A great option for fast track MBA.

I think one of the best things about the college is that they are always looking to improve. From our formative years, the college worked actively in identifying its areas of improvement and went about it in a professional manner. For example, we lacked a good infrastructure and now the college has one of the best infrastructures in the country. Our placements were skewed towards IT, and now it is evenly distributed across Analytics, Consulting, Finance, Manufacturing sectors. The college has remarkable branded itself, so that in about a decade since inception, its counted as a viable option among the best in the country. Yes, there are still areas of improvement as there will always be, but the hunger for improvement sets Great Lakes apart.

I took the CAT in 2006. My overall percentile was 92. I opted for Great Lakes simply because it had a fast tracked MBA which preferred students with prior work experience. Since I already had 3 years of work experience under my belt, it seemed like the right choice. We were the 3rd. batch, and the college was led by the illustrious Bala V Balachandran which ensured that the emphasis on quality of education was always top notch.

Great Lakes has signed memorandum of understand with several leading institutes across the globe (including Stuart school of Business, University of Missouri amongst others). The course curriculum essentially has two semesters with an internship in between. The first semester is a general coursework introducing the students to all streams of business (finance, marketing, operations, HR). There's an additional coursework on Philosophy which is a massive distinguishing point. Often overlooked in other institutes, this course forms a bulwark of business studies and is quite often the most loved course. The second semester moved into specialization wherein you had to choose your course electives based on which the classes were allocated. Usually these involved choosing one major elective and one minor elective. The Institute provides a great opportunity to its students to have their work be published in peer reviewed journals in leading publications at a global scale.

The college does provide scope for internship in between semesters. The placement committee (managed by students) arrange for the internships. Also, students are free to pursue their own areas of interest subject to meeting some pre-set criteria in terms of deliverable as decided by the college. As far as stipend is concerned, its the prerogative of the organization with which the student wishes to undertake his/her internship. Certain organizations pay handsomely, whilst others don't. I understand the current situation in the college is favored towards landing internships with stipends.

During the initial years, the recruitment was IT intensive. The college has worked hard to change this, and now the focus is as much on consulting opportunities, manufacturing sector as it is on IT services. The big names are all there and the college is branding itself extremely well to attract top companies. From ZS Associates, to L&T to Hitachi to HSBC, the college is a top pick for the best in the industry. The focus would now be to attract the top 4 in every sector (for example the BCGs, the McKinseys, the Amazons, the Apples, the SpaceXs of the world).

Students are major stakeholders in this college. What I mean is that they helm and manage almost all the activities in the college. During my year, we had management fests and cult fests which in themselves were an insight into 'management'. Also, the college regularly facilitates participation in external events (I had been to TAPMI for a college fest and also participated in a debate involving Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid concept) which works very well in developing the overall personality of the student.

Probably the best part. In 2007/2008, we had a fee structure of about 6 Lacs + Boarding and lodging (we had to manage for the boarding and lodging ourselves). Things have dramatically improved. The college has a state of the art campus in the ECR region in Chennai with outstanding accommodation options.

We could easily avail a loan of 5.5 Lacs (against a total fees of 6 Lacs) from Indian bank. The college helps you in the paperwork and any other requisite statutory approvals for availing the loans. Check with the Admissions committee and they will gladly help you out.

The gender ratio could do with some improvement (in our times, it was 90/10 - M/F). I understand it has improved now, but there's still some way to go. The college remains pretty chilled out so long as the students turn in their coursework. We weren't policed much. So, it made room for some really great friendships (and a fair bit of romance) to bloom. I'd say, it really depends on what kind of a batch one gets, that determines how your life at college will turn out. Some batches truly gel and remains detached of unnecessary politics, whilst others are heavily seeped into it. It is usually expected that you develop the maturity to deal with disagreeable situations. Personally, being a Bengali, I had a major issue with the locals (it's in Chennai, and so, no surprises that the College had a fair sprinkling of Tamilians) speaking in Tamil even in the presence of people who didn't understand the language. Otherwise, I think the college fosters some of the best experiences in terms of self development apart from the coursework (I learnt salsa while in college).

Frankly, during our time, they weren't anything home to write about. We'd a decrepit building which housed our college. However, now, the college probably has one of the best campuses with stunning facilities therein. Visit it to know what I'm talking about.

Extremely helpful. This is one area where the college really scores. Thankfully, they have built a great alumni network and whilst there are differences amongst students, the culture of helping incoming students and juniors stay evergreen.

Exam structure is fairly detailed. Usually there are Multiple choice questions, open book tests and mainly case study analysis that decides the overall grades. The total grades a student receives for a particular course is the sum total of the assignments he/she has to submit, the case study analysis (usually done in a group), the presentations on a given topic and the final exam (a mix of MCQs, open book tests and regular exam papers).

There was an initial filtering on the basis of CAT scores (they also take GMAT, XAT scores into account). Subsequently, we had a group discussion followed by a personal interview. The ranking is based on the normalized score of the entrance exam, group discussion and personal interview. During our times, people with work experience scored extra than those without. Typically, around the time the CAT results are declared, one can procure the forms from the institute (can be easily downloaded) and apply. There's a student committee for applications that helps guide you through the process. You can easily get in touch with them and somebody will be nominated to help you apply to the college. Typically, the session starts around April, so admissions are over by February and the lists are declared. The college helps you in obtaining the student's loan (mine was from Indian Bank, Saidapet branch) and the paperwork is very easy.

The faculty is top notch, and usually are visiting professors from some of the best institutes from around the world (mainly US). Their international experience helps massively. On the flip side, they are around for a relatively short time, so the courses are condensed. Students need to be sharpish to extract the maximum from every course they attend. Often, we had industry experts or subject matter experts to take in crash courses (usually lasting for about 3 day, 5-8 hours per day). My favourite was when Santosh Desai walked in for a 3 day course. It was the most fun we had while learning.