As soon as I entered the phase of MBA entrance examination preparation, things changed. For the first time, Maths was not just calculus and vectors. For the first time, I was solving a puzzle as well as preparing for an examination at the same time. English didn’t seem the English I knew. Okay, I admit it wasn’t easy as all here might know, but sure something new and refreshing.

I see why people emphasize on the difference between ‘Quant’ and ‘Maths’. They actually are different. Quant and Maths may be distant relatives, who are just on talking terms with each other because they need each other’s support every now and then. Not more than that. There are no derivations in Quant unlike Maths. There are Sudoku puzzles in Maths unlike Quant. A person not good at Maths may do fantastic in Quant.

Again, ‘Verbal’ and ‘English’ are not the same thing. English is a vast, vast ocean. Verbal is just a section of it. When one says English, it includes grammar and literature. Verbal picks up from both, precisely and selectively. No one asks about the author or the poem in Verbal Section. What one needs to do is to observe them, apply grammar and vocabulary into them and answer questions. Personally speaking, the more relevant stuff is what’s more focussed on!

Decision Making– The biggest credit for this one goes to institutes like XLRI, to include it in their entrance examination, because it makes a difference. One might not see it, but it does. It opens up a whole new demographic for the evaluating institute, a whole new area to judge a candidate on the basis of the way he decides and the factors that influence his decisions. The words above might sound sketchy, but the intention of the institute is very clear- To take up people who know what they want in the best way possible.

General Knowledge is more of a nightmare for most, including me, but personal opinions apart, it’s important for a person going for a management degree to know the whereabouts of events going around. It makes clear the difference between the one who walks straight and the one who peeps around to know what’s along the path.

It is good to appear for examinations that test one’s extrapolating ability rather than the power of memorising and learning.
On a concluding note, I think these examinations need practice more than preparation and concentration more than dedication. An out of the box yet in the house thinking is what they are looking for. If anyone has them, I guess he’s got into the right direction.