MBA 'Gyaan' Givers
Friday, November 28, 2003How I belled the CAT
I have blogged about this in my own blog, sometime in October first week. That was a big history. Will try to make it short in my second attempt. I joined the IMS Catapult course, which runs for nearly one year. Joined IMS Egmore, not Stella Marris :-(, on December 9th 2001, which was a CAT day. So, I was a bit sentimental about that day.
We had our Regional Director Mr. Balachandran kicking off things with a long (nearly 90 minutes) eloquent speech. Till then, I didnt know anything about IIMs, except for one information that my brother was studying there. After hearing all of his words, I decided that I just will not be able to crack CAT, and started to focus only on institutes like BIM, LIBA etc.
The class had real 'studs' from well-known institutes, so, I was totally psyched. I decided that I have to fight it out for a BIM admission and started solving 'Mathematics for MBA'. I forgot the author name, but that book is very famous in Chennai atleast. It had some 3000 sums, which I solved with 90% accuracy in the first attempt.
CAT dream started when I began to crack the class-tests, and got a 99.61 percentile in SimCAT-1. That was when Mr. Balachandran came up to me and said, 'Great job!!! You are on track to IIMA for sure. Keep up the tempo'. After that, it was a disciplined effort, and in the end, I had solved somewhere near to 120 Mock-CAT papers.
My feeling is that if you can attempt 70% of the questions with 90+% accuracy, you are through most of the times. But, again it depends in the toughness of the mathematics section. If it is like that of what was given this time, I think one should be looking at around 15-20 points only. Again, irrespective of the level of toughness, the studs will score well.
My attempts in the final CAT paper was as follows - DI - 37; Qants - 27; RC - 33; I screwed up the RC part. One big blunder was that I didnt switch on my stop-watch when the exam started. I switched it on after around 3 minutes, so, I was completely unaware of the minutes remaining data. Fortunately though, I was sitting in the last bench, so, I could complete a couple of more sums than the others on an average.
My CAT score card (luckily, I have it right now) read -
(Section - % Score - Percentile)
DI - 76.57 - 99.78
Quants - 61.86 - 99.43
RC - 39.84 - 86.54
Total - 58.90 - 99.71
As you can see, RC was one area which I didnt do well, and it is not a surprise to me, considering the fact that I have never had an accuracy in that section of more than 70% at the maximum. I got calls from IIM A,B,L and I, of which I converted L and I. B's interview and GD were really good, but, may be, my English percentile was not good enough. I might have been 'Qualifying', but, not good enough for 'Order Winning'. (OPs terminologies :-)). Will blog about the GD/interview experiences (including Summers) once the season comes, or everybody else in the blog have written about CAT, whcihever is earlier.
Preparing for the CAT
A lot of requests have been made for us to give gyaan on how one should "prepare for CAT". Firstly, let me tell you that there is no shortcut or technique to actually prepare for CAT. Plain old hard work and all that grey matter that God gave you are all that matters.
Here are some of the things that I think are important - they've worked for me, but I cannot gaurantee that these will definitely help you. Use these as general guidelines.
Firstly, start early. If you are thinking of taking CAT to be held in Nov 2004, now will be a good time to start working. I know of quite a few people who have got great CAT scores after working for just a couple of weeks, and that just goes to show that the amount of preparation you put in depends on the skills you have right now. If you are confident about your quanti and verbal skills, are a stud at probability, permutations and combinations, etc., you probably dont need that much time.
Secondly, work on your speed. CAT will not be all that difficult if unlimited time was given. Time is short, and you have to improve your calculation and reading and retention skills. Some people have found techniques like vedic math and speed math training to be useful.
Third, accuracy is as important, if not more important than speed. There is negative marking, and each question you get wrong actually takes away the credit you get for your correct answers. DO NOT use guesswork!!
Attending classes at institutes like Time and IMS do help. They give you a structured overview of most of the areas you need to know for CAT.
Attempt some Mock CATs or Sim CATs and track your rank at a national level - if possible, at a section-by-section level. That way, you know where you have to work on, and will be getting feedback on how you have done on a national level. Paying too much attention to the score or the number of attempts is not necessary as long as your rank is good. A "good" rank is anything within the top 100-150, assuming upwards of a couple of thousand people have taken the test.
