Graduates in 2017 | How To Prepare for Management Entrance Exams

The End Terms have drawn to an end for almost all colleges across India and several of you final year Engineering students have started your summer internships. While it seems like you just finished the year and want to relax in the summer vacation, you should remember that Management entrance exams are just 6 months away! Yes, you might have heard of Management Institutes inviting your

Yes, you might have heard of Management Institutes inviting your seniors for interviews just a few weeks back but your turn at attempting the exams is not far away.

Upcoming management entrance exams:

Some major Management exams start their registration process and exams as early as October. Here is a breakdown for the important entrance exams for the year:

The exact dates and timelines will be available around June 2017 after the start of the academic year 2017-18.

How to prepare for Management Entrance Exams:

Considering the final year of Engineering is a busy period (especially for the upcoming graduates in 2017) with Final Projects, Entrance Exams, Placement Preparation and academics’, preparing for Management Exams is a tough task and needs to be approached in a systematic way. However, it is quite possible and you need not think of taking a break year after engineering just to prepare for these exams! Here is how you can approach the preparation for these exams –

Create timelines for management entrance exams:

This is the most basic and crucial task, you should not waste the opportunity of registering for any of the exams due to the confusion of dates!

Create a list and add it to your online calendar or if it suits you print out a copy and ensure you adhere to the timeline.

Create a list of target colleges:

While many entrance exams are for exclusive colleges, the most common exam – CAT is valid for entrance to hundreds of colleges. You need to research the colleges you want to apply to and find out their application processes. Most colleges require you to apply separately and have their own timelines. CAT scores do not get automatically sent to the interested colleges!

Create a study schedule:

Constant evaluation and exams in engineering make most students immune to a regular study pattern. Most students study on the fly, often right before the exam but cracking these entrances is not so. Thousands of students, who register for the entrance exams, fail to appear for them because they aren’t prepared! Take out time every day for studying and preparing for the exams, no matter what else you do.

Identify your weak areas:

Generally, most management exams have a common syllabus different in degrees. These are very similar to aptitude tests conducted during campus placements. You can identify which are your weak areas by taking a few mock tests first. This is crucial because you cannot create a study schedule for all the subjects equally.

You need to understand that CAT scores are percentile based and are weighed across all modules. A 100 percentile in Quants does not guarantee an interview call if you score only 40 percentile in Verbal module. You need to score well across all modules especially if you are aiming for the best management colleges.

Practice makes perfect:

Time is a crucial factor in many management exams and you to race against it to attempt the entire paper. This is possible only if you have practiced the exam prior to the actual exam! Ensure you have worked on many mock tests.

Read, read and read more:

Many engineering students find the Verbal section difficult to crack with difficult comprehension passages and other questions. Verbal aptitude cannot be built overnight; hence it’s important to cultivate fast reading and comprehension over the next few months. Also, paraphrasing, word jumbles and other such questions can become easier only through familiarity. Make sure you read a lot to become familiar with the language.

Be aware of current issues:

Management students are expected to be generally aware and updated with current issues. Again, this is something that can be only learnt through the months. Make sure you follow the news; you can even keep yourself abreast by following trends on Facebook and Twitter! The trending hashtags will lead you to stories and news articles. This will help you greatly during the group discussions as well as GK modules of a few management exams.

These above are just a few tips to kick start your preparation for management entrance exams or CAT preparation in your final year. Prepare for success is the only mantra you should follow!