MBA Aspirants India orientation

The Journey for MBA in India is of the following stages

• Preparation
• Competitive Exams
• Based on your exams scores you will get interview calls from diffferent colleges that you have applied to
• Group Discussions(GD), Written Ability Test (WAT), Personal Interview (PI)
• Final Selection and admission formalities.

Following are the competitive Exams

• CAT
• XAT
• GMAT
• NMAT
• SNAP
• CET
• CMAT

The exams above are in reducing order of Importance. Different B schools accept different test scores. But CAT is the single most important test opening doors to all the IIMs and other top Indian Colleges. So doing well in it takes utmost significance. My answers below are based on the CAT exam which happens in November.

Before I give answers to some FAQs let me set my credibility. I am a 99.51%tiler in CAT 2014. This is despite the fact that my CAT exam was right between an ongoing CA Final exam. I was fortunate to have scored well despite my adversities. I however write this blog so that you all may score even more. You have my best wishes :)

Q.When Should I start preparing for my exams?

A. Ideally you should start your preparation should start in May. Those who havent started need not worry, they can make up for lost time by studying harder.

Q.Should I leave my job for preaparing?

A. No. Definitely not. Leaving your job not just reduces your pay-cheques, but also reduces the amount of work experience that you may gain which is given due importance in the B school interviews later. It is also very difficult to justify to the interviewers, why you left your job so early...

So, if you are working, you may take a weekend batch of MBA institute and continue working side by side.

Q.Should I do classes?

A. I believe that classes do help a lot in preparations. Exams should be given with a solid strategy where the role of your professors becomes important in shaping a strategy for you. However, join a class which has smaller batch size and where professors are approachable. It will be helpful not just in exam preps, but also college form filling, interview preps, GD preps, Written Test preps, counselling, etc. MBA is a degree where the college you do it from makes a HUGE difference on your professional life ahead. So I recommend, that you should take it seriously.

Q. How to go about studies?

A. You should do conceptual learning for the first 2-3 months. Get deep into the concepts and try developing tricks/ shortcuts. A lot of shortcuts will be given by the classes too. 

Step 2- Start giving mock test papers. There are a lot of sites online where you can give tests.e.g. CareerLauncher , TestFunda, TYConline, etc. Classes also arrange for a no. of mocks.

After every paper it is equally important to spend 5 hrs analysing your performance- where you went wrong? Where did you spend excessive time? What topics have you performed well? What topics need more brush up? How to solve those questions that you werent able to answer? etc

Step 3- Identify strengths and weakness areas. Ans your weakness areas in the last. Constantly keep moulding your strategy and try different strategy to know whats best for you. Side by side, revise the concepts where you feel you are weak. There are a lot of blogs written on CAT exam strategy, you may try all you think are feasible for you and zero in on one of them.

Q. What material to refer to for studies?

A. If you are going to classes, definitely do your classes material. If you arent, take any classes material from your friends and study.

Q. Anything apart from that?

A. Yes. In the interviews, importance is also given to extra curriculars. So you may pursue your hobbies side by side. Try developing them further. Take part in competitions. Prefarably have something to show for like some certificates.(if not then some photos)

Social work is also great for your resume which will  help you in interview stages. However, do it only if you have the intentions for it. If you are doing it just for the sake of it, the interviewers will mostly see through.

Last but not the least, stay updated with current affairs. Read newspapers daily. If not the details, at least go through the headlines. Know whats happening.

If you felt that this blog was helpful, do +1 it. Also share it to people whom you think might benefit from it. If you want me to post any additional material- do write in the comments.

IIM Indore

WAT- 

"Religion should be a private matter. It shouldn't be taken out in the public arena"

Personal Interview

Tell me something about urself
why MBA ...CA is respectable?
Why not a specialized finance course? Name some specialized courses.
Why not NMIMS?
How do you Depreciate a vehicle?
what about a gun?
But its value increases with time..
Name other things whose value increases with time
what is the study of coins called?
Tell me about this Positivity Process...Questions on it
i am playing devil's advocate but I want ur view on the motive behind doing it: is it for the society and ur resume or to cover ur guilt
If there is one projected cash flows ...how many IRRs can you have?
Show us a demo using notional figures....
make an equation ....what sort of an equation is it?
If it is a cubic equation it should have 3 ans naa...
Do you know about take back wall street? Sub prime crisis?
Do you know about Arthur Anderson?
Is there a company associated with Arthur Anderson in India?
Do you know about the role of investment bankers in the sub prime crisis?
what happened in the sub prime crisis.?
if there was so much money circulating in the market how was there no inflation?