Thats about it from me, I'm sure some of the others will have their views to add...
Good Luck!
CAT Re-exam dates fixed
The ET today has reported that CAT will be held in Feb '04. This might be disappointing to those who had put in a lot of preparation for CAT, this is also the time to focus. If you are among the people who had taken CAT this time, this is the time for you to start from scratch. Forget about all the work that you have put in already. That is "Sunk Cost" as we call them. You have to plan again, and this time, you will have to plan for higher cut offs and higher accuracy rates simply because you are having much more time to prepare. So, focus on the goal and start preparing.
Good Luck from all of us here!!
CAT, et al.
CAT is one of the most competitive examinations in India, and is seen as a passport to a high life. Given this reality, and also given the existing politico-legal environment, it's quite possible that this sort of leak has happened in the past. It's not a complete surprise that such a thing has been reported.
Even then, this incident has raised an important question that needs to be addressed sooner or later. Is CAT ( or other similar examinations) the best way of selecting the best students for B-Schools? May be not, just as GDs are a very sub-optimal way of selecting candidates for handling situations involving a group setting. (I'm sure many of us have seen several instances where GDs end up selecting the worst candidate of the lot, worst according to each one of us of course!). But we can argue that CAT constitutes a standardized way of measuring people's abilities. A standard that may be quite reliable, but not too relevant to the demands of all stakeholders (including businesses that recruit these students).
To see why, read this article on how cookie cutter MBA programs are producing look-alike MBAs, in Strategy+Business (published by the consulting firm, Booze, Allen and Hamilton). The article argues, rather convincingly, that focussing on quantitative skills alone would not "adequately prepare the students for tougher-than-average challenges they will face when they start their careers at leading corporations".
But how is this related to CAT? The answer is, there is a possibilty that an examination like CAT might filter out potentially excellent students, as measured in terms of their ability to be "creative, collaborative thinkers, and leaders". The best of the students wishing to pursue their MBAs are not necessarily the best as measured by CAT. Why? My answer to this is based on another premise: quantitative skills can be learnt; on the other hand, it's much more difficult to "learn" leadership, collaboration and creative thinking skills, even "straight" thinking skills. Therefore, B-Schools should choose the best "collaborators, creative thinkers, and leaders", as illustrated by their achievements, and train them in quantitative skills, rather than the other way round. The drawback of this might be that the selection process becomes more subjective. I've seen some people who often work harder, are better at handling people, and poised to become better managers (all comparisons relative to my own abilities), and yet fail to gain admission to IIMs or other good B-Schools.
Bottomline: Have a CAT, or a similar examination, but don't make it sanctimonious.
~My 2 cents.
WELL, nice to be back and reading Rajat's recent posts here.
Meanwhile, I'm writing a paper (for a management contest) on the threats faced by Indian IT companies from MNC vendors. These guys have responded to pressure on their margins by ramping up their offshore operations and matching the billing rates offered by Indian IT vendors, thus ensuring that wage arbitrage is no longer an advantage to Indian companies. You can view a possible abstract of this paper here. I promise to post it there once I'm finished with it. I'm sure many of you might have heard about this and spent a lot of thought on this topic for quite sometime. If you have any ideas that you think I could use, please let me know.
Will be back in a few days. In the meantime, thanks in advance for your ideas.
~Ramesh
Well, the unthinkable has happened. I was wondering how they had managed to maintain the sanctity of CAT. After IIT-JEE 1997, I guess this was a disaster waiting to happen. YEs, the CAT paper for 2003 has been leaked, ruining preparations of thousands and also a huge cause of relief to many (like my friend who forgot to wake up for the exam (?!?!) )
Here is the link for the first take on the story . Not much details available except that a guy from Bihar was involved.
Hmm.. pretty unexpected. The whole schedule of B-school entrance tests have to be re-scheduled now I guess. Another factor would be the high costs to be incurred in conducting the exam once again. The HRD ministry would be crying hoarse over this additional burden. As it is they are not too excited about the autonomy exercised by IIMs. This is going to be interesting.
