MAH MBA CET 2023 Topper Interview: “Cracked CET with unique 30-40 strategy and got into JBIMS” - says Virendra

MAH MBA CET 2023 Topper Interview: Virendra is pursuing the MMS program at Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies after securing 99.90 %ile in MBA CET 2023. He scored 99.58th %ile in CAT 2023 and 99.3%ile in CAT 2022. In an exclusive MBA CET topper interview with Careers360, he talks about his unique 30-40 approach to the MBA CET exam, CAT and CET preparation journey, his life at JBIMS, and much more. This article has excerpts from the interview. Watch the complete conversation by clicking the YouTube link given below.

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Careers360 - Can you briefly tell us about yourself, your profile, and why you decided to pursue an MBA?

Virendra - So, to begin with, I completed my graduation from Vishwakarma Institute of Technology in Pune. I did my B.Tech in Computer Engineering. I felt that management was something that attracted me from the beginning. Especially having close relatives and friends doing management courses. Engineering has helped me develop technical acumen and how to be updated with the latest technology and the latest developments out there. But management is something that helps you to shape your company as a whole, attain and achieve goals desired by the company but also helps you to shape the company policies and be instrumental in actually shaping the company’s growth henceforth.

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Careers360 - Which MBA entrance exam did you prepare for initially, and when did you start your preparation?

Virendra - Okay, after a lot of deliberation and consultations with my mates, my colleagues, and my professors, I finally decided to go ahead with CAT preparation. So I started CAT preparation in February 2022 targeting the November 2022 attempt. I felt that CAT preparation gave me an advantage over preparation for other competitive exams because the CAT, one can say, is like an umbrella examination. The core concepts covered in CAT help you to cover the core for remaining competitive management entrance examinations as well.

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Careers360 - So, in CAT, which section was challenging for you, and how did you improve it?

Virendra - Okay. The most difficult thing for me was VARC. It is the first section in the CAT examination and we cannot switch sections so you have to attempt VARC first and that used to be a challenge for me. Generally, I did not score very well in VARC. I had days when I scored negative marks in VARC. So I ensured that I practised maximum VRC questions. I changed my strategies a couple of times to ensure what strategy I was going to follow on the exam day. So initially I was targeting the verbal ability section of VARC. Later on, I changed this strategy and tried to target the reading comprehension section a lot and I found success in it.

Careers360 - Since you have given CAT, XAT, and CET, what difference did you find in the pattern of these exams?

Virendra - CAT and XAT have sectional weightage so I used to try to attend maximum questions with high accuracy. I used to attend each section in CAT and XAT mocks considering the negative marking. While for CET, I used to attain my strongest section first and try to maximise marks in it as CET allows you to alternate between sections and questions.

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Careers360 - What resources and books were you using for preparation?

Virendra - I joined IMS for their online coaching program. I also had the test series from Career Launcher and Time. I felt that giving test series from different institutes would give me a variety of questions the end of the day, the people who set the IMS paper are fixed. It helps when you practice questions that are set by different individuals for any sort of paper that can appear on the actual D-Day.

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Careers360 - You talked about the importance of mock. So, at what point in your preparation did you start giving mocks?

Virendra - I attempted at least one mock each day for the last 30 days. That enabled me to build a tough mentality that no matter how difficult the paper turns out to be or how unfortunate the circumstances get, You just cannot hold anyone accountable for it. That just may happen to you. So that helped me to build my mentality and not get tattered by any of the external factors that aren't in my control.

Careers360 - You converted IIM CAP calls as well. So what made you choose JBIMS instead of an IIM?

Virendra - Going by legacy, JBIMS is among the first six management schools of India. JBIMS was established in the 1960s, when we only had IIM ABC, XLRI, and FMS Delhi. So JBIMS has a great legacy of alumni. As an institute, we have visiting faculty who are alumni which helps us to develop industry connections and have experience from guys who have succeeded in the industry. It is so very heartening to see alums who have done exceedingly well in their life come and teach you lectures day in and day out. It's just grateful and inspiring to see such huge people having such high value, having attained the pinnacle of the corporate world coming to give you lectures.

Careers360 - Was there any particular attempt strategy that you had while attempting to CET?

Virendra - I used to follow the strongest section first strategy wherein maths and logical reasoning were my strongest sections, I used to try to attempt a lot more questions from these two sections during the first one and a half hours or maybe the first hour 45 minutes of the exam. I would match this strategy of the strongest section first with another strategy, which is quite common. That's called the 30-40 strategy. That is 30 minutes and 40 questions in every period of 30 minutes. But since I used to go in with the strongest section first strategy, I twisted the strategy a bit to fit into my strategy.

Careers360 - Let's talk about your summer internship placements at JBIMS. How was that experience? What were the roles that were in demand?

Virendra - Generally, all of the companies that go to old IIMs come to JBIMS as well. I would say that the roles were largely of financial analyst, marketing research intern, or maybe a couple of companies come in with the HR role and marketing companies since interns generally aren't very well established at chalking out marketing strategy. So companies do come in with sales roles as well.

Careers360 - How did you work on your profile? What are some of the ways that a fresher can build their profile for better selection?

Virendra - If you are a fresher then profile building is very important for you. Being active in your college events or maybe connecting yourself with some NGO or maybe regularly being a part of their events is something that adds multiple dimensions to your character. That is something that I would say is more important to guys who are freshers than to someone who has work experience.

MBA CET 2023 Topper Virendra’s Interview

Check out this video for the complete conversation.