IIM Kozhikode

GD & WAT-

Make in India or Made in India

Personal Interview

Tell me something about yourself
why MBA?
Cant u already do it
Shouldnt you join politics?
In investment banking you won't b able to do social work
Why is it called equity markets?
What rights do they have?
Is there a way to find out the no of shareholders?
How is the Sensex calculated
How is CPI calculated.?
housing and food are both a part of the commodities...how do u bring them to scale?
What about General Knowledge? How is your GK?
Which topic are you comfortable talking abt?
Who is the PM of Greece?
Which Party?
Who is the FM?
What are his views?
Who are the Troika
Which book did u read last?
Some tricky questions on Mean and SD
What is a quadratic equation? how many solutions?
In an equations if there is one unknown can u find a unique solution?

IIM Calcutta

WAT- 

cities should be allowed to expand only up to a certain limit otherwise it causes congestion and strain on resources. What measures would you take to monitor the growth of the city? How would you implement the same?

Personal Interview

U have already done CA ...why mba?
How much would you be earning as a CA after 2 years?
What do you mean by a front end investment banking job?
what are the factors you would consider apart from financial variables in a m&a
most of the m&a fail..the investment banks are in trouble...y would u want to join that
what determines the success of a m&a
Tata took over jaguar..was that a success?
What is the highest grossing tata company?
Why does it do better than Infosys?
coming back to negotiation...What skills should a good Negotiator possess?
Wont a negotiator require good convincing skills too?
While convincing would you look from your point of view or the other's point of view?
Lets talk abt studies...heard of a balance sheet( he came late and dint read CA in my profile)
Why is it called a balance sheet?
If my goods got destroyed by fire on 31st march...and I saw it on 1st Jan..what entry would I pass? When? If I had an insurer?
As on 31st B/S wouldnt be tallied....
U r talking abt profit and I m talking of balance sheet..
So it would be tallied?Where would the profit be reduced..equity?
What are your hobbies?
What sort of songs?
where have you given performances? ( brovo...I got a chance to speak about the Positivity project)
Any questions?

MDI Gurgaon

Personal Interview

Tell me something about yourselfIf you start mba , social programs will stop?

Why volunteering just from 5 months
What are debentures?
Can debentures be equity?
Why MBA after CA?
U can get into investment banking even right now?
Thought about entrepreneurship?
Can I alone start a company?
Why is it a new concept ? There are already one man companies- Sonia Gandhi, arvind kejriwal, mulayam Singh
What is the difference between political party and company?
How do you think you did in your GD?
What is your CAT %tile?
What calls have you got?
Why not Bangalore?
What is the difference between public enterprise and public sector company?
Is railways a public enterprise or a public sector co.
Is it a dept?

NMIMS

GD- 

Why don't Indians invest in Equities? 13% inv as opposed to global average of 26% . CD was civilized. I summarized wonderfully :B

PI

So u believe in clarity in communication?
Would you say u have no experience
Tell me about the underprivileged teaching and the project
What inspired you to do so?
So you are a Mumbai boy..through and through...? Love it?
Name 3 investment banks in India
What hobbies do u have?
What kind of songs?
What sports do u play?
So you are a CA .Why MBA?
Why are u wearing a white shirt?
Why do you need to be pure from the outside if you are pure from the inside?
Do you do a lot of things without reason?
Isn't u loving it reason enough?
It was a pleasure talking to u.

S.P Jain

WAT

What do you think is an appropriate age to enable a person to drink/smoke, drive, marry and vote?

Group PI

Tell me something about yourself...
Why MBA in marketing?
What is marketing to you?
Sell this bottle to me
Why are bottles selling same water packaged differently?
Hw does market differentiation work in the steel industry?
Inflation is based on which index- open ended question
How does reduction in repo rate affect the economy?- open ended
How did AAP use the game theory?- open ended
Any questions from your side?

IIM Shillong

Personal Interview

Why MBA?
Family background?
Family income?
Tell me something about yourself...
Which university have you undergraduated from?
Lehman brothers crisis specifics...
What is Economic Value Added? Formula?
Difference betweem debt service coverage ratio and interest coverage ratio
E commerce bubble. How are they valued so high?
Tell us about your hobbies..
New rule In table tennis?
Graphology- Mahatma Gandhi's handwriting analysis
In comparison to your Quant score, how is your verbal ability score so low?