Hi guys
I was just wondering what really happens in our lives... Are we not just doing what is expected from us to do like running after materialistic things - jobs, salaries, this that. Now I ahve not gone mad talking about these things and I understand these things are very important for our lives but are these the ONLY things that should matter to us or are this all making us running away from what we really want to be... look at the price we have to pay in return of all this... just scroll down to read and see what I mean...
Today, in a little cottage by the hillside, I am born. For some months now I have heard muffled sounds of the world outside, and I have been curious. Now that I am here, it's a whole new world outside my mother's womb. Just outside the window is a beautiful sprinkling of color on the hills, the cool breeze blowing in carries the sweet smell of flowers... and feels good on my face. My mother's arms around me are reassuring, and as I wake up to these new surroundings, it seems like a really nice place to be
in. It's a good feeling to have a life of my own, to
be able to think and experience. The world has existed
for an eternity before my birth, and will continue to
do so... till long after I am gone. Billions of miles
wide, this universe existing for billions of years and
I just have this small window of time to
experience all its amazing wonders.
I want to make the best of this time. I am curious to know what is beyond the hills, I want to see how the world looks from the top of the mountain, and I want to look into the star sprinkled night sky and try to understand why it all exists. I want to experience everything there is. Resting comfortably in my mother's arms, I can only imagine how it is going to be a wonderful journey.
Just then, I notice that the voices, which sounded muffled and distant, are now clear and close. There are people talking around me, and they are talking about what I will 'become'. Someone is saying that I will study a lot and do everyone proud, and someone else is saying that I ought to become a businessman and earn a lot of money. I have never thought about this before. I didn't know I will have to 'become' something, and I still don't know why I should. Why can I not just 'be'?
Seventh Grade. I am fourteen now. The school in my town back home apparently was not good enough, so I was sent here to this big school in the city two years back. I did not want to come, but father said I have to go if I can ever hope to be a 'big' man. I did not understand why it is important to become big. I was so happy there, with my mother, with my friends, with people who seemed to be my own. Besides, the mountains were there, always beautiful and enchanting. I loved the mountains and I always dreamed about climbing them, about how I would feel like the king of the
universe when I would stand on the top and see how spectacular the earth looks from there. I once asked father if we could go climb, but he said I am too young for
something like that. Then I came here. I am not happy
here but when I tell mother about this, she says that
this is a sacrifice I have to make. She says it's a
preparation for all the happiness I will have later in
life. I am confused. I feel that I am in a cage. All
of us here wake up and sleep at the same time; we
attend the same classes and do the same homework,
and we say the same prayers and aspire for the same
goals. It's like I am going through a mass production
line, getting molded into the same shape as everyone
else, learning and working hard so that the end product that comes out of this system is profitable. I feel my humanity is getting lost, that my identity is being robbed off for the economic cause, that I am turning into yet another diminutive cog in the giant wheel of economics.
Everyone around me tries to measure me on the scale of performance. They want to know what I am worth, and my worth is measured not for what I am and what I stand for, but for how well I can outperform others and for how much money I can potentially earn. I am rewarded and everyone loves me when I succeed, and I am punished and abandoned if I don't.
Mean while, I have heard about the serenity of the
great Everest, the turbulent beauty of the vast oceans, about ice caps on the poles and so many other wonderful places. My heart is there and sometimes I can't sleep because I feel so restless that I want to just run and go where I belong.
Nevertheless, I am just a little boy who likes to be loved and appreciated. So I am doing what the world wants me to do. The little child in me is dying, to make way for a successful achieving machine. I am falling into the trap.
Business School.
Years ago, I lost my grip on my dreams. I gave up my deepest desires and I hoped that small successes and joys would add up to something like happiness. They haven't. My life has become just a quest for the next big goal. In high school I always performed better than everyone else. Everyone said I could do better, so I worked hard for months and I beat a hundred thousand people in an admission test to get into the best engineering college. It was not enough yet, so after undergraduate school I outperformed a million people in yet another admission test to get into the best business school. It isn't ending here either. Now I want the best job, and then I will want the biggest promotion and then
something else and then something bigger still. I
challenged my limits and I achieved goals bigger than
I imagined myself capable of, and yet it seems nothing
has been achieved. In the mad race for ever-bigger
goals, I have never had the time to stop a while and
appreciate and enjoy what I have already achieved.
