HT Horizons and MBAUniverse.com held 'Mission MBA', a workshop for the CAT 2010 takers on Saturday, October 23, at New Delhi. The workshop was held on the topic of ‘Last Minute Strategy to Crack CAT 2010’ and ‘What do Top B-schools look for in a Candidate?’. More than 200 MBA aspirants took part in the workshop.
The speakers of the day were Dr. Bhimaraya Metri, Professor & Dean (GPs), Chairman, Post Graduate Program in Management and Center for Supply Chain Management, Management Development Institute Gurgaon; Arun Sharma, CAT expert, author and CEO of Mindworkzz and Dr. Himadri Das, Chairperson, Admissions and Professor of Finance & Information Systems and Area Chairperson, Admissions, International Management Institute (IMI), Delhi.
The CAT aspirants got the golden opportunity to listen to and interact with Arun Sharma, renowned CAT expert, author of CAT preparation books and an IIM Bangalore alumnus, who has cracked CAT exam 11 times! Arun Sharma spoke at length on the last minute strategy to crack CAT 2010. He is mentor to several CAT aspirants.
The most important mantra that he shared with the students was, “Raise your capacity to think.” According to him, this is not just applicable in cracking CAT 2010 but in every walks of life. He gave a simple example of how addition can be done in a much speedy way by following the multiplication method rather than the carry forward method.
For the remaining days of CAT 2010, Arun Sharma suggested that you should not try to learn any new topic, rather come back to the questions you have already come across and resolve them. “Review the logics which you have already come across and the questions you have already solved,” he said. “Re-experience all the traps. Try to get over the problems you faced before,” he added.
He mentioned that in this way, you can learn many other ways to solve it more accurately and in a faster speed. “You can learn how to choose the correct options. Review the questions which went wrong as well as the questions you answered correctly,” said Sharma.
In the exam hall, you need not answer all the questions but the selection of the right questions is necessary. Sharma gave an important tip to know which would be the right question to attempt. “When you see a question, your mind will find a solution or logic within 30 to 40 seconds. If your mind doesn’t work after that duration, leave that question. It will hamper your farther performance,” he suggested.
He ended his session by saying, “Believe in yourself till the last minute. Have a back up plan ready alongside MBA and aim to join the top league B-schools. Start thinking like a champion, you will become one.”
The other topic which was talked about in the workshop was ‘What do top B-schools look for in a candidate’. To address this topic, there were Dr. Bhimaraya Metri of MDI Gurgaon and Dr. Himadri Das of IMI.
Dr. Metri stated the five factors which MDI Gurgaon looks for in a candidate. These five factors are confidence, communication skills, lateral thinking, learning ability and general awareness. “You will have to stand up in the crowd by thinking out of the box. Your passion to learn should be communicated,” said Dr. Metri.
The other factors are Group Discussion and Personal Interview. “During Group Discussions, we see the group dynamics, time management, relevance of the points mentioned and the ability to sup up the discussion,” he mentioned.
He also talked about the importance of MBA and how life at MDI is.
Dr. Himadri Das started his address by saying that CAT is a test of speed, endurance and stamina. But the scores are not all that IMI looks for while selecting a candidate for the B-School. “Our first criterion is the CAT scores where we take not just the overall score, but consider the sectional cut offs as well. After that, we consider the marks of Class 10, 12 and graduation and work experience, if any,” said Dr. Das. “We also see what kind of college the student went to, the nature of the work experience with respect to the company and the candidate profile,” he added.
Based on these criteria, candidates are shortlisted for the second round of the selection process, Group Discussion, Personal Interview and Essay writing. The other factors which are necessary for the selection are passion, curiosity and general awareness which can be showcased during the second round of the selection process. “Curiosity is a big measure of your success. General awareness is a result of curiosity. It has to be build over the years,” he mentioned.
Dr. Das also stated the weightages of the above mentioned factors. These are,
Class 10th marks – 10 per cent
Class 12th marks – 10 per cent
Graduation marks – 20 per cent
Work Experience – 10 per cent
50 per cent of the selection criteria are based on the second round of the selection process.
Group Discussion – 10 per cent
Essay Writing – 10 per cent
Personal Interview – 30 per cent
According to Dr. Das, the Personal Interview is the chance you get to project yourself and tell the panel how you are suitable for the B-School and as a future leader. “If you lack in any of the factors such as academic result or work experience you should make the most of the Personal Interview and say in what ways you can be a good MBA student and contribute in a corporate field as a leader. That is why Personal Interview is given the highest weightage,” Dr. Das concluded.
The session ended with the address of Madhur Ojha, a student of IMT Ghaziabad, 2010-12 batch, who scored 97.27 percentile in CAT 2009. He shared his experience of taking CAT 2009. “I went through the similar anxiety before CAT 2009 as you are going through now. But regular practice and self belief got me through where I am today,” he said.
He also mentioned that taking mock tests regularly, its analysis is the key to success in CAT. “While taking CAT you should have a strong strategy of choosing the right questions and avoiding possible errors,” he mentioned.
Prior to the workshop, free mock tests were held in several centers across Delhi and NCR. The participants of the workshop were given free mock test CDs.
Tata McGrawHill Education Mindworkzz was the Knowledge Partner of Mission MBA.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more on HT Horizon and MBAUniverse.com Mission MBA.
