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How to Choose Management Institutes And Courses


Students desirous of doing their MBA are faced with a dilemma about which institutes they should apply to. There are so many institutes (more than 500, according to latest estimates) that one is really at a loss to know which ones are good and which ones are not. Each claims to be better than all the others. In the absence of transparency and information, the student really has no idea about the quality of the education that one may receive and subsequently, jobs. This feature answers the common questions that students have about institutes and what should be the best strategy to select and apply to them.

Around this time of the year, newspapers are full of advertisments of management institutes inviting students to apply to them and seek admission. Each claims to be better than the other. Names of foreign affiliations are thrown about as well as all those wonderful jobs that graduates of the institute were able to get. If one is "foremost in management education", another is a "centre for excellence" and still another is a "pioneer of management education in the country". Exotic teaching methods, such as yoga and meditation, have been introduced to give the courses a local touch. There is, however, no way of knowing whether the claims are true or not.

Unlike the West, there is no rating of institutes or a criteria against which a student may assess himself before applying. Nor is information easy to get from these institutes. Though the concept of the MBA degree is borrowed from Western universities, our institutes do not share information.

For a student, this poses a daunting task. Applying to all the institutes is not feasible because each requires you to buy a prospectus at a hefty price. The only way out is to depend on market reputation and hearsay and make an assessment whether an application should be made or not. A broad indicator is whether the institute has government approval or not, but since a number of questionable institutes boast of approval by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), the tag has become quite meaningless.

The scene has been made more confusing by unscrupulous activities by some institutes. Many demand donations from students and it is easy to get in if you can pay for your seat. Others have a system of "non-resident quota" in which one must pay double the fees and secure a seat. An institute in Ghaziabad is notorious for leaking its entrance test year after year, putting many students at a disadvantage.

In the absence of a rating system, a rough way to assess the institutes is to classify them in a broad category. One method could be as follows: a) the top 10 institutes which have a very good reputation, b) universities offering MBA programmes, c) institutes set up by industry or having industrial backing, d) institutes without any industrial backing and set up by academics or unknown people, and e) foreign degrees offered through correspondence.

One should, of course, try for the best institutes and prepare well for admission. If one is not able to match the high scores required, it would be better to look for institutes lower down in the list. On no account should one pay capitation fee, because one would be stuck with a worthless degree even after paying heavily for it.

Comparing Institutes
The situation of admissions in management education is quite dismal, indeed. The system is exploitative and there are many operators who have opened institutes to cash in on the demand for a management degree. Lacking facilities and staff, they operate like small shops. Unfortunately, even reputed universities and institutes are not able to provide good management education. For example, the good teachers are perpetually on leave as they manage to get assignments from abroad. Only those with parochial outlooks and limited teaching skills are left. Visiting faculty often fills in the gaps. It is difficult to find teachers who are trained in the case discussion method, so essential in management classes.

That is why there are only a few institutes which have a good name. Industry too does not recognise many institutes and this is the reason that there is a glut of MBAs. The smaller institutes prefer to take only those candidates who can get jobs through their parents' contacts, which is later used to sell the institute. But if one is to make a career, the ideal thing is to get into a reputed institute.

Of late, many foreign universities have started advertising their management programmes in India. It is possible to get a foreign degree without leaving the country. The value of such degrees is doubtful and it is unlikely that they will have the same acceptability as a full-fledged degree.

Ultimately, it may be said admission to MBA courses is like a roulette wheel. There is a long way to go before some order can be restored and the activities of money-making institutes can curtailed. For that, the government would have to play an active part and not sit back after granting approval. In fact, it may be advisable to review the approval after some time and cancel it for those institutes which are not able to maintain standards. An authentic rating of the institutes would also help the students.

The system has to move from being exploitative and become more professional. It is an irony that those who are to teach management to others actually need a watchdog to ensure that they are managing themselves properly.

1—Two-year Full-time

 This is the most common and popular course offered by most schools. This has usually four semesters spread over 18 months or so and includes a few months for internship. The students undergo a common corpus of courses for the first year and in the second year take up electives pertinent to the specialization that the students choose.