There is beauty all around me, waiting to be appreciated. There are thoughts in my mind that I want to pay attention to. There are people in despair, needing my love and compassion. Sometimes I want to stop chasing that elusive future happiness, and to start really living in the moment. But there's a performance appraisal coming just around the corner, and my mind tells me I can't indulge in silly thoughts and lose that big promotion. A part of me resists, but there's twenty years of brainwashing and the whole world's conventions pitted against it. I better start running again. So this race is never going to end, and it is making no one happy.
My parents are old now and they need me, but they won't leave the place where they
have spent their lives, and my job will not let me be there. The girl I love and say I can give my life for
isn't as happy as I would like her to be because I can't give her enough time. The dreams of my life are alive in a corner of my mind, and they constantly remind me that I am not happy, not at peace with myself. The ocean roars in its splendid beauty outside my office window, but I am only concerned with how much stature the view adds to my office.
There are wonderful people I can be friends with, but I am too busy competing with everyone. There is a little child begging on the street, but as I drive by in my luxury car, my mind is busy making plans to get as much Nigerian oil as possible for my oil company, regardless of entire tribes being eliminated... or how best to lobby with the government so it can make the World Trade Organization stop Brazil from selling cheap AIDS medicines and hurting my company's bottom line, never mind the millions dying. Yes, I am helping create a lot of
shareholder value, but is that all my life means?
What is the meaning of life? The quest for achievement has become the cornerstone of human society. Ever more people are setting their eyes on ever-higher goals, and pushing themselves beyond what were thought to be limits of human intellect and endeavor. Certainly, modern society wouldn't be what it is if it were not for the efforts of the enterprising, but it is
nevertheless ironical that the perpetual pursuit of dominance itself now overbearingly dominates collective human thought. We live our lives as if economic prosperity is a divine cause. Material comforts and consumerism have become noble quests, but what really is humanity heading towards? The most glorious species of all, are we not just parasites destroying the planet and converting the earth into a big heap of unrecoverable waste?
The blind pursuit for competitive advantage has created a world in which whole continents are dying of hunger and disease while a tenth of the world's population consumes twenty five times the world's average. We live in a world where the weaker nations either quietly accept foreign dominance or try to fight back covertly by using methods like terrorism, and the powerful nations feel secure by the ridiculous notion of mutually assured destruction. Economic prosperity and technological progress may have saved millions of lives from hunger and disease, but the divisions that have been created in the process have taken many more lives in countries, which have been marginalized, and in wars and internal
strife. There could have been a better way, a way in
which more people could have lived, and could have lived more fulfilling lives... but justified by 'self interest rationality' economics and blinded by the intensity of our greedy ambitions, maybe we never spent enough time finding that way at all.
I am old now, and I will die soon. I have lived my life for
a purpose I did not believe in. I always knew I was doing what I never wanted to, and I made a conscious choice to go with the flow. In retrospect, I think I would have had a more fulfilling life living as a nomad, or maybe just in a cave in the Himalayas.
I regret I did not, but the only consolation I have is
that the odds were pitted too heavily against me. I 'learned' a way of life before I got a chance to make
my own, and later I never gathered enough courage to break the rules. The bad thing about life is that one always believes that it's not ending yet and there will be time to do the things one wants to do, till it's too late and reality hits home. I am too old to pursue my dreams now. I have more money than I need and all the material comforts money could buy, but still no happiness and peace of mind. I now find refuge in literature and prayer, but I think it is
just another pathetic attempt to cheat myself. I never
got a chance to truly experience and appreciate anything in the world, and now I am trying to find the beauty in someone else's description of it. I never took the time to understand myself, to discover my faith and to find my own god... and now I am trying to find salvation in someone else's idea of god which I do not believe in.