Symbiosis (SIBM- Pune)

Group Discussion

Plane crash situation. Select a leader from the survivors based on the profile given.

Written Ability Test Topic

Blue

Presentation

(A powerpoint file on concerns of aviation industry was given. I had 5 mins to go through and present the slides)

Personal Interview

What have you done?
Passed first attempt?
What's the result percentage?
Why MBA after CA?
Why not MBA in marketing?
What is a dead account?
Negative aspects of your personality
Do u have any gf?why?
Why the goatee...why no mustache??
Nervous?
Why excited?
Apart from curriculars, what's your passion?
VP of India
German chancellor
Collective nouns
What is Gynecology? palenteology ?....
Interview Calls from...? if v select u, v ll b second choice...
Role model
A brand which you like...
Its Tag line?
Lg tag line.?...LG full form?
A lot of other GK current affairs questions
Would you like to have water?
Any questions you would like to ask? Why not?

IIM Lucknow

Personal Interview

Tell me something about yourself..
Start from your school..
What else do you like to do?
Tell me about transfer pricing
Explain transfer pricing with an example
Is depreciation an inventoriable cost
Is depreciation a fixed cost or period cost
Are you into family business
What does your father do
Why MBA
Name some of the investment banks
Are the transfer pricing provisions lopsided
Why not make a career in transfer pricing?
Tell me the name of the 24th tinthankara
The 23rd?

IIM Ahmedabad

Written Test Topic

A case study was giving where in the circumstances mentioned matched those in the Tata takeover of Jaguar and Land Rover. We were asked to throw light on different parameters to be taken into consideration while going through with the deal.

Personal Interview Round:

Tell me something about yourself..Double entry book keeping system ..why is it useful?Apps on cell for the sameWould you sell a double entry book keeping app to youngsters

Tell me more about the different projects on a global scale relating to Asha Kiran School on Wheels

Initiative in IIM A on similar lines.

Questions related to the Written Test Questions related to NPV and IRR

Hobbies Asked me to analyze a sample signature

said he froze his signature years ago....does that mean his personality has remained the same?

Any more sports?

The Positivity Project Story

The Positivity Project as it stands today is a movement to radiate positivty all around. Our family of volunteers is ever growing finding new heights of enthusiasm every single day. We have touched the lives of over a 1000 people- orphans, challenged individuals and oldies in the process as on the date of writing this blog. At The Positivity Project, we are a family of like minded people who take immense pleasure in making a positive difference to the lives of the needy. The situation in India is well known: the helplessness of the oldies who are abandoned, the humiliation that challenged people suffer and the incompleteness of orphans. So we have taken it upon ourselves to "be the change that we wish to see in the world" as Mahatma Gandhi said. Our influence is growing by the day, and we hope to create an atmosphere where social work becomes a norm not just in Mumbai, but extending to the whole of India. In the long run, I suppose the rural areas will be the biggest beneficiaries.

A lot of people asked me how it all began. Here is my account of it...

Since a very young age, I was taught to help as many people as I can. Earlier, my work in this sphere was to help my friends with studies, motivating them to make studies interesting, consoling them when they were down, and being around for them through their highs and lows. To a lesser extent, helping covered others around me too.

During my CA Final preparations, I used to go though a lot of Positivity, Inspirational and Motivational videos. I began every day with 30 mins of motivation while jogging. These videos filled me with the much needed positivity for CA Final's rigourous preparation daily. I saw myself becoming highly focused and productive.

My mother had once told me about one man who was very poor. He barely earned enough to sustain himself but still donated a little every day. His hardwork and the blessings he recieved saw him become filthy rich. His habit had continued over the years. He was now in a position to donate a lakh every day. On his last days, he asked his arrongant son to start donating with Rs1 a day and double it every day. At first it seemed a very small amount for a multi millionare, but slowly and gradually it built up. The son had to pay 13.42 Crores on the 28th day, his arrogance was lost. The man finally died after taking a promise from his son to donate Rs 1 crore a day. Since that day I had a goal to be able to donate 1 Crore Rs a day by 45 years of age. Also I felt that donation shouldn't be just about money, but also in positive emotions.

