MICA Ahmedabad : Announces admission 2016; MICAT 2016 in CBT form on Dec 13; registration starts Sep 10

Announcing on Aug 17 the opening of changed pattern of admission process for its PGDM-C 2016-18 batch, MICA has introduced computer based MICAT 2016. The exam will be held on December 13, 2015 in 14 cities and MICA proposes to conduct GE-PI in Bangaluru, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai by mid-January 2016. The registration will open on Sep 10, 2015

MICA is Indias premier management institute renowned for Creating Leadership in Strategic Marketing and Communication has opened the admission process for its 2016-18 batch of the flagship Post Graduate Diploma in Management-Communications (PGDM-C).

4 major changes in Admission process of MICA
The admission process for PGDM-C 2016 intake sees following 4 major changes in terms of selection cycle, eligibility exams, aptitude test format and Group Exercise & Personal Interview (GE&PI) centres.

The selection process for PGDM-C 2016-18 to happen twice.
Candidates will have to take at least one of the three eligibility exams: CAT 2015, XAT 2016 and GMAT (2012 onwards).
MICAT will be held only in the computer based format in 14 cities across the country.
First phase Group Exercise & Personal Interview (GE-PI) will be conducted at Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata & Mumbai and the second phase GE-PI at MICA, Ahmedabad only.

Selection process in Jan & March
The selection process will be twice in one academic year. Commenting on the revised admission process, Dr. Shubhra Gaur, Chairperson-PGDM Admissions said By having the selection process twice - in December-January and Feb-March - we intendto provide more opportunities to MICA aspirants. Also, by conducting the GE-PI process in four cities, we aim to increase MICAs reach for aspirants from different parts of the country, while also reducing costs and stress levels foraspirants. We believe this will facilitate us getting a high quality intake.

Sharing the vision behind conducting admission process twice, Dr. Atish Chattopadhyay, Dean MICA says The new admission process is line with MICAs vision of achieving global standards both inquality and in reach

Eligibility
A MICA aspirant will need a Bachelors degree (in keeping with the 10 + 2 + 3 system) or an equivalent qualification in any discipline recognised by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) to register and apply for flagship PGDM-C at MICA. Candidates appearing for final examinations towards a Bachelors degree (or equivalent) are also eligible to apply.

Apply online wef Sep10
Candidates will need to apply online at MICA website. Applications will open on September 10, 2015.

3 Step Selection Procedure
The selection process for PGDM-C 2016-18 at MICA has three steps:
Step 1: Each candidate has to take at least one of the 3 exams: CAT 2015, XAT 2016 and GMAT (2012 onwards).
Step 2: Every applicant will be required to appear in MICA Admission Test (MICAT). The test isdec conducted to assess leadership potential of the applicant reflecting an aptitude for creative thinking, communication and consumer centricity.
Step 3: Based on the performance in the MICA Admission Test (MICAT), applicants are shortlisted for Group Exercise (GE) and Personal Interview (PI) to assess a candidates overall

MICAT: Testing pattern
MICA admission test, MICAT 2016 will be a multidimensional computer based examination, which will assess candidates in areas such as Divergent Thinking Abilities, Written Communication Abilities, General Awareness about contemporary social and business issues, including areas relevant to media, marketing, advertising & current affairs and Analytical & Verbal Abilities.
The Admission test also includes psychometric profiling to assess the candidates leadership potential.

MICAT 2016: Test cities
Following are the 14 test cities where MICAT 2016 will simultaneously be conducted on December 13, 2015 as computer based exam.
Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Jaipur, Jammu, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai.

PGDM-C at MICA
The PGDM-C is the flagship programme of MICA, Ahmedabad. The two-year, full-time, residential programme is AICTE approved and is deemed equivalent to an MBA by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU). It is a differentiated MBA programme that creates leadership through Creative Thinking, Communication and Consumer-Centricity

Elaborating the programme USPs, Dr. Atish Chattopadhyay, Dean MICA shared MICA is very different from any other conventional B-School. MICA believes that creative thinking, consumer centricity and communication are the building blocks for grooming leadership. This differentiated approach to leadership training attracts a diverse pool of applicants across disciplines, gender and region. Over the years, MICA has benefited from this trend and MICA is the only leading school, which has around 50 percent non-engineers and more than 50 percent women in its class. Recently, we have seen increased interest from Eastern and Southern India. Giving the applicants the option of appearing for interviews at Kolkata and Bangalore is an effort to reach out to this group. Also, MICA is the only leading School, which offers a specialization in Digital Marketing & Communications which has witnessed substantial interest from applicants from Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai.

No other Scores accepted
Candidates having valid scores in CAT 2015/XAT 2016/GMAT (2012 onwards) only can register and apply to MICA. Earlier MICA used to accept other scores also like MAT/CMAT/ ATMA, however from admission session 2016 onwards scores of one of the three exams mentioned above will be accepted by MICA. All those who apply shall have to take MICAT 2016 on December 13, 2015.

Important Dates
For the first phase of the selection process, MICAT will be held in 14 cities and GE-PI will be held in four cities - Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. The timeline is as under:

Event
Date

Website update and applications open
September 10, 2015

Applications close
December 04, 2015

MICA Admission Test (MICAT) - computer based test in 14 cities
December 13, 2015

Call letters for GE-PI
December 30, 2015

GE-PI (at Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai)
January 15-18, 2016

Confirmed Admission Offer
January 31, 2016

However for the second phase of the selection process, the timeline shall be announced at a later date. However, the GE-PI for the second phase will take place only at the MICA Campus in Ahmedabad.
Established in 1991, MICA is probably the first residential institute in the Asia-Pacific region, dedicated to creating Leadership in Strategic Marketing and Communication. The spirit lies in its grasping of contemporariness, addressing the needs of an ever-changing environment. Its alumni are serving in leadership positions in some of the best known companies in India and the world, in marketing, brand management, research & analytics, advertising, media, digital and other strategic marketing and communication-driven businesses.