Anyway, it's time for me to go now. My eyes are closing, never to open again. All my achievements, all my successes are of no use anymore. The dream of a one
day old is still a dream for the eighty year old. I am finishing my life, but I am leaving it incomplete.
Rajat.
www.rajatkhungar.blogspot.com
Sathish IIMK I Year
I had written a long blog on the summers process some time back. You can find it here.
All the very best for people who are giving CAT this year.
I have posted an article which I picked up from somewhere, about placements. Do read it before you read this blog.
Much of what was said in the article was true, and I could correlate somethings in that article with what happened during my summer placements. When the initial shortlist came, I was not in anyone of them. (As said in the article, 'If you are from who-is-that kind of unviersity, forget day 0/1 shortlists'. It was a swing of moods that I experienced during the first few days.
But, there are companies which just dont go by your UG univeristy. Some HRs do go beyond seeing the 'univ' stuff, adn look into all your extra-currics. Thankfully, my resume caught the attention of the likes of TAS, ICICI, NKFS, CTS, Pepsi etc etc. The most important thing in any placements process, be it B-School or anywere else, is to make sure that the HR hears what you have to say. That is where 'Tell us something about yourself' comes into picture.
I do believe that the admission/placement is almost (stressing again: only almost) decided in the first couple of minutes, though there are some exceptional classic cases. One such, which my IMS instructor narrated, is as follows. There was a guy who was called for an XLRI admission interview. He went in, the venue was Loyola College, Chennai.
For the first 9 minutes of the interview, he just said one answer, 'I have no idea sir'. He was from commerce background, and he was asked questions on advanced mathematics. 'Poets' are not required to know about these stuffs. Yet, he was asked. Towards the end of the interview, the interviewer asked him, 'You seem not to know any of the answers to the questions that I had asked. Tell me, in what area should I ask you questions'.
This is what I call as 'window-of-oppotunity'. The candidate sensed it, and said, 'Sir, ask me in Current affairs'. The interviewer asked, 'Tell me two instances that occured in the last decade that would interest me as a gloal player trying to get into asain and european markets'. The candidate said, 'One is the breaking of Berlin Wall, another is the splitting up of Russia into various smaller states.'
The interviewer asked, 'Tell me some of the names of disintegrated Russia'. The candidate named 12, starting from the east end to the west end, and the interviewer was amazed. And he got through. The interpretation I was given was that people look for your depth in a subject when they interivew you. Out of the 11 minute interview, the candidate had spoken only for 2 minutes, but, that was enough for him to show his worth.
Maybe, the other authors of the blog can write a short note on their summer interviews (with/without naming companies), so that we can have a true 'Gyaan' blog running. :-)
Hi there.
This is Rajat Khungar writing from NMIMS(Mumbai) and thus become the first non-IIMian to blog here. I am in the class of 2005 for the MBA course. I have stayed in delhi most of my life and graduated in Electronics Engineering.
I have been reading venkat's blog for long and when he proposed the idea of joint blog across different B schools, I got in touch with him and here I am ! Hope I contribute somewhat in what we have set out to....
The orientation program started in june with two subjects on accounting and statistics for a month. The main program started in july and the whole MBA has 6 trisems. We are currently in 2nd term that ends in december. The program has 9 subjects in each of the two terms we have been through. The insti is following a CGPA system on a 4 pointer scale with associated grades. Students are divided into 4 divisions - A,B,C and D. Yours truly in in div-B.
There is a plethora of activities happening both inside and outside the campus for the students here. In addition to the various cells and committes that we have here, there is locational advantage of being situated in mumbai and that too at a prime location of juhu. Whose who of corporate world, fashin and bollywood live nearby. Add to that the happenings in the most active and perhaps the only real metro of the country and What else can you ask for..
NMIMS is organising its annual seminar, Paragana 2003 on Nov 28,29 at J.W. Marriot, Mumbai. The theme for the seminar this year is “India Inc – The Road Ahead” and will see coming together of people Dr. J.J. Irani - Director, Tata Sons and Mr. Subir Raha - Chairman, ONGC. Please refer http://www.nmims.edu/paragana/index.html for details.
