Set amidst the vast expanses of Delhi University, the red building of Faculty of Management Studies stands out with regards to its one of a kind, popular canteen and distinct lawn. It has cut out a distinguished figure among the B-School fraternity. Founded in 1954, it was the first Indian institute to provide Management expertise to budding managers. Just like other MBA colleges, students come here to start their professional careers with the largest brands that are in existence at present, both globally and domestically, with proportionate pay packages, satisfying job profiles, and impactful work at the workplace. From fields like Marketing, Finance, Operations, IT, HR being some of the roles prospective managers delve into, FMS also offers comprehensive training in all of the above domains. To be up for this, managers need to be in a challenging work environment to prepare them for the hardships later. An overabundance of classes, plethora of assignments and presentations, diverse internships and projects, guest lectures, live industry interactions, a tiring but enlightening placement season, all help in realising the same, and painting the whole picture. Management students get ready for the real life corporate world, by interacting with global leaders, competing with others in corporate competitions, analysing financial reports, applying frameworks to solve problems, perfecting case studies, debating and contributing to socially important causes and gaining knowledge from their peers. In lieu of the same, FMS connects to all of its students, not just on an intellectual level, but on an emotional level as well.
There are a variety of factors that make the campus unique. The “Red Building of Dreams” as it is called, is the place where dreams are born, rather than made. If we look at a usual day in the life of an FMS student, the classes start from 9, with students swamping to classrooms in chilly Delhi winter mornings. A couple of classes later, hungry faces and minds can be seen hustling at the college canteen, hustling and panting for breakfast during just a 10 minute break. The FMS canteen is popular throughout Delhi University, with students from other colleges also frequenting its canteen for morning cravings. Sessions and classes continue thereafter, and a similar situation can be observed during a tad longer lunch break as well. After classes complete, begin the other part of FMS college life that is totally student driven. Different societies affiliated to different domains work their way towards making the campus an enlightening experience for all the students. Every student has access to a Pandora’s box of knowledge from all of Marketing, Finance, Operations and HR. The Marketing Society, the Finance Society, the Systems Society, the HR and OB Society all make valuable contributions in the preparation of students. What makes FMS different and special from other Management colleges in the same fraternity, is the fact that people stay back in campus, even after college. Instead of going back to their rooms at their hostels, or their flats students look after the college, running it as if their own. Students who have grazed the corridors of FMS, can vouch for the fact that people develop an abstract connect with the college, and with their peers from all batches. FMS has a vibrant culture and energy of its own, a challenging and questioning work environment that engulfs all the students, helping them progress not just as managers, but also as good human beings, to bring upon change for the greater good.
In addition to the excellent faculty sessions and interaction, probe projects under various faculties FMS being in a metropolitan city, offers enormous opportunities to its students in the form the live projects and social internships, both at large and small corporate houses as well as NGOs catering to various social issues. Also being in the capital city of Delhi offers a lot of other advantages as well, like availability of industry opportunities, proximity to corporate houses and leaders etc.
FMS being under Delhi University’s purview lacks some of the infrastructural opportunities available to students from other B-Schools. But, it has worked as a blessing in disguise. The scarcity of resources, the lack of infrastructure, the dearth of hostels and accommodation, has made the students competent to deal with the adversities that they will be facing later in corporate life, which is not so rosy, making them ever prepared to face the harsh realities thereafter. Ours is a small campus, and the numerous activities on campus ensure that the campus is always filled with students, from doing peer-to-peer case studies, discussing financials of companies, completing projects to looking after college matters, all with a touch of fun, entertainment and passion. At the end of the 2 years, every student develops an everlasting bond towards the college, which reverberates across every alumnus from FMS. This has lead to a very strong alumni base, with alumni meets being held annually in both domestic and foreign locations.
Apart from academic matters, the college engages in a lot of co-curricular activities as well. The various clubs under the purview of the Cultural Society, namely Nethra, the photography Club; Kala, the fine arts club; Agamya, the literary and debate club has events all year round, enabling students to pursue their hobbies and interests in different fields. Recently, a foreign language club has also been founded to make the students better equipped in case of global work scenarios. The Sports Society also has various sporting events all throughout the year, FMS also has a CSR arm, Vihaan, which caters to socially burning issues in and around Delhi, via online and on-ground fieldwork.
FMS also holds its annual fest FIESTA, which receives a bludgeoning response from all B-Schools across North India, in addition to a huge media response. FMS students also have the opportunity to attend various events in Delhi, visited by eminent personalities, as well as have interactions with large media houses, which are mainly coordinated by the Media Cell of the college.
All of these factors make FMS an embodiment of what a B-School should be like. Also the main X-factor of FMS is its low fees, or the ROI each student here gets, in addition to all the facilities talked about above. The achievements of FMS can be seen with its performance in various case competitions held by large corporate houses, as well as staunch placement statistics, all due to the hard work of the Corporate Relations and Placement team.
The comings together of all these factors help us paint the marvel called FMS, which make our campus one in a million.