MBA Admission 2014: 10 things to do this weekend

How you should spend this weekend to add new dimensions to your MBA admission dream?

With less than a months time left for CAT 2013 exam, you must spend this weekend to organize yourself towards entrance exam preparation and MBA exams registration and B-school application forms.
The coming weekend is very crucial for all the aspirants as this will be the last weekend before CAT and NMAT close for admission year 2014. For all those serious aspirants who are targeting 99+ percentile in CAT 2013 exam, this weekend would give them time to reenergize, revaluate and rethink their preparation strategy for CAT 2013.

MBAUniverse.com brings you 10 must to-do things this weekend towards your B-schools admission journey.
1. Register for CAT 2013: CAT 2013 registration ends on September 26th, if you were busy in your college classes or didnt get time from your office work, this weekend would be the last opportunity to get registered for CAT 2013 exam and NMAT 2014. Over 1 lakh CAT 2013 online forms have already been sold. Use this weekend to apply and choose the best possible venue, date and time for your CAT exam.

2. Other MBA entrance exams: Apart from CAT, XAT and NMAT, there are other MBA exams too like SNAP, IBSAT, IIFT, MICAT which will give you the chance to get admission into the related B schools. The core syllabi of all these exams are similar to CAT exam.

3. Apply for Top B schools: The top B schools have already opened their Application process for academic session 2014-16. Top B-schools which have opened their applications include XLRI, Jamshedpur, NMIMS, Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon, SPJIMR Mumbai, IMT Ghaziabad, IRMA, IMI Delhi, XIMB, TAPMI Manipal, LIBA Chennai to name a few. So, its time you apply to top management institutes as some of the top PGDM institutes like IMI Delhi, IMT Ghaziabad, MDI Gurgaon will close their application before the CAT exam begins on October 16. You must try to analyze each B school before applying and must chose the best fit B school for yourself.

4. Take Mock test: Taking mock test and evaluating your performance by analyzing your weak areas and mistakes, brings an edge to your preparation. Use this weekend to take Mock Tests and analyze your preparation.
Anurag Goyal, who scored 99.56 percentile in CAT 2012 says, The last month before the CAT exam should be spent on strengthening the concepts. The best way to do this is to be thorough with the concepts tested in the mock tests.

Sumedha Deogharia of NITIE Mumbai scored 99.35 %ile and believes that only practice can make you perfect and improve your accuracy. She said, Take as many mock tests as you can. Come out with a proper analysis of your performance after each mock test and try to find out weaknesses and strengths. Read editorial columns in newspapers to improve your knowledge base and reading ability. Keep revisiting your CAT preparation material from time to time. Work very hard if you want to bell the CAT this year itself!

Alay Mehta (CAT 99.99 percentile) says, Write the standardised mock tests. Though its not possible to score high marks in mock tests, especially in the initial ones, you should never stop taking them. With the number of mocks increasing, the performance will definitely improve. You are bound to have bad mocks, but just dont give up. Solve a thousand questions on the topic and next time you take a mock, youll inadvertently search out the questions from those first and solve them.

5. Revise Prep Time Table: If you are preparing for last 6 months or have just started your preparation in the last quarter, its time to re-work your time table according to your preparation level. You are left with around 30 days for your CAT exam and hence you must focus on polishing your strong areas. Update your time table and try to allot as many hours for preparation in this last lap as possible. Siddhant Gupta, who scored 98.67 percentile in CAT 2011, prepared a specific time table to manage his time. He said, Systematic preparation of timetable (that is divided on the basis of units/chapters/subjects) should be done rather than spending time unnecessarily on them. Figure out the most productive time of your day and plan study hours accordingly. Study with a fresh mind and take regular gaps so that you can retain what you have studied. Study sessions of shorter durations with high concentration level help a lot.

6. Time-management: This is something that you would have heard of over and over again throughout your preparation from your teachers, from your seniors and fellow students. It is however very crucial in last 30 days. You must go through all your mock CATs to identify patterns of mistakes and all indications of indiscipline in time-management. Just see how you can improve these aspects through a more disciplined and conscious management of time.

Although its easier said than done, any improvements here will be worth their weight in gold because time is the single biggest constraint that you as an aspirant are working under.

7. Identify Weakness: Weekend is the best time to revise your preparations and find out the trouble areas. There must be few concepts which either you have not touched till now or your success rate in those types of questions is low. Its time you take each concept one by one and try to figure out the one which are giving you jitters. Making a note of all those key problem areas will help you to divide your time efficiently for all the subjects.
Parag Poddar scored 99.65 percentile in CAT 2011. He was a working professional while preparing for CAT and used to prepare mostly on weekends.

8. Dont forget to Read: The second section of CAT exam comprises Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning question. For the verbal ability section, you must concentrate more on reading speed and comprehensions. Reading e-newspapers and surfing online articles will make you adept to the habit of reading from computer and will help you to concentrate better during your tests.

Anusha Subramanian of IIM Bangalore says, Developing a good reading habit helps to do well in this section. Apart from taking mock tests, reading newspapers, good novels and magazines do not only help in solving verbal ability questions but also in interviews.

For Parag Poddar, the editorial sections of the newspapers helped him to increase his vocabulary and gain speed and hone his comprehension skills. Apart from these, reading articles dedicated to various fields and story books helped him to inculcate interest in various domains.

Recommendation for Reading: 1. Business Line by The Hindu Group 2. Business Today by India Today Group 3. Business World 4. Management Compass Career Launcher 5. Business & Management Chronicle by Chronicle Publications 6. Competition Success Review 7. The Hindu 8. Economics Time 9. The Statesman

9. Set a goal: While revising or studying the CAT preparation material, always try to set a goal. Goals can be for the day or week or even for an hour. For example, if you have planned to study fortwo hours, you should also know what you hope to achieve at the end of those two hours.This will help you focus your effort. By setting a goal, you will achieve much more in those two hours and this will also help you to compare /analyze your performance on a regular or daily basis. Apurv Jain, CAT 99.32%iler from FMS Delhi advices aspirants to manage time efficiently and effectively. Set goals and try to achieve it at the end of the time. He also says that aspirants should remain confident and should have belief in their preparation.

10. Keep the fire burning: Last but not the least, dont let your desire and thirst to achieve 99+ percentile or getting admission to Top B schools in the country fade away. The fire in your belly should remain till your goals are achieved. You have devote a lot of time towards preparation in last few days and now you just need to keep the momentum going for the next 30 days or so. These last days are as important as the starting month.
Keep reminding yourself of why you want to do an MBA? What all benefit you will gain by doing it? These positive thoughts will re-energize you to work harder and will help you to focus on your MBA Exam preparations.
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