An inspiration for non engineers and for Symbiosis B-school aspirants, Madhur Mehta has done his Bachelors in Pharmacy. He is a consistent performer. He scored 88.31% in 10th Std; 76.85% in 12th Std and 7.62 CPI in B.Pharma. Madhur not only cracked SNAP 2016 with 99.23 percentile but also scored 96.65 percentile in CAT 2016; 214 in NMAT 2016 and 99 percentile in MICAT. Despite receiving calls from other B-schools, he preferred Symbiosis Pune as it was his dream B-school.
Madhur is a fresher and got SIBM Pune immediately after his bachelors. He belongs to Bhuj (Kutch) in Gujarat. Madhur attributes his success to his father who has been his inspiration. He loves playing Basketball, Writing and Acting.
Exam:
My exam prep strategy, experience & Advice:
For the benefit of MBA aspirants, MBAUniverse.com asked Madhur Mehta about his preparation strategy and advice to do well in MBA entrance exams. Details follow:
What was your preparation strategy for SNAP 2016?
I started off with basic preparation of vocabulary, fundamental Mathematics, and Logical Reasoning Questions. I made sure that every day I’ll go through questions from each section. Since I am a fresher; it was difficult in the beginning to continue doing so while pursuing graduation, but gradually I got a hang of it. I started practicing more and more each day and then got addicted to such aptitude questions.
I started relating about many things by associating it to the aptitude based questions, be it my Bacherlors of Pharmacy subject’s technical terms which enhanced my vocabulary, or at a hangout place with friends, doing the final tally of money regarding who is supposed to pay how much. Such smaller things create difference and added value to my understanding of mock exams. Apart from regularly practicing, which I consider is must; I also took enough mock exams to know the areas of improvement and enhance my performance.
How did you prepare for each section English, Quant, DI, Reasoning, GK? What study materials and books did you use?
For SNAP 2016, I went for quiz section first. As approaching it, would take up very less time, and many questions from the same section could be attempted.
After that, I went for Quant, Reasoning, DI and then Verbal. Since, Verbal was my strongest section, I made sure to attempt only those questions from Quant and Reasoning which I am very sure of so that I can give enough time to Verbal.
Preparation for Quant: I picked up one chapter a day and completed it that day itself including solving of the doubts. Practicing it more and more got me a better position of knowing that which questions should I take head on and which ones to leave.
For verbal: I solved at least 5 RCs a day and revised few vocabulary words. Since I have a reading habit, it was really helpful in other sections of Grammar which could be done many times by instinct.
For DI: Again, as clichéd as it would sound, I used to take up 3-4 sets of DI and set a timer to complete them daily. Later, I used to review my performance and maintained a graph of my scores.
For GK: As in our snap guidelines, it was mentioned that current affairs of the last two years were to be asked, I went through the magazines of past two years, major headlines and read about them.
Study material used: I went to Endeavor Coaching Classes in Ahmedabad, so most of the reading material I used was theirs.
Was there any particular section that you were weak at? How did you overcome this challenge?
As I had taken up Biology after 10th standard, I was not at all in touch with Quant questions as I prolonged my education in Bachelors of Pharmacy. So, Quant being my weakest section, I started spending more of my attention and time on solving those questions.
Later, I understood that it’s not about solving difficult questions, it’s all about scouting and solving the ones you know better in the limited span of time. After applying this strategy, I saw an increase in my Mock SNAP score and it helped me in my SNAP exam as well.
How can candidates use Mock tests better? What is your advice?
I would advise everyone to MUST give the mock tests. I can’t possibly stress it more. Mock tests help you understand where you have gone wrong and how much you can improve from it. You would understand your areas of improvement, and your better time allocation. When you realise later that you have missed on easier questions on solving the difficult ones, it’s always disappointing. Mock tests, help us realize which questions are best to enter and take it head on and which ones are worth leaving.
Did you go to offline coaching centre? What role does a coaching centre play?
Yes, I went to Endeavor Coaching classes, Ahmedabad. I believe they were the ones who equipped me with all the tools to fight this battle out. They not only provided the materials but also guided us the tricks and ticks about how to go about each section and their questions. They made us give so many mock tests that we got used to them. They helped us with GD and PI and helped us enter our desired B-school.
Other than SNAP, which exam did you appear?
I appeared for CAT, XAT, NMAT, MICAT other than SNAP.
Which institutes did you apply for admission?
I applied for NMIMS, SIBM Pune, SCMHRD and MICA for admission.
Please share your strategy for the SNAP Day. What was your last-minute preparation? How did you plan your SNAP test taking?
My strategy for the SNAP day was to keep it simple and be relaxed. I did not want to try anything new on that day. I applied the same strategy that I used to apply during mocks. On that day, to keep the insulin and glucose level high during an afternoon exams, I just made sure that I had an Ice-cream before I entered in.
Which B-school you decided upon and why?
I decided upon SIBM Pune for various reasons.
- The placements of SIBM records were the best of the lot I had gotten offers from.
- Its Alumni base is by far the Strongest and the most looked upon to connect amongst any other B-schools.
- Its crowd is so diverse that one gets to have the best of the peer bonding experience.
- To be a part of amazing Councils where you get to organize and be a part of Competitions which has Pan India reach.
- And lastly, the amazing campus of SIBM Pune would melt anyone’s heart and would make you want to stay here for a minimum of two years.
Any message you would like to share with the candidates preparing for SNAP.
Prepare regularly for all the sections, do not stress much on the day of the SNAP examination, be thorough with all the basics and be relevant with the current affairs. A proper approach and strategy of your own which fits you the best would help you crack SNAP exam and a chance to be a part of this esteemed college and an awesome campus life.
My GD topic was on How P V Sindhu was offered 50cr deal and how to go about other sports in SIBM Pune.
For SCMHRD, My GD topic was rather a case discussion and there we were given certain roles to perform being part of a BCCI. MICA, as always gave a GD topic which was abstract in its true sense and the topic was a full stop ‘.’
NMIMS also gave a case discussion. WAT topic at SCMHRD – was something which I did not expect. It made us keep our thinking hats on. A picture was given where a boat was about to fall off the cliff near a waterfall and we had to write – ‘Had we been on the boat and woke up to see the scene affront what would be our next steps.’
WAT at SIBM was even more interesting. A picture of a person with weird ears and different complexion was shown from nose to chest suited as a corporate and there was an elephant foot over his head. This picture was shown to us for a minute on the screen and we had to write about it.
