MICA, The School of Ideas is a premiere business school in the field of Strategic Marketing and Communication and is rightly called The Mecca of Marketing. The programs offered here are different from the mainstream courses of other B-schools. MICA is more inclined towards creativity with a special emphasis on marketing and communications. It is not an easy task to get into this hallowed institution. They look for the best and the most innovative and analytical minds.
But, as Alexander Graham Bell would say, “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success”. So, let’s look at the success stories of aspirants from diverse backgrounds who made it in to MICA this year and try to understand how aspirants can prepare to get into this revered b-school.
Rohit Roy, The Economics Graduate
Rohit started preparing for CAT a year in advance by himself. His forte in CAT was the VA-RC section whereas the DILR was a weakness. Quant was a little better, but a fear of maths never let him give his best. He was never quite satisfied with the mocks he answered and time management was becoming challenging day by day.
He had given up hopes to get into a good B-school when he did not clear written of some of the top-notch ones. That is when a friend showed him a sample MICAT paper which had a section of writing stories with the help of pictures. It was the only reason he sat for MICAT-2 in January, to write. Surprisingly, it turned out to be the best test he had ever given. For the GE-PI process, Rohit remembers being part of a group activity which was insanely fun and got him to do crafts like a child. His interview was much more about him guiding the conversation than being asked questions. He was able to relate economics to marketing by having an interesting conversation about behavioural economics.
According to Rohit, “If you’re into marketing and if you feel that other B-schools will choke the creativity out of you, go to MICA.” The methods of teaching and industry connections give MICA a brilliant edge. MICA knows its place in marketing and harnesses every student’s creative faculties to the fullest. It was a welcome change and as an Economics grad who loves art, he found a perfect blend of economics and creativity. It’s only been two months, but he knows that he has made the right decision. He gave exactly one interview, and it changed his life.
Tishyo Aich, The Microbiology Graduate
Tishyo had always focused on clearing XAT. He was clear about his preparation strategy and his strengths. This made him decide to prepare by himself roughly one month before the exam was scheduled to take place. He knew that in XAT, the Decision Making section was very important and practically a game changer. So, he made himself well versed in it. Quants being his stronghold, he focused more on the other two sections. He made it a point to go through some question series with a focus on the DM section. Tishyo ended up getting a pretty good score of 96.7 percentile in XAT.
With an aim to join MICA, Tishyo gave MICAT-2. He had confidence in himself that he would be able to make it in the first attempt as he was well prepared with the content. He wanted to pursue a career in marketing or media management. These were his only 2 options when it came to doing an MBA. According to Tishyo, “Mica is the best institute for marketing.” He wanted to learn the best of things and is extremely happy that he gets to do so from MICA. The faculty and peer learning in this institute is unsurpassable. He is glad that he decided to go for MICA.
Tishyo suggests aspirants to study seriously so that the goals set by them are achieved. His only regret is not getting a 99 percentile and recommends others to not take the exams lightly. Tishyo believes less in achieving something by luck and more on achieving it by one's capabilities and hardwork.
Picture by Maitri Kachhara (MICA, 2020-22)
Sritama Sanyal, The English Graduate
Sritama started preparing for CAT in August, four months before it was scheduled to happen and made it a point to study for 6 hours a day. Coming from an English background, the VARC section was her strength and with continuous practice, she was able to get a stronghold in the LRDI section as well. Her major weakness was in the Quants section of the paper as she wasn’t in touch with it for over three years. Sritama strategized to focus on her strengths and for quants, her weakness, she put in more hours than the other two combined. She wanted to get better at it and achieve a decent score in that section. She prepared for CAT from online sources and solved more and more papers. Finally, all her hard work paid off and she was able to get 92.11%ile overall.
Sritama kept faith in her creative skills and decided to give MICAT-2 in continuation with her CAT preparation. Her interview experience was something completely unlike what she had expected. The interviewers asked her about the likes and dislikes that she had mentioned in her CV and cross questioned her upon it. As she had stated vegetables as one of her dislikes, she was asked to market it to them. She was also asked about being an English honors, how comfortable she was with Maths. All in all, it was a good session.
From the very beginning, she was focused about getting into branding and advertising. So, MICA was an obvious choice for her because it mixes creativity with business. She suggests MICA to future aspirants who are looking for something unique. Afterall, it is different from all other business schools as it is a place where one’s creativity is celebrated.