With a decent amount of nations joining the EU by the 20^th century, the need to go global became pressing. Around 10 years ago, the dean of HEC, Paris noticed that french companies were interested in hiring non-french national’s and other EU nations were interested in hiring french nationals. He says “We were facing a kind of globalization. We decided to be more than only a French business school.”

European MBA’s involve with being flexible and interacting with different cultures. It also tends to have more work experience and education than the typical American MBA students. At a European business school an example like this is bound to happen:

A team of a Russian, Swiss, American, Brazilian and Indian is given case study. The case study was how Starbucks established itself in the United States. The response of the French and the Italian may be  that Starbucks positioned themselves as someone classy by providing customers with the European Expresso. The American may be taken aback from this response or the Brazilian may disagree with it.

This way, graduates get a chance to actually drill down into the intercultural differences rather than superficially smoothing over them.

John Kraft, dean of the Warrington College of Business at the University of Florida  says “Management education in Europe has made dramatic improvements in the last 10 years,”  However, there have been many criticisms over the 1 year MBA, which according to a lot is cheaper and one does not have to loose time out of the workforce. Vice dean at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Anjani Jain says that he believes that 1 year MBA carry less material than a two year MBA (American MBA). He also says that not enough time is given to extracurricular professional-development activities in one-year programs.

European b-schools are yet to compete with United States Graduation Schools. They need to upgrade their career service performance i.e. people getting into high paying jobs after graduation. Maria Angeles, a recruiting manager at Bosch says that career service will improvise in tandem with the growth of MBA programmes in Europe.

Nonetheless, European MBA are getting to be an easy sell. Strategy manager at Diageo in London, Antonia Korduba, a graduate MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business , says that there is an advantage for those who live and work outside the United States . “I’m learning [about] Europe and the rest of the world very well, whereas if I worked in the U.S., I’d know the U.S. very well,” she says. “With the world getting smaller, this global perspective will help me.”

‘FESTIVALS’- the word itself brings along package of all good things like colors, music, vibrancy, happiness, energy and most importantly the people who gather together at such occasions. Festivals form an indigenous part of lives and help us to define culture and values.

College festivals are an ongoing trend and form an integral part of the life of every student and the college itself. College festivals act as a symbol that defines the culture, rituals, and rules of the institute and more importantly represent their true spirit. They are a platform where different kinds of people from diverse backgrounds share the same stage and showcase their talents. It’s the college festivals that to some extent give an identity to the college and bringing in the element fun and excitement that a student would look for while entering the institute.

The season of college festivals brings with itself a lot of excitement and a wave of enthusiasm in the air, which is characterized by a lot of activities, creativity, hustle and bustle, fun and management. Today, college festivals are not only about coming together for an event and having fun and are not just confined for those 5-6 days of work but they have now become serious business. College festivals are getting huger in all respects, in terms of money invested, in terms of participation and exposure with dedicated teams working on marketing, finance, public relations, security, workshop and various other departments throughout the year.

Multi national companies (MNCs) have started being associated with such events College festivals have a magnetic appeal. In fact, the fests of certain colleges assume such grand stature that companies wait for the entire year round to sponsor the events, that help them market well. For instance ‘Malhar’ – the annual fest of St Xaviers’ college, Mumbai whose strong association with Vodafone not only does wonders to the standard of celebration but at the same time also benefits and promotes Vodafone by manifold.

Let me introduce you to some of the most talked about and famous College festivals.

Malhar Festival at St. Xavier’s College: is among one of the biggest and the most popular college fest in Mumbai conducted by the students of the college. The intercollegiate festival is conducted usually in the 1^st or the 2^nd week of August and marks the beginning of the season of college festivals in Mumbai. Almost all the colleges in Mumbai participate in the various events at Malhar. Every year, the festival has the different theme, last year it was Malhar – The Movie. The festival conducts more than 50 events in various in various segments performing arts, literary arts and fine arts events, Street Dance being one of its most famous events, and also has various impromptu games and competitions for the audience and many interesting exhibitions and workshops. Malhar every year witnesses great participation and a huge audience, which makes it a bit crowded but fun. The college has various other festivals that are conducted by the different departments in the institute. 

Umang at NM College: Umang is probably the biggest college festival in the western suburbs which is organized and managed by the NM College in Juhu. Mention about how Umang has grown in popularity compared to other festivals The college also conducts Drishti, which a festival hosted by the management department (BMS) of the college. “College festivals provide a great opportunity for networking and interacting with great minds. They are important in fostering an individual’s personality and makes them ready for their future.” Says Mr. Rahul Mallya, Head of Department for Workshops in Umang and VP in Drishti. This clearly indicates that College Festivals are no more only fun but are taken up sincerely and are an enriching experience that offers a lot of learning beyond what is taught in the classroom environment.

