How to select the right B-School for PGDM Course?

Joining an PGDM degree can be one of the biggest decisions in the life of any student in his/her career. An investment in a PGDM course can be tiring because it involves both finance aspects and time aspects that are destined to give excellent results in one’s career and life. The main reason for joining the PGDM course is the exposure that provides for a student to further flourish in their management career. 

The business schools offer the students a life-changing experience and positions them to the highest aspiration in both personal and professional life. The selection of the right business school will be an ally and a partner during the journey and has the potential to change the career horizons of a management student.

It is a popular saying among the PGDM fraternity that starting salaries in an organisation is determined on which B-School the students select for their PGDM course. It’s a reality that all the B-Schools scramble all around advertising their successful placement statistics and salaries. However, in reality it’s not completely true, this is because the students often forget that their starting salaries post PGDM course also depend on other factors mostly on their Educational background and abilities,not alone on the B-School they choose.

The most important part in any PGDM admission is the information about the admission procedures. Each business school has its own set of admission procedures and requirements. The students should be well aware of all the admission procedures involved in different B-Schools and then dig deeper. In order to select the right B-School.

Keeping all the above aspects in mind, the present article tries to elaborate some of the important points to be taken care and tries to remove some misconceptions about B-Schools offering the PGDM course. It is important to have detailed information about all the B-Schools that offer the PGDM course to the aspirants so that they can make an informed decision while selecting their desired B-Schools.

Analyse of Goal

It is very important to identify the inward appeal and motivation for joining a PGDM course. The students have to introspect on the following questions

• Whether they are interested to be a career switcher or a career progressor?
• Is salary important or interest in international exposure?
• Whether the goal is to broaden the mental horizons through education?
• Is it to hone the skills for career enhancements?

The students have to introspect with the answers for above questions before choosing PGDM and the ultimate decision depends on students based on their introspections. So, the students have to first have a clarity on their goal before joining the PGDM course. 

Select & Compare Business Schools

It is imperative to understand why one should have detailed information about the B-Schools even before joining the course. There are nearly around 3000+ PGDM colleges across the country. Making the right choice can be a difficult task. The students have to shortlist the B-Schools that are according to their requirements like location, finance, quality, infrastructure, placement, etc before taking further steps.

So, a focused approach towards researching is the best way to choose the best B-School for the PGDM study.

Be informative about the fee

It is a known fact that a PGDM course is an expensive proposition. It is important to understand all the costs associated with a PGDM course in a B-School. Besides the cost of tuition fees there are many other expenses that one may incur, including living costs, etc. The students should be financially capable to bear the expenses and choose accordingly the B-Schools. The students should also ensure that the hefty fees that they pay is completely justified by the B-School. Are they getting the worth of what they are spending? This is the most important aspect to be considered while choosing the best B-School for them.

Determine your chances of getting admission into the targeted B-Schools

During the whole process of selecting and comparing schools one will learn a lot about them. from what they look for in candidates to what they provide regarding the environment and support. Hence, a deep self-introspection is required, it will help one to determine the chance of success or failure at securing an admission.

Check for Accreditations

There are a number of B-Schools available across the globe that offer the PGDM course. Some are genuine while many are fake and it is essential that the students should be capable of identifying this difference. The genuine B-Schools are always accredited to governing bodies that are directly and indirectly managed by respective governments of those countries while fake one’s don’t have any such thing. So, the students should check for valid accreditation of the chosen B-Schools before choosing for their PGDM course. It has to be noted that all the recruiting agencies recruit students only from accredited colleges. So, accreditation forms a major role in choosing the B-School.

Faculty Profiles

The faculty forms a major aspect in any B-School because they are the people who teach the students the topics of the PGDM course and help them to understand the concepts better. The students have to cross verify the faculties that are teaching in the chosen B-Schools. There are many B-Schools that claim to have well qualified faculty and also claim that they have all the updated information that is according to the industry trends. The students have to perform a detailed analysis of the B-Schools and try to figure out that; Are these B-Schools really making a genuine claim or just boosting? So, it is the responsibility of the students to have detailed information about the faculties.

Course Curriculum

The B-Schools have specified course curriculum that will be designed according to the latest trends. The students should understand the topics and subjects that are taught in the selected B-Schools. The students should select the B-Schools with the course curriculum that is according to the latest trends and industry requirements. They also understand that whether the syllabus is according to their requirements and that is very relevant for their career growth. So, students should have a detailed idea of the course curriculum when it comes to selection of B-Schools.

