Karan Kokane

For the benefit of MBA aspirants, MBAUniverse.com asked Karan Kokane about his preparation strategy and advice to do well in MBA entrance exams. Details follow

Q.What was your preparation strategy? Please share some key do’s and don’ts

A.Do’s

• Take as many mocks as possible. Mocks helps one to ascertain one’s preparation levels and where one stands when compared to other people who are going to participate in the exam season that year.
• Start early. To cover all topics and have sufficient practice, it is necessary to start at least 5-6 months before the exam.
• Sit for as many competitive exams as possible as it helps one get used to any exam setting.
• Cover all the topics, Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, Verbal Ability every day or at least as a combination of two per day.

Don’ts

• Concentrate on a single, favorite topic and overlook others which you find difficult
• Take more than 2 mocks per day
• Biggest mistake once can do is to forget to analyse mocks once taken
• Think that you can’t achieve a high score

Q.What was your strategy in testing room to attempt the questions from different sections

A.I would always start with my strongest section. Also, I would solve the easiest questions first. This ensures that I not only solved many questions quickly in the beginning without wasting time but also I gained confidence. Confidence is an important ingredient while taking exams. Once all the easy questions from the strongest section were done, I would move on to the difficult questions in that section. In this way, I would move from the easiest question from my strongest section to the most difficult section from my weakest section. For me this used to be in the order Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning and Verbal Ability.

Q.Which all exams did you write? How did you prepare for them? What score did you get?

A.I appeared for various exams such as MAH MBA CET, CAT, NMAT, XAT. Most of the exams have around 80-90% of their topics in common with each other. I focused on these common topics first. Once I was comfortable with these topics, then when an exam neared, I would concentrate on the rest 20% of the questions that would be different and specific to that exam. For example, it is important to be good at Algebra, TSD or Geometry no matter which exam is next. But when exams such as MAH CET neared, I would do decision making or Visual Reasoning to improve at those specific topics. I got 99.993 percentile in MAH MBA CET; 98.763 percentile in NMAT; 96.42 percentile in CAT and 98.25 percentile in XAT.

Q.The institutes that offered you admission?

A.JBIMS, SPJAIN- Fin, JBIMS, new IIMs, NMIMS

Q.Which is the institute that you have decided to take admission and why? 

A.I have taken admission in Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS). It is one of the top 10 MBA institutes in India. Also, being established in the year 1965, it is one of the oldest B-schools in India. It has produced, over the years, many business stalwarts such as Mr. Harish Manwani, Ms. Chanda Kochhar, Mr. Uday Kotak, Mr. Noshir Kaka, Ms. Vinita Bali, Mr. Nitin Paranjape, to name a few, spearheading companies across industries. There is little wonder that it is called as the CEO Factory. The core and visiting faculty at the institute is one of the best in the country. The alumni base is large and like a close knit family. JBIMS has recently acquired autonomy. The admission process was changed this year and slowly, many changes are bound to come in that will completely transform the institute. A new campus is also on the horizon.

Q. Why did you want to do MBA?

A.After working for 20 months in HARMAN International India Pvt. Ltd., a product based company, I understood the importance of the role of management in an organization. The job of pointing a company in the right direction is done by the management. To do this, one has to have a wholesome knowledge of all processes involved. I was then working as a software engineer. My role was limited to delivering quality products to the organization. But how did one decide whether developing the product in the first place would be a profitable venture? How did one raise funds to create the product? How did one decide who will be the target audience for the product? How did one market the product to them? These are decisions that management has to take based on their knowledge regarding the finances of the company, the economic facts, the marketing strategy etc. Having understood the quality product development cycle, I believed that if I had to propel myself towards positions of greater responsibility I needed to have knowledge of management subjects such as FRA, Corporate Finance, Marketing Management etc. to make such decisions. An MBA would have not only helped me gain knowledge but also would have helped me be a better contributor to my organization. Thus to excel professionally and to have a wholesome view of any business, I believed that it was imperative to do an MBA.

Q.Would you like to share any motivational story experienced by you in your journey from being a MAHCET aspirant to a successful topper?

A.When I was an aspirant, I would frequently visit different websites and look at the stories of toppers. I would read about the adversities that these toppers had to face and how they overcame them to achieve what they always wanted. Reading all these stories would motivate me a lot. However, at the back of my mind, I would always think whether I would get the opportunity to write a story myself. Today, answering these questions brings back memories of all those days. I feel I have gone a full circle and my time has come to motivate others to achieve their dreams. It’s important to note that anyone can make their dreams a reality; they just have to set their mind to it.