I am an alumnus, so I should know.
Here are reasons why
The best Indian placements compared with any B School in India (that’s right, the IIMs are way ahead when it comes to foreign placements, but the exact same Indian companies frequent either campuses)
A superb student pool. The CET (entrance test to be cleared for JB) is held in July, the CAT (entrance test for the IIMs) is held in December. Needless to say, a lot of students entering JB are the best of the crop, and have never even taken the CAT ! Me, for instance! Besides, there are many who do not harbour ambitions of leaving the country, in which case JB is just perfect.
An unparalleled pool of visiting faculty: JB has functioned since 1965 on the ’visiting faculty’ model, with courses being taught by the best managers from some of the best known companies around the world. This is facilitated by it’s location (at Backbay, slam bang opposite Hindustan Lever, in the centre of Mumbai’s commercial hub), flexy timings (I have attended lectures starting at 7:00 a.m. , and ones starting at 10:00 p.m. as well!!), and a self defined curriculum (though not officially, students define the courses they wish to learn, and ensure the right faculty is called in to teach these courses)
A business school managed by the students ! Yea, this is true. Placements, choice of faculty, curriculum, lecture schedules, events, public relations. Students do it all, by way of elected committees and clubs.
Alumni network : Again, bigwigs of industry hail from this institute, and are in constant touch through a well run and active website (bajajalumni.org), and an annual get-together where we all meet (Nostalgia)
Infrastructure : Adequate, though not state of the art. The affiliation with the university has a lot to do with this, but hopefully autonomy will soon come.
In conclusion: Make this your first choice if you wish for a job in India, else look at the IIMs. This should be ranked 4th (behind IIM A, B, and C) in your list of prospective MBA institutes in India.
Please contact me for details, and temme what you think of the review!
Cheers