Infrastructure & Facilities

Every B-School claims that they have the best in class infrastructure but in reality, the story will be completely different. There are some B-Schools which claim to have best-in class infrastructure, but unfortunately, they will be functioning in a small building with least infrastructure. So, the students should be cautious about all these.

The students have to cross verify the availability of facilities like cutting edge teaching aids which includes OHP projectors in all the classrooms, full-fledged auditorium halls with all the audio-visual aids, seminar halls with AV facilities, computer labs, etc in B-Schools. All these forms a crucial role in one’s management education. 

So, the students have to personally visit the campus for cross verification about these and then choose the B-School.

Scholarships

Scholarships is the buzzword today in all the B-Schools. All the B-Schools claim to provide scholarships for the students. It is essential for students to have detailed information about the type of scholarships that are being offered by these B-Schools. 

There are many types of scholarships available that are offered by the B-Schools. The students should also have a clear idea about how the scholarships are awarded and how they are helpful to them. Different B-Schools have different scholarship types and students have to clarify the same from the educational counselling services for better clarity.

Placements

The main reason for doing a PGDM course is to have a better career opportunity and growth. Every B-School claims to provide 100% placements for all the PGDM students, but it is not true all the time. A detailed survey should be done from all possible sources especially when it comes to placement statistics about the B-Schools. The students should choose carefully any B-School only after getting a satisfactory record of the placements of the selected B-Schools.

It is also important to identify how aligned the B-School is with the industry for the post PGDM career goals. For instance, if the goal is to work in a specific company then check if that specific company recruits from the selected B-School. Or if your goal is for transition into another industry such as finance or consulting, check the job placement and statistics report of the B-School.

Another important aspect when it comes to placements is about the special programmes that are being offered by the B-Schools for students to make them competent to crack the campus placement interviews and sessions. Today, every B-School offers unique industry connect workshops and programmes to train the students and prepare them for real-life campus interviews. 

The B-Schools offer these programmes in collaboration with many organisations and recruitment agencies. The students should get detailed information about these programmes and industries participating in these sessions.

Internships

Internships help the students to have a real-time exposure to the real-world scenarios of working in organisations, when they are still studying a PGDM course. The internships do play an important role in getting placements in various top organisations. The B-Schools provide internships to all the students but what matters is where the students are sent to execute their internships, either in reputed companies or in some small and struggling start-ups. The students should verify the tie-ups and collaborations of the B-Schools with industry for internships opportunities.

It is always advised to students to have clarity about the internships and companies offering them in collaboration with the B-Schools.

International Exposure

The international exposure can be divided into two different types, it is important to understand both the concepts.

The first one is that all the B-Schools claim that they provide international exposure to all the PGDM students in certain specialisations and also include the expenses in the fees itself. There are certain destinations that are best suited for international exposure for specific subjects or specialisations. 

The students should try to figure out what type of international exposure is provided by the B-Schools. Is it either just a visit to an international destination or perform some productive activities like visiting the office establishments and trying to understand their routine activities and how it is correlated to their studies? The students should try to extract information from the college representatives about these and then take a call.

The second aspect that is to be considered here is the collaborations with international universities. The B-Schools claim that they have tie-ups with different universities across the globe. They claim that students will be getting certificates from these universities. The students should try to find the reputations and recognitions about these foreign universities before joining the B-Schools.

Campus Life

The best experience of every student is to enjoy the best of campus life when they join a PGDM course. The campus life memories are lifetime memories that happen only once in lifetime. There are many B-Schools that claim to provide best of campus life like excellent hostel facilities, good eateries in the campus, physical activities centre for various physical activities like jogging, walking, gym, aerobics, Zumba, etc. 

They also claim that they have the best of the Extra Curricular Activities (ECA). The students should also try to understand all these aspects and activities that are conducted in the B-Schools. The students should understand that these ECA activities act as a platform for various personality development traits like communication skills, networking, exposure to students of different colleges, talent recognition platforms, presentation skills and many more. The students should try to find out how these ECA activities are organised by B-Schools to help them to become better individuals.

These minute things are to be observed when it comes to Campus life. Because ultimately the students should get benefitted for their investments.

Conclusion

Choosing a B-Schools for a PGDM course may be a tiring task for students. With a large number of B-Schools mushrooming across all the areas and rampant marketing techniques by them will confuse the students. This confusion may land them to some unreliable B-Schools. This also affects the career of the students. The above few points may help the students to choose the best one for their studies.

No doubt that a well-rounded research about PGDM colleges effectively increases one’s skills and qualities and helps them to greatly increase their chances of securing an admission in a good B-School and get benefitted in their future careers.

So, it is advised to students to keep in mind all points before choosing the B-Schools and join for the best one and flourish in their careers.