ISB is the newly opened global business school in Hyderabad and the only one in India to take admissions using GMAT scores. It does have some great names backing it, but is that only credential a business school should have.
In my review I will consider three main criteria a student chooses for making a decision while applying for a B-School.
1) Program and Infrastructure
The one-year program of ISB is in sync with today’s needs when technology changes every two months and also the trends of one year MBA’s will catch up in India as in Europe and industry has also started accepting it.
As for the infrastructure I have some first hand information that the infrastructure is fabulous including hostel, studio apartments and academic area. The student apartments are fully furnished and well networked with rest of the institute.
2) Reputation of the Institute and Faculty
The faculty at ISB is mostly fetched from IIM’s and other top international B-Schools and hence we do not need to debate their reputation.
The institute ha big names to back it up but it will take some time before industry starts recognizing it. The time for its inauguration was slightly unlucky as global recession was just around the corner.
3) Placement and Return On Investment
The school did have a serious fight during the first year of its placements and that can also be judged by the ISB suddenly became media shy at the end of first session compared to its outright publicity at the beginning.
Read the following links for some other opinions:
https://coolavenues.com/placement/2002/isb_02.htm
https://hindustantimes.com/nonfram/050302/detFRO04.asp
https://in.biz.yahoo.com/020304/26/1hx1s.html
The cost incurred at ISB is around 10 lacs that is three times at an IIM. With such a huge investment and moderate placements does ISB really give you an edge?
Officials at ISB have tried to justify delayed and less placement with views like they are offering lateral placement to students that is taking some time. Also the ROI does not seem too alluring right now, because 10 lacs is still out of reach of a normal middle class person which includes most of the educated class though.
Yet I believe IS should do well in future although it will take some time before we can know the true potential of the institute and its students.