Being engrossed in this positive ideas, suddenly this thought came up in my mind, and I had promised myself that I would take it up after my CA Final Exams in May 2014. This is what gave birth to the thought of The Positivity Project.

I had spoke about my intentions to start such a movement to a number of friends and recieved very encouraging response. I had noticed a lot of people in stress, having breakdowns, feeling low,etc during the exam preps. Exams were now done, but the reality was that lows are a part of everyone's life. Everyone needs uplifting thoughts at some point or the other in their life. I decided to start with friends and family. I used to message one person a day at dawn with all the positive emotions I had for them like admiration, appreciation, thankfulness, etc , things that I liked about them, and some great memories that we shared together. The idea was exciting…. How beautiful it would be to get up in the morning to such a positive message!!!

Through the survey of a few friends I had messaged initially, I realized that such a message lasted on an average for at least a week in the minds of my friends. Their days and week went well just cause of this small gesture. So I urged them to do it to their friends too...!

Alongside, I was a part of a group for trekking on which Komal once posted that we should do something good together too. The idea of social visits was born in this group. 6 of us – Hemang, Komal, Jay Ruparel, Jia, Priya Rochiramani and myself decided to visit King George Memorial Old Age Home. We interacted with the people there, made them play housie and antakshari, and distributed fruits and chocolates... It was a blissful experience for all of us to be able to create that enjoyable atmosphere and light things up for them. All of us excitedly told our friends and encouraged them to join in. Event after event, this enthusiasm has brought in new members to our Positivity Project Family. We are now a family of more than 90 ‘Positivizers’ with the same goal.

As of today, we have had 24 such Social Visits to orphanages, old age homes and disability centres in Mumbai. At all these places, we have been successful in igniting that spark of merriment and that flame of positivity. We have kept ourselves adaptable, and based our activities on the likes of the orphans, oldies and special people. Apart from interacting with them, we made them sing, dance, play kho-kho, kabaddi, antakshari, housie, throwball, football, etc. We also gave a lot of passionate performances ourselves too- Dancing, Singing, Dialogue delivery, mimickry, etc to the warm reception of the excited audiences. Our performances are vividly remembered by the audiences as we surprisingly but delightfully noticed on our second visits to some of these places. Also, we donate in kind at all these places may it be some biscuits, fruits, chocolates, games, grains, necessaries,etc.

Quite frankly, I have realized that the biggest beneficiaries of these activities are we the ‘Positivizers’ ourselves. To see the people’s faces light up on seeing us, to create happiness in the lives of these people, to gain the genuine blessings of the elderly, to the innocence and excitement in orphans, to feel the strong emotions of thankfulness……… the list goes on and on, but would still fall drastically short of the actual experience that we have…. Truly, we are spreading positivity all around, including ourselves.

We have been receiving appreciation from all corners for the work we are doing. It is heartening to see more and more enthusiastic individual come forward for this cause. Even more fulfilling to know that we have been able to inspire so many to do so.

We wish to not just continue but extend our reach and influence. We are deliberating on new ways to do this. We invite you to have a look at our Facebook page -www.facebook.com/thepositivityproject to understand the activities that we do.

Any recommendations and suggestions are welcome. You may contact us at:

Jay: 9930534416

Komal: 9819472026

The Feel of Success

A few days back, in the morning I was travelling by rick. I was blown away by the knowledge of the rickshawaala as he analyzed the severe jamnabai traffic. He identified the cause -1 child/car, the need for compulsory bus service as well as detailed infrastructure reforms required. Pretty amusing huh!

Then he asked me what i do. As i got down from the rick, i showed to him my class of 50 kids on the footpath, excitedly waving to me with random shouts of "Good Morning Bhaiya" and flashing those contagious and relieving smiles. Some came running to give me a 'tummy hug'.(Thats what happens when someone is half your height....But somehow much more effective with its flavour of innocence..). 

The rickshawaala looked inspired and deeply touched. He was so moved that he refused to take money from me initially as he folded hands in front of me as a gesture of appreciation and respect for what we do. This knowledgeable man, who seemed to have enough to speak about everything seemed speechless. But his expressions spoke volumes. Those expressions were a humungous compliment to me. Appreciation is always appreciated!!

I had to insist a lot to convince him to take the money for my ride.

I truly cherish the admiration and love i receive from all such people. Makes my already blissful teaching experience even more satisfying.