This is an interview with Gaurav Mashalkar, ranked first in MAH-MBA/MMS CET 2011.
1. Can you give an insight about your preparation for MHCET? Which other exams did you appear?
---> This year in 2011 it was my second attempt at MHCET. Last year I had missed out on Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies and but this year I was able to get through. Much of my preparation regarding the basic concepts was done during the previous year and hence my focus this time was to solve as many papers as I could so as to work on my speed and attempt maximum number of questions. Speed is the key and differentiating factor for MHCET. Unlike CAT where there time is not a huge constraint, MHCET focuses on speed and hence time management is crucial. With regards to my preparation, I did not join any coaching classes when I gave the MHCET this year however I did solve as many types of questions and also solved mock papers in a time bound way. One thing that helped me immensely was the group study I did with my roommates as we were appearing for various management entrance exams and we used to do group study particularly for discussing the mock papers. Other than MHCET I appeared only for CAT as I decided to target the IIM’s apart from JBIMS.
2. Which was the most challenging and tough section according to you? What strategy did you use to deal with it?
- The toughest section for me was the reading comprehension section followed by the visual reasoning section. I feel these were the toughest sections as reading comprehension was my weakness and I would often mess up between the two closest options while answering. I think it is important in reading comprehension for any exam to analyze the author’s point of view to answer accordingly and sometimes I would rather not be able to interpret this in the best possible way. In my first attempt I messed up the reading comprehension section as I could not devote enough time for it towards the end but this time I finished off the other sections thus giving reading comprehension enough time along with reading the passage at a slower speed. Visual reasoning was an equally tough section for me because other management exams do not have this section and hence it had to be prepared separately and I was not used to this type of format much. So I practiced and solved more questions on visual reasoning as well as I targeted the easier visual reasoning questions in the paper first and solved them.
3. Which are the top institutes according to you for MHCET?
-> Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies is the obvious target for the MHCET aspirants and I can vouch for that fact as I decided to reappear for this college. It is definitely the best college that MHCET has to offer for all aspirants in terms of the quality of education as well as the return on investment. Other top institutes for me in MHCET would be Sydenham institute of Management studies, L.N.Wellingkar Institute, K.J.Somaiya Institute as other three best colleges in MHCET.
4. How does one prepare for Visual Reasoning?
-à This was for me the section where I had to specially prepare as it is something unique to MHCET and hence the aspirants must do practice of these problems. Also having 30 marks allotted, this is one section where you could score heavily if you can analyse the patterns in the figures. Practice helps greatly as the patterns tend to be specific and typical(mirror images, water images, rotations etc) and hence the more you practice the more easily you can reach a conclusion. Also keep a keen eye and also visual reasoning has types of problems as odd man out and questions based on incorrect sequence of figures so observational skills need to be developed. Solving some basic material about bank exams can help one in getting started here and then you gradually get up to speed.
5. Tips to prepare for Quant?
àQuantitative part of MHCET is easy pickings for most In MHCET given that time is scarce it is very important to solve this section and target it as it is typical in terms of the scope of the questions asked as well as largely dependent on rapid calculations and hence does not require much time to solve. I would say that the speed is a crucial factor as this section is where you can save time so focus on the tables as well as basic squares, cubes as well as the basic concepts of permutation/combination ad probability which includes typical caselets. So you need to solve as many of these typical questions and focus on speed without compensating accuracy. Practice would be the biggest tip as the pattern of caselets has remained almost the same over the years.
6. How should one prepare for Data Interpretation?
- Data Interpretation is an easy and hence targeted section for scoring as it involves just the calculation parts.Being calculation intensive one has to be clear with all tables along with approximating values so as to come up[ with the nearest approximate solution as options are mostly give rounded off to the nearest integer. The important part is to be able to relate the data and this is particularly true in case the data id not given in a tabular or graphical format and needs to be collated from a few statements. So again solve as many papers and get used to analyzing the data quickly and solving all types of caselets to get the feel of all types of problems.
7. What should be the ideal way to prepare for Verbal Ability?
à Verbal Ability for MHCET is a section where I think the actual difference comes in terms of score. Reading is one habit which will definitely help score in this section. One has to be familiar with as many words as he possibly can. Also what helps to be aware of the depth at which this section is to be targeted as the difficulty level n terms of vocabulary is not the tough part but we need to aware of the contextual usage and synonyms/antonyms and hence here the challenge is more to be comfortable with the basic vocabulary rather than focus on reading content that is hard to digest. Better way to prepare would be to read esoteric stuff than exoteric stuff and focus on speed reading rather than only on vocabulary as may be the case in CAT or GRE.
