JBIMS is one of the most premium b-schools of India, being at par with most of the old IIMs. The amazing ROI of the college makes it even more lucrative. MAH-CET is the fast-road that offers you a direct ticket to the CEO factory of India. No GD-PI, no profile checks. Sounds easy? Alas, there's a catch. Over 100,000 aspirants jostle at CET for only 120 seats. Hence, the high cutoff.
In this article I'll share my strategy that helped me to hurdle my way to the elite batch that will join JBIMS for the academic year 2019-21.
Divide the total time left with you for preparation in three phases.
Phase 1: The one where you contrive
This is the phase where you lay down the foundation of victory. This is where you plan and assign monthly score targets to yourself. Forage your study material and wolf down the syllabus. Get to the bottom of all your basic concepts in this phase. Sectional tests are your go-to to get a good grip on each section. Solving at-least 40 questions of each topic in the syllabus will work wonders for you. Focus more on accuracy rather than speed in this phase.
Give a couple of full-length mocks to understand the pattern of the exam and to know where you stand. It'll be a good idea to note down important tricks, shortcuts or formulae you stumble upon, which will help you throughout the journey.
This phase should take about 30% of your total preparation period.
Phase 2: The one with the Full-Throttle
Now that we're armed with all the rudimentary concepts, its time to hit the court and shoot some hoops. Start giving full length mocks at least twice a week and look to improve with each new mock. Analysing where you went wrong and consciously avoiding the same mishaps in next mock is the key.
MBA-CET is all about accuracy with speed. Develop a knack for solving as many relevant questions as you can on a daily basis.
The more you practice, the more you get confident, the lesser time you'll take to solve. Maximum increase in score occurs in this phase.
You can give a few tests where you mark only genuine answer options without flukes to test your preparation. But after that, make a habit of marking all the answers, as there's no negative marking, and leaving any question unattempted in CET is a sacrilege.
Rest not until you cross the barrier of 140 marks out of 200 in at least 3 mocks by the end of this phase. Because this will give you a surreal confidence and zest. Experiment with as many test taking strategies you want and maintain a journal where you note down the subsequent results of different strategies. This will help you in finalising the most rewarding strategy.
This phase should take about 40% of your total preparation period.
Phase 3: The one with the Fine-tuning
By now, you might have thought gazillion times that you'd be a scoring genius, but... Its now time to find out the foe topics that are holding you back. Once you identify the topics in which you're lagging, its time for
Surgical Strike 2.0. Go for a quick revision. See where you're making mistakes. Give more sectional tests on those particular weak topics. Even if you can't make them your biggest money makers, at least don't let them be your Waterloo.
Eliminating chinks in your armour and maintaining your fortes will streamline your way to victory. Its now time to give at least 5 full length mocks per week. Increase the accuracy in your weak areas, and speed in your strong areas. Finalise your test taking strategy and give your last 5 mocks with that same strategy.
Following all of these methods will assure you a consistently good score in your culminating mocks which will give you a confidence and self belief that will help you to spearhead your way through the turbulence of D-Day pressure, performance anxiety and unpredictable changes in pattern to glory.
The Mindset: Where miracles happen
All of the things mentioned above won't work until you have a constantly motivated mindset. People give up due to lack of motivation. Motivation comes from your burning desire to achieve anything. As the saying goes,
"The 'HOW' part is easy if you're clear with the 'WHY' part". So ask yourself, WHY have you chosen this path?
Love thy goal like a dedicated worshipper and it will make the journey a joy-ride.
Watch videos of last years' toppers and/or videos of your favourite motivators. Read articles depicting the glorious life at JBIMS and merits of pursuing your MBA from a top-notch b-school. These things will make sure that the tinder of ambition in your heart is always kindled and will keep pushing you to giving your maximum.
Siddhivinayak Shende
MAH-MBA-CET 2019 = 99.99 percentile (159/200)