. I also decided to have a job before I joined my family business. But it was in my destiny to join my business after my studies because I couldn't get placed on campus and finding a job off-campus was against my family's policies.

The College area is small so the College has arranged hostels some 2 miles from the College. The College took care of our transportation, so staying at the hostel looked more convenient. Even during Covid, we were stuck at the hostel as all our online classes happened in the discussion hall of the hostel. The discussion hall was converted into the part hall and during Covid, we cleared all the mess and made it our classrooms as we all hostellers took our classes from there. Gujarat is known for South Indian Food, so I didn't have any problem adjusting to the food in Bangalore because students from other states had issues with the food. The mess committee also included a North Indian menu in the itinerary as ISBR has the policy of giving students a home-like environment.

The reason why I have rated Auro's infrastructure so highly is because many Colleges in Bangalore don't have the kind of space that we had there. Coming to ISBR, the building was such that one would fall for it at first sight. An air-conditioned building with bigger lifts and escalators ensured that if we want to stay fit, we should use the gymnasium of the College, which was quite good. The metro station was close to the College as the main city was quite far from the College, so we used to take the metro while exploring the city. The College canteen was amazing as the taste of the filter coffee in the canteen is still stuck with my taste buds.

The campus life was like a school where we used to ask each other, whether our assignments were complete or not. Also, there was a uniform which was compulsory and so the campus life was like school, but I enjoyed my time at the ISBR campus thoroughly.