A few of my friends graduated from IIM Ahmedabad and Athena School of Management. From whatever I have heard from them, I can say that the answer is no. IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore & IIM Calcutta are considered the Trinity of India's Best Business Schools for around 50 years.

Athena School of Management is a much younger Business School with a lot of innovation and inspiration. It is ranked as India's Best Emerging Business School with multiple internships. The faculty is from across the world with global exposure.

But the Athena School of Management is not better than the IIM Ahmedabad. IIM Ahmedabad is the gold standard for B-schools in India. The institute is ranked Top 1 in the NIRF ranking (2020).

Ultimately the decision is yours. But it is suggested that if you get an opportunity to study at IIM Ahmedabad, do not ever let it go out of your hands. This will pave the way for your career. With IIM Ahmedabad’s guidance, your career will be sorted.

Among many unique factors, the one thing that makes IIM Ahmedabad stand out is the people. If you go through the IIM Ahmedabad faculty profiles on Linkedin, you will be overwhelmed by the positions they hold. IIM Ahmedabad peer group is diverse. There are people from engineering, law, commerce, medicine backgrounds. Being among such a diverse set of people will make you open to new perspectives. Many students joining IIM Ahmedabad have years of experience in the industry. You can learn a lot from their experience. 

During my sister’s graduation, she was considering both IIM Ahmedabad and ISB for MBA. At last, she chose IIM Ahmedabad. Also being a student there myself, I can assure you that it is a far better institution than any other in India.

Here are some things that make IIM A stand out.

• It has a much larger, accomplished, and well-recognized alumni network, unlike ISB.
• IIM A offers a 2-year full-time MBA which has more value than a 1-year PGPM course that ISB offers.
• IIM A has a more relaxed, and easy to grasp course curriculum with 6 terms in 2 years. ISB is a slightly cramped and hectic curriculum with 8 terms in 12 months.
• At IIM A you will have the opportunity to interact with your seniors.
• IIM Ahmedabad grants admission on the basis of CAT, which is supposed to be tougher, comprising quantitative aptitude and data interpretation.
• ISB students get admission through GMAT, which focuses more on communication and logical reasoning.
• More than 95% of the IIM Ahmedabad batch gets placed on campus with great packages.
• More than half the ISB batch go back to the companies they were previously working in, or back to their family business.
• Due to a large number of international professors, the fees at ISB are slightly higher as compared to IIM Ahmedabad.

Many top recruiting companies participate in the placement program at IIM A. They include Microsoft, Google, Mindtree, Nerolac, Loreal, Capgemini, Asian Paints, KPMG, HSBC, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra, CitiBank, Godrej, Mercedes, etc. So if you are fortunate enough to get selected in both IIM A and ISB, choose IIM Ahmedabad without any second thought.

Your life success is determined by your abilities and luck. When you are chosen for IIM Ahmedabad, you have met the minimum requirements, which means you are competent. So it makes no difference that you received affirmative action for your support.

A study was once conducted at the University of Michigan Law School to determine whether students who received the highest score on their standard test were more "successful" than those who received affirmative action-based admission. They discovered that ten years later, there was no difference in their performance and that they were all equally good lawyers.

More than half of IIM Indore students, and even more at IIM Ahmedabad, would admit that luck plays an important role. You should go to IIM Ahmedabad. The peer learning factor would be superior to IIM Indore.

Yes, many of my friends have enrolled at IIM L after completing a year at one of the new IIMs. Your only requirement is a strong profile, a high CAT score, and a compelling reason for quitting your current business school. 

However, the opportunity cost should be considered while making this decision. This option is only practical if you come from the second generation of a new IIM or a 3 tier B-school. But you should not leave FMS or XLRI for IIM A after studying for a year in these universities. Since the opportunity cost would be too great in this circumstance.

Never consider leaving because the two years you spend there will change your perception. Newly established IIMs may, without a doubt, admit students with a lower percentile. But this is not an indication of inferior quality.

An MBA is not a course that can be taught. According to my friends at IIM Ahmedabad, the institute offers the students an official learning platform that helps them in learning management in a curriculum structured for around 18–19 months.

• There is an interactive environment where teachers discuss various cases with students.
• The cases discussed include the dos and don'ts for companies and managers.
• A presentation environment is there wherein the students are allocated with group assignments. These assignments then get evaluated in front of other students and faculty members.

• Overall, diversity is great for learning, overall growth, and development.
• IIM Ahmedabad offers industrialexposure. This can help you a lot in gaining new experiences and learning various things about corporate life.
• The course curriculum will prepare you for real-life job experiences and help you to learn the different aspects of finance, marketing, HR, IT, in addition to the basics of business law, public policies, etc.
• You would surely attain a good overview and understanding of the various functions and aspects of the management domain.

The students enrolled are:

• Fresher or people with 4–5 years of work experience.
• From almost every region of India.
• From International exchanges that are offered by the Institution.
• The students have the profession ranging from Dentists to Engineers, Architects to economists.

In conclusion, the overall experience that the institute offers can teach you a lot about the various aspects of management along with what the curriculum offers.