How to Prepare for an MBA

MBA offers an individual a vibrant life and a celebrated business career. It is a discipline that gives a personal exposure to the business world and enhances the understanding of the business landscape of the world at large. To pursue an MBA degree, it is essential for an aspirant to appear for the MBA entrance exam. However, MBA entrance preparation seems quite challenging but with a smart strategy, an aspirant can crack the entrance. The strategy needs not be perfect; just make sure you cover all the topics and come up with a study plan to prepare for the MBA entrance exam.

Here's how you can plan a successful journey to pursue MBA:

Envisioning

The first thing that is required is about developing the right mindset. All confusion, dilemmas, and conflicts go away by developing a goal with the right mindset. This kind of envisioning develops a self-commitment to acquire an MBA degree. Idolizing famous business figures who went on building great companies like Amazon, Ola Cabs, Oyo Rooms, Microsoft and Jio helps you to envision your journey after you complete your MBA.

Entrance Exam

Entrance exams act as a selection criteria to be eligible for an MBA. It is an effort to calculate the merit of the individual. An aspirant needs to prepare- aptitude, reasoning skills, and minimum mathematical abilities to clear this exam. Sections like reasoning skills, English grammar, and mathematical abilities can be mastered through constant devotion and tireless effort. Solving mock papers and practicing previous year papers help add precision and confidence in the preparation track. So, looking at what has been tested in the previous entrance exams is very important to get through an MBA entrance examination.

With the ranking of an institute, the toughness of the entrance exam can be metered. CAT, MAT, XAT, and many other entrance exam scores are considered by institutes. And each of these has different marking patterns and success rate. One thing which is valued across all these kinds of exams is your general knowledge. This knowledge has to be built with the conscious effort of 2-3 years by reading newspapers, magazines, and books. Remember that there is no shortcut to this hard work in the preparatory phase, and that these three years of hard work, that is two years of your MBA course and one year of preparation towards getting selected in a good institute will have a profound impact on your life and career.

Check out the Entrance Exam Syllabus

The third step is to look at the syllabus given by individual institutes if they are conducting their entrance exams. Also, remember that a specialized MBA may have a special prerequisite in the selection test battery. So, customized preparation should be also considered if you aspire for some niche area of business specialization like global business, foreign trade, supply chain, or business analytics. The first three steps explained above are towards the preparation of the written exam.

Prepare for GD/PI for Admission in MBA

After the entrance exam, you need to prepare for the communication and discussion process. The major shortlisting happens in this stage. This may have a success rate beginning from forty percent and going down to ten percent. Brush up your English communication skills as this aids in clearing the group discussion and personal interview process. Understanding and articulation of major happenings in the world and within the country are required at this stage. And you should make a conscious effort to join the coaching centers or study circles or group studies to master the skills.

While Choosing an MBA college...

The fifth is the consideration of institutes while filling up the forms. The choice of institutes should be based on your performance in the mock tests. Aspiring for too much higher cadre institute may lead to low morale and may also require additional time for preparation. And choosing something mediocre may be an under consideration of all your hard work, only fearing the loss of money and time. Hence the time, money, and aptitude all have to consider in this phase. Aspire towards challenging goals while avoiding too challenging goals at the same time. The expert advice of academicians, seniors, and experts must be asked while solving this dilemma. Placements, affiliation, faculty members, partnerships, and academic advising are few things which lead to the ranking of an institute. Understanding and zeroing down on fewer choices have to be done in this stage.

So, with a clarification on all these above five stages you are ready for joining the training of a corporate warrior. Remember, a lot of self-motivation, hard work, and envisioning will be required to keep the spark alive and enthusiasm kicking.

Written By:- Prof (Dr.) Anindita Chatterjee Rao, Faculty of Management Studies, MRIIRS