'Road to CAT 2008': MBAUniverse.com Aspirant Zone special series for MBA aspirants

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Updated on August 5, 2016
So you want to bell the CAT, this November, and enter into the prestigious B-schools like IIMs, JBIMS, XLRI and MDI? But you have several questions about entrance test preparations and life at B-School?

Who better to answer these questions than the CAT toppers themselves, who are now studying at top B-school!  

India's leading management portal MBAUniverse.com presents its series 'Road to CAT 2008' which will guide and inspire CAT aspirants at every stage. In this series, begin with a chat with students from top B-schools on their journey, and life at B-school. The B-school students that we interviewed for this series are from institutes like IIM-B, IIM-I, IIM-K, JBIMS, FMS Delhi and IIT Bombay's SJMSOM.   

MBAUniverse.com presents chat with Nitin Gupta, alumni of MBA-Management of Services of Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi University, where he shares with MBAUniverse.com her experience while into FMS, and campus life.   

Q- What is the importance of 'preparation' for a candidate wanting to crack management entrance exams like CAT, XAT and others? How important was preparation in your personal journey to your campus?
A- In this extremely competitive scenario, you need to prepare in a well structured manner to get a seat in a top B- School like IIMs and FMS.  For working people it becomes all the more important to plan their preparation schedule, as they have limited time to prepare. They need to get the maximum out of their weekends and other holidays. As I was working on a very demanding project at Satyam Computers, I planned my preparation in the reverse manner with weekly targets leading up to the D-day. It helped me in having a realistic approach towards my preparation since I had limited time at hand.
 
 
Q- How did you prepare for management entrance exams like CAT, XAT and other exams? Please elaborate. (Kindly share a detailed answer for this question)
A- I had started my preparation 4 months prior to CAT. I enrolled for the classroom coaching for CAT. To start with, I developed a habit of reading TOI and ET on a daily basis. This helped improve my English vocabulary and reading comprehension speed as well along with providing me with latest happenings. Also I used to practice number crunching for half an hour daily and half hour on learning new words (I took up Barrons GRE)

The initial one and a half months I worked on the fundamentals of English and Quant. This is very important stage of preparation as after working thoroughly on the basics you can move on to the next level confidently. The next one month was devoted to the section tests of various parts of the entrance paper like DI, Quant, Reading Comprehension and Verbal Ability. I did these section tests in a timed manner. After the stipulated time one should continue to solve the complete test as it is equally important to be able to solve all types of questions at this stage of preparation.

The next one month was completely devoted to test papers which include solving the Full length tests provided by the coaching institute including the Sunday mock tests. Ideally 3-4 full length test papers a week followed by a thorough analysis of the tests should be done. Analysis of the paper will give you an idea of what your strengths and weaknesses are, which type of questions can be correctly solved in the least possible time in those 2 hours. Develop your own shortcuts. This comes with practice and analysis of the paper.

Now comes the last 15 days of the preparation. Now 2 papers a week with thorough analysis of the same should be done. Also you need to get into the revision mode. Take out all the mock tests that you have given earlier and revise them. You need not completely solve the paper. The idea is to refresh the memory with the various types of questions asked in the mocks and the shortcuts that you may have developed for the same.

Last couple of days prior to the exam, just relax and chill out. Watch a movie or hang out with friends to keep you cool.

For XAT and FMS, you need not do anything different, as the syllabus and types of questions asked are more or less same. The difference is in the pattern of the paper.

For that you just need to solve few full length tests based on XAT and FMS tests pattern provided by the coaching institutes.  

Q- Did you enroll into a coaching or test-prep institute? How did it help?
A- I had enrolled for regular class room coaching at PT Education. But due to paucity of time I could hardly attend the classes. Though it helped me getting in touch with other serious aspirants and a spirit of competition developed. One thing that I always made sure was to go for the Mocks every Sunday. And then the thorough analysis of the same. These Mocks make you aware of your relative standing among the other aspirants.
 
 
Q- How should an aspirant choose the right test-prep institute? What should be the parameters for making this choice?
A- I believe the best way to choose the coaching institute is to find out about the faculty and course material. At the same time make sure that the location of the institute is not very far as the traveling time takes up a substantial toll on you physically as well as mentally especially in metros like Delhi, Mumbai etc.

Talk to the existing students and if possible to the people who have studied there last year. The no of students enrolled with the institute is also one of the key parameters as the relative ranking of the mock tests gives you the true standing of your preparation level vis-à-vis other aspirants. 

Q- How is life in a top B-school from a student's point of view? What are some highs and lows!
A- Life in a B-school is once in a life time experience. At FMS, I was able to do so many things, all at almost the same time. You have so many things to do that some times you just wonder what to do and what not. Right from rigorous academic curriculum, assignments, case studies, projects, organizing events of various societies like marketing, finance, to working on the b-school competitions and sports events, there is so much to do and so less time.

You actually need to prioritize your activities according your interest levels. Solving case studies till dawn which needs to be presented to a very demanding professor at 9 AM sharp to having parties till morning, all of these are a part of your B-school life. The pressure cooker situations of working on multiple assignments sometimes gets you in a thinking mode if I can really complete my MBA especially the initial months which I just cant forget. At the same time, the thrill that you get after getting six figure salary in your dream company gives you a really out of the world feeling. 

Road to CAT '08 special series will continue on India's leading management portal – MBAUniverse.com. Stay tuned to read more Chats with MBAs, expert admission advice from B-school Directors and from top test-prep experts.  

To read our earlier chats with CAT toppers, click on the links below:

http://www.mbauniverse.com/aspirantNews.php?id=1203

http://www.mbauniverse.com/innerPage.php?id=ne&pageId=1226

http://www.mbauniverse.com/newsFortnight.php?id=ne&pageId=1232

http://www.mbauniverse.com/newsFortnight.php?id=ne&pageId=1238

http://www.mbauniverse.com/innerPage.php?id=ne&pageId=1253

http://mbauniverse.com/newsFortnight.php?id=ne&pageId=1266

http://mbauniverse.com/newsFortnight.php?id=ne&pageId=1294

http://www.mbauniverse.com/aspirantNews.php?id=1315

http://www.mbauniverse.com/aspirantNews.php?id=1331