emailprintpdf

Tweet

Comments

Background

Q. Can you tell something about yourself and your pre-MBA qualifications and work-experience?
A.

I have done my Bachelor's in Sociology (Honors) from Delhi University. I do not have any work experience, and am a fresher.

Q. So when did you decide to go for MBA?
A. I decided to go for an MBA degree during my bachelor's programme, as it seemed like the best option for a career.

Q. Will an MBA degree add on to your existing career plan or did you decide to switch/start a career in management?
A. It was only during my bachelor's that I chose to go for management. That was not where my Sociology degree would have led me. So a career in management was a definite start to a new thought-process with respect to my career.

Q. Which MBA institutes and programs you identified for your MBA?
A. Exams: CAT, XAT, SNAP, TISS, FMS. B-schools: TISS-Mumbai, FMS-Delhi, XLRI-Jamshedpur, MDI-Gurgaon, IIMs, SCMHRD-Pune.

Q. Your present B-school and programme. Also specify your Batch.
A. TISS-Mumbai, M.A. in HRM & LR, Batch 2008-10. 

Questions related to Pre-MBA Preparation

Q. What was your first step to start preparation for getting into the B-school of your choice?
A. I enrolled in a coaching class (IMS) to prepare for the B-school entrance examinations. My concentration was more on XAT, TISS Entrance Test and SNAP. Since I come from an Arts background, Maths was major area of concern for me, and thus, my preparation was mostly geared towards bettering myself in that area.

Q. When did you start your preparation?
A. I started my preparation a year prior to the exams. So I started in November 2005 for the exams in 2006.

Q. How many months and how many hours daily did you devote for preparation to entrance procedures?
A. I started my preparation slow, concentrating majorly on Maths and Data Interpretation in the initial months. Towards the last couple of months before the CAT, I would take regular SIMCATS and other tests to develop strategy for the exams. Since I was preparing for the exams along with my final year preparation, I used to devote 2-3 hours daily initially, and 4-5 hours in the months preceeding CAT.

Q. Did you take up some coaching institute or you believed in self-study?
A. I studied at IMS in Mumbai. But nothing can be done if one does not practice in one's own time.

Q. What was your experience with coaching?
A. The faculty was good enough. However, I found that if one does not prepare beforehand and go for the sessions, they are virtually of little help. The coaching material, however, was very good.

Q. What are the other books and tests that you used for your MBA preparation, besides the study material provided by your coaching institute?

A. I used Manorama Yearbook and business newspapers like Economics Times and magazines like Outlook.

Q. Can you tell us which are your favorite books, books that you used for preparing for entrance, books for self-development and books for pure relaxation?
A. I read extensively. This ranges from fiction to non-fiction. I don't have a specific favourite book. I kept up with my habit of reading as I found it to be very relaxing.

Q. What were your strongest and weakest areas while preparing for MBA?
A. My strongest area was English and weakest was Maths.

Q. Some tips which you used for mastering Quantitative Aptitude, Reading Comprehension, etc.
A. For Reading Comprehension, regular practice of reading improves span of reading and reading speed. For Quantitative Aptitude, concentrate on the few topics you are very confident of and be thorough with them in the last few weeks before CAT. Don't try and learn more concepts at that time.

Q. How much time did you put for MBA preparation everyday? In case you were working, how did you manage this preparation while working full time?
A. I gave it about 2-3 hours initially and 4-5 hours towards the end. While I was not working, I was keeping up with my final year graduation studies. So I made sure I divided time equally for both.

Q. Which all Exams and B-schools you applied to?
A. CAT - For IIMs, MDI-Gurgaon (HR), UBS-Chandigarh.
TISS Entrance Test - For TISS-Mumbai.
SNAP - For SCMHRD-Pune, SIMS-Pune.
XAT - For XLRI, Jamshedpur (PMIR).

Q. Your present B-school and programme. What made you opt or this particular institute and programme?
A. TISS-Mumbai for M.A. in HRM & LR, one of the best institutes for HR education in the country. Since I was set on HR, coming to TISS made a lot of sense.

Q. What procedures your school has for admission to its MBA program?
A. Written Test - comprises of Maths & Data Interpretation, Verbal Skills, General Knowledge and Business Awareness. It does not have any sectional cut-offs.
Group Discussion - topics are typically current news or social issues.
Personal Interview.

Q. What was your score?
A. CAT - 86 percentile.
XAT - 98 percentile.

Q. Give some handy tips regarding the MBA written tests that would be of great help to MBA aspirants.
A. 1. Concentrate on that section that you are good at. But not at the cost of all other sections.
2. Divide your time and stick to it.
3. Don't get stuck on one thing. If you can't crack it, move ahead and come back to it later.

Questions related to Group Discussion / Group Exercise

Q. Was Group Discussion or Group Exercise part of selection process? (Specify which)
A. The Group Discussion is the 2nd stage of the selection process at TISS.

Q. What was the topic of your Group Discussion?
A. "Reservations"

Q. The duration of Group Discussion, Size of the Group, Number of Panelists, etc.
A. 20 minutes of discussions. There were 2 panelists and 8-10 group members.

Q. Were there any set norms for Group Discussion?
A. We were asked to choose from 2 topics and then discuss on the chosen topic for 20 minutes.

Q. Do write a brief about your Group Discussion experience.
A. My group discussion went fairly well. Since Reservation was a hot issue, most people were trying to be politically correct and not make very inflammatory remarks. Thus, we did not have a fish market situation. There were some people who were effective in the GD and some who hardly spoke.

emailprintpdf

Tweet

Comments