“No matter how many mock tests you have written, the environment becomes extremely conducive for you. But once you are in a new environment, sitting inside a room, in front of an invigilator, in front of a computer, you haven’t seen that environment before and so there is a different type of pressure,” Mehta told CNBC-TV18 in an exclusive conversation.
He believes students must understand that each one of the candidates is undergoing the same kind of pressure, and that’s what they must tell themselves while taking the exam.
Toprankers co-founder has 5 last minutes tips if you’re taking the exam
-Manifest the idea of not being able to attempt a few questions on the D-day: Be ready to not attempt a few questions in the paper, you don’t know the cut off. You might end up surprising yourself on the result. Detach yourself from the outcome, falling on the process, not losing the battle in the first half hour and all these variables to work. Manifest.
-Be ready for a new environment: Remember, attempting an exam is an art. So don’t get nervous if you’re unable to solve the first few questions. Marking correct answers is more important than attempting all the questions.
-Revise QA formulas, revise errors: Quant is known to be one of the more difficult sections, so revise the formulas and also the errors that you made in the last 10-15 mock tests. One or two extra correct answers could make a difference of 7-10 percentile.
-Take care of the logistics: Go through the admit card carefully. Be clear with the centre. There could be exam centres with similar names, make sure you know where exactly you’re supposed to be.
-Prioritise pre-exam wellness: Just before the exam, eat consciously. Don’t eat or drink anything because of which you could fall sick before or during the exam. If it’s starting to get colder in your region, dress up accordingly.
What to do after the results?
When asked about alternate options if one gets a low CAT score, Mehta explained that candidates should consider taking admission in the best available college according to their percentile.
“Once the results are out, first we have to understand the exact percentile that they achieve. A For instance, a score between 80 to 85 versus 85 to 90 and 90 to 95, the type of colleges offering admission will change. The best part about MBA is that it gives ample opportunities to learn the same from across colleges. I tell many of my students that if you’re confused, go for a management degree, it will teach you a lot of things and will tell you exactly what you really want to do,” he said, Once you achieve a percentile, go to your nearest mentor and justice figure out the list of colleges that you can apply to, he advised.
Students who are in their final year and took the CAT exam, could consider taking a drop year if they’re confident they have a better chance at preparing and appearing for the examination next year, the Topranker’s co-founder added.
Does it make sense to go for executive MBA programmes?
Mehta admitted that executive programmes have taken a decent lead in the last many years to an extent that they have even diluted the IIM degrees.
“Those programs and their curriculum, they are trying to squeeze in everything into more of a 20-25% into the degree of what they do in the campus programme. Those programs are largely for people coming from work experience backgrounds,” he said.
He explained that after spending certain years in the industry, candidates have experienced a lot of case studies, so their adaptability is very different plus they know what they are looking for in a career jump.
“At what stage in your career you are in these programs can be very helpful, but don’t connect these programmes to placements. If an individual feels that this program will increase my chances in future careers or future interviews, it might play a 20%-25% role, so that is for self development.”
On the other hand, if one is joining a two years full time MBA course, they are looking at a career change. “You’re taking a two year break, learning new things and then sitting for new types of placements, new types of opportunities whereas in executive programmes, you do them for your current role or what it might demand from you in the future… These are fantastic programs for upskilling yourself.”