Will come back for more from here... :)
Rajat Khungar
Hi there! my name is Ramesh Hariharan, and I'm a classmate of P Aravind (aka Pucci, pronounced similar to Gucci) in IIM Cal. Life Rox@IIMC. Guess it must be the case in other IIMs too. I completely agree with Pucci when he says IIMC courses are pretty quanti stuff; this is one piece of knowledge, which, if I'd taken seriously, would probably have saved me a trip from Bangalore to Calcutta, my three year job at Oracle, my home at Bannerghatta Road, and lots of sleep too. Not to mention the enormous of effort trying to decipher the Greek alphabets. To me, they're fine as long as they don't appear as symbols in my text book (which they do, in copious amounts). Of course my first instinct is to omit those parts of the course that contain too many such symbols. On stripping down the course systematically, I'm finally left with only 25% of the course. Which isn't sufficient to pass. So I run upto my "Tute" (we've tutors for most subjects here, the second year guys), who tells me what I should remember to pass the course. Peace!
Not quite. Just when I think I've been relieved of the tyranny of Greek symbols, somebody warns me that there might be a surprise quiz on "Cost Acc". I hate all subjects ending with "Acc". Even though they have simple math, I find that they are artificially contrived subjects. I mean, why have all those debits and credits and expenses and assets and a whole array of complicated rules for a man made subject? It's as though I lack an organ with which I could take in some perspective in "Acc" subjects. I run to "Prasannerd" for a "crasher" in cost acc. He's clueless himself. So we approach RAM, the "Acc" God of our wing. RAM says "crashers" are not sufficient to pass the quiz and that we must've attended all the previous classes. I rush to the class, counting on my luck, and hurrah! there's no "surprise" quiz today. Another day of escape. Another evening of freedom. But there are only six quizzes. And already 12 classes gone. Eight more to go. That increases the probability of a "surprise" quiz happening in the next class. That makes it another dreadful night.
Moral of the story:
If you are a simple dude who hates artificially contrived subjects, greek symbols, happen to crack CAT, GDs and Interviews, can't speak flamboyantly especially when there's no need to speak flamboyantly, and if u're put off by simple things being complicated so that management consultants can mint money out of complexity in a self serving spiral, and if u can't turn down an offer of admission by IIMs, well, u're in trouble.
After reading all the introductory posts by the 'studs', my fingers tremble to type a post in this blog. Still, my presence here has to be justified, and I will try my level best. My english would not be as poetic as Vijay's, and my posts would not be as 'stud' as Sathish's.
To start with, me - Venkatachalam Ramakrishnan. Finished B.Tech., from one of the decent universities down south - University of Madras. CAT wasn't a cake walk for me, but GDs and interviews were, since I am 'supposedly' decent in articulation. Being in IIMs means a lot of things to me, and a lot more to the people outside. As for the latest news from my side, I have been placed in Pepsi for summers (good that I can chill of with lots of pepsis)
Regarding the purpose of this blog, it was some idea that I got after seeing a common blog by S-Anand on Abdul Kalam. It struck me that if one person from each IIMs and other B-Schools can come together and can post atleast a couple of messages per week (it can be their own experiences in the B-School or some of their thoughts or some interesting links) it would be really nice to read and the blog would be rich with information.
Sorry for wirting a longish blog. Will refrain myself from the second post onwards. But, the enthu of the authors of this blog gives me a pleasant feeling.
I agree with Gaurav. MBA is not about grades. It's about personal empowerment -- and, whatever may be the aspect you want to improve yourself in. It is just a two year break from the corporate life to reasses one's priorities and work-on some of the weaker aspects of one's personality, which might include learning on topics that you want your rest of the career to be based on, but not this alone. For more on this, just drift to my blog occasionally. Even the most recent post is on this issue.
This could happen to you!
It is only ironical that I am writing on this topic on a blog created by Venkat!
Well, the topic is, "Is a guy who cracks CAT necessarily a prospective manager?" I know the question sounds abstract...but just be a little patient and you'll see some light.
Ok. The question is, if I get through CAT and the GDs and interviews, am I necessarily a guy who'll fit the role of a manager to a t?
