Jayein toh Jayein kahaan 2021: Top MBA Colleges

A student seeking my advice on which Top MBA Colleges should he join said “Sir, if I were your nephew then after considering all factors which out of these three institutes would you recommend?”

There is always a dilemma when it comes to choosing an MBA institute because a wrong choice of institute could very easily lead to a poor career growth or waste of money or both. Unfortunately, most rankings do not consider the student’s point of view and have a low weight for one of the most important criteria – the placements.

To my mind the most important measure of the worth of a B School is its placement record and hence my preference for an institute is determined primarily by the placements. Placements refer to not only the average/median salary but also include the difficult to quantify factors like the reputation, quality of opportunities and the kind of companies that visit the institute. Secondly, with most of the good institutes charging a fee of over Rs 15 lakh for the MBA program, the cost of doing an MBA is a factor that cannot be ignored.

Between similarly placed MBA institutes, the location becomes the tie breaker as location plays an important role in determining placements. Going forward, with WFH and virtual offices the importance of location will reduce but at present it is an important parameter especially for Cluster 5 and 6 institutes.  I also believe that all programs in an institute are not at the same level and hence I have a program-wise order of preference and not institute-wise.

So dear nephews/nieces, my order of preference of over 120 Top MBA Colleges is given in the table below. Please note that this should not be misunderstood as a ranking of MBA institutes/programs.

The institutes/programs of different levels are placed in different clusters (Clusters 1 – 6) and within a cluster they are further segregated into three sub-clusters (A, B and C). Cluster 1 has the most preferred institutes and Cluster 6 has (relatively) the less preferred institutes as compared to the first five clusters. Similarly, within each cluster subcluster A is the most preferred and C  less preferred than subcluster A or B. 

The reason why subclusters have been introduced is that when 2 or more institutes are very close to each other, the choice of institute has to be on parameters that are individual specific. For example: a campus might be important for some students while fee might be important for some other student. 

Finally, do not rely only on this table, do check the other sources (especially current and past students) as well and take an informed decision looking at all factors that are important for you. This table has around 150 institutes/programs and there are many good  programs (if not institutes) that I would have missed out due to lack of awareness.

It is worth noting that Institutes in the first few clusters have been ranked based on a few more parameters.

Cluster 1:

Undoubtedly, like every year IIM Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Calcutta acquire the top three positions in best B-schools’ preference list. With excellent placement record, great reputation and endless opportunities these institutes stand as crème de la crème institutes. 

FMS Delhi, IIM Lucknow and XLRI are all equally good and one can choose any of these based on one’s specific requirements. If you are a candidate with over 3 years work-experience then you should be looking at ISB Hyderabad which offers a one-year course and accepts GMAT score for admission. 

FMS DU, TISS and JBIMS stand out in terms of excellent “value for money” institutes due to their very low fee and excellent placements however the 85% reservation for Maharashtra pushes JBIMS  lower in my order of preference.

TISS is a little lower in the list but that’s mostly because it is a specialized program. A general management program is generally preferred (over specialized programs) as it allows you to choose your area of specialization after studying all subjects in the first year. However, if you are interested in a particular stream (in this case HR) then it would rank higher for you. For e.g. if you are looking for a specialization in HR then XLRI and TISS would be your preferences.

S.No. Sub-Cluster Institute City Program
CLUSTER – 1
1 1A Indian Institute of Management (IIM-A) Ahmedabad PGP
2 1A Indian Institute of Management (IIM-B) Bengaluru PGP
3 1A Indian Institute of Management (IIM-C) Kolkata PGDM
4 1B Indian Institute of Management (IIM-L) Lucknow PGPM
5 1B Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) – DU New Delhi MBA
6 1B Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad PGP
7 1B Xavier Labour Research Institute (XLRI) Jamshedpur HRM
8 1B Xavier Labour Research Institute (XLRI) Jamshedpur BM
9 1B Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Mumbai MA HRM LR
10 1B Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS) Mumbai MMS
11 1C SP Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR) Mumbai PGDM
12 1C Indian Institute of Management (IIM-K) Kozhikode PGP
14 1C Indian Institute of Management (IIM-I) Indore PGPM
11 1C Management Development Institute (MDI) Gurgaon PGPM
15 1C Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) New Delhi MBA
16 1C Xavier Labour Research Institute (XLRI) NCR MBA

Watch Video to Know more about Top MBA Colleges in Cluster 1: 

Cluster 2:

Many other IIMs and non-IIM colleges are part of cluster 2. This cluster shows that some non-IIMs make their mark as better B-schools than most of the IIM colleges in terms of growth, learning and placements. IIFT Kolkata is listed in cluster 2A above many other older and more established institutes because it has a common placement process with IIFT Delhi and hence there is no disparity among the two institutes. Similarly, IIML ABM is preferred over IIMA FABM because while IIML does not differentiate between ABM and PGP in terms of placement opportunities, IIMA has a separate placement process for PGP and FABM. 

Three well known technical institutes (IIT Bombay/Delhi and NITIE) make their presence felt in this cluster, all three are well known MBA in Operations/Systems/Analytics.

