You’ve cracked MAT. How do you now select the best B-school? ……Let us try to help you to choose a right one :-

It’s an examination that is conducted four times a year, hundreds of institutes accept the examination score and lakhs of students appear for it every year. The Management Aptitude Test or MAT is a national level entrance test that is conducted by the All India Management Association (AIMA) for admission to B-schools that may not be big on branding but provide quality education.

But when as many as 250 management institutes accept MAT scores, choosing the right business school can be a daunting task. A bit of research, expert guidance and some legwork can help you find the right B-school.

“The fact that these B-schools are affiliated to AIMA is itself a source of credibility. AIMA programmes delivered through the B-schools come with the stamp of quality,” assures Saugata Ghosh, assistant vice-president, academics, Career Launcher India, the education service provider.

Once a student clears MAT — held in February, May, September and December, every year — he or she should do a bit of research before securing admission to a management institute. “Look into the placement record, faculty, and the infrastructure of the institute,” advises Amitabh Nagpal, chief executive officer, studyplaces.com, an education information portal that provides online counselling and has information on over 2,00,00 courses and 10,000 colleges.

The best way to go about it is to check the official website of AIMA (www.aima-ind.org). The website will give you information about the institutes according to your preferred area of study. Then check the individual websites of the institutes you are interested in to gather information about its infrastructure, faculty, course content, collaborative programmes with other institutes, and workshops and seminars that are held every year.

“Every single detail on the website should be cross-checked personally. Websites may not present the actual picture,” adds Nagpal. This is crucial, as many institutes may not have a dedicated faculty in place or proper infrastructure. So a personal visit to an institute is recommended.

The placement cell of an institute usually makes a big noise about its track record. Most B-schools mention their placement tie-ups with companies on their websites. The brands associated with it could give a rough indication of an institute’s standing. “The demand for MBAs is so huge that the IIMs only cater to a minuscule part of it. So, many companies that recruit from the IIMs also go to the MAT affiliated B-schools,” says Ghosh.

The salary package at the entry level is less than what IIM graduates get. However, your motivation and perseverance can help you narrow the gap. “It is important to join a reputed company. After a certain point, one’s performance will do the trick,” adds Ghosh. Students from the Delhi Business School are working in organisations such as the Bharti group (Airtel), Accenture, Lenovo, NDTV and ICICI Bank, and earn between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 6 lakh a year. Students from the Academy for Professional Excellence (APEX), Calcutta, have been placed in organisations such as American Express, British Airways, Citibank, Durgapur Steel, GE Capital, HCL Technologies, Indian Airlines, Infosys, Nokia, Reliance Petroleum, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro.

According to experts, some institutions to opt for in Delhi include the Apeejay School of Management, the Delhi School of Professional Studies & Research, the Asia Pacific Institute of Management Studies and EMPI Business School. Some of the prominent management institutions in Calcutta include APEX, the Annex College of Management Studies, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, and the Eastern Institute of Integrated Learning in Management.

AIMA takes a keen interest and maintains a record of all affiliated institutions. “Our annual ranking gives an insight into the best B-schools. A student is advised to look for industry interface and placement opportunities to figure out if an institute is good or not,” says Wg Cdr Bijoy, director, Centre for Management Services, AIMA, Delhi. AIMA’s journal, Indian Management, publishes The Best Business Schools survey every year.

All the institutes affiliated with AIMA have AICTE or University Grants Commission recognition. AIMA also ensures that the affiliated institutions toe its line about their faculty visits, industry exposure, classroom facilities and seminars on topical issues.

You should also keep an eye on B-school surveys that are conducted every year by business publications and independent research agencies. Though it can be a good and helpful indicator, many take such surveys with a pinch of salt.

“Some dubious B-schools which are known to give false advertisements have been ranked high in such surveys. Surveys can be used as a preliminary filter to shortlist B-schools. After that students should do their own research by visiting campuses and talking to existing students,” says Premchand Palety, director, Centre for Forecasting Research (C-Fore), an agency that conducts an annual B-school survey.

Some of the institutes that have a consistently good track record include the Indian Institute of Rural Management (Jaipur), the Loyola Institute of Business Administration (Chennai), the Indian Institute of Modern Management (Pune), the Alliance Business Academy (Bangalore), the Prestige Institute of Management & Research (Indore), the International Business School (Ahmedabad), the IILM Business School (Navi Mumbai), the Mumbai School of Business and the Indira Group of Institutes (Pune). In south India, the SCMS Business School in Cochin (Kerala), has always enjoyed a good rank in the AIMA survey.

“A student should spend a few months on finding out the right institute according to his area of specialisation. Speaking to the alumni can be a big help,” says Partha Saikia, sales manager, ICICI Lombard, Ambala. The 28-year-old spent six months checking out the credentials of various institutions before choosing the Institute of Management Studies, Dehra Dun, in 2003. “There were fewer options at that time. But with the wide variety available today, students have to be extra careful about not falling into the trap of fly-by-night operators,” warns Saikia.

Finding out the A category B-schools after clearing MAT can be as laborious as clearing the examination itself. Just invest some time to find out the best campus. The right brand will help you go a long way.

Sources:The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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