8. How many Mock tests should a candidate take to prepare for MHCET?
- I believe mock tests are an important part of preparation however there can be no thumb rule for the exact number of mocks you should give. This year I had given three mocks where I got a state rank. Other mocks I gave were actually solved by me as I would solve these tests on weekends in a time bound pattern and evaluate my score myself. So the more important part is not the quantity of mocks you give but the quality of these mocks as well as how well you can analyze them and accordingly prepare your strategy for MHCET exam. I think to understand the pattern of MHCET around 8-10 mocks are sufficient.
9. Study Strategy for the month before the exam?
àThe concepts essentially need to be clear before this stage as this is the stage to accelerate, work on ways to increase speed without losing accuracy, solving as many mocks as possible (maybe 2 mocks per week) and analyze every mock and resolving those questions which you could not solve and those which took you more time to solve. Also brush up with certain concepts of the topics which you find are your weaknesses. More importantly prepare a strategy to tackle the MHCET papers to which section you would target first. Try out different strategies in mocks as solving Verbal section first etc and accordingly see which strategy best suits you. Also keep a cool mind and do not get stressed as MHCET being the last major management exam fatigue starts to set in and so you need to quietly focus. Also get used to solving questions at a quick pace for 2.5 hours as you tend to get mentally exhausted in the final stretch of the exam.
10.What are the additional tips will you like to give to aspirants?
à I would narrate my experiences and think that they would be my tips to all aspirants. The first one would be to set the target high as the competition is intense and mediocrity is not accepted in the world. But also do not put yourself under undue pressure and trust yourself. Also MHCET being at the end of the management exam season tests your patience. So you need to be calm and relaxed. The work in terms of studies is to be done smartly. It is not about slogging out hours but to be clear conceptually. Also the execution matters more than anything here. So have a clear strategy and as MHCET has a habit of giving surprises (the last two years had an easy paper followed by a harder one) and hence you have to have a ”Plan B” just in case things do not go according to what you had hoped for. So the approach you have while solving the MHCET paper is of utmost importance. Finally I wish you all the best of the luck.
1. Can you give an insight about your preparation for MHCET? Which other exams did you appear?
---> This year in 2011 it was my second attempt at MHCET. Last year I had missed out on Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies and but this year I was able to get through. Much of my preparation regarding the basic concepts was done during the previous year and hence my focus this time was to solve as many papers as I could so as to work on my speed and attempt maximum number of questions. Speed is the key and differentiating factor for MHCET. Unlike CAT where there time is not a huge constraint, MHCET focuses on speed and hence time management is crucial. With regards to my preparation, I did not join any coaching classes when I gave the MHCET this year however I did solve as many types of questions and also solved mock papers in a time bound way. One thing that helped me immensely was the group study I did with my roommates as we were appearing for various management entrance exams and we used to do group study particularly for discussing the mock papers. Other than MHCET I appeared only for CAT as I decided to target the IIM’s apart from JBIMS.
2. Which was the most challenging and tough section according to you? What strategy did you use to deal with it?
- The toughest section for me was the reading comprehension section followed by the visual reasoning section. I feel these were the toughest sections as reading comprehension was my weakness and I would often mess up between the two closest options while answering. I think it is important in reading comprehension for any exam to analyze the author’s point of view to answer accordingly and sometimes I would rather not be able to interpret this in the best possible way. In my first attempt I messed up the reading comprehension section as I could not devote enough time for it towards the end but this time I finished off the other sections thus giving reading comprehension enough time along with reading the passage at a slower speed. Visual reasoning was an equally tough section for me because other management exams do not have this section and hence it had to be prepared separately and I was not used to this type of format much. So I practiced and solved more questions on visual reasoning as well as I targeted the easier visual reasoning questions in the paper first and solved them.
3. Which are the top institutes according to you for MHCET?
-> Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies is the obvious target for the MHCET aspirants and I can vouch for that fact as I decided to reappear for this college. It is definitely the best college that MHCET has to offer for all aspirants in terms of the quality of education as well as the return on investment. Other top institutes for me in MHCET would be Sydenham institute of Management studies, L.N.Wellingkar Institute, K.J.Somaiya Institute as other three best colleges in MHCET.