The IB programs of MDI Gurgaon is in this cluster and not in Cluster 1 due to cost considerations.

The new IIMs feature at the bottom of this cluster. IIM Ranchi is seen to be gearing up as the HRM program by IIM Ranchi has been appreciated by the industry. IIM Udaipur and Trichy have done exceedingly well in the last couple of years in building their reputation as a good B-school among the new IIMs, also these three institutes are now comparable to NMIMS Mumbai and SIBM Pune. While NMIMS Mumbai could be preferred for Finance, SIBM Pune could be looked up for Marketing and HR.

S.No. Sub-Cluster Institute City Program
CLUSTER – 2
17 2A Indian Institute of Management (IIM-L) Lucknow PGP ABM
18 2A Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Kolkata MBA
19 2A Indian Institute of Technology Bombay – SJSOM Mumbai M. Management
20 2A National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) Mumbai PGDIM
21 2A Indian Institute of Management Shillong Shillong PGPM
22 2B Indian Institute of Management (IIM-A) Ahmedabad PGP FABM
23 2B Indian Institute of Technology Delhi – DMS New Delhi MBA
24 2B Management Development Institute (MDI) Gurgaon PGPM HRM
25 2B Management Development Institute (MDI) Gurgaon PGPM IM
26 2C National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) Mumbai PGDISEM
27 2C Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM) Pune MBA
28 2C Indian Institute of Management Ranchi Ranchi PGDM
29 2C Indian Institute of Management Trichy Tiruchirapalli PGPM
30 2C Indian Institute of Management Udaipur Udaipur PGP
31 2C Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) Mumbai Core

Watch Video to Know more about Top MBA Colleges in Cluster 2:  

Cluster 3:

B-schools such as MICA and IRMA that offer specialized programs find their spot in this cluster. It must be understood that in their specialization, these two B-schools are the among best in the country. For example, MICA is regarded as one of the topmost B-schools in country for its Marketing and Advertising program.

Two old established good institutes in this cluster are XIMB and IMT Ghaziabad, both provide excellent placement opportunities. 

For candidates with over 2 years of work experience Great Lakes Chennai 1 year program (PGPM) can be considered over others despite a lack of AICTE recognition as it has excellent placements due to industry recognition.

In this cluster the IITs can be preferred over the others due to their low fee and good placements especially if you are interested in specializing in operations/systems/analytics.

S.No. Sub-Cluster Institute City Program
CLUSTER – 3
32 3A Symbiosis Centre for Management and HRD (SCMHRD) Pune MBA
33 3A Indian Institute of Management Raipur Raipur PGP
34 3A Indian Institute of Management Kashipur Kashipur PGP
35 3A Indian Institute of Management Rohtak Rohtak PGP
36 3B Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur – VGSOM Kharagpur MBA
37 3B Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA) Ahmedabad PGDM-C
38 3B Xavier Institute of Management (XIMB) Bhubaneswar MBA BM
39 3B Xavier Labour Research Institute (XLRI) Jamshedpur Global MBA
40 3C Indian Institute of Management Ranchi Ranchi PGDHRM
41 3C Institute of Management Technology (IMT) Ghaziabad PGDM
42 3C International Management Institute (IMI) New Delhi PGDM
43 3C Institute of Rural Management (IRMA) Anand PGPRM
44 3C Sydenham Institute of Management Studies (SIMSREE) Mumbai PGDBM
45 3C Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM) Chennai PGPM – 1 year
46 3C Indian Institute of Technology Madras – DMS Chennai MBA

Watch Video to Know more about Top MBA Colleges in Cluster 3 : 

Cluster 4:

Highlights of this cluster are the old established institutes (TAPMI, GIM, KJ Somaiya, BIM Trichy etc) which are well known regionally and the latest IIMs like Vizag, Nagpur and others. 

This cluster also has specialized programs of some of the top MBA institutes (PGDISEM of NITIE, MSc Finance of JBIMS, HR programs of NMIMS and XIMB etc.) and the value for money MBA programs of Delhi University (MFC, MHROD, MBE).

S.No. Sub-Cluster Institute City Program
CLUSTER – 4
47 4A T A Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) Manipal PGDM
48 4A Indian Institute of Management (IIM-V) Vishakhapatnam PGP
49 4A Indian Institute of Management (IIM-N) Nagpur PGP
50 4A Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies Mumbai MSc Finance
51 4A National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) Mumbai PGDISEM
52 4A Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru M.Mmgt (Tech Mgmt)
53 4A Indian Institute of Management (IIM-Amritsar) Amritsar PGP
54 4A Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur – DMS Kanpur MBA
55 4A Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies Mumbai MBA HR
56 4A Master of Finance & Control (MFC), DU New Delhi MBA Fin
57 4A Xavier Institute of Management (XIMB) Bhubaneswar MBA HRM
58 4B Master of HR and Organisational Development, DSE, Delhi Univ. New Delhi MHROD
59 4B Indian Institute of Management (IIM-Bodh Gaya) Bodh Gaya PGP
60 4B Indian Institute of Management (IIM-J) Jammu PGP
61 4B Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee – DMS Roorkee MBA
62 4B Goa Institute of Management (GIM) Goa PGDM
63 4B Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB) Pune MBA IB
64 4B K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research (SIMSR) Mumbai PGDM, IB, FM, Retail
65 4B Bharathidasan Institute of Management (BIM) Tiruchirapalli MBA
66 4B BITS Pilani, Department of Management Pilani MBA
67 4B Indian Institute of Management (IIM-S) Sirmaur PGP
68 4C Indian Institute of Management (IIM-L) Greater Noida PGP SM
69 4C Indian Institute of Management (IIM-Sambalpur) Sambalpur PGP
70 4C Department of Business Economics, Delhi University New Delhi BE
71 4C Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) Chennai PGDM
72 4C FORE School of Management New Delhi PGDM, IB

