Flame School of Business MBA Review By Akashdeep Singh

MBA is a course for which students are not serious enough, as our batch had students from various fields. Some students from food technology came and did an MBA, which was surprising. Knocking students off with live projects and the industrial tour was the way we were taught at Flames Business School. When the institute has good faculties, as the Flames do then their teaching exploits will be better only. If MBA is just to get a good job, then it is wrong, as many students from my batch came from a healthy business background and joined their family businesses after completing the course. The management of Flames always tries to look for potency, and more or less, they have been successful in it. The disciplined management and faculty kept student's progress in check as failing in exams was not an option here. Therefore, I will not value Flames on the kind of placements it provides.

Academics took the mantle, and the rest of all things came as complimentary. Studies were the real test here for students, as every activity we were assigned was a test here, and surprisingly, we also didn't know which marks would be added to the term sheet. All the doubts or the topics that were left were rectified at the back end to make sure that nothing was left on the table. As far as the projects and case study solving are concerned, I think I was quite happy with that because many groups were formed, and we had to present our case in front of the whole class. So, that also instilled a lot of confidence in us as this is what we are doing today in the board rooms of the respective companies we work for.

Faculties were unleashed as and when required as they would go at a certain pace, but up the ante, if they felt that they were behind the rate, they should be going. The ability to put theory to test in practicals and students being asked to lead the mantle was the best thing they could have done. Their genius was always behind us, and that made sure that even if we fell, we had someone to pick us up. Management studies required a mentor by your side, and faculties did that job brilliantly.

The placement training program of placement happened for weeks as all the skills required to push ourselves in the interview were taught to us. Many mocks and virtual interviews happened, and in all fairness, that was all that the institute could do. Now placements were not that great as not many students had placements directly through the campus. Pune being an IT center now, almost all IT companies were the front runners in hiring students. At Infosys, Cognizant took a few students to sit in on their interviews; one had to have a CGPA of 7+. So, the criteria set was high by many companies like FMCG companies that came also had similar sort of requirements. The average will go down as many students were not even placed, but those who got placements had an offer letter between 6-10 lakhs CTC offers.

It was a Villa converted into a hostel. The hostel was amid the backdrop of mountains, so the dream of having its own bungalow in the mountains was somehow fulfilled at Flames. Now coming to the facilities that the hostel has, it had a garden right next to it. There were chairs, and we could prolong our chats there for as long as we wanted. There was a games room where a TV with limited channels was made available to us. The hostels are labeled as the first year and second year, so we had to change the hostels again in the second year. Shifting though, was not a problem as we hardly had much luggage. The food quality at the hostel was outstanding as they have taken care of a variety of cuisines on their menu.

Our college started with the program calendar at the auditorium, which was better than most of the cinemas in the city. There were many learning spaces on the campus, from the classrooms to FIL (Flames Investment Lab) and others. For food lovers, Flames was a paradise as the dining hall itself had enough menu, and on days when we felt like having some cheat food, two cafes served Italian, Mexican, and of course, North Indian menu. Sporting facilities are beyond words as the sports ground was as good as an international playground. There was a small pond (kund) inside the campus, a sacred spot on the campus for making that environment look beautiful as well as peaceful.

Being a residential program and the university's location close to the highway, we hardly had options to go out. So, we all have spent our maximum time at the campus and have joined almost all the initiatives taken by the university, be it on-campus or off-campus. From food distribution to tree plantation, I enjoyed doing them all.