Often MBA aspirants plan their MBA after graduation or
after gaining three four years of work experience. But to aim a regular
two year MBA from an IIM after having over five years of work experience
in State Bank of India, when you also have the responsibilities of
children is definitely a bold step to take.
Shweta Mallick is one such person. After having over five years of work experience in SIDBI and SBI, Shweta decided to hone her skills and start afresh at the corporate banking domain. She is a B.Sc. from Patna University.
In today’s Topper Mantra, Shweta Mallick shares her strategy for CAT and how she scored 99.36 percentile and converted the call of IIM Raipur.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: Why and when did you decide to do MBA? What is your plan after you complete your MBA?
A: It was around July- August 2011 that I decided to make a conscious effort for pursuing management education. The main reason was to make a comeback in professional world after honing my skills and upgrading my knowledge. At present my plans are to enter the domain of corporate banking.
Q: What is your CAT 2011 percentile?
A: I scored 99.36 percentile in CAT 2011.
Q: Please share your PI experience in detail.
A: My interview was conducted by IIM Lucknow. It was a short duration interview of about five to six minutes. The main questions were:
Q. Comment on how others did in the GD.
Q. Tell us about ‘Mollusca’.
Q. Why do you want to do an MBA- a regular course?
Q. How will you manage with children?
Q. Why not a correspondence course?
Q. How did you manage this percentile and do you repent leaving SBI?
Q: How did you start the preparation and what was your overall strategy?
A: I started my preparation by revising basic mathematics and overall reading. I focussed on my weak areas, which was Quantitative Ability rather than enriching vocabulary or devoting too much time to newspapers. I followed study material from T.I.M.E. and also took mock tests, GD & PI sessions.
Q: Which institutes offered you final admission? Why did you choose IIM Raipur?
A: I got final admission offers from MDI, IIM –l (PGP-ABM).
I chose IIM Raipur, for PGP (BM) would add more value to my profile and it belongs to the elite chain of IIMs.
Q: Do you think it is possible to crack CAT without taking formal coaching? What would you suggest the CAT 2012 aspirants who would like to prepare by themselves?
A: Taking online exams needs some practice and personality development is fast in a group. Nowadays some institutes really streamline the efforts in the right direction. Moreover one gets to know the competitors better. However it is not mandatory.
Q: CAT saw a major change in the format & pattern in 2011. How did you prepare for it? Did this new pattern cause any hindrance in your preparation or exam taking strategy?
A: No. CAT is not about preparing for any particular section, so, ideally it should not matter how the pattern changes. One should always prepare for the worst.
Q: What was your preparation strategy for the Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning?
A: I did not have much time to prepare. So I tested all types of test taking strategies during my mock tests. At the time of one’s examination, it is more about giving one final shot rather than trying a strategy.
Q: What was your strategy for time management?
A: My strategy was as simple as solving problems right from question 1 to 30. If any time is left I could try the questions I had skipped. I kept a buffer time of five minutes in both the sections.
Q: What is your message for the MBA aspirants who will take CAT 2012 and other exams of the season?
A: My sincere advice to MBA aspirants would be to do an MBA only if they really want to, not by following the crowd or trend. Remain focussed in approach. Keep yourself updated about various courses/ exams and do your best. Believe in your own self.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more Topper Mantras.
Shweta Mallick is one such person. After having over five years of work experience in SIDBI and SBI, Shweta decided to hone her skills and start afresh at the corporate banking domain. She is a B.Sc. from Patna University.
In today’s Topper Mantra, Shweta Mallick shares her strategy for CAT and how she scored 99.36 percentile and converted the call of IIM Raipur.
Excerpts from the interview: Q: Why and when did you decide to do MBA? What is your plan after you complete your MBA?
A: It was around July- August 2011 that I decided to make a conscious effort for pursuing management education. The main reason was to make a comeback in professional world after honing my skills and upgrading my knowledge. At present my plans are to enter the domain of corporate banking.
Q: What is your CAT 2011 percentile?
A: I scored 99.36 percentile in CAT 2011.
Q: Please share your PI experience in detail.
A: My interview was conducted by IIM Lucknow. It was a short duration interview of about five to six minutes. The main questions were:
Q. Comment on how others did in the GD.
Q. Tell us about ‘Mollusca’.
Q. Why do you want to do an MBA- a regular course?
Q. How will you manage with children?
Q. Why not a correspondence course?
Q. How did you manage this percentile and do you repent leaving SBI?
Q: How did you start the preparation and what was your overall strategy?
A: I started my preparation by revising basic mathematics and overall reading. I focussed on my weak areas, which was Quantitative Ability rather than enriching vocabulary or devoting too much time to newspapers. I followed study material from T.I.M.E. and also took mock tests, GD & PI sessions.
Q: Which institutes offered you final admission? Why did you choose IIM Raipur?
A: I got final admission offers from MDI, IIM –l (PGP-ABM).
I chose IIM Raipur, for PGP (BM) would add more value to my profile and it belongs to the elite chain of IIMs.
Q: Do you think it is possible to crack CAT without taking formal coaching? What would you suggest the CAT 2012 aspirants who would like to prepare by themselves?
A: Taking online exams needs some practice and personality development is fast in a group. Nowadays some institutes really streamline the efforts in the right direction. Moreover one gets to know the competitors better. However it is not mandatory.
Q: CAT saw a major change in the format & pattern in 2011. How did you prepare for it? Did this new pattern cause any hindrance in your preparation or exam taking strategy?
A: No. CAT is not about preparing for any particular section, so, ideally it should not matter how the pattern changes. One should always prepare for the worst.
Q: What was your preparation strategy for the Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning?
A: I did not have much time to prepare. So I tested all types of test taking strategies during my mock tests. At the time of one’s examination, it is more about giving one final shot rather than trying a strategy.
Q: What was your strategy for time management?
A: My strategy was as simple as solving problems right from question 1 to 30. If any time is left I could try the questions I had skipped. I kept a buffer time of five minutes in both the sections.
Q: What is your message for the MBA aspirants who will take CAT 2012 and other exams of the season?
A: My sincere advice to MBA aspirants would be to do an MBA only if they really want to, not by following the crowd or trend. Remain focussed in approach. Keep yourself updated about various courses/ exams and do your best. Believe in your own self.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more Topper Mantras.
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