MBA Pursuit
Almost anyone between between the ages 18-25, either in college or in some software company would have definitely heard about the revered exam - CAT. In these days, its rat race to get into those exclusive B-Schools, whether Tier I, Tier II or even Tier V.
Why this sudden mad rush? Everyone has their reasons. Most of them would provide lots of crap like entrepreneurship, climb up the corporate ladder without even having the faintest idea of what they are talking about. Some would say that they feel they have managerial skills based on the few events they have organized while others would say they can't code or survive in the technical line. A very few of them will actually say that its more for the moolah than anything else, which I would say is more or less the truth.
The number of people writing CAT has just gone up year after year, all these B-Schools are making great use of it. First you shell out 1100 Rs for an application. After which for some other college in the Tier I or II you shell out another few thousands just for the application. It's fast becoming a huge money making industry which includes coaching institutes and the B Schools. Most of the coaching institutes charge for their course, mock tests and even provide training for group discussion and personal interviews. The B-Schools of course are the bigger money making machines, by demanding anywhere from 500 to 2000 Rs for an application. Only about one-tenth of the applicants make it through and the schools just pocket it and most schools even demand that the applications be submitted before the date of the CAT or any of the other entrances that are conducted.
People have gone so crazy that they just take a year off so that they can focus on these MBA entrances. Ask them about it and you will get to hear a barrage of one liners such as 'I need to get through this time', 'Its all in your attitude', 'If you believe that you can make it then nobody can stop you' and stuff like that. They cut themselves for a year from everything else and do nothing but study. Are these people normal? They don't watch a movie, don't try to woo a girl, no social outings and then crack the CAT. On getting the interview call, they sit around with Businessworlds, Economic Times, Articles from the net and then try and ace the interview. The interviewers are no less. They pose questions such as 'Where do you see yourself in 5 years?' 'Why an MBA?' and most of the people have one common stereotyped answer (courtesy:coaching institutes) for all these questions.
But are these the kind of people that the B-Schools want??? According to most schools, they want to bring in some kind of diversity to ensure a better learning environment. Does their diversity include these weirdos who do nothing except study for a year to crack some MBA entrance? Will this kind of diversity do any good to any B-school education? I am not saying that everyone who walks into a B-School are all wierdos who just cracked CAT by studying for a whole year. There are others as well, namely the studs who seem like they have been born to crack the CAT, those who clear everything with almost no preparation at all. Of course they form a miniscule percentage of the people who write the numerous entrances.
This process will not be producing the best leaders, CEOs or Managers. They will just produce ordinary MBAs who are not going to be changing anything at all. The whole purpose of diversity, competitive exams, selecting the creme of the applicants will go for a toss. The whole purpose of producing MBAs will cease the hold the importance that it holds today, and the end of this crazy pursuit.
Note:
I am also among those involved in this MBA pursuit, who wrote a number of entrances in a hope to break into one of the B-Schools. Even though I did not make it, I am pretty certain that I will be taking another shot at it and my reasons would be anyone of those that I have mentioned in the second paragraph. This article is not a judge on what's right or wrong. It s only my view and opinions on the MBA Dream.
Why this sudden mad rush? Everyone has their reasons. Most of them would provide lots of crap like entrepreneurship, climb up the corporate ladder without even having the faintest idea of what they are talking about. Some would say that they feel they have managerial skills based on the few events they have organized while others would say they can't code or survive in the technical line. A very few of them will actually say that its more for the moolah than anything else, which I would say is more or less the truth.
The number of people writing CAT has just gone up year after year, all these B-Schools are making great use of it. First you shell out 1100 Rs for an application. After which for some other college in the Tier I or II you shell out another few thousands just for the application. It's fast becoming a huge money making industry which includes coaching institutes and the B Schools. Most of the coaching institutes charge for their course, mock tests and even provide training for group discussion and personal interviews. The B-Schools of course are the bigger money making machines, by demanding anywhere from 500 to 2000 Rs for an application. Only about one-tenth of the applicants make it through and the schools just pocket it and most schools even demand that the applications be submitted before the date of the CAT or any of the other entrances that are conducted.
People have gone so crazy that they just take a year off so that they can focus on these MBA entrances. Ask them about it and you will get to hear a barrage of one liners such as 'I need to get through this time', 'Its all in your attitude', 'If you believe that you can make it then nobody can stop you' and stuff like that. They cut themselves for a year from everything else and do nothing but study. Are these people normal? They don't watch a movie, don't try to woo a girl, no social outings and then crack the CAT. On getting the interview call, they sit around with Businessworlds, Economic Times, Articles from the net and then try and ace the interview. The interviewers are no less. They pose questions such as 'Where do you see yourself in 5 years?' 'Why an MBA?' and most of the people have one common stereotyped answer (courtesy:coaching institutes) for all these questions.
But are these the kind of people that the B-Schools want??? According to most schools, they want to bring in some kind of diversity to ensure a better learning environment. Does their diversity include these weirdos who do nothing except study for a year to crack some MBA entrance? Will this kind of diversity do any good to any B-school education? I am not saying that everyone who walks into a B-School are all wierdos who just cracked CAT by studying for a whole year. There are others as well, namely the studs who seem like they have been born to crack the CAT, those who clear everything with almost no preparation at all. Of course they form a miniscule percentage of the people who write the numerous entrances.
This process will not be producing the best leaders, CEOs or Managers. They will just produce ordinary MBAs who are not going to be changing anything at all. The whole purpose of diversity, competitive exams, selecting the creme of the applicants will go for a toss. The whole purpose of producing MBAs will cease the hold the importance that it holds today, and the end of this crazy pursuit.
Note:
I am also among those involved in this MBA pursuit, who wrote a number of entrances in a hope to break into one of the B-Schools. Even though I did not make it, I am pretty certain that I will be taking another shot at it and my reasons would be anyone of those that I have mentioned in the second paragraph. This article is not a judge on what's right or wrong. It s only my view and opinions on the MBA Dream.
posted by Vivek at 2:34 AM
1 Comments:
I have enjoyed reading all ur blogs its about time there was a new post.
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