4. How does one prepare for Visual Reasoning?
-à This was for me the section where I had to specially prepare as it is something unique to MHCET and hence the aspirants must do practice of these problems. Also having 30 marks allotted, this is one section where you could score heavily if you can analyse the patterns in the figures. Practice helps greatly as the patterns tend to be specific and typical(mirror images, water images, rotations etc) and hence the more you practice the more easily you can reach a conclusion. Also keep a keen eye and also visual reasoning has types of problems as odd man out and questions based on incorrect sequence of figures so observational skills need to be developed. Solving some basic material about bank exams can help one in getting started here and then you gradually get up to speed.
5. Tips to prepare for Quant?
àQuantitative part of MHCET is easy pickings for most In MHCET given that time is scarce it is very important to solve this section and target it as it is typical in terms of the scope of the questions asked as well as largely dependent on rapid calculations and hence does not require much time to solve. I would say that the speed is a crucial factor as this section is where you can save time so focus on the tables as well as basic squares, cubes as well as the basic concepts of permutation/combination ad probability which includes typical caselets. So you need to solve as many of these typical questions and focus on speed without compensating accuracy. Practice would be the biggest tip as the pattern of caselets has remained almost the same over the years.
6. How should one prepare for Data Interpretation?
- Data Interpretation is an easy and hence targeted section for scoring as it involves just the calculation parts.Being calculation intensive one has to be clear with all tables along with approximating values so as to come up[ with the nearest approximate solution as options are mostly give rounded off to the nearest integer. The important part is to be able to relate the data and this is particularly true in case the data id not given in a tabular or graphical format and needs to be collated from a few statements. So again solve as many papers and get used to analyzing the data quickly and solving all types of caselets to get the feel of all types of problems.
7. What should be the ideal way to prepare for Verbal Ability?
à Verbal Ability for MHCET is a section where I think the actual difference comes in terms of score. Reading is one habit which will definitely help score in this section. One has to be familiar with as many words as he possibly can. Also what helps to be aware of the depth at which this section is to be targeted as the difficulty level n terms of vocabulary is not the tough part but we need to aware of the contextual usage and synonyms/antonyms and hence here the challenge is more to be comfortable with the basic vocabulary rather than focus on reading content that is hard to digest. Better way to prepare would be to read esoteric stuff than exoteric stuff and focus on speed reading rather than only on vocabulary as may be the case in CAT or GRE.
8. How many Mock tests should a candidate take to prepare for MHCET?
- I believe mock tests are an important part of preparation however there can be no thumb rule for the exact number of mocks you should give. This year I had given three mocks where I got a state rank. Other mocks I gave were actually solved by me as I would solve these tests on weekends in a time bound pattern and evaluate my score myself. So the more important part is not the quantity of mocks you give but the quality of these mocks as well as how well you can analyze them and accordingly prepare your strategy for MHCET exam. I think to understand the pattern of MHCET around 8-10 mocks are sufficient.
9. Study Strategy for the month before the exam?
àThe concepts essentially need to be clear before this stage as this is the stage to accelerate, work on ways to increase speed without losing accuracy, solving as many mocks as possible (maybe 2 mocks per week) and analyze every mock and resolving those questions which you could not solve and those which took you more time to solve. Also brush up with certain concepts of the topics which you find are your weaknesses. More importantly prepare a strategy to tackle the MHCET papers to which section you would target first. Try out different strategies in mocks as solving Verbal section first etc and accordingly see which strategy best suits you. Also keep a cool mind and do not get stressed as MHCET being the last major management exam fatigue starts to set in and so you need to quietly focus. Also get used to solving questions at a quick pace for 2.5 hours as you tend to get mentally exhausted in the final stretch of the exam.
10.What are the additional tips will you like to give to aspirants?
à I would narrate my experiences and think that they would be my tips to all aspirants. The first one would be to set the target high as the competition is intense and mediocrity is not accepted in the world. But also do not put yourself under undue pressure and trust yourself. Also MHCET being at the end of the management exam season tests your patience. So you need to be calm and relaxed. The work in terms of studies is to be done smartly. It is not about slogging out hours but to be clear conceptually. Also the execution matters more than anything here. So have a clear strategy and as MHCET has a habit of giving surprises (the last two years had an easy paper followed by a harder one) and hence you have to have a ”Plan B” just in case things do not go according to what you had hoped for. So the approach you have while solving the MHCET paper is of utmost importance. Finally I wish you all the best of the luck.