It is also useful to note that most full-time courses are designed such that that there is very little time left to the student to pursue any other activity, least of all a full-time job. Even part time jobs are difficult to sustain, considering the pressures of keeping up with the intensive syllabus of a top B-school. The student is therefore advised to consider the two years as non-earning ones, especially in India.

Advantages: The advantages of the two year course include a thorough syllabus, ability to customize the course according to your requirements by choosing electives, wide variety of course options, interaction with industry and professional bigwigs, club activities of various kinds and campus interaction that leads to greater networking.

Besides there is also the advantage of the internship program where the students spends a few months in a professional company thereby getting some idea of the working of an organization first-hand.

Perhaps the greatest advantage of the two-year full-time course is for people who are doing the course to get a job. The campus placements in these institutes ensure that the students get good jobs from the campus itself.

Note: - Banks and financial institutions usually give loans for study in these courses.

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 2—One-year Full-time

These differ from the two-year options in that these programs are usually focused towards people who either do not have the time or the need to attend a two-year program. The length is typically 11 to 15 odd months. Like the two-year course, this too, provides very little scope for employment while doing the program.

This is preferred mostly by people who have already been working for sometime and need to upgrade their Management skills in certain areas without having to take too much time doing so.

Advantages: People who want to continue in their current field but need some more expertise are cut out for this type of program as most of these are very specialized programs and one can exploit the electives to get the best out of it. Interaction with fellow working professionals also enhances the networking skills of the individual. It also helps professionals convince current employers of their suitability for advancement.

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3—Executive (EMBA) Pro grams

 This is a program which is specifically aimed at working executives who do not have the wherewithal to give up working for one or two to pursue an MBA program, but instead want to get a degree along with their work. Thus these programs are typically weekend programs spread over two years or so.

Many students enrolled in these programs are company sponsored so that they may be able to enhance their skills while not having to compromise on their work in any way. These programs are not meant to acquire specializations but expect that the student is already a specialist in a field and just needs to broaden her skills in the major disciplines of management to facilitate upward mobility in the hierarchy of the company.

The only problem is that with job and study an employee might have to put in up to 100 hours of work a week. Therefore it requires a high degree of commitment.

Advantages: It gives the employee to keep earning while pursuing an MBA. Also it helps the employer hone skills of an employee with potential. It is an attractive alternative to full-time study for working professionals.

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4—Part-time MBA Programs

Part-time MBA programs are specifically for working professionals. Most of them have classes in the evenings so that working professionals can attend them after their office hours. Although the number of electives and scope of the program may be the same as the full-time courses, the program itself would be spread over a longer time span, like three to five years, depending on the intensity and number of hours allotted per evening. There are no internships because only working people join these courses. The downside is that it might not help very much in a career switch, as most employers would give the full-time MBA student preference.

Advantages: Since the schedule of classes are only in the evenings, students can work as well as study. Besides the education cost is spread over a long time, making it more affordable. Also, is useful as an additional degree to increase your prospects in the job market.

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 5—Distance Learning (Correspondence) Programs

This type of program is increasingly getting popular because of the emergence of various interactive tools like the Internet. These types of programs give a student all the resources possible by post or by the electronic media and conduct examinations at designated places or on-line. But this type of MBA is usually done as a last resort since it does not provide much leverage in the job market. It

Advantages: Correspondence MBAs do not disturb personal or professional life at all. Besides they are relatively inexpensive.

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6—Executive Development Programs

These are usually short-term sessions that do not award degrees. They might just consist of a one-day seminar session or for the duration of a week or so. Participants are given certificates of participation. These programs are mainly aimed at executives interested in upgrading or learning skill of limited scope due to added work responsibilities or just to keep up with new developments.

Advantages: No lengthy time commitment is required and the enrollment procedures are simple. Also the student has the liberty to choose the program according to the subject relevant to him. These skills could be of great help in the workplace.