On The School Carousel

What do they all need? A sharp guideline for B-schools, aspirants and graduates.

- A.K. Balaji Prasad

IT’S nearing the frantic season for business schools. As placement departments get their act together for another season of candidate viewing, the schools start the process of attracting the next set of aspirants.

This year’s Outlook-Drshti ranking of business schools has combined objective data, verified through visits to selected colleges, combined with the largest perceptual survey to date—ratings by over 3,000 students, professors and recruiters. This year, Drshti also used social media posts on institutions for qualitative verification.

IIM-A and C lead the rankings, as they have in the past years. With new infrastructure, Narsee Monjee shows imp­roved scores. SP Jain has pulled in alumni to provide live projects and mentoring for students, strengthening industry links and improving employability and relevance. Many such initiatives are visible—IIM-C has, in conjunction with ISI and IIT Kharagpur, launched a new course foc­used on big data and analytics.

What makes an institute highly ranked? Recruiters, teachers and students have different expectations from a top school.