Snapshots

Name: Sarthak Prakash
Graduation College : University School of IT, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
Course: B.Tech in CSE & Integrated BBA
Graduation Aggregate: 74.8%
Pursuing/Pursued MBA from: Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi, Management Systems
Corresponding entrance test & score :
Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET): 81.5, Ranked 162

GD/PI calls from:

• Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi
• Indian Institute of Management, Rohtak
• Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi
• Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay
• Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS)
• Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad (IMT)

GD/PI calls converted:

• Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi
• Indian Institute of Management, Rohtak
• Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi
• Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS)
• Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad (IMT)

Entrance Exams appeared: CAT, FMS, NMAT & JMET

Preparation:

I started preparing in my pre-final year of graduation, amounting to nearly sixteen months of preparatory classroom coaching before the examinations.In the first ten months of coaching, I put in two hours over the weekends apart from the classes. In the next four months before the examinations, I put in two-four hours everyday during the vacations, and one hour everyday otherwise. In the final two months, and in the next three months during the competitive exams, I put in four-six hours everyday.The final year of graduating engineering was not very demanding, with research projects constituting the majority of academic requirements. Time management was more an issue of regularly practicing everyday rather than skipping college. Personally, vanishing socially in the months right before and during the examinations helped the most in maintaining the regimen.

Material:
1. Coaching primers and exercise books
2. Coaching test series program
3. Two additional test series programs
4. Previous-years papers
5. Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary (is a holy scripture in disguise)

My weakness was Quantitative Ability. Towards this aspect :
1. I practiced Math and Quantitative questions for 50% of my study-time
2. Attended remedial modules for Quantitative Ability after completion of the coaching classes

My strength was Verbal and Linguistic Ability. Towards this aspect :
1. I regularly read one English-daily, and editorial of one more English-daily
2. Frequently used and referred to the Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary

Advice to juniors:

1. Coach
It's not impossible to crack a competitive exam without coaching classes, but why give up on an edge that everyone else is bound to have already? It is, after all, a competition - why should one be put at a voluntary disadvantage.

2. The Practice of Practice
It's important to make sure your brain and body can get used to practice, just like a physical workout, to absorb the most from every single concept and question that you will encounter.Build up to your most efficient regimen and schedule from scratch.

3. Don't overlook preparations for the GD/PI rounds.
There’s nothing more pleasing to the ears than receiving a topic for discussion that you’ve already covered, nothing could soothe the nerves any more than answering an interview question that you’ve encountered previously.

4. Read.
An English daily, a magazine or two, some fiction, some non-fiction, and occasionally, a few episodes of Calvin and Hobbes. Reading the newspaper is very tedious, agreed, but I personally took it up as a necessary and inexcusable part of the overall experience.

Experience in MBA Institute:

Faculty:
The Faculty at the Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi is particularly well-known for the areas of Finance, Operations, and HRM.
I would rate the faculty at 8.5 on 10, considering classroom interaction, focus and encouragement for original research work, frequency and depth of assignments and presentations, and the sheer ability to hold the attention of a room-full of potential managers.
The Faculty participates in a variety of consulting projects with the corporate and the government, and the students reap the benefits from these exchanges in the form of visiting faculty from various institutions and organisations. Apart from that, the Interaction Cell also frequently organises guest lectures and workshops with stalwarts and subject-matter experts from the industry.
If there is any peculiarity or good quality, however one might look at it, I'd say it is the focus on original research work. The Department supports a number of research scholars in various disciplines as teaching assistants, so their penchant for research reflects on the subject matter and delivery as well.

Campus:
Every IIT is particularly famed for its campus. IIT Delhi fares just as well. To put it briefly, it's composed of multiple libraries, reading halls, computer centres, gymnasium, indoor badminton court, squash and tennis courts, swimming pool, cricket and football grounds, basketball and volleyball courts, with several food-outlets located all over the sprawling grounds. The entire campus and all non-residential buildings are connected via Wi-Fi.

Hostel:
The Hostels are reasonable, well-maintained and hygienic. They have connectivity via a LAN network. The Mess, true to its namesake, serves decent meals about thrice a week.

Crowd:
The crowd is pre-dominantly composed of engineering students, pursuing their bachelors, masters, or doctorates in various disciplines of science and modern technology. That said, they are very amicable, and the large presence of under-graduates lends a rather young appearance to the crowd, amounting to an average age of around 23 years.

Campus Life:
The campus life is altogether very involving, offering opportunities to learn and practice a wide variety of sports and activities, with a number of fests round-the-year to keep the organisers and the participants on their toes, and nearly six thousand students from all over the country to share all of this with!