Well...I am not.
I, Pudhukottai Ranganathan Vijay Kaushik, cleared CAT 2002 and the group "discussion" and interview. So what??? I had basic math and reading skills and so CAT was just another test for me.
One can talk about anything for 10 minutes with 7 others. So the GD was not a stumbling block.
Then the questions that I faced in the interview were about the recently passed budget and dividends. As a Chartered Accountant I was supposed to know all that.
And I got a call from IIML...??????
So, as you see, no where, in that entire process, is my aptitude for management tested.
However I have been lucky as I like the way the curriculum and extra-curriculum have been structured. And slowly now, I realise that management can add more value than just the numbers to your monthly pay.
There are 2 important things that I wish to emphasise here:
1. One should actually think and re-think about taking up a management career. There have more than a couple of cases at IIML where people left the course after the 1st term to pursue some other option. If you are one of those poets or good-samaritans, today's competitive world (It starts with the Relative Grading mechanism) could get to your nerves. I personally have shades of this in me. But now, I am getting used to fighting tooth-and-nail for 0.75 marks. It sometimes pays to have that greed in you. But again, it depends on the level of poeticism in the person.
2. If you have decided to do this damn thing, then do it:
wHOLeheartedly and HOListically
That is, give it your best shot and,
Remember that most of management education comes from outside the class.
I learnt all this 2 months too late. See if you can do something with that time advantage!
Kicking-off more dust!
Shreyas here from IIM Lucknow, more fondly referred to as IIM Hell. Though not entirely incorrect, I am sure the experience here is going to be the most memorable one for most of us.
I'll just give my views about the way I see IIM Lucknow. I know Venkat will have his own passionate views which he will share with you all soon. I had read and heard about how academically rigourous IIM-L was and how it was going to be the eternal bridesmaid, so as to speak, of the IIMs. Not counted often in the top three nor too young to be counted as a new entrant. I was elated to be selected to a top management institute and came here with the notion that after two years of fun, my life would be made. How wrong I was!!
Within a few days, we were acclimatized to 20-hour days with minimal sleep and loads of activities. After leading a relatively uneventful existence of 4 years at engineering, I was now thrust into the midst of a big continous fair it seemed. In two months of life here, I had participated and indulged in more activities than I had for the rest of my life!!! Quizzes ( both curricular and extra-curricular), market surveys, impromptou presentations, late-night badminton sessions and bicycling and weekend parties. Oh! yes we also had 7 courses to study for in between.
The trend has continued this term as well and last week was a melting pot of activities. I can't believe many of us wrote our last exam and attended the placement process on the same day!!! I, in fact , had to attend a placement test , a few pre-placement talks and selection processes on the same day. At the end of the process by the weekend, I was so mentally exhausted and drained that it has been 4 days since I have been recharging my cells. The way it happens for me is just get loads and loads of sleep n sit down with some light short-story collection!!!
Well that was a pretty long post - a taste of my life here at Lucknow!
Kick off
To kick off my posts to this blog, my name is Aravind, and I am a first year PGDM student at IIM Calcutta. I have a blog, the link to which is on your left, and I had stumbled onto Venkat's blog, saw the idea for this collaborative blog, and here I am!!
To start with, a little bit about IIMC - Yeah, the course really is as quanti as people say it is, math enters into almost everything, and it definitely helps if your math grounding is strong if you plan to get into IIMC. The campus is a beautiful spread with many lakes, the buildings widely dispersed with a lot of greenery and is a very scenic place. The faculty and the course so far in my one and half terms here have been great, and the student community here is simply great!! On the whole, this has been a very exciting period for me, with more high pressured, high adrenaline thrills in store!!
I guess we will be focussing on what is happening in our respective institutes, give some gyaan regarding admissions, the life you can expect here, and stuff like that. So watch this space.
"Luck is the residue of design." - Branch Rickey - former owner of the Brooklyn Dodger Baseball Team
Warren Buffet, the investment guru explains the nuances behind balance of payments and consumption patterns in this article. Written in his own style, studded with stories and stuff this makes an excellent reading.
Interesting idea.. Let'z do it
