Choosing the right MBA institute
MBAUniverse.com Bureau

There are many management institutes in India. Some estimates put the number at over 1,500. This is why it is all the more important that you make the right choice from within the crowd.

Management institutions can be classified into following types:
Government Aided: Seven Indian Institutes of Management, Management departments of various IITs and NITIE, Mumbai University System: Many universities offer an MBA degree. Some of the better ones are FMS Delhi, JBIMS (Mumbai University), BHU and University Business School, Chandigarh.
Private Institutions: Majority of B-schools fall in this category. The leading institutes are MDI, XLRI and IMT. Some are promoted by corporate -- like BIMTECH and NIRMA Institute of Management.

Selecting the `right` B-school

Today, business education is so much in demand that too many institutes are crowding the space. Result: there`s a mixed level of education.

B-school rankings, offered by management and business magazines, play a key-role in decision-making. An MBA aspirant Manish Ahuja says, "I would consider rankings while making the choice regarding institutes especially while considering the leading institutes." There are various business houses that rank business schools like Business Today, Business World, CNBC TV 18 and Business India etc. Likewise, there are international publications like Business Week that publishes rankings of the best management institutes globally. But these rankings can differ from survey to survey and magazine to magazine because there are different methodologies.

According to CNBC Tv18 and MBAUniverse.com survey the country`s top 10 B-Schools are IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Lucknow, Management Development Institute Gurgaon, XLRI Jamshedpur, IIM Kolkata, S.P.Jain Institute of Management and Research Mumbai, International Management Institute Delhi, S J. Mehta School of Management IIT Mumbai, Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies Mumbai.

And the next 10 B-Schools are Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies University Mumbai, Department of Management Studies IIT Delhi, National Institute of Industrial Engineering Mumbai, Indian Institute of Foreign Studies Delhi, Faculty of Management Studies University of Delhi, Bharathidasan Institute of Management Trichy, Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneshwar, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management Pune, Institute of Management Technology Ghaziabad, Symbiosis Institute of International Business Pune.

The last 10 institutes which made it to the list of top 30 B-Schools are Welingkar Institute of Management and Research Development Mumbai, Institute for Technology and Management Mumbai, MET Institute of Management Mumbai, Institute of Management Technology Nagpur, Amrita School of Business Coimbatore, NIILM Centre for Management Studies Delhi, K. J. Somaiya Institute Of Management Studies and Research Mumbai, Institute of Management Studies Ghaziabad, Loyola Institute of Business Administration Chennai and T.A Pai Management Institute Manipal.

For an aspirant, extensive research on the B-schools of your choice is a way out - which means one should actually visit institutes websites and interact with concerned people. With the help of the Net, you can easily search the sites of various Indian as well as international management institutes. Likewise you can also get information about the alumni: these guys are important because they studied in that particular institute and would be more than happy to share their experiences. They should visit the websites, talk to the faculty, the alumni and recruiters. Management portals like MBAUniverese.com are also a good source to know what is happening at various B-schools around the year.

Dr Ratnam recommends, "As for selecting an MBA institute, seeing is believing. Visit the campus. Talk to former and present students, not just the faculty or director. Do not get carried away by advertisements."

Spokesperson from the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management studies (JBIMS), Mumbai says, "Some of the important factors students must keep in mind while choosing a B- school are: the school`s reputation, faculty, curriculum, placements, fees, infrastructure and location. Also, there should be no ambiguity in the aspirant`s mind with respect to his areas of interest vis-à-vis the courses offered by the school. The profile of students is another factor that should not be ignored."