Calcutta Business School PGDM Review By Pawan Pandey

CBS has a curriculum as good as IIM. Placements are also good though I can’t compare these with IIM’s beautiful infrastructure and highly qualified faculties. My mom hails from Murshidabad and MDI Murshidabad was my first choice but MDI is MDI, be it Gurgaon or Murshidabad. CBS offers CMAT scores and then the usual round of GD & PI and if you pass all that, you will be selected. The number of students here are comparatively low. Even though eastern India doesn’t have many good B-schools, CBS Kolkata is not looked upon as the first choice. I will try to clarify if anyone has doubts regarding CBS because it can be made as the first choice in college as the placements here are 100%. Looking at the college, I had a cookie jar expression because I was frozen looking at the college and hostel facilities. CBS for me was the last bouncy step to the final phase of my academic career and I finished my academics on a high note as I would dearly thank both my colleges, IPER and CBS for that.

In the first week, we had the orientation program like any college has and the faculties let the kids fight with each other as they felt that’s the best way to gel with each other. At the end of the first month, that was in August, all the orientation program days were gone and some serious studies started. At 8 am sharp, we had to be in our classes and till the lunch break, that was at 12.30 pm, we had to stick with our classes. We could leave the classes at will but at least I didn’t do that as I knew that the learning that we can have in classrooms is something that we can’t have elsewhere. If the question is about any changes in academics of CBS, then my answer is no as the academics here are largely inspired by IIM, Kolkata.

I don’t know what’s up with IIM, Kolkata that even IPER Bhopal had maximum faculties from there and CBS obviously was going to hire faculties from there. However, it wasn’t like they hired any freshers or anything. Most faculties have been teaching at CBS since its inception. It was during our time, that the college finished its 10 years and the faculties who stayed with the college for 10 years were duly felicitated. They meant business and unless there was any event, it would never happen that they would skip the classes or give us any kind of break. They were work horses and literally made us the same.

There were two of India’s biggest names in retail and they were the Future Group and Reliance Industries. Among banks, there were 5 to 6 and so I didn’t look any further as I knew I had to apply in one of these and get done. I interviewed mostly for banks and retail corporations that came for placements. Interviews weren’t as easy as we had in BBA as the recruiters checked various skills and our ideas on how we can help the organisation. The east is developing and therefore most jobs offered were in the east. I got signed by one of the above-named companies and was sent to Guwahati. Likewise, almost all the students were placed and were sent to different places from east to west and north to south.

The hostels of CBS were great as the hostels of boys and girls were combined. Combined as not the same rooms but the building was the same. Everyone was allotted their room and the room had the cot, table, and cupboard. We were free to remodel our room as per our wish. The guy who stayed before me looked like a huge fan of Roger Federer as he put up his poster on the entire wall. I changed that with the poster of Virat Kohli. The hostel was under scrutiny of security cameras and if anyone was seen fighting at the hostel, they were immediately dismissed. So, the hostel was great but one has to adhere to the guidelines laid out by them.

The campus was utterly beautiful and the canteen served utterly delicious food. I still laugh with my friends when I tell them that a normal aloo puri is called Luchi Puri in Bengal as I used to have that on most days for breakfast at the college canteen. The buildings were great and the auditorium was lucrative. Even the library was fully stocked and the college took care of the sports persons by having many recreational activities for them.

Campus life was quite engaging till the semester ended in December. January was the month of relaxation and the college used the opportunity to organise one of the biggest events of the college Zeron during January. The three day fest had many competitions and a lot of cultural activities. Time literally flew at CBS as now when I look back, I feel I could have done much more.