  Watch Video to Know more about Top MBA Colleges in Cluster 4: 

 

Cluster 5 and 6:

If you have not made it to any institute upto Cluster 4 and CAT/XAT retake is not an option or you think that in a retake you will not be able improve your score significantly then it is the Cluster 5 and 6 institutes that you are looking at. The institutes included in these two clusters provide good education and decent career opportunities, obviously the role profiles and salary levels will be lower than what would be available in a higher cluster institute.

For these colleges location is an important criteria – an institute in a metro city is likely to have better industry interaction and better placement opportunities. Also at this level, the majority of the placements are in the same geographical region, e.g. if you are studying in NCR you are unlikely to be placed outside North India. Also given that the salary levels will not be very high, look at keeping the total expense of doing MBA (fee + boarding & lodging) under control. Servicing a 20 lakh loan will be challenging  with a 8 lakh salary.
S.No. Sub-Cluster Institute City Program
CLUSTER – 5
73 5A Delhi School of Management – Delhi Technological University (DTU) New Delhi MBA
74 5A Nirma University – Institute of Management (IMNU) Ahmedabad MBA
75 5A Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) Bengaluru PGDM
76 5B Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management (LBS) New Delhi PGDM, Finance
77 5B Institute of Financial Management & Research (IFMR) Chennai PGDM, PGDM-WE
78 5B Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM) Bengaluru MBA
79 5B Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management (SIOM) Nasik MBA Ops
80 5B International Management Institute (IMI) New Delhi PGDHRM
81 5B Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management (SITM) Pune MBA
82 5B Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS) Pune MBA
83 5B Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication (SIMC) Pune MBA CM
84 5C Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM) Chennai PGDM
85 5C TAPMI School of Business, Manipal University Jaipur MBA
86 5C Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM) Gurgaon PGPM 1 year
87 5C International Management Institute (IMI) Kolkata PGDM
88 5C Institute of Management Technology (IMT) New Delhi DCP
89 5C International Management Institute (IMI) New Delhi PGDM BFS
90 5C SOIL Institute of Management Gurgaon MBA
91 5C National Institute of Bank Management Pune PGDM B & FS
92 5C Welingkar Institute of Management Mumbai MMS, PGDM
93 5C Management Development Institute (MDI) Murshidabad PGP
94 5C Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIM Tech) Greater Noida PGDM, IB
95 5C Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC GBO), Delhi Univ. New Delhi GBO

 

Cluster 6: 

S.No. Sub-Cluster Institute City Program
CLUSTER – 6
96 6A International School of Business & Media Pune PGDM
97 6A Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship (XIME) Bengaluru PGDM
98 6A Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) Hyderabad PGDM
99 6A Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB) Pune MBA AB, MBA E&E
100 6A Symbiosis Centre for Management and HRD (SCMHRD) Pune MBA-IM
101 6A Symbiosis Center for Information Technology Pune MBA-ITBM
102 6A Institute of Management Technology (IMT) Hyderabad PGDM
103 6A Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM) Gurgaon PGPME
104 6B Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) Bhopal PGDFM
105 6B Faculty of Management Studies, BHU (FMS BHU) Varanasi MBA MBA IB
106 6B SDM Institute for Management Development (SDMIMD) Mysore PGDM
107 6B Institute of Management and Technology IMT – Nagpur Nagpur PGDM
108 6B ICFAI Business School Hyderabad MBA/PGPM
109 6B Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS) Ranchi HR
110 6B NL Dalmia Institute of Management Studies and Research Mumbai PGDM
111 6C University Business School (UBS) Chandigarh MBA
112 6C Symbiosis Institute of Business Management- Hyderabad Hyderabad MBA
113 6C BML Munjal University Gurgaon MBA
114 6C Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies and Research (SICSR) Pune MBA-IT
115 6C Xavier Institute of Management (XIMB) Bhubaneswar MBA – Rural Mgmt
116 6C Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS) Ranchi Marketing & Finance
117 6C Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies Harihar and Pune PGDM
118 6C Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship (XIME) Kochi PGDM
119 6C Symbiosis Institute of Health Services (SIHS) Pune MBA
120 6C Symbiosis Institute of Banking and Finance (SSBF) Pune MBA BF, PGDBF

All the best

GP