B-school review: Amrita School of Business

Earlier this month Careers360 issued the top 50 B-school rankings in the country. The magazine also reviewed 25 top institutes in India, along with vital information students should be aware of when choosing their B-school.

Today we feature Amrita School of Business, Coimbatore and its unique campus.

Is the discipline stifling, was my question when I understood that even MBA students are not allowed to venture outside the campus post 9 pm. And girls have to get passes in case they have to visit their parents. Surprisingly, they seem to enjoy it and are appreciative of the same. Parents, especially the NRIs, are exceptionally happy. So are the recruiters, who feel they get a loyal team member who does not jump jobs that easily.

A fully vegetarian campus, complete segregation of sexes, a religious orientation, Amrita does offer a very different experience. But being in a campus run by a religious organisation has its own advantages. One of them is being taught by a star faculty, with half of them possessing qualifications from Ivy League universities, says one of the students. The range and diversity of electives on offer, especially with an institution that has only 15 core faculty, vouches for the same.

Teaching is taken quite seriously at ASB. The teaching load is comparatively high, especially for a school which aims to evolve into a research-based institution, but students appear quite happy with what is on offer. Their only complaint seems to be of a slightly theory-heavy curriculum and they would prefer more guest lectures and industry interface. Brand-building seems to be another major grouse. "We are a good school, and more people must know us," says a second year student.

Amrita's kitchen is a marvel. Food is cooked and shipped to all the eight hostels with clock-work precision. "A lesson in management," said the boy who took me there.

Other reviews:

• Amity Business School, Noida
• Acharya Institute of Management and Sciences, Bangalore
  

Another unique feature is that students have to reside on campus or in their own homes. The institution does take the discipline quite seriously. Students cannot stay on their own. Quite reassuring to many parents, says Prof Parameswaran, Dean, Corporate Relations.
 
Life at Amrita is a breeze. A self-contained university, it has every facility one could wish for -- a pool, gymnasium, sports grounds. But they do not get enough free time to enjoy it though, says a faculty member.

The commitment to students comes across clearly, with students acknowledging that the placement office works hard to get a few of them placed even after the completion of the course. But they prefer a smoother interface between the central placement office and the school-level placement office, since the central office also takes care of the engineering school.

Despite occasional murmurs, most of the students do agree that a certain value system does get inculcated in them. This is mostly by the individual acts of commitment from the faculty, they say. The school has enormous good will, it just has to capitalise on it in the right way, is the general refrain.