mba-guidance.com | On Preparation | Coaching, Students, One, Classes, Interview

On Preparation

Tuesday, 12 February 2008

Ajeet Khurana, the Director of KITS, a Bombay based institute that has been coaching students for MBA entrance exams in India feels that, "Like most exams, good study material, a study plan, a group of friends for group-study, some coaching are all required. However, due to CAT being one of the older MBA entrance exams, a lot of the study material is outdated. Then again, if you have even somewhat above average vocabulary, then spending weeks learning a list of words and their synonyms shall be a very bad investment. But several students spend weeks, often months learning synonyms. (This might make sense for the GRE, but will yield poorly for CAT). Also, one needs to ensure that one indeed understood a particular question and topic before proceeding. Too often, students are satisfied simply by getting the right answer. The idea is to focus on the right approach and speed building."

On coaching classes: According to Khurana, "As a medium, coaching classes do provide an opportunity to reduce the ambiguity associated with the extent and scope of the syllabus. The biggest service they do is provide is to ensure that the students is disciplined enough and keeps on preparing. The peer pressure also helps a lot. However, coaching classes certainly are no magic pill and even the best amongst them can clain to only 25 per cent of the credit for their student's success. The rest is the candidates own dedication and sincerity.

"It is also noteworthy to distinguish between one coaching class and another. Students should certainly check the credentials, methodology and faculty of the coaching classes before enrolling. The CAT coaching class industry is characterised by a lot of institutes that start with a big bang and are non-existent in a year or two.

If at all you do get a call: Different institutes have different procedures that follow. Most have a filteration process before final selection on the basis of Group Discussions and Personal Interviews. Some institutes (e.g. MICA), conduct a supplementary exam of their own.

Helpful tips for the Group Discussion and interview:

Keep up with the latest news by reading newspapers and magazines regularly. Prepare a career plan Improve communication skills (Some coaching classes like KITS, for instance helps with this too.)

Note: Typically calls from the IIMs come during the end of February to the mid of AprilAs far as other institute are concerned, they continue as long as July. Sometimes, the dates of the final exams of T.Y.B.Com. students clashes with the dates of the G.D or the interview. Not too much can be done about the clashing of dates. However, if one is prepared in advance, one just needs to invest half a day for the GD and interview sessions. If indeed you have an exam at the same time as your GD and interview, you could try talking to the MBA institute about it. But past instances reveal that this does not usually bear fruit.

Last Updated ( Saturday, 16 February 2008 )