Osmania University College Of Commerce And Business Management

This OU college building is somewhat hidden inside the wooded grounds of the campus, and isn't half as prominent as the Arts College. Just a navy blue board against the thickets will tell you where to take off from the main road. The college wears an abandoned look: more like the haunted bungalows that Hindi film heroes stop by when their cars break down, than the buzzing B-School you would expect. This, though, is the almamater of quite a few figures of considerable reknown in the field of commerce and business. To name a few, Prasanna Chandra, Brajesh Patel and I M Pandey.

The MBA from the OU College of Commerce and Business Administration, even today, is, at the very least, the best in the state of AP. Moreover, it has tie-ups with institutes such as the IPE and the NPA, to offer programs for public sector enterprises, the police, the armed forces, hospitals etc.

The regular MBA has specialisations such as Marketing, Finance and HR, while the Technology Management MBA is the only one in India offering specialisations in Biotechnology, R&D and IT.

Students here portray the course as average - somewhere, you have to watch out for yourself. The placement season brings companies such as ICICI, Kotak Mahindra, HDFC and Andhra Bank, while the IT sector has not been very prominent in the list of recruiters. By the year-end, 50% of students are placed, and the rest start looking out on their own.

Expectedly, they do their fair share of cribbing. A favourite beef is that it is difficult to get campus event ideas moving due to the bureaucratic nature of the management. No complaints are coming on the infrastructure front though. From the completely wired campus to the library and playing courts, this is a good place for the slightly more gumptious ones.

As for the coursework, it is bolstered by Saturday seminars by speakers from companies like Satyam and Polaris, and other management schools like the ISB. These tend to be somewhat sporadic as well.

Patently put, this is what you'd call a bindaas MBA, perfect for those who are already working somewhere. Students show enterprise by doing their own short-term projects when there is an academically lean period. Companies like Balaji Railroad Systems, 5M&T and McCormick's take them in.

The M. Com. from Osmania University is again the best in the state. This department designs, implements and monitors the curriculum across 400 commerce colleges in AP, influencing about 1 lakh students. They are the ones to have brought about changes such as specialisations in B. Com. and M. Com. Almost 90% of students of the M. Com. students here get placed in research/analysis jobs with BPOs and firms such as Bank of America, Capital IQ, Soft Pro and GE. A good number also go on to contribute to the academia.

This department also runs a joint program with the Eastern Michigan University for an M. Com., the second year of which is completed in the US campus.

On the whole, a college completely of the OU grain. It drips with the OU character, and the people, the class-rooms and the surroundings are the quintessence of its culture. From ABVP bandhs and bureaucracy to the fecund freedom of a large university, it offers an experience that you can either love or hate, or rather characteristically, be completely indifferent to!