Mood Indigo at IIT Mumbai: This IIT, Indian Institute of Technology, festival is more popularly known as Moodi, and is usually held every year in December end. the festival was started way back in 1973 by a group of enthusiastic students of the college. The festival is carried out over a period of 4-5 days and conducts a host of events that are targeted towards wide range of talent, attracting almost 70,000 Students every year from over 500 colleges all over the country. The festival though held by the Institute of Technology is not only for Tech Savvy but is open for all be it musicians, dancers, orators, quizzers, actors, artists or photographers.

Brouhaha at Sydenham College: was previously known as the Rainbow Lane when it started of in the year 1985. The festival conducts various events in nine departments – sports, workshops, gaming, fine arts, literary arts, performing arts, management, telematters and informal events. Students who display their excellence in all the nine departments are finally crowned as Mr. and Miss Brouhaha. Apart from the above mentioned events, the festival also has other events like rock art, movie set designing, script writing, body tattoos, fashion shows and a number of impromptu games.

Talaash at Jai Hind College: Talaash is an inter-collegiate festival that is hosted by the BMS students at Jai Hind College. it also is one of the most popular college festivals in Mumbai. The main USP events at Talaash are EVD (BMS) , Market King (BMM) and Escape from Alcatraz (BAF).  

Apart from the above mentioned ones there many other college festivals that are hosted by various colleges, to name a few,

Tsunami at Lala Lajpat Rai College

Kaleidoscope at Sofia College

Kshitij at Mithibai College

Euphoria at NMIMS 

College Festivals have gained a lot of importance over the years. Students look up to it as an opportunity to grow and develop their talents and bring out their best flair in the field of their choice. At times these students land up choosing their career based on their performance in these competitions. For instance, Comedy Actor – Satish Shah, decided to take up acting as a career because of the encouragement and appreciation he received from the events he participated in during his college. College festivals have now become a breeding ground for talent, where students from all over with different talents come forward and put up their best performances, which are judged by celebrities, producers, directors and famous entities who are looking out for young talent.

All of this together, make college festivals a great platform to showcase one’s skills, to learn and develop one’s personality and provide a huge exposure to new talent, people and a great future ahead.

Being a republic, France is very centralized and hence oriented towards strong control at national level. Important decisions regarding education and health are done by the central government and professional organizations do not play a large role as they do  in the United States of America and The United Kingdom. There is not a high level of distinction between the curriculum in under graduation and post-graduation.

In France, the medical academia has a very centralized role in defining the medical curriculum. The curriculum  must be conformed to national rules and  is jointly promulgated by the Ministry of Health and Higher Education.

Selection of students

Individuals who have obtained the French baccalaureate are open to enroll into the 1^st Year with students taking only pre-requisites before heading into their area of concentration. Only written exams are conducted in the 1^st year. Unsuccessful candidates may repeat their first year. According to the Medical Faculty in Nancy, 30% pass their Year 1 for the second year. While the remaining 70% repeating their first year, in general the average medical student in France takes 7 years to complete under graduation.

First Cycle (Year 1-2)

As mentioned above, 1st year consists mostly of pre-requisites also known as pre-clinical subjects.  Beginning of the second year comprises of introduction of nursing along with clinical skills of around 200 hours of study:

Second Cycle (Year 3-6)

Theory centric Teaching

3^rd Year consists  of 900-1000 hours of teaching with the aim to reinforce the basic sciences and introduce the terminology of the clinical disciplines. There is a complementary clinical skills course of an additional 200 hours. The second cycle consists mostly of repetitive courses rather than the courses by organ or specialization. Methods of teaching are influenced  towards self-directed learning and interdisciplinary; utilize problem-based and case-based learning techniques in groups. With written examination being part of the student assessment, each faculty member is allowed to decide the criteria for passing for the next year.

Clinical teaching

In year 4, there are clerkship rotations ( which varies between 2-4 months)- the practice of medicine for the purpose of experience( just like an internship for business), which is central to clinical teaching

These students are responsible for examining and interviewing patients along with being with them during their hospitalization, under the supervision of a senior. In spite of rotations being part of the curriculum, students are not required to pass an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) or other performance-based assessment prior to undertaking clinical rotations.  Students are assessed with an oral examination at the end of each rotation. Assessment is mostly theoretical and a list of skills must be acquired by the students in order to be considered competent. Students receive a diploma at the end of the second cycle (Year 6) which is equivalent to an MD in the US or a MB in the UK.

Third Cycle (postgraduate or residency training)

All those who have successfully completed their 2^nd cycle, enter their 3^rd cycle, involving training in a specialty, which includes family medicine. However before that, students have to give an anonymous national ranking examination and based on their rankings they can pursue a specialty they and the region they would prefer to study. Once that is done, the specialty programme consists of clinical rotations and theoretical teaching which takes 3 years for general medicine and 4-5 years for the specialty. The clinical and theoretical aspects of the third cycle are assessed and a final essay to a panel of judges from their specialty is to be submitted. Once completed with these requirements, students are issued with a state diploma and are required to register and be listed with the Ordre des Me´decins in order to be eligible to practice, but can only practice in the specialty in which they hold a university diploma. This is just like being registered at the Medical council of India for an Indian national in order to be able to practice in India.

Now, working in an actual medical environment requires not only a diploma and knowledge in advance science but the competence to behave professionally and rationally in a constantly complex changing environment, especially dealing with evolving patient expectations. To all this, France has yet to invent this sort of model curriculum.

BMS – Bachelor of Management Studies is a course specially designed by the Mumbai University to develop and promote entrepreneurship. It is a three year degree course and covers all aspects of management in marketing, human resource, logistics, public relations, economics etc. in 6 semesters .

I applied to multiple colleges in south Mumbai Jai hind College, HR college of Commerce and Economics, and St. Xavier’s College, for admission, they being among the best colleges that offer the courses. Voila!!  I had the good fortune of getting through all the colleges, which put me in a dilemma as to where to go. Finally, after a lot of brainstorming and consultation, I stepped into Xavier’s.

Xavier’s is the best thing that would ever happen to me. Life at Xavier’s – BMS was a transition or say transformation, which enriched and groomed me into a mature, focused and confident individual ready to face challenges.Truly speaking, what actually made me choose this college was its building/structure.  The Xavier’s building has been so well structured, creating a warm, peaceful and serene atmosphere. The classrooms, libraries, and hangout joints for Xavierites ( a student of Xavier’s) -  the woods, foyer and BCR – Boys Common Room, occupied by girls most of times -  makes it a wonderful place to learn and grow. Apart from academic excellence, Xavier’s provides its students a lot exposure and a platform to develop in all aspects of life.

BMS at Xavier’s was started in 1999 and is still continuing the legacy of laying emphasis on academics. It has an intake of 60 students and the admission process is based on the grade 12th score. At Xavier’s, the students are given opportunities to showcase their managerial skills and develop them. The entire course is taught with a practical approach, which involves projects, presentations, field trips, industrial visits to various companies and their manufacturing plants within Mumbai like Bisleri, Parle, L&T and also outside Mumbai, and internships in various organizations and companies, which help the students to get practical exposure and apply the knowledge they have gained in the real industry scenario. These practical projects and activities account for 40% of the marks and the remaining 60% is dedicated to performance in theory papers. The students are not constrained within the boundaries of the syllabus but it goes much beyond that with hands on experience shared by industry professionals and mentors.  Being a management course, the students are encouraged to initiate and manage events and activities and the Professors guide students and are always there to offer their valuable suggestions. The college also provides placement support to the students by inviting various companies like Google, D.E. Shaw, A.C. Neilson and many others for campus recruitment, thus providing an opportunity to choose their careers.

The BMS course definitely offers a lot from the managerial and entrepreneurial aspect, but the knowledge provided is superficial. The subjects offered are actually very vast and difficult to study them deeply. The course could be revised to provide the students a deeper knowledge about management in the field of their interest. The elective subjects offered in the 6 semester could be offered in the 5 semester, so that the student gets more time to study the subject more in detail. Internships should be made a part of the curriculum. BMS – meet can be organized once a year where the all the colleges that offer the BMS – course (representatives) meet and share their views about the course and its development.  Group discussions (GD) and Personal Interviews (PI) form an integral part of a recruitment process in almost all companies and also the admission process for most of the post graduate courses, therefore mock GD and PI sessions can be conducted that will help the students perform better.

There are a lot of workshops and seminars that are held for the students to enrich and enhance the knowledge gained in classrooms. The institute is associated with a lot of organizations like SIFE, Students in Free Enterprise, which is a social non- profit organization that brings together students, academic professional and industry leaders to bring about a change in the society,  and NEN,  National Entrepreneur Network, which promotes entrepreneurship within the college campus and also helps network with different colleges. The organization also holds a seven day event called the E- Week (Entrepreneurship week) under which various contests like best business plan, best marketer etc or workshops and seminars on entrepreneurship are held. Entrepreneurs from various startups also come and share their experience and guide the students towards a great career. These organizations provide the students   a platform to interact and come up with creative and innovative ideas.

BMS – department at Xavier’s also conducts ‘The Management Week’ (now a turned to an intercollegiate festival – Mileange) in which many management related activities, games and workshops are held. The event is organized and completely managed by the students. The college has the one biggest and most popular festivals “Malhar’, which every student dreams to be a part of – this makes me lucky enough to be a part of Xavier’s. The college also organizes a North East festival and also conducts an ex- change programme with France, thus creating a blend of various cultures.BMS – course is definitely put forth in the best possible way, but what makes it a fun learning and enriching experience, is the Xavier’s element. Sitting in the foyer with a guitar and group of friends in the evenings and singing along, Staying back, to complete projects under the green shade, Sleepless but the most wonderful nights and memorable moments in the campus during Malhar, chatting and doing the most craziest things in the BCR after class, fun at the back benches during lectures and presentations.  This is what Life at Xavier is’s all about and that’s why I miss it so